MOW: Average Girl Trick [2.5/-]|Femme Fetales
Most people voted that they were not interested in Group C: The Femme Fetales. I expected this and one person commented asking why there was so much hate for this group of ladies. Now, I'm not speaking for those who commented against them, they have their own reasons for voting. I am just giving my observations of how this links to a bigger issue.
In media, the sexy woman is usually portrayed as the dumb, slutty, shallow girl to play as foil to our "average" protagonist. While this conflict is played straight in books and most media, my problem is the larger effect this has on the actresses who play these roles and the way people use attractiveness to judge merit.
Example number one is Megan Fox. She may not have been in the group of women, but lets face it, she fits. Now, yes she is not that great of an actress at all, but then again neither is Jennifer Aniston. Also, yes, she is mainly being used to sell sex rather than talent in her movies. That being said, from every interview I have read with the woman, she seems totally and completely aware of the reality of her "career."
From those interviews she is a really down to earth person who isn't afraid to say what she feels and alot of the times has decent points. What really irks me are people who are so quick to call her a slut despite the fact that she has only had two sexual relationships and one is with the man she married to now. Being confident with your sexuality doesn't make you a whore or a slut.
In contrast, you have some like Kristen Stewart, who before you ask I have no problems with, who is seen as down-to-earth and role model.
Now, we have two actress, one who came from nothing and is making a career out of being fan-service, but still manages to smile and endure.
Then we have another, who comes from movie industry stock and has been in moves since childhood and while she has been praised for her acting can't even smile and hold her head up high. She's afraid her fans are going to assassinate her and is scared of everything having to do with the movie industry other than making the movie.
The idea that sexy women are automatically "dumb bitches" irritates me to shreds. Partly because the bitchest people I have ever met have always been people who would be considered nerds and geeks. Have you ever met a cocky geek? Most irritating things on the planet.
"Sub is always superior to Dub."
"The original Doctor Who is always superior because he's the first."
"Pop isn't real music."
"Graphic novels have more depth that regular comic books."
"Only a child would find Harry Potter entertaining."
"Avatar: TLA is just fake-Anime."
Annoying as hell.
A great inversion of that whole idea is someone like Rosario Dawson, who is one the sexiest women alive, is a totally nerd. She speaks some Klingon. However, if you looked at her you wouldn't expect any of that. Which is the problem. We have allowed it to become this sort of war between "us" and "them."
I was talking to devinemuse and I was saying that the whole Angelina Jolie vs Jennifer Aniston thing is an extension of this conflict.
You have on the one hand a Jennifer who is the ingenue. Is used to represent all of us and what we like to view ourselves as. Then when Angelina, who is the bitch. The girl we hate because our boyfriends like. And despite the fact of all the great things Jolie has accomplished both as a humanitarian and an actress, she still carries the imagine of that hot girl who "stole ma man".
Now keep this in mind through. In books or shows when its a girl who supposed to be "average" that ends up stealing the heart of a guy who has a girlfriend, its considered fine because she was a mean bitch who didn't deserve him. In the reverse its always a case of: he was stolen away by the evil girl because she was offering pooty-tang. Never because its any fault of the girl herself.
When it comes to celebrities none of us really care about who they really are, yet we accept the images that we are given and judge them based on what we think they are. Megan Fox could be brilliant and we wouldn't give a shit. Natalie Portman is a Harvard Grad and no one gives a shit. Angelina Jolie has helped more people than the average people and that doesn't matter.
To go back even further, we have the examples of Marilyn Monroe and Jayne Mansfield. Both were blonde sex symbols in the 1950s and played dumb blonde stereotypes roles. They were also Playboy cover models. However, that wasn't who they were intellectually.
Mansfield has a 163 IQ, spoke about five languages and was classically trained at the violin and piano. Yet, people only cared about her nude movies and her body.
Marilyn Monroe, while not being someone who came from high education, was in the inner circle of many intellectuals of her time, including her third husband. She was also very shy and humble. Yet, no one cares.
Because thats not important. What's important is how we feel about them, not who they are. That's the problem.
We may get those average girls but we fix them, like with Hermione. We fix their perfections in a way we can't with ourselves. Yet, at the same time, alot of us are afraid of to have the mirror put up to us and see the flaws we have. So instead we pick at others.
One of the few modern romantic comedies I liked was "He's Just Not That Into You", partly because I felt it was one of the few movies that for awhile actually was challenging the average women who go to see these types of movies to look at themselves and recognize that sometimes we have the be the change we want. We have to want to see women that look like us and embrace the ones that do. You can't say you want to see normal women in the media and then nitpick the few that are out there.
