Jack Reacher
It appears that I won't be going to my 15th high school reunion because I'm an idiot and missed the registration deadline. I wasn't sure I wanted to go, but now that I can't...I want to. *sigh*
In other news, I watched Jack Reacher. In my last job, I worked on the Lee Child books, and the announcement of that movie meant sales made us repackage all of Lee Child's books three times in a year to properly take advantage of the movie franchise. So since that movie made my life miserable for a while, figured it was worth checking.
It is the most Marty Stu thing I have ever seen. Holy shit. Reacher isn't just awesome himself, he warps reality around him. Have some examples:
- Jack Reacher is the most awesome MP the army ever had.
- He has an eidetic memory.
- Despite being out of the army for years, he can still hit the bulls-eye at 700 yards four out of four times. He is such a good shot, someone recognizes him for it.
He also has the most special past of anyone ever:
- He grew up on army bases around the world. His first time in the US was to go through Basic, then he was deployed back to every war zone ever.
- After years of serving the American people, he wondered WHAT DOES FREEDOM EVEN MEAN and quit to find out.
- Since then he has lived as a drifter, with like only the clothes on his back, and no one could ever find him if he didn't want them to and he has no possessions and no connections and no obligations and therefore is COMPLETELY FREE. I'm not kidding. He gives a speech about how office drones in their heart of hearts want to live as homeless drifters just like him cause he's the only one in the whole world who is truly free.
As for the warping reality thing:
- There is a scene where he is hit in the back of the head by a baseball bat, then falls into a tub. His two attackers then proceed to club the window, the sides of the tub, each other, and get their clubbing implements tangled in each other, completely missing Reacher, who, let's face it, in that situation WOULD BE DEAD. But he has the secret power of HERO OF THIS STORY, so when his opposition clearly has him checkmated, they must take each other out rather than finish the job.
Jack Reacher is the ultimate male power fantasy. I mean, it's so absurd it's actually a lot of fun to watch. Like, every secret fantasy you've had about being a Mary Sue that you know is ridiculous they've managed to incorporate with just enough polish to let you indulge while simultaneously laughing at it.
Unfortunately, the male power fantasy also extends to the women. There are exactly two women in this story. One exists to be simultaneously afraid of and turned on by Reacher, and then be the hostage in the climax. The other, therefore, has to be the victim.
The first time Reacher encounters her, he treats her with utter contempt. He calls her a whore, then tells her that she must like the sight of blood cause it means she's not pregnant. (!!!) The next time he sees her, he first manipulates her into helping him, then pities her for how men use her. He tells her that she shouldn't let men use her (like he just did), and she replies, "That's what women like me do." (augh) She is then, of course, killed to frame Reacher, and his response is to call her a "sweet, innocent girl."
She goes from being an object of disgust to an object of pity to an object of idealization. She's never not an object. And the ability of Reacher to simultaneously view her as a whore, a victim, and a saint, without ever viewing her as a person is a masterclass in misogyny. I mean, the movie ends with him stepping in to stop a boyfriend from beating up his girlfriend, but it's pretty clear that he's not intervening for the woman's benefit. He's doing it to show dominance over another man. The woman, to Reacher, is both a victim that he can be the savior of and a whore who deserves what she got. It is stunning.
All that being said, the plotting's pretty good. It's an enjoyable movie. I mean, the over-the-top power fantasy and the over-the-top misogyny sort of combined to make it laughably infantile rather than offensive.
There is one problem with the movie, though. According to wikipedia, Jack Reacher "is 6'5" tall with a 50-inch chest, and weighing between 220 and 250 pounds. He is exceptionally strong, has a high stamina, but is not a good runner." And he is played by Tom Cruise. The mismatch is SO BLATANT that the script still pretends that Reacher is a behemoth of a man. At one point, a cop asks a hotel clerk if there's anyone staying there who could kill someone with one punch. She says the man in room 1109--"when you see him, you'll understand." Meaning Reacher. Now, if Reacher looks like Conan-era Arnold Schwarzenegger, like he's supposed to, that makes sense. If he looks like Tom Cruise? That makes no sense at all.
But this too makes the movie so absurd it's entertaining. Cause Tom Cruise, too, apparently has the same male power fantasy as all of Lee Child's fans: that he's the most physically intimidating person in any room he walks into. Except, you know, I'm taller than Tom Cruise. So that's kind of a joke. Like, I'm not even sure this would be a fun movie if Reacher looked the way he was supposed to. Cruise in the main role is kind of a wink to the absurdity of absolutely everything about it.
