Here it is, another bout of movie depression.
And I liked Seth Rogen. His characters (and from what I've seen from interviews, he's not exactly stretching the acting muscle for his roles) are usually affable, goofy guys. Not, perhaps, Rhodes material, but good for a laugh. Not being exactly adverse to the 420 myself from time to time, I've found his roles in movies to usually be just the antidote to the current climate of economic freak-out.
But this latest movie. Oh, herewegoagain. Dammit.
DISCLAIMER: No. I have not rushed out to see this movie. Yes, I know, I usually hate that attitude too. However, my feministic hackles were raised by the previews, and since the following pretty much succintly lays it out, I'm pretty comfortable with saying I'm not going to ever fork out hard earned money for this movie.
(Now, Anna Faris is a whole 'nother rant, and I just don't have the emotional strength.)
And please note: the emphasis on that last bit (oh, yeah, my personal favorite bit!) is mine.
What. The. Fuck?
Hey, shout out to Dan Kois (who wrote this piece): Fuck You. Check back when you are raped, or someone close to you is raped, and let's see how "explosively funny" you think it is then, mkay?
(lifted from NY Mag Vulture column)
Last weekend we were hanging out with a bunch of movie-loving friends who professed no desire to see Observe and Report , Seth Rogen's mall-cop black comedy. "I just don't want to see any movie where the main character's a rapist," one girl said firmly, which caught us by surprise. It's true that the movie's red-band trailer shows him pumping away on an unconscious Anna Faris, but then she stirs and yells, "Did I tell you to stop, motherfucker?" We assumed that once we saw the movie, we'd see some mitigating scenes that, as the Times claims , make it more clear that Brandi, Faris's cosmetics-counter floozy, has given her consent. Surely no studio comedy, no matter how supposedly "dark," would portray its lead character as a rapist, right?
And then we watched it. Spoilers ahead!
"It's like date rape — that's funny, right?" star Anna Faris told New York 's Logan Hill in an interview last week. "Or not … " It turns out that yes, by any reasonable standard of behavior, Seth Rogen's character, Ronnie Barnhardt, totally rapes Faris's Brandi. More surprising is that, in the dark world of Observe and Report , raping Brandi is one of the least unsympathetic things Ronnie Barnhardt does.
The movie doesn't mitigate that sex scene at all. In fact, it makes it even more clear than the trailer does that when Brandi and Ronnie get home from dinner, she's unbelievably trashed on antidepressants and tequila. Not only does she throw up all over the place, she can barely walk — and she certainly can't give any kind of informed consent. She's way too wasted for her yelling at Ronnie to mean anything.
But, given all the horrible things Ronnie does later in the movie — out of spite, or stupidity, or flat-out psychosis — this scene winds up seeming a lot less awful as the movie goes on. For one thing, as horribly misdirected as it becomes, his "courtship" of Brandi is the only thing in Ronnie's life that comes partly from a place of sweetness rather than entirely from a place of darkness. (Sure, plenty of it comes from his sociopath-level desire to wield power over the world, but not all of it.) He may have no idea how to interact properly (or even legally) with a woman, but he's desperate for connection and helpless before her limited charms.
And he even shows a glimmer of self-awareness — after all, mid-rape, he stops for a moment, worried about whether he's doing the right thing. Yeah, he's so deluded and terrified that her drunken reprimand convinces him he is doing the right thing, but at least he thinks about it, which is more than you can say for his behavior in the rest of Observe and Report .
What will audiences think of this scene, which is deeply uncomfortable while also being explosively funny? "I do wonder if there's going to be a bit of a gender divide on this movie," Faris mused. "I think that some guys can see themselves in Ronnie, and understand him, I guess. And I'm not sure that women will go along with that." Hang out at your local multiplex this weekend if you're in the mood to overhear a lot of angry post-movie arguments, as couples debate the totally insane movie they've just seen — a truly dark big-studio comedy in which, yes, Seth Rogen rapes the girl of his dreams.
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Gosh I could write a novel about the multitude of reasons why I hate Seth Rogen.
He made a joke that bulimia was funny. :|
I've seen a lot of interviews of him where he ends up bashing women.
Thanks for the heads up about this movie, btw. If I'd gone and seen it I would've been arguing with the movie theatre manager for a refund on my ticket.
Like we need Seth Rogan legitimizing date rape now.
freaking awesome....
Yikes, I forgot about that whole side of this. Great! Teen boys: date rape is funny, do it! Teen girls: quit complaining, you're ruining the fun!
From what I've read about the movie that might not be the case. In a couple of interviews I saw about the movie he described his character as a "super antihero." Someone that is meant to be despised doing something definitely doesn't immediately point to legitimizing it.
But since neither of us have seen the movie this argument isn't really going to go too far.
I've already commented about the movie itself on another, similar posting.
However, I find it necessary here to not just address the film itself, but Kois' response to it. I don't even know where to begin, or whether it is worth it. It's okay to rape, because he is at least trying to do the right thing? WHAT? And he is doing it "from a place of sweetness"? WTF? Seriously, so, to all of my girlfriends whom have been in stalking situations or violent/abusive relationships, I should comfort them by saying, "There, there, it's just his way of saying he loves you." HELL. NO.
If Kois' repsonse reflects the rest of the world's, we have large reason to be concerned. Please do not be afraid to speak up to people voicing these opinions--feministing has got your back!