Capitalism - Feudalism without the Kings
Movie Monday - Zombieland, Hollywoodland and women who follow the movies
First, I thought I would pass on a bit of true information in this escalating war of words against the Muslim cultural center to be built near the now defunct World Trade Center. It's going to be built on the site of one of the city's most holy sites - a former Burlington Coat Factory store. The horror!
Try to chill, people. This is another issue akin to the grandfather in the Invisible Man saying: The white man always has us chasing our tails.
We have really serious issues to resolve in this country dealing with the poor and unemployed vs. the rich and privileged. I shudder to think that this smoke screen of good old American's bigotry could decide some 2010 elections.
We have really serious issues to resolve in this country dealing with the poor and unemployed vs. the rich and privileged. I shudder to think that this smoke screen of good old American's bigotry could decide some 2010 elections.
But on a happier note: WTF is big-money Hollywood saying about the role of young women in society today when they put them in movies?
Now, some indies nail young women right on. I liked Adventureland. Kristen Stewart's character makes some bad choices and while she ends the movie on an upbeat note, you see the arc of her development so the quasi-happy ending works.
But Zombieland? I finally revisited that movie and I'm still rooting for the zombies to finish off those sisters. What stupid people! In the land of zombies, they trick the two male humans who could help them - not once, but twice.
What's with that lame mission they're on: to reach a really neat amusement park so the younger sister will have some fun in this world filled with zombies! And then, on arrival, they turn on every light and musical device which is a siren song to battalions of zombies who descend on them.
OK, I get it; this is really a horror movie. But are these two twits what Hollywood envisions as the take-charge modern female? They're just a variation of the previous Hollywood female twit who stood there screaming and watching her hero get plummeted by the bad guy.
Which brings me back to the Twilight saga because I think I've found the answer to Hollywood's unrealistic treatment of women while reading the postings on Twilight Lexicon: http://forum.twilightlexicon.com/
First, this is a really good site for anyone who is addicted to the Twilight saga. It's well moderated and even if you think the Twilight books are poorly written, questions are posted here which have these Twilight fans discussing some deep philosophical thoughts - and, of course, some pretty simple thoughts also.
But what really strikes me is the romantic devotion so many of the posters have to the over-the-top relationship between Bella and Edward. (Or, for Team Jacob members, the relationship of Bella and Jacob.) Cripes, one guy's a vampire; the other is a shape-shifter! However, they both do adore Bella. I'd take a dollar for every time I read someone post they would love to trade places with Bella. Wow! I really understand this feeling from adolescent girls; there may ever be a primal trigger which activates this heart-racing, idealized love at a certain age. It's the stuff young girls' dreams are made of.
I'm getting very clear signals, however, that many of these posters are "older", beyond adolescence (way beyond adolescence) women, married women, women who have never had a caring boyfriend, women in abusive relationships, women out of an abusive relationship and many women who stopped their emotional development just at the point when they should have realized men are foible-filled humans; not gods.
So getting back to wacky memes which clutch American society so very often (who can forget that little incident in Salem MA in the early 1600s when young girls accused and the authorities condemned various townspeople as witches and warlocks?), I guess I have to cut Hollywood some slack for their depiction of women. For the major studios, the bottom line has always been money. I'm sure they poll much more extensively than I (well, truth be told, I don't poll, I just read.) This may be just what so, so many women want to see on the silver screen.
Next week, I'm going to expand my quest of the realistic portrayal of young women in movies.
Now, some indies nail young women right on. I liked Adventureland. Kristen Stewart's character makes some bad choices and while she ends the movie on an upbeat note, you see the arc of her development so the quasi-happy ending works.
But Zombieland? I finally revisited that movie and I'm still rooting for the zombies to finish off those sisters. What stupid people! In the land of zombies, they trick the two male humans who could help them - not once, but twice.
What's with that lame mission they're on: to reach a really neat amusement park so the younger sister will have some fun in this world filled with zombies! And then, on arrival, they turn on every light and musical device which is a siren song to battalions of zombies who descend on them.
OK, I get it; this is really a horror movie. But are these two twits what Hollywood envisions as the take-charge modern female? They're just a variation of the previous Hollywood female twit who stood there screaming and watching her hero get plummeted by the bad guy.
Which brings me back to the Twilight saga because I think I've found the answer to Hollywood's unrealistic treatment of women while reading the postings on Twilight Lexicon: http://forum.twilightlexicon.com/
First, this is a really good site for anyone who is addicted to the Twilight saga. It's well moderated and even if you think the Twilight books are poorly written, questions are posted here which have these Twilight fans discussing some deep philosophical thoughts - and, of course, some pretty simple thoughts also.
But what really strikes me is the romantic devotion so many of the posters have to the over-the-top relationship between Bella and Edward. (Or, for Team Jacob members, the relationship of Bella and Jacob.) Cripes, one guy's a vampire; the other is a shape-shifter! However, they both do adore Bella. I'd take a dollar for every time I read someone post they would love to trade places with Bella. Wow! I really understand this feeling from adolescent girls; there may ever be a primal trigger which activates this heart-racing, idealized love at a certain age. It's the stuff young girls' dreams are made of.
I'm getting very clear signals, however, that many of these posters are "older", beyond adolescence (way beyond adolescence) women, married women, women who have never had a caring boyfriend, women in abusive relationships, women out of an abusive relationship and many women who stopped their emotional development just at the point when they should have realized men are foible-filled humans; not gods.
So getting back to wacky memes which clutch American society so very often (who can forget that little incident in Salem MA in the early 1600s when young girls accused and the authorities condemned various townspeople as witches and warlocks?), I guess I have to cut Hollywood some slack for their depiction of women. For the major studios, the bottom line has always been money. I'm sure they poll much more extensively than I (well, truth be told, I don't poll, I just read.) This may be just what so, so many women want to see on the silver screen.
Next week, I'm going to expand my quest of the realistic portrayal of young women in movies.
See you then.
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