In media, the sexy woman is usually portrayed as the dumb, slutty, shallow girl to play as foil to our "average" protagonist. While this conflict is played straight in books and most media, my problem is the larger effect this has on the actresses who play these roles and the way people use attractiveness to judge merit.
Example number one is Megan Fox. She may not have been in the group of women, but lets face it, she fits. Now, yes she is not that great of an actress at all, but then again neither is Jennifer Aniston. Also, yes, she is mainly being used to sell sex rather than talent in her movies. That being said, from every interview I have read with the woman, she seems totally and completely aware of the reality of her "career."
From those interviews she is a really down to earth person who isn't afraid to say what she feels and alot of the times has decent points. What really irks me are people who are so quick to call her a slut despite the fact that she has only had two sexual relationships and one is with the man she married to now. Being confident with your sexuality doesn't make you a whore or a slut.
In contrast, you have some like Kristen Stewart, who before you ask I have no problems with, who is seen as down-to-earth and role model.
Now, we have two actress, one who came from nothing and is making a career out of being fan-service, but still manages to smile and endure.
Then we have another, who comes from movie industry stock and has been in moves since childhood and while she has been praised for her acting can't even smile and hold her head up high. She's afraid her fans are going to assassinate her and is scared of everything having to do with the movie industry other than making the movie.
The idea that sexy women are automatically "dumb bitches" irritates me to shreds. Partly because the bitchest people I have ever met have always been people who would be considered nerds and geeks. Have you ever met a cocky geek? Most irritating things on the planet.
"Sub is always superior to Dub."
"The original Doctor Who is always superior because he's the first."
"Pop isn't real music."
"Graphic novels have more depth that regular comic books."
"Only a child would find Harry Potter entertaining."
"Avatar: TLA is just fake-Anime."
Annoying as hell.
A great inversion of that whole idea is someone like Rosario Dawson, who is one the sexiest women alive, is a totally nerd. She speaks some Klingon. However, if you looked at her you wouldn't expect any of that. Which is the problem. We have allowed it to become this sort of war between "us" and "them."
I was talking to devinemuse and I was saying that the whole Angelina Jolie vs Jennifer Aniston thing is an extension of this conflict.
You have on the one hand a Jennifer who is the ingenue. Is used to represent all of us and what we like to view ourselves as. Then when Angelina, who is the bitch. The girl we hate because our boyfriends like. And despite the fact of all the great things Jolie has accomplished both as a humanitarian and an actress, she still carries the imagine of that hot girl who "stole ma man".
Now keep this in mind through. In books or shows when its a girl who supposed to be "average" that ends up stealing the heart of a guy who has a girlfriend, its considered fine because she was a mean bitch who didn't deserve him. In the reverse its always a case of: he was stolen away by the evil girl because she was offering pooty-tang. Never because its any fault of the girl herself.
When it comes to celebrities none of us really care about who they really are, yet we accept the images that we are given and judge them based on what we think they are. Megan Fox could be brilliant and we wouldn't give a shit. Natalie Portman is a Harvard Grad and no one gives a shit. Angelina Jolie has helped more people than the average people and that doesn't matter.
To go back even further, we have the examples of Marilyn Monroe and Jayne Mansfield. Both were blonde sex symbols in the 1950s and played dumb blonde stereotypes roles. They were also Playboy cover models. However, that wasn't who they were intellectually.
Mansfield has a 163 IQ, spoke about five languages and was classically trained at the violin and piano. Yet, people only cared about her nude movies and her body.
Marilyn Monroe, while not being someone who came from high education, was in the inner circle of many intellectuals of her time, including her third husband. She was also very shy and humble. Yet, no one cares.
Because thats not important. What's important is how we feel about them, not who they are. That's the problem.
We may get those average girls but we fix them, like with Hermione. We fix their perfections in a way we can't with ourselves. Yet, at the same time, alot of us are afraid of to have the mirror put up to us and see the flaws we have. So instead we pick at others.
One of the few modern romantic comedies I liked was "He's Just Not That Into You", partly because I felt it was one of the few movies that for awhile actually was challenging the average women who go to see these types of movies to look at themselves and recognize that sometimes we have the be the change we want. We have to want to see women that look like us and embrace the ones that do. You can't say you want to see normal women in the media and then nitpick the few that are out there.