A Tiny Thing
I saw The Avengers opening weekend. I had a fabulous time watching it, possibly in part because I had pretty low expectations going in but was also ready for a good time. It wasn't everything a movie can be, but I had fun.
I agree with a lot of the things Cleolinda said. I really really agree with her reaction to Loki calling Natasha a "mewling quim" in the middle of his big scary speech.
But obviously it didn't ruin the movie for me, and the only reason I'm mentioning it at all, guys, is that when Cleolinda brought it up, her comments thread CAUGHT FIRE for two posts in a way that half a decade of Twilight trolling never provoked. She had to close comments, otherwise I'd just be dropping her two sentences of support rather than posting this mini-rant. Dear Fandom, you're weird.
Just for the record, my objections to that line are twofold: obviously it's a startlingly sexist insult that's unleashed in a spew of vitriol that only gets directed at the sole major female character. But then, Loki is a bad guy, he says bad stuff, and I read/watch a lot of things with a lot of sexist insults in them. In a different film, that line could have been an effective villainous moment. But what really made this particular incident stand out is how incongruent it was in the context of this big, shiny PG-13 superhero movie, in which gender issues are not exactly at the forefront of discussion. If they had used the American equivalent, it never would have made it past the MPAA.
That unexpectedness gives it more of a gut-punch impact, and that's a double edged sword. That was an intense scene and I was pretty into it, but I remember sitting in the theater, hearing that line, and going OH WOAH, and what was that, and looking around at the people sitting with me.* And I think that anything that drags you that far out of the story is a poor narrative choice.
(I am looking at you here, Game of Thrones. It's not just that it's kind of terrible of you to insert a fairly graphic attempted rape scene to prove how grimdark you are, it's that I am no longer focusing on how grimdark you are anyway, I am not thinking about the character or the plot, I am thinking about the teenaged actress who simulated that on set and what exactly your writing room was thinking.)
TL;DR: Thoroughly enjoyed the movie, was startled by sexist insult and think it was extremely ill-considered thing to include, am COMPLETELY BEWILDERED why saying this is enough to get Cleolinda Jones flamed and trolled by fen.
*And the kid sitting behind me. On and ENTIRELY UNRELATED NOTE, I know that parenting is complex and each child and each family is different, but I think we can lay down a hard rule that if your offspring is too young to sit in a chair for longer than an Earth's Mightiest Heroes ep, they are too young for PG-13 movies.
I agree with a lot of the things Cleolinda said. I really really agree with her reaction to Loki calling Natasha a "mewling quim" in the middle of his big scary speech.
But obviously it didn't ruin the movie for me, and the only reason I'm mentioning it at all, guys, is that when Cleolinda brought it up, her comments thread CAUGHT FIRE for two posts in a way that half a decade of Twilight trolling never provoked. She had to close comments, otherwise I'd just be dropping her two sentences of support rather than posting this mini-rant. Dear Fandom, you're weird.
Just for the record, my objections to that line are twofold: obviously it's a startlingly sexist insult that's unleashed in a spew of vitriol that only gets directed at the sole major female character. But then, Loki is a bad guy, he says bad stuff, and I read/watch a lot of things with a lot of sexist insults in them. In a different film, that line could have been an effective villainous moment. But what really made this particular incident stand out is how incongruent it was in the context of this big, shiny PG-13 superhero movie, in which gender issues are not exactly at the forefront of discussion. If they had used the American equivalent, it never would have made it past the MPAA.
That unexpectedness gives it more of a gut-punch impact, and that's a double edged sword. That was an intense scene and I was pretty into it, but I remember sitting in the theater, hearing that line, and going OH WOAH, and what was that, and looking around at the people sitting with me.* And I think that anything that drags you that far out of the story is a poor narrative choice.
(I am looking at you here, Game of Thrones. It's not just that it's kind of terrible of you to insert a fairly graphic attempted rape scene to prove how grimdark you are, it's that I am no longer focusing on how grimdark you are anyway, I am not thinking about the character or the plot, I am thinking about the teenaged actress who simulated that on set and what exactly your writing room was thinking.)
TL;DR: Thoroughly enjoyed the movie, was startled by sexist insult and think it was extremely ill-considered thing to include, am COMPLETELY BEWILDERED why saying this is enough to get Cleolinda Jones flamed and trolled by fen.
*And the kid sitting behind me. On and ENTIRELY UNRELATED NOTE, I know that parenting is complex and each child and each family is different, but I think we can lay down a hard rule that if your offspring is too young to sit in a chair for longer than an Earth's Mightiest Heroes ep, they are too young for PG-13 movies.