Edge of Tomorrow
I was watching Pacific Rim on HBO last night, and the next movie they were going to show was the Tom Cruise flick that came out this year, Edge of Tomorrow. I’m not a huge fan of Tom Cruise, not since he left Nicole Kidman and went through his couch jumping phase. But I do like his co-star Emily Blunt, who I’ve seen in five or six roles so far. So I’d been waiting for this movie to end up on cable so I could watch her in it. So I taped it and watched it this morning.
The story is a variation on the “Groundhog Day” theme, where the main character repeats the same day until he learns what he needs to know for the plot to advance. In this case, Cruise is a soldier who keeps repeating the D-Day invasion of a Europe controlled by aliens. But in this case, he teams up with a female soldier (Blunt) who had previously had the ability to relive events, but lost it. So instead, she trains Cruise how to use his gift, how to learn each time he repeats a day, until they’re ready to take on the alien menace.
So, of course, I can’t help but think about Elizabeth Bear’s post about her least favorite trope. I can’t remember if I posted it here or not, but she writes about the trope where the kick ass woman, who has all the abilities and skills to save the world, can’t because she doesn’t have a magical penis. So instead our kick-ass heroine trains the hero to have all the skills that she does, and then either dies to give him some man-pain, or becomes his girlfriend. While he saves the world. Because he’s got a magical penis, and besides, nobody would want to see a movie where a woman was the Chosen One, would they?
And this movie definitely falls into that category. Blunt’s character is the only person to ever win a battle against the aliens. And she pretty much won it single-handed (because of her ability to repeat time and learn from her mistakes). If we didn’t live in a sexist world, she would have saved the world. But no, she lost her powers and Cruise gains them. So instead we get Cruise’s character as our hero. He’s not a soldier, he’s a PR guy who was going through ROTC when the war started. And even worse? He’s a coward. But this cowardly guy with no fighting skills? He’s gotta save the world. Because he’s a dude, and only guys can save the world.
*headdesk*
When are we going to be able to move on from this crap?
The story is a variation on the “Groundhog Day” theme, where the main character repeats the same day until he learns what he needs to know for the plot to advance. In this case, Cruise is a soldier who keeps repeating the D-Day invasion of a Europe controlled by aliens. But in this case, he teams up with a female soldier (Blunt) who had previously had the ability to relive events, but lost it. So instead, she trains Cruise how to use his gift, how to learn each time he repeats a day, until they’re ready to take on the alien menace.
So, of course, I can’t help but think about Elizabeth Bear’s post about her least favorite trope. I can’t remember if I posted it here or not, but she writes about the trope where the kick ass woman, who has all the abilities and skills to save the world, can’t because she doesn’t have a magical penis. So instead our kick-ass heroine trains the hero to have all the skills that she does, and then either dies to give him some man-pain, or becomes his girlfriend. While he saves the world. Because he’s got a magical penis, and besides, nobody would want to see a movie where a woman was the Chosen One, would they?
And this movie definitely falls into that category. Blunt’s character is the only person to ever win a battle against the aliens. And she pretty much won it single-handed (because of her ability to repeat time and learn from her mistakes). If we didn’t live in a sexist world, she would have saved the world. But no, she lost her powers and Cruise gains them. So instead we get Cruise’s character as our hero. He’s not a soldier, he’s a PR guy who was going through ROTC when the war started. And even worse? He’s a coward. But this cowardly guy with no fighting skills? He’s gotta save the world. Because he’s a dude, and only guys can save the world.
*headdesk*
When are we going to be able to move on from this crap?