what is not to love about jason stathan? he's big, bald, english and built like a Hummer. in his movies, he always looks good, cars go fast and shit blows up. but, sometimes, you really wish his movies made some little effort to have a woman in it who didn't make you wish she was strapped to dynamite, no matter how cutely freckled she is.
(or, more appropriately, burn with the desire to see luc besson strapped to dynamite. the female characters he writes seem to be perpetually adolescent, burdened with a number of developmental challenges, and who respond in ways that are completely unattached to what is actually taking place around them.)
i can appreciate a well-choreographed car chase like any other but Transporter 3 was stupidly, lamely, idiotically and typically sexist.
though i have dwindling faith in male scriptwriters to write female characters with actual brains anytime soon, perhaps someone will pay attention:
1. if a female character was the adult daughter of a high ranking government official, mightn't she have a much better education than the average Ibiza party girl and not be so evidently vacuous?
2. in times of life-threatening stress, a believable woman would not get coy and refuse to offer important, relevant information that might help keep her and a companion alive.
3. knowing that her life depends on surving a treacherous road trip, an interesting and believable woman would not choose a random moment to waste time and drop ecstasy, swig vodka and demand her driver perform a strip tease for her.
4. somewhat related, during a kidnapping, it is not at all probable that a woman would demand a pit stop to seduce and have sex with her fellow kidnap victim/driver.
5. and if a pit stop was necessary, it would be to change from the high heels and party dress to more appropriate action gear that would allow one to, you know, run or something.
6. unless she has undergone brain damage, a more believable and less annoying female character would be a lot more interested in crisis resolution and not let the big guy do all the heavy lifting. for instance, instead of ineffectually screaming in the backseat while being re-kidnapped, perhaps one would be a little bit more focused on stopping the car.
geez, i hate sexism.
3 comments:
so just how far does this striptease go? are we talking full frontal?
as to the sexism... they are writing for the target audience of teenaged, hormone-riddled boys and that sort of writing is what fills the theaters (hopefully).
Sadly, sexism isn't going away any faster than homophobia or racism.
*just* got back from the theater seeing this one, and all I have to say to this post is *yes*. What you said. Thank you.
you know, i call shenanigans on the target audience argument.
by now dudes should know that women go to action movies just as much as men; we may not go for the same reasons, but we go. we rent the movies, we purchase the films on cable, we go with our girlfriends, our boyfriends, our dads and our brothers.
some comic book dude said to me, 'well, since i don't go see these films for the portrayal of women it doesn't bother me as much.'
i wanted to rip his head off. it's clear the woman isn't even that necessary to the plot; they could have kidnapped a 9 year old girl and it would have been a better movie, in fact. since her part is so superfluous, then why write it?
just to have some tits and legs flashing around. and dudes who just shrug are like, 'you mean tits and legs aren't supposed to be decorative?' gaah. no wonder comic book boys are, fundamentally, underdeveloped twits.
anyway, despite my disgruntled feminist feathers, i am going to indulge in my love of action movies and also get in line to see Fast/Furious 4. (or is it 3?)
michelle rodriquez will kick ass and not be some stoopid chick in a skirt who can't do shit except awkwardly shake her girly bits.
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