In which I reveal that yes, I DO live under a rock
As you either already know or will soon come to find out if you interact with me for very long at all, I live under a rock when it comes to movies. I can give you some really good examples of this if you want them, but the subject of this post should be a good enough introduction.
I have not yet seen "A Series of Unfortunate Events", even though I have read all the books and have been meaning to get around to seeing the movie and just putting it off. What I am wondering about is the handling of the henchperson of Count Olaf who is a "person of indeterminate gender".
I am very curious to know what the movie has done with this person and the surrounding issues and what other members of the queer community think of whatever it is. Like I said, I have read all the books, and this character doesn't seem to be portrayed as any more or less sinister than the other henchpeople-the "not sure if it's a man or a woman" thing seems like a throwaway description like "the bald one in the cloak" or "the white-faced women". There is only one bit that I can remember that specifically refers to this person's ambigious appearance, and that is that one of the children says that the "hook handed man" is the scariest henchperson, and the other child says that no, the person who doesn't seem like either a man or a woman is somehow the scariest-but even the child doesn't seem to be able to put a finger on why.
What do they do in the movie? Do they exaggerate this and make the appearance the subject of a lot of the "jokes"? Or do they just pretty well ignore it like they do in the books? I'm wondering because I am curious myself but also because my little nieces have seen this movie and I want to know if there is something I need to be aware of and try to salvage. If it's treated like it is in the book, then that's not too bad. Of course, with our society structured the way it is, children might be scared by someone that they cannot put into one of the binary sex/gender catagories they are taught are all-important (especially if, as in this movie, they know that this person is activly trying to kill them!). I can at least try to plant a few seeds of acceptance of people who don't fit into that binary. But if it's just a godawful attempt at a joke...well, that's different all together and requires some serious damage control not only with them but with other fans of the movie.
Any thoughts?
I have not yet seen "A Series of Unfortunate Events", even though I have read all the books and have been meaning to get around to seeing the movie and just putting it off. What I am wondering about is the handling of the henchperson of Count Olaf who is a "person of indeterminate gender".
I am very curious to know what the movie has done with this person and the surrounding issues and what other members of the queer community think of whatever it is. Like I said, I have read all the books, and this character doesn't seem to be portrayed as any more or less sinister than the other henchpeople-the "not sure if it's a man or a woman" thing seems like a throwaway description like "the bald one in the cloak" or "the white-faced women". There is only one bit that I can remember that specifically refers to this person's ambigious appearance, and that is that one of the children says that the "hook handed man" is the scariest henchperson, and the other child says that no, the person who doesn't seem like either a man or a woman is somehow the scariest-but even the child doesn't seem to be able to put a finger on why.
What do they do in the movie? Do they exaggerate this and make the appearance the subject of a lot of the "jokes"? Or do they just pretty well ignore it like they do in the books? I'm wondering because I am curious myself but also because my little nieces have seen this movie and I want to know if there is something I need to be aware of and try to salvage. If it's treated like it is in the book, then that's not too bad. Of course, with our society structured the way it is, children might be scared by someone that they cannot put into one of the binary sex/gender catagories they are taught are all-important (especially if, as in this movie, they know that this person is activly trying to kill them!). I can at least try to plant a few seeds of acceptance of people who don't fit into that binary. But if it's just a godawful attempt at a joke...well, that's different all together and requires some serious damage control not only with them but with other fans of the movie.
Any thoughts?