(Possibly Disjointed) Thoughts on Kick-Ass
My husband and I saw "Kick-Ass" a week ago, since this was one of those rare instances where the rest of the world got to see the film before North America. (My theory on that was that the film was going to rile a portion of America's Puritan instincts to such an extent that the reviews would cast a pall on a film. Open it world-wide first, rack up some good buzz, and then it doesn't matter if the movie offends half of the American critics.)
We didn't know a lot about the movie going into it. I knew it was based on a comic book and that there were teenagers and a young girl in it. I think my husband knew even less about. Neither of us had seen a trailer.
My summary judgement: I absolutely loved the movie and Hit Girl was my favorite part. My husband's summary judgement: he enjoyed the movie but Hit Girl disturbed him to his very core. ("She's eleven and she's running around killing people with no remorse. That's really disturbing.")
A fair point, and one that seems to be shared by a fair majority of film viewers. But although I understand the point of view, I prefer to celebrate the awesomeness that is Hit Girl. Because she is awesome.... in a comic book world.
Context is everything, after all. The comic book world is different from the real world. Men wear tights and capes, characters don outlandish costumes, and the good guys rain down well-deserved vengeance on the bad guys. Evil is punished, order is restored, and everyone eventually lives mostly happily ever after. In other words, it's a much simpler place than the real world.
The complaints/concerns I've read most often tend to fall into two distinct areas: violence and language. Violence - yep, I can't argue with you: Hit Girl is a stone-cold killer, well skilled in the deadly arts and able to take out a room full of bad guys in a shower of stunning technicolor blood. But, because this was a comic book world, that didn't bother me so much. It also didn't bother me so much since I was fascinated by other aspects of her character.
The language - again, can't argue with you. Hit Girl's mouth is so potty, it would shame a sailor. This bothered me, but not in the way you might imagine. First of all, I find foul-mouthed kids to be hilarious. (I know, I know, my opinions will probably change when I have my own little swearing machine, but for now, cursing kids are usually comedy gold.) Second, five years of living in Ireland have made me nearly bomb-proof when it comes to swearing. It would take A LOT to shock me. Many people here season their language, even in professional settings, with the most creative combinations of curse words you've ever heard. They can really elevate it to poetry sometimes. If someone accidentally says 'fuck' on the radio, it's barely noticed - it doesn't typically become a major case for the Irish version of the FCC.
Where the language bothered me is that I had a hard time understanding where it was coming from for the character. If Big Daddy were also a potty mouth, that would have solved the issue. (I really need to see the movie again, since I was enjoying it too much to pay attention to everything, but my recollection was that Nicholas Cage's character talked like Ned Flanders when he wasn't Big Daddy and like Adam West when he was.) If her father set her down in front of "Good Fellas" while he worked on his drawings, that would have explained it. If Marcus, the foster father, had had a potty mouth, that also would have been an acceptable explanation. Any of those would have made the cursing more justified and rich, turning into a character bit instead of just a party trick/discussion topic.
But what I really loved about Hit Girl was her relationship with her father. There was such real love and trust there. Yes, his twisted obsessions and crusade had turned her into an amoral little killing machine. But he loved her and was trying to make her tough, perhaps driven by his guilt and feelings of helplessness over his wife's suicide. He was going to make sure that his daughter was strong and able to handle any situation. In a really fucked up sort of way, I honestly believe that he was just trying to do right by her, the only way he knew how. (And seriously, isn't that the thesis statement of parenting? And don't we all end up fucking it up in our own little ways, no matter how good our intentions are?)
So maybe I'm wrong, but I can't help it. I love tragically flawed characters. I love dark and desperate comic book stories. And I loved the messed-up family dynamic in Kick-Ass.
We didn't know a lot about the movie going into it. I knew it was based on a comic book and that there were teenagers and a young girl in it. I think my husband knew even less about. Neither of us had seen a trailer.
My summary judgement: I absolutely loved the movie and Hit Girl was my favorite part. My husband's summary judgement: he enjoyed the movie but Hit Girl disturbed him to his very core. ("She's eleven and she's running around killing people with no remorse. That's really disturbing.")
A fair point, and one that seems to be shared by a fair majority of film viewers. But although I understand the point of view, I prefer to celebrate the awesomeness that is Hit Girl. Because she is awesome.... in a comic book world.
Context is everything, after all. The comic book world is different from the real world. Men wear tights and capes, characters don outlandish costumes, and the good guys rain down well-deserved vengeance on the bad guys. Evil is punished, order is restored, and everyone eventually lives mostly happily ever after. In other words, it's a much simpler place than the real world.
The complaints/concerns I've read most often tend to fall into two distinct areas: violence and language. Violence - yep, I can't argue with you: Hit Girl is a stone-cold killer, well skilled in the deadly arts and able to take out a room full of bad guys in a shower of stunning technicolor blood. But, because this was a comic book world, that didn't bother me so much. It also didn't bother me so much since I was fascinated by other aspects of her character.
The language - again, can't argue with you. Hit Girl's mouth is so potty, it would shame a sailor. This bothered me, but not in the way you might imagine. First of all, I find foul-mouthed kids to be hilarious. (I know, I know, my opinions will probably change when I have my own little swearing machine, but for now, cursing kids are usually comedy gold.) Second, five years of living in Ireland have made me nearly bomb-proof when it comes to swearing. It would take A LOT to shock me. Many people here season their language, even in professional settings, with the most creative combinations of curse words you've ever heard. They can really elevate it to poetry sometimes. If someone accidentally says 'fuck' on the radio, it's barely noticed - it doesn't typically become a major case for the Irish version of the FCC.
Where the language bothered me is that I had a hard time understanding where it was coming from for the character. If Big Daddy were also a potty mouth, that would have solved the issue. (I really need to see the movie again, since I was enjoying it too much to pay attention to everything, but my recollection was that Nicholas Cage's character talked like Ned Flanders when he wasn't Big Daddy and like Adam West when he was.) If her father set her down in front of "Good Fellas" while he worked on his drawings, that would have explained it. If Marcus, the foster father, had had a potty mouth, that also would have been an acceptable explanation. Any of those would have made the cursing more justified and rich, turning into a character bit instead of just a party trick/discussion topic.
But what I really loved about Hit Girl was her relationship with her father. There was such real love and trust there. Yes, his twisted obsessions and crusade had turned her into an amoral little killing machine. But he loved her and was trying to make her tough, perhaps driven by his guilt and feelings of helplessness over his wife's suicide. He was going to make sure that his daughter was strong and able to handle any situation. In a really fucked up sort of way, I honestly believe that he was just trying to do right by her, the only way he knew how. (And seriously, isn't that the thesis statement of parenting? And don't we all end up fucking it up in our own little ways, no matter how good our intentions are?)
So maybe I'm wrong, but I can't help it. I love tragically flawed characters. I love dark and desperate comic book stories. And I loved the messed-up family dynamic in Kick-Ass.