April 18, 2024
BYOB
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BYOB: 235 Years Of Relative independence
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It shows how out of it I was in trying to be in it, acknowledging that I was out of it to myself, and then thinking, “Okay, how do I stop being out of it? Well, I get some legitimate illogical narrative ideas” — some novel, you know?
So I decided on three writers that I might be able to option their material and get some producer, or myself as producer, and then get some writer to do a screenplay on it, and maybe make a movie.
And so the three projects were “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep,” “Naked Lunch” and a collection of Bukowski. Which, in 1975, forget it — I mean, that was nuts. Hollywood would not touch any of that, but I was looking for something commercial, and I thought that all of these things were coming.
There would be no Blade Runner if there was no Ray Bradbury. I couldn’t find Philip K. Dick. His agent didn’t even know where he was. And so I gave up.
I was walking down the street and I ran into Bradbury — he directed a play that I was going to do as an actor, so we know each other, but he yelled “hi” — and I’d forgot who he was.
So at my girlfriend Barbara Hershey’s urging — I was with her at that moment — she said, “Talk to him! That guy really wants to talk to you,” and I said “No, fuck him,” and keep walking.
But then I did, and then I realized who it was, and I thought, “Wait, he’s in that realm, maybe he knows Philip K. Dick.” I said, “You know a guy named—” “Yeah, sure — you want his phone number?”
My friend paid my rent for a year while I wrote, because it turned out we couldn’t get a writer. My friends kept on me about, well, if you can’t get a writer, then you write.”
~ Hampton Fancher
“That was the most disappointing thing to me in how this thing was played. Is that I’m on the phone with you now, after all that’s been said, and the fundamental distinction between what James is dealing with in these other cases is not actually brought to the fore. The fundamental difference is that James Franco didn’t seek to use his position to have sex with anyone. There’s not a case of that. He wasn’t using his position or status to try to solicit a sexual favor from anyone. If he had — if that were what the accusation involved — the show would not have gone on. We would have folded up shop and we would have not completed the show. Because then it would have been the same as Harvey Weinstein, or Les Moonves, or any of these cases that are fundamental to this new paradigm. Did you not notice that? Why did you not notice that? Is that not something notable to say, journalistically? Because nobody could find the voice to say it. I’m not just being rhetorical. Why is it that you and the other critics, none of you could find the voice to say, “You know, it’s not this, it’s that”? Because — let me go on and speak further to this. If you go back to the L.A. Times piece, that’s what it lacked. That’s what they were not able to deliver. The one example in the five that involved an issue of a sexual act was between James and a woman he was dating, who he was not working with. There was no professional dynamic in any capacity.
~ David Simon
Finally had some time yesterday to see Kick-Ass.
Whatever anyone thinks of the movie…whatever any of the criticism is…
Chloe Moretz’s Hit Girl is one of the most fully realized plot driving supporting characters I have ever seen. If ever there was a performance that should be a lock for an Academy Award nomination wild card…this should be it. What she and Vaughn pull off with her is not easy. You take her seriously and she is neither sexualized nor turned into a joke.
Cage was also wonderful and this film had a father/daughter subtext that it took very seriously and made the film a delight. Perhaps the best American film I have seen yet this year.
The character of Hit Girl is not going to be forgotten in the halls of film history any time soon and will most likely become a true cult character.
Haven’t enjoyed a film that much in a long time.
I liked the character, I just wish she had a little more dimension and reality.
What do you mean by that?
Can’t say I agree with you about her not being sexualized — the final scene of her entering the lobby as a schoolgirl was close to fetish/fantasy territory as it gets.
Of course, I didn’t like the movie at all, a situation not helped by a giggling fat fanboy sitting two rows in front of me, laughing his ass off at all that “cartoon” violence.
In fact, it’s a sign of the creative bankruptcy in our culture right now that this movie is being celebrated at all.
(Sorry.)
MediaGurlllll,
“…laughing his ass off at all that “cartoon” violence”
I actually found the violence in QT’s Kill Bill movies to be far more cartoon like in wanting you to laugh at it. Kick-Ass has, on it surface, the trappings of that…pop music, fast edits etc. But when the big death occurs two thirds of the way through…it is played for real emotion and for keeps. It is tragic and humiliating how this character dies and it really works to motivate the group to the third act.
