Sunday Grab Bag of Failastic Fail: Marvel Divas, Marvel to Ruin She-Hulk Film

[kali921]

At this point, with rare exceptions, every time Marvel opens its mouth to talk about the state of women and female characters in the industry, I instinctively tense up, because I know that my soul is going to hurt by the time I get two sentences in.

Let's start off with Soul-Crushing Failure #1: Megan Fox tapped to play She-Hulk in upcoming film.

Comments

[thehefner]

Others are summing up my feelings much better than I would, so I'm just gonna throw in a hearty WORD here, with the note that I'd be willing to give Roberto a shot because

A.) he's another old friend from the comic shop who used to get me free tickets to the Shakespeare Theatre back when he was their publicist

B.) As you note, he really HAS written some great stuff, particularly SPIDER-MAN and his MARVEL KNIGHTS 4 series, where...

C.) He wrote a kick-ass Sue Storm, proving that he CAN write an excellent, non-stock female character.

As for the prospect of Fox as She-Hulk or anything else, I'm just gonna curl up in a ball and cry. I do not find her compelling in the least, nor for that matter--and I know saying this means I must turn in my straight guy card--do I even find her that attractive. She was brought into TRANSFORMERS because someone seemed to think that GIANT ROBOTS BLOWING THE SHIT OUT OF EACH OTHER wasn't eye candy enough.

[kali921]

She was brought into TRANSFORMERS because someone seemed to think that GIANT ROBOTS BLOWING THE SHIT OUT OF EACH OTHER wasn't eye candy enough.

EXACTLY. Did we really need more shiny in that film? No. Giant robots was shiny enough.

As I said, I really do love a lot of what Aguirre-Sacasa has written, but the way he's talking about this series is such a turnoff. You'd think he'd be more sensitive to that since he's giving lip service to the industry being male dominated. At best, it's a thoughtless and extended slip of the tongue. At worst, it means that he's going to stop his winning streak and turn out garbage in this miniseries. And the cover? Dear lord, Heffie, I will not buy an issue of this with that cover. Because it hurts to get slapped in the face by this cognitive dissonance. Again.

[shanejayell]

You know, as a GUY I am looking at Divas and cringing. *sigh* Why doesn't Marvel talk to Gail Simone about writing this? At least THEN it might be funny.

(Yes, I presume she's exclusive to DC. But I can dream!)

[the_croupier]

That Nic Cage is braindead is no news to me. At least if he's involved, I can put this film in the category of "can't see", because I will not see another film with him in it, no matter what it is.

But at the risk of piling on, Kali, I don't think we can assume the filmed Jen Walters will even be a lawyer. Megan Fox? In the courtroom? Really?

I think we'd better expect a rather dramatic downsizing in career.

I can't even speak re: Marvel Divas, so won't.

But, yay, for FSOL reference, at least. I still listen to Lifeforms now and again.

[kali921]

Lifeforms was a great release, as was ISDN. I do believe that FSOL's ISDN might have been the very first time that live music was broadcast over the web to multiple sites.

[the_croupier]

!!!

I didn't know that!!

That's awesome.

[kali921]

This is why I am on your flist, dear. Anything I can do to make you sit up and say "!!!" brings me profound pleasure. It's not like you've linked me to cool stuff in the past or enlightened me with tidbits of knowledge or anything. I mean, REALLY.

[bluegreenpen]

As a high school Junior, I wrote a 4,000 page essay on Marvel and the objectification of females, roles, etc... It was kind of a High School thesis, we called it the extended essay.

I could write a WHOLE ANOTHER ESSAY on just that cover. And the implications, and the word diction and... it's TITLE. Dioses =_=

Hey, Aguirre-Sacasa, just a tip: you want to write about "what it means...truly means...to be a woman in an industry dominated by testosterone and guns. (And I mean both the super hero industry and the comic book industry.)"? Get women to write it. And draw it. I'm pretty sure you won't get the naughty, romantic trouble that resembles "Sex in the City". But apparently, women in a male dominated sphere (aka the World)= naughty, fun romance troubles!

I must admit to the sin of having never read She-Hulk, so I can't comment. Except that even I don't think it's about a sexy woman in a bikini throwing cars around.

[bluegreenpen]

I mean 4,000 word essay, not page. *facepalm* Sorry. I'm new to lj, and don't see an Edit button... so here. XD

'Tis fine, no worries!

[kali921]

It's fine, random friendly person. No problem. :-) How did you find this post, by the way?

Hey, Aguirre-Sacasa, just a tip: you want to write about "what it means...truly means...to be a woman in an industry dominated by testosterone and guns. (And I mean both the super hero industry and the comic book industry.)"? Get women to write it. And draw it. I'm pretty sure you won't get the naughty, romantic trouble that resembles "Sex in the City". But apparently, women in a male dominated sphere (aka the World)= naughty, fun romance troubles!

VERY much agreed. Mottoed so hard!

As for She-Hulk, I highly recommend that you read Sensational She-Hulk; it's hysterically funny, well written, and although there's occasional gratuitousness, it's done with such a sense of tongue in cheek playfulness for the most part that I was rarely offended. Plus, it emphasizes Jen's smarts, toughness, and all-around good humor. There was such a sense of joy in that book. Then read Jen's appearances when she was with the Fantastic Four, because that's just

Re: 'Tis fine, no worries!

[bluegreenpen]

This random friendly person has actually followed this place for a while, but never commented. I think I found it through Avalon Willow, if I remember correctly. ^ u ^;; Lurker delurks

[kali921]

Husk maybe

BWAHAHAHAHA random character selection is random! Oh, hon. Heh! <3 <3