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comments. Comment there or here.
In other news, I watched Jack Reacher. In my last job, I worked on the Lee Child books, and the announcement of that movie meant sales made us repackage all of Lee Child's books three times in a year to properly take advantage of the movie franchise. So since that movie made my life miserable for a while, figured it was worth checking.
It is the most Marty Stu thing I have ever seen. Holy shit. Reacher isn't just awesome himself, he warps reality around him. Have some examples:
- Jack Reacher is the most awesome MP the army ever had.
- He has an eidetic memory.
- Despite being out of the army for years, he can still hit the bulls-eye at 700 yards four out of four times. He is such a good shot, someone recognizes him for it.
He also has the most special past of anyone ever:
- He grew up on army bases around the world. His first time in the US was to go through Basic, then he was deployed back to every war zone ever.
- After years of serving the American people, he wondered WHAT DOES FREEDOM EVEN MEAN and quit to find out.
- Since then he has lived as a drifter, with like only the clothes on his back, and no one could ever find him if he didn't want them to and he has no possessions and no connections and no obligations and therefore is COMPLETELY FREE. I'm not kidding. He gives a speech about how office drones in their heart of hearts want to live as homeless drifters just like him cause he's the only one in the whole world who is truly free.
As for the warping reality thing:
- There is a scene where he is hit in the back of the head by a baseball bat, then falls into a tub. His two attackers then proceed to club the window, the sides of the tub, each other, and get their clubbing implements tangled in each other, completely missing Reacher, who, let's face it, in that situation WOULD BE DEAD. But he has the secret power of HERO OF THIS STORY, so when his opposition clearly has him checkmated, they must take each other out rather than finish the job.
Jack Reacher is the ultimate male power fantasy. I mean, it's so absurd it's actually a lot of fun to watch. Like, every secret fantasy you've had about being a Mary Sue that you know is ridiculous they've managed to incorporate with just enough polish to let you indulge while simultaneously laughing at it.
Unfortunately, the male power fantasy also extends to the women. There are exactly two women in this story. One exists to be simultaneously afraid of and turned on by Reacher, and then be the hostage in the climax. The other, therefore, has to be the victim.
The first time Reacher encounters her, he treats her with utter contempt. He calls her a whore, then tells her that she must like the sight of blood cause it means she's not pregnant. (!!!) The next time he sees her, he first manipulates her into helping him, then pities her for how men use her. He tells her that she shouldn't let men use her (like he just did), and she replies, "That's what women like me do." (augh) She is then, of course, killed to frame Reacher, and his response is to call her a "sweet, innocent girl."
She goes from being an object of disgust to an object of pity to an object of idealization. She's never not an object. And the ability of Reacher to simultaneously view her as a whore, a victim, and a saint, without ever viewing her as a person is a masterclass in misogyny. I mean, the movie ends with him stepping in to stop a boyfriend from beating up his girlfriend, but it's pretty clear that he's not intervening for the woman's benefit. He's doing it to show dominance over another man. The woman, to Reacher, is both a victim that he can be the savior of and a whore who deserves what she got. It is stunning.
All that being said, the plotting's pretty good. It's an enjoyable movie. I mean, the over-the-top power fantasy and the over-the-top misogyny sort of combined to make it laughably infantile rather than offensive.
There is one problem with the movie, though. According to wikipedia, Jack Reacher "is 6'5" tall with a 50-inch chest, and weighing between 220 and 250 pounds. He is exceptionally strong, has a high stamina, but is not a good runner." And he is played by Tom Cruise. The mismatch is SO BLATANT that the script still pretends that Reacher is a behemoth of a man. At one point, a cop asks a hotel clerk if there's anyone staying there who could kill someone with one punch. She says the man in room 1109--"when you see him, you'll understand." Meaning Reacher. Now, if Reacher looks like Conan-era Arnold Schwarzenegger, like he's supposed to, that makes sense. If he looks like Tom Cruise? That makes no sense at all.
But this too makes the movie so absurd it's entertaining. Cause Tom Cruise, too, apparently has the same male power fantasy as all of Lee Child's fans: that he's the most physically intimidating person in any room he walks into. Except, you know, I'm taller than Tom Cruise. So that's kind of a joke. Like, I'm not even sure this would be a fun movie if Reacher looked the way he was supposed to. Cruise in the main role is kind of a wink to the absurdity of absolutely everything about it.
The Dreamwidth copy of this post has
comments. Comment there or here.