When the internet torture scene happens it is played for real, not comic tension, and when Hit Girl appears on the scene the stakes are high.
This is not a throw away piece of fluff. Is it fantasy? Of course. But it takes a very real fantasy premise, that of becoming a real life “superhero” and takes a look at how that might play out in reality; if a film like version of reality.
As for the school girl scene, it was far too brief and short for it to register as anything significant for me. It’s over in a flash and makes sense given what Hit Girl has been through. She is toying with the villains and her dialogue reflects that.
“In fact, it’s a sign of the creative bankruptcy in our culture right now that this movie is being celebrated at all. ”
I get why some will not like this film. It is a true cult film. But I do not think it is a sign of creative bankruptcy. Quite the opposite. If it was creatively bankrupt it probably would have found a larger audience.
thanks for the spoiler warning, nic, for those of us who haven’t yet seen kick-ass. i realise there should be a statute of limitations for spoilers but something that’s been out for a week there surely merits the consideration
In Nicol’s defense, he goes from the vague to the more specific detailing in a way that should set off someone’s spidey sense that plot details were going to get talked about.
I really loved Hit Girl’s part in the movie too, but I never liked her Hit Girl voice when she was in costume/character. I thought it was just as lame and cartoony as Christian Bale’s Batman grumble, kind of like Jim Carrey doing a Dirty Harry impression. So when she (spoiler?) utters the infamous cunts line in the movie, I just thought, “aw dammit, so much for the coolest line of the year”. So for that issue alone, I’d say her performance is great but not ALL TIME GREAT.
For goodness’ sake — if an actual school-aged girl can’t wear a schoolgirl outfit without somebody saying it sexualizes her, there’s something wrong.
Might as well accuse anyone playing a nurse or stewardess of the same thing in every instance.
“In Nicol’s defense, he goes from the vague to the more specific detailing in a way that should set off someone’s spidey sense that plot details were going to get talked about.”
really, hallick? this is a byob, not a kick-ass thread where one knows to enter at your own risk. nicol says, “I actually found the violence in QT’s Kill Bill movies to be far more cartoon like in wanting you to laugh at it. Kick-Ass has, on it surface, the trappings of that…pop music, fast edits etc.” before giving away a big death. how is this a warning so that i should know huge plot spoilers are to immediately ensue?
It’s weak sauce.
Boy, Luke, you and I are on different pages today.
Would you really argue that the movie-movie subtext, which is certainly a sexualized one, in that sequence was unintentional?
“It’s weak sauce.”
Please never use this douchey, Dave Matthews HORDE fest hackey-sack stoner Rusted Root Why You Gotta Give Me The Runaround beardo expression ever again. Again.
On topic: KICK-ASS is the best movie of 2010 and KICK-ASS’S HOT GIRLFRIEND gave me a BONER especially when he put lotion on her back.
I’d like to put some lotion on her back if you know what I mean.
YEP. Also: Nicol is correct in all of his points. As usual.
aw, lex’s lips are caressing nic’s bum fluff. as usual
I would concur about the greatness of KICK ASS … other than that line in Greenberg “I hope I die before I meet one of you in a job interview” …. all the year’s great lines are in KA … “If you need to contact us call the mayor’s office – they send out a signal in the sky. It’s in the shape of a giant cock.”
OK, guys and gals — I am finally breaking down and buying a big-screen, HD TV. I want to buy a Blu-Ray player, too. But my son insists I would be better off spending a little more and getting a PS3 instead. He says I could play Blu-Rays and regular DVDs, and access the Net for downstreaming — and also play games. (Actually, he’s the one who wants the latter, because he already has an X-Box in his room on his big-screen HD TV.) What I want to know is: Is a PS3 simple to operate? With a remote? Like a regular DVD player? (You can tell I’m a real tech whiz, right?)
The short answer is “yes” – although it depends what package you buy whether it comes with a remote, and it does have some compatibility issues with certain flavours of universal remote.
