Thanks! We don't even need to reach back to the 70s, though, in case people say that such characters are aberrations that are cited too often. Just look in the past decade!
I'm not sure I buy the idea that Rogue One is universally beloved and Last Jedi is universally hated, just going off what I've seen on the internet. (I've actually never seen any of the Star Wars, other than when a boyfriend dragged me to The Force Awakens.) Far as I can tell they enjoy a similar status as "the Star Wars that deliberately slags off the idea of being a Star War" and are beloved among a certain group of people who kind of like these movies but hate the I-recognize-that-reference autofellatio of the franchise post-Disney-acquisition, but hated by people who are really into the Glup Shitto stuff. (You may be more tuned into this stuff than I am, admittedly.)
I think what's really going on under the surface is that generally speaking, people have an instinctive sense of whether a film is good or bad, but they lack the language to articulate why a film is good or bad on artistic grounds. So they instead turn to isms - is this movie too feminist? is this movie not feminist enough? "Go woke go broke" is obviously a very hot (and dumb) school of criticism right now, but on the other side of the aisle Marxism - or what passes for it on the internet - holds a similar appeal. (I have definitely seen people say "Star Wars isn't good anymore because capitalism," which is very funny, the idea that something like Return of the Jedi was not a toy commercial.) Ideology fills the vacuum left by aesthetics.
Sure, Rogue One has some detractors, but by now, most people consider it the best Disney Star Wars movie. And while The Last Jedi isn't universally hated (it does have its incredibly annoying fans), it's certainly extremely divisive and subject to all sorts of analyses, both for and against, that it doesn't deserve as a forgettable movie.
I agree that people have an instinctive sense of what makes a movie, or other cultural work, good or bad. But the problem now is that there are sometimes overriding concerns, like which ideological team any given movie has come to represent. So some people find themselves having to pretend they like or dislike something, or risk criticism or even ostracization from their group.
Unless you change economic terms, no amount of scolding on the one hand, or virtue signaling and moral preening on the other, will change the way people actually live.
Great piece. Women can’t be action-oriented heroines? Tell that to Sigourney Weaver- Alien came out more than FORTY years ago!
Thanks! We don't even need to reach back to the 70s, though, in case people say that such characters are aberrations that are cited too often. Just look in the past decade!
I'm not sure I buy the idea that Rogue One is universally beloved and Last Jedi is universally hated, just going off what I've seen on the internet. (I've actually never seen any of the Star Wars, other than when a boyfriend dragged me to The Force Awakens.) Far as I can tell they enjoy a similar status as "the Star Wars that deliberately slags off the idea of being a Star War" and are beloved among a certain group of people who kind of like these movies but hate the I-recognize-that-reference autofellatio of the franchise post-Disney-acquisition, but hated by people who are really into the Glup Shitto stuff. (You may be more tuned into this stuff than I am, admittedly.)
I think what's really going on under the surface is that generally speaking, people have an instinctive sense of whether a film is good or bad, but they lack the language to articulate why a film is good or bad on artistic grounds. So they instead turn to isms - is this movie too feminist? is this movie not feminist enough? "Go woke go broke" is obviously a very hot (and dumb) school of criticism right now, but on the other side of the aisle Marxism - or what passes for it on the internet - holds a similar appeal. (I have definitely seen people say "Star Wars isn't good anymore because capitalism," which is very funny, the idea that something like Return of the Jedi was not a toy commercial.) Ideology fills the vacuum left by aesthetics.
Sure, Rogue One has some detractors, but by now, most people consider it the best Disney Star Wars movie. And while The Last Jedi isn't universally hated (it does have its incredibly annoying fans), it's certainly extremely divisive and subject to all sorts of analyses, both for and against, that it doesn't deserve as a forgettable movie.
I agree that people have an instinctive sense of what makes a movie, or other cultural work, good or bad. But the problem now is that there are sometimes overriding concerns, like which ideological team any given movie has come to represent. So some people find themselves having to pretend they like or dislike something, or risk criticism or even ostracization from their group.
I have not seen Barbie so cannot comment on its merits or lack thereof. I do, however resent reading that Atlantic Xochitl Gonzales piece.
Which I guess plays into the truth of the Tossed Salad Principle in the end anyway, doesn't it? ;)
Unless you change economic terms, no amount of scolding on the one hand, or virtue signaling and moral preening on the other, will change the way people actually live.