Super 8 mini review!
Saw Super 8!
MY THOUGHTS
UNDER THE CUT
THINGS THAT WERE GOOD!
Okay so Super