The longer answer is “how much time does your son want to spend playing with the PS3?”. The family disputes over who gets to use it when may be worth using your executive authority to buy a vanilla blu-ray.
“how is this a warning so that i should know huge plot spoilers are to immediately ensue?”
Because what Nicol’s referring to doesn’t have any context other than the timing of the event in the movie, and therefore it doesn’t really rank as that huge a spoiler. You can’t actually tell which character he’s talking about from that statement without some lucky guesswork. Additionally, he was responding to a complaint about “Kick Ass”, so even if he led with “Kill Bill”, again, not a surprise he’d turn back to KA and cite an example for his rebuttal.
It’s actually quite a good way to talk about what happens without giving away anything other than a plot turn that’s hardly a shock for happening at that point in this kind of movie. If I’d read that cold without having seen the film, I’d be more intrigued to see it thanks to that.
You know what grossed me out seeing Kick-Ass is that coming out of it, you could tell who reads the internet. There were some guys loudly talking about how what the read was right, was the movie supposed to be funny, was it serious, was it blabidy blah blah. I gotta say fool, if you don’t know what that movie was doing then you be dumb as a muthafucka (still be watching The Wire).
ok but i don’t agree, hallick, i think it was a thoughtless move
joe, i highly recommend the PS3 for the blu-ray player, which plays pretty much all disks and even upscales regular dvd picture quality if your tv is HD (i have a HD home projector and the picture quality from the PS3 is of a very high standard); here you usually have to buy the blu-ray remote control separately, which operates the same as a dvd remote, but even if you don’t get the blu-ray remote you can operate the player quite simply with the game controller. plus the gaming is brilliant, my offspring and i have been battling it out in arkham asylum lately and its sick and twisted fun for all the family. my 2 cents anyway
I’ll second all the comments here — get a PS3, instead of a Blu-Ray player. I have it set up and I use the Sony Bluetooth remote. It’s just like a DVD player.
Also, you can play Netflix On Demand (if you order the free DVD that has to be present in the drive when using the service). As for gaming, there are cute, simple games on the PlayStation store that you can play with your kids.
One thing to remember — get the cheapest HDMI cable in the store. That means no Monster Cable. Digital is 1 or 0; you don’t benefit from gold-plated cables or whatever.
“The family disputes over who gets to use it when may be worth using your executive authority to buy a vanilla blu-ray.” Don’t think I haven’t thought about that. But he swears he’ll want to play it long after I’ve gone to sleep.
Gurl & Leah — gee, sounds like the pairing for a new cop show — I really don’t like using a game controller as a remote. Maybe it’s just my techno-klutziness, but I find it hard to pause and rewind when I need to double check credits while I’ve viewing a DVD screener for reviewing purposes. I don’t want to get angry or even frustrated in situations like that because, well, I don’t want to run the risk of my anger even slightly coloring my response to the film itself.
Joe, the Sony Bluetooth remote mentioned earlier is exactly like a DVD remote. You have to buy it separately from the PS3, but it’s well worth it if you’re gonna watch movies (it’s about $20, I think).
I concur… PS3 is still the best way in, though you can now get a Sony blu-ray player for half the price as the PS3. And many of the stand-alones have the Netflix connection – with wi-fi – built in.
But your kid wants to game… so spent the extra $150 and get the PS3. And buy the remote for $20, which is just like a regular remote except that you can’t turn off the power on the machine with it.
We have two PS3s in our most used rooms… and the Tobey Maguire free Blu-ray in a third. The free one, which retails around $200 and can get on Netflix without a disc, is fine. But it plays no games.
“Boy, Luke, you and I are on different pages today.
Would you really argue that the movie-movie subtext, which is certainly a sexualized one, in that sequence was unintentional?”
I can see how it can be interpreted as such, if we assume that Flemyng’s character is somehow obviously a huge perv (which is not a given, but since this is a movie of extremes, that doesn’t matter too much).
But do I think it was the predominant thing I was supposed to take from that scene? No. I thought she was cute in the manner of kids that are cute, and appealing on that level — and to Flemyng’s better nature, rather than worst — as opposed to anything nastier. (Maybe because I actually attended a school with uniforms, so I’m used to them in non-sexual context? Just a thought)
Knowing Millar’s dirty mind, he probably thought otherwise. But I don’t think it’s a slam-dunk as to what Vaughn thought, though I’ll change my mind, obviously, if he’s quoted somewhere talking expressly about it.
“Please never use this douchey, Dave Matthews HORDE fest hackey-sack stoner Rusted Root Why You Gotta Give Me The Runaround beardo expression ever again. Again”
Like I listen to Dave Matthews. You’re the expert on crappy music here.
To answer Nicol’s question from yesterday, which I didn’t see until just now: While I was highly amused at Chloe Moretz’s performance in terms of her energy and spunk, I never for once believed in her as a ‘real character’ in anything but the most cartoonish, fantasy terms (and no, I didn’t see her as sexualized, but maybe that’s just me?).
I mean, I don’t think psychological truth was high on the list of Vaughn’s priorities. If the movie had gone a little farther with the idea that all four of the superhero characters are different degrees of insane, with Mark Strong as the bewildered straight man to all of them, the film would have had greater integrity for me. But it didn’t, so for me it ends up as entertaining, disposable fluff.
Yeah, the PS3 is outstanding. And you’re pretty tech savvy, Joe, so you won’t have any problems handling it. It has some really good games, too. Not sure if you’re into that at all, but Sony is releasing a motion controller this fall in the hopes of attracting the Wii crowd. (MS is doing the same for the Xbox 360.) The PS3 is also the most easily upgraded player because of the Wi-Fi; all updates are downloaded right to it. Sony just updated the firmware to enable 3D gaming; 3D BD playback is coming later this year.
The only downside is the remote. The buttons are tiny and it’s not backlit, so it can be hard to use. But you get used to it. So yeah, get the PS3. For $299 (120 GB) or $349 (250 GB), it’s one of the best tech bargains ever. Order it from Amazon and it’ll be at your door in a few days.
I’ve only just got a PS3 after a few years of prevarication and I’m really impressed but not for any of the previously mentioned reasons. It’s a good Blu Ray player and an excellent games machine, for sure but it did something else I’d never heard about; when I set it up, it immediately found my household wireless network and then asked to scan the other computers in the house for playable media. I have lots of TV and DVD’s backed up on my hard drives which it located and streamed seamlessly through the TV. All of a sudden my whole archive is a useable resource whereas previously it was only playable through monitor screens or using miles of cables. It’s totally changed how we watch TV and movies. Maybe other systems do it but this is the one that made it so easy.
Geez, I don’t know. Will it automatically download all my stored porn onto my PS3?
One thing I’ve already found about the PS3 (my girlfriend has one) is that, much like my PS2, it refused to play a screener from the Newport Beach Film Fest, claiming it was in PAL (it wasn’t).
The same disc played fine on my computer.
Given that I rely often on home-burned screeners, an actual dedicated machine specifically for DVDs is still a must…and I suspect the same may be true if and when everything goes Blu-Ray.
berg-
That signal in the sky line pissed me off because they TALK about it and never SHOW it. Plus, I snagged like 5 keychains with the cock on them at SXSW so I could sell them on ebay when the movie dropped. Now, no one knows what they mean!!
And LYT-
If Hit-Girl was just supposed to be cute, why not have her stroll into the lobby in footy pajamas?? It’s sexualized. That Britney Spears video has forever sexualized the schoolgirl outfit.
And Nicol-
I find it HILARIOUS you think the action in KICK-ASS isn’t a direct descendant (or rip off) of the action in KILL BILL. In typical Nicol fashion, you see what you want and are incapable if seeing the truth.
Joe, not exactly download, but you can definitely get it on there.
People have unsecured filesharing enabled on their devices? Crazy…
If IO has been banned, I vote for his reinstatement just for Dave’s IM2 review. It could be a Hot Blog reply-breaker.
JESSICA ALBA’S BIRTHDAY.
BOW. Later on I will be “celebrating” it.
FOURTH HOTTEST WOMAN IN THE HISTORY OF TIME.
ALBA POWER.
I may be getting tempted: Just looked at a few minutes of a Blu-Ray of The Professionals — with badass Lee Marvin — on a borrowed PS3 plugged into my son’s HD TV.
Get the PS3 but keep a backup DVD player.
Definitely.
If you decide to get a standalone Blu-Ray player, the ones from Oppo are very highly rated by the videophile community.
I HAVE AN IMPORTANT POINT TO MAKE:
I love Kristen Stewart.
Sometimes on my screenwriting notebook I draw little hearts with her name in it.
She is so beautiful.
for anyone wondering “what’s that foocker wikus up to at the mo?”
(i want one of them ‘prawns have rights too’ tees)
http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/b13ef0bac2/wikus-and-charlize?rel=player
COPLEY POWER he RULES.
i’m going to make my directorial debut with a flick starring sharlto, sam, karl and cliff playing scruffy idiot flatmates who plan a heist of the enzed gold reserve but of course it all goes terribly wrong and snowballs out of control, during which time mayhem and moronicism ensues with holden V8 car chases, escape thru the bush, a misunderstanding with the tangata whenua and bogans galore, all which our four intrepid nitwits somehow manage to scrape thru graced with the good luck reserved for babies and drunks, rescued in the end by a mysterious blonde in a red convertible with a boot-full of beer chillin on ice (that would be my cameo). not sure about the title yet, too bad ‘idiocracy’ is taken. in cinemas summer 2011 (or winter, depending on your hemi)
i forgot chris evans, he can play the fifth flatmate, ‘the clueless yank’
the marketing campaign will be rife with name-checking and misguided oscar-whoring so chucky will not be one of the 12 people to actually go see it, in spite of the fact it plays in the one jersey theatre reserved for upmarket arthouse fare (and to his lasting chagrin the legion of doom loves it and makes it a cult-ish hit on dvd)
Needs more Shortland Street people.
I’ve always liked the title “The Notorious Gods of Larceny”. You can have it you like Leahnz.
Yeah, sure, Hit Girl was sexualized…that is if your sexual fantasies/liaisons include girls who are CRYING!!
Hey Lex, wasn’t it also Pen
David… what “movie/movie subtext” are you talking about?
There’s not one thing in “Kick-Ass” that puts Hit Girl in anything resembling a sexual context. She is a school-aged girl, and uses the uniform to appear helpless when she’s trying to get into the building. No one’s reaction to her in that scene implies anything like an attraction to her. Instead, it suggests that Flemyng’s character has a decent side and that he’s trying to help a lost little girl.
I honestly believe that only people who have issues with underage girls would look at anything involving Moretz in “Kick-Ass” as sexual.
Don… you are kidding about not seeing the signal in the sky, right?
The mayor’s office doesn’t have a signal. And it’s not shaped like a giant cock. That was Hit Girl treating Kick-Ass like he’s a moron.
I’m going to assume you did understand that, because the idea that you actually thought there was a cock signal is as depressing as your contention that every little girl who wears a school uniform is, by definition, sexualized because a music video from 15 years ago.
And no, Bridget whatsherface does NOT warrant a mention w/the aforementioned birthday women. Not only is she not in the same league but I had to create a separate entry to assure her not being discussed in the same breath as the others.
1) Triple Option: Penelope Cruz? Sorry, not even in the same league at ALBA POWER. Not even the same fucking SPORT. She’s hot if you like camp hens YELLING in a SHRILL VOICE. Nah, she’s a pretty good actress and VERY charming and somewhat sexy, but ALBA is a LEGEND.
Who’s “Bridget”?
2) Drew is right about this. This sleazy shit you guys are reading into Hit Girl didn’t even enter the equation. That’s LexG saying that, whose 3rd favorite actress is Dakota Fanning and has a countdown clock on my desk calendar for Taylor Momsen and AnnaSophia Robb.
Sight unseen, I was thinking the schoolgirl outfit would be provocative, but it’s very goofy, harmless and true to the impish persona she affects to get into that lobby. HG might as well have come into the building in a Girl Scout uniform or Brownie costume. It’s whimsical, goofy, and utterly innocuous.
DREW POWER.
Wait, Bridget Moynahan????
Hotter than Cruz.
This schoolgirl-outfit conversation makes me think that it says more about the participants than about the movie itself (I had the same thoughts about the raging arguments over Hostel 2).
foamy: only one shorty alum allowed per movie! (in this case urban, or so i’ve heard, i never saw it)
“I’ve always liked the title “The Notorious Gods of Larceny”. You can have it you like Leahnz.”
wow super cool title, hcat, thanks (a nice use of irony in this case and far superior to the literal-minded alternative, “the infamous dolts of the five-finger discount”)
Has this rule been instituted while I wasn’t looking? I’m not sure there’s ebeen an enzed film since aboot 1995 that only had one person from shortass street.
Have to disagree with Lex about Cruz. I always thought she looked a little like a muppet until Volver and then Wham!!!! one of the absolute most womanly women on screen right now. She backed it up with Vicki Christina and a wonderful turn in Elegy. She is really one of the most smoking hot women at the moment.
I have to admit it always helps if I find the woman to be a great actress. I get the Alba/Beihl love but how can you stand to watch them onscreen?
HEY LUSHNZ or KAMIKAZE:
Since you are both from Australia YOUR COUNTRYWOMAN ORIANTHI is THE HOTTEST CHICK IN THE HISTORY OF THE WORLD (except for K-Stew and Megan Fox.)
HOLY BONER. Especially when she PLAYS HER LITTLE GUITAR, it makes me so excited. SHE IS HOT.
And PROOF POSITIVE THAT:
1) AUSTRALIA RULES.
2) Anyone who is awesome from AUSTRALIA gets the fuck out of that shithole and moves to AMERICA.
AMERICA NUMBER ONE.
ORIANTHI POWER. SO HOT. Plus her FINGERS are AROUSING.
LOOK OUT SWIFTY, you have some cum-petition as far as my most-bonerrific MUSIC CHICK.
I wish K-STEW and ORIANTHI would DO A DUET.
a) You know that NZ isn’t part of Australia, right?
b) Congratulations on being the last person to the Orianthi party. 😉
c) We await your return after you’ve googled Ruby Rose and The Veronicas.
a) It’s all the same bullshit. Is NZ like the capital of Australia or something? I LIVE IN AMERICA SO I DON’T CARE.
b) I’ve known who she is for months but her SINGLE is what won me over.
c) Don’t condescend to me, prick.
a) Yes. Also, foreign countries are run by the Illuminati. They just pretend to act quaint for the American tourists.
b) Fair enough.
c) I’m still waiting.
d) There is no d.
Fuck off, douchebag.
Eat a fucking dick.
You are banned from ever addressing me again. Tool.
No.
If you don’t know who they are, then I’d suggest you google them. They’re kinda your style. If you do know who they are, then google them anyway. Why not?
Drew-
I was going off the assumption there was a “cock signal” because there was one projected outdoors at SXSW at the “Kick-Ass” party and they had keychains. Seemed like a pretty elaborate inside joke to do all that for a throw-away line in the movie, but maybe you’re right. I just assumed it was from the comic.
And again, young girls in schoolgirl outfits are a sexualized thing nowadays. It’s a signifier and if not then again, why not put her in pigtails and a rainbows and unicorns shirt? Why not put her in footie pajamas? I totally agree that no one responded to her in a lascivious manner, but I still think it’s there. Not saying it was Vaughan’s idea, I just figured it was taken from the comic.
I guess you don’t *have* to take a schoolgirl outfit that way if you’re trying to defend something or it just doesn’t register to you that way. But if strippers are rocking that outfit on a normal basis, I’d err on the side of “it’s creepy.”
Jesus, I just googled “hit girl schoolgirl” and am thanking God I wasn’t at work.
Back in the real world the trade press buried a story: Paramount has rush-released “Iron Man 2” overseas to avoid the World Cup.
I didn’t bring up the schoolgirl outfit. I just spoke to it.
I don’t think Hit girl is sexualized in the movie.
However, plaid schoolgirl dresses in movies mean something. Sorry. You can argue all you want, but it’s kind of like saying there is no movie subtext to a man slowly stroking a cat while talking about his plans.
Did Vaughn want audiences thinking about screwing a 12 year old? Obviously not.
Was the first thing I flashed on when I saw her walk in with that skirt on Kill Bill? Yes. Hit girl is an assassin and she, like the woman in Kill Bill, is wearing an outfit that mocks her intent on some level.
Of course, there really is no sexual subtext in the outfit in Kill Bill either. I don’t recall any shots of her skirt flipping in slow motion to show her little schoolgirl panties. But many men are aroused by the kink of a killer in schoolgirl garb and that actress, in particular.
I just think you are being overly defensive of a movie you like that’s been under all kinds of attack, Drew. I don’t think the outfit is a problem. But to say that it means nothing is to protest too much… especially when what does work about the movie and the concept is that presumed identities are endlessly being turned upside down.
A side note: I recently read Ebert’s review of Straw Dogs… same reaction as he had to Kick-Ass. That should make Matthew feel a bit better about the reception from some critical corners.
Actually, Dave, I’m being defensive because I believe in the text of the movie being the text of the movie.
Again, I ask if you honestly think every eleven year old girl in the country who wears a school uniform is automatically an object of sexual desire because of their outfit.
If your answer is “yes,” you have the problem.
If the answer is “no,” then I don’t accept that the outfit alone sexualizes Hit Girl, no matter what baggage an individual walks in with. I never thought of that scene in that way until other critics started writing about “the obvious sexualization.”
Maybe I’m just an idiot for actually taking the text at its word and for looking at an eleven year old girl as an eleven year old girl. Call me crazy.
And the “Kill Bill” comparison is inaccurate. If it’s a 20-something actress dressed as a schoolgirl, I agree with you… that is fetish wear, no matter the context.
If it is an actual child dressed that way, then I strongly disagree. Then I think context is absolutely necessary to determine intent.
With all due respect, Drew… seriously with respect… bullshit.
If you want to run the game of making one thing – that’s hardly a reach – into EVERYTHING, you can. But it’s bullshit.
If you honestly think that every eleven year old in the country who wears a school uniform and murders dozens of men while spewing clever lines is actually being emotionally abused by their parent…
She is not every kid in a uniform. The text of the movie is not all literal. It’s a movie. A fanatastical movie that plays off of movie and comic book language and history endlessly.
I don’t think anyone said, “Ohhh… a schoolgirl uniform… Matthew Vaughn wants us all to be child molesters.”
And actually, the idea of Hit Girl using something as gross as a perverse response to school skirts would not be remotely out of line for this movie. It would actually fix. How bad are the bad guys? A 12 year old can get them hot. Okay.
Same with the underage girl who “meets the drug dealer at the needle exchange.” It just sits there. Not a big point. Not really clarified. Your explanation is ok… but not only don’t I buy it, but it’s a less interesting road for the movie.
You’re not an idiot at all for taking an 11 year old to be an 11 year old. But to pretend that this movie, with all the extreme stuff she does, is all as simple as The Text… yeah… kinda crazy. And really, reductive of the filmmaking.
But Drew, does the average 11 year old wear a leather top and crazy wigs? I’m not saying DP’s right, but maybe not entirely wrong either.
Note: I didn’t start this skirt thing. Someone else, I think Don, started it. And I am not very concerned about it. But to say “if you think it, you must be a perv” is very unfair.
And Drew… again, you are making something literal out of something conceptual. And you aren’t dumb. So I know you must be doing it willfully.
Why is a 20something in a schoolgirl uniform fetish? That’s in your head too. I assume we are all past “I could see her bra through her top… she was asking for it.” Women can wear what they like. Any skirt above mid-thigh on a grown woman is a little kinky.
But my point is… we are talking about Movie Language. And you are saying, “That doesn’t count.” And you are saying it in regards to a movie that is steeped to its marrow in movie language references. This isn’t some vanilla film where a girl is in a uniform and some guy goes, “that’s kinda weird.”
Am I supposed to take the giant microwave or the flying suit or the red car or the ability of Hit Girl to do endless destruction literally as well?
Let’s not even get into whether Natalie Portman was sexualized in The Professional…
I too am not concerned, I was just responding some someone else who mentioned it. Nothing in “Kick-Ass” morally angered me, the boring pace is what ticked me off.
And Drew, she isn’t “dressing as a school girl” to go to school like some 11 year old at a private school. She’s BEING dressed as a school girl by a director. If you don’t think that look has been co-opted by pervs and thus inevitably has that effect, you’re in denial.
**POSSIBLE SPOILER ALERT**
And how can you “look at an 11 year old girl as an 11 year old girl” when she’s been crafted throughout the film to be a wolf in sheeps clothing?
You’re looking at a character who has been shot in the chest and brutally killed a bunch of bad guys?? She’s never been meant to be seen as anything but a pawn for her dads revenge and then as a killing machine. She was dressed as an eleven year old when her dad blows 2 bullets into her chest (puffy, down jacket) so we’d all get that she’s just a kid but you’re just being silly if you think the schoolgirl outfit isn’t based in some sexual area. And it’s also very, VERY much a play on the Kill-Bill stuff.
Of course there’s a sexual component to the relationship in “The Professional.” It’s the text of the film. Matilda overtly propositions Leon in Besson’s cut of the film, and Leon’s entire response to her is based on how uncomfortable she makes him. She’s desperate to grow up, and well aware of the burgeoning power she has over men in general in their reactions to her.
That’s the text.
And I didn’t call you a pervert, David. But if you can’t understand the difference between a 20-year-old dressed up as a child and a child dressed as a child, then I’d argue you really aren’t able to parse material very well.
Again… you say “Well, what if she was wearing the uniform to get the bad guys hot?” If that WAS the scene, then yes, I’d agree that there was a sexual subtext to what she’s wearing.
That’s not the scene. That’s not in the film. Neither explicitly or implicitly. It’s just not there. Not in any of the behavior from any of the characters onscreen. At all.
So you can call me crazy if you’d like. But I’m confident that reading the ACTUAL text of the film is more accurate that projecting all of my “what ifs” onto it and then pretending that’s the director’s intent.
Don…
I’m not in denial. I’m also not a pedophile who immediately makes every image of a child into a sexual image, no matter what outfit a stripper in the real world or a singer in a decade-old music video wears.
My son attends a school where all the girls wear uniforms that are identical to what Hit Girl wears for six minutes of the film. And oddly, I’m able to pick him up from school without assuming that every single one of those little girls is “asking for it.”
But obviously the school administration, who DRESSED THEM IN THOSE UNIFORMS, knows what they’re doing. Dirty bastards. Right? And obviously they did it because of “Kill Bill.”
Thanks for clearing that up for me.
**SPOILER WARNING***
In the context of the film, Hit Girl was dressed as a school girl to purposefully convey innocence. It was to make the mobsters fall for her. If she’d come skipping in in that outfit like some Girls Gone Wild video it ruined the intent of the scene, which was to have a child play on sympathy of the hardened thugs to gain access. The point was to allow for others around her to completely drop their defenses. I don’t care how many times you’ve seen a stripper circle a pole in a plaid skirt, you see a child in a school girl uni, you’re not gonna think, “I better watch it, she could be strapped.”
The school girl uni is the most obvious visual representation for innocence outside of a nun habit, which, even for that movie would’ve been exceptionally ridiculous. After twenty-five years of Angel, Alicia Silverstone and Britney, sure it’s hard to imagine the get up is being used as its original intent but in this case that was the motivating factor. You can cry on-the-nose for a juxtaposition of an 11 yr old killer, like a priest assassin but it’s not to make her seem more adult or appeal to fettish. Just the opposite.
From what we’d seen in the movie from that point, I get how it may seem hard to call a rose a rose but by the context of the story and how she comes across in the scene, I contend that it’s not sexualized. I’ll admit, from the publicity stills I had seen, I thought there was going to be a little something inappropriate/pervy going on there but then seeing it play out, not only did I not see anything there but it made sense as to its function.
** Spoiler OUT***
Maybe you guys should’ve fixated this hard on Kick-Ass’s BOMB-ASS GIRLFRIEND.
YEP YEP GOOD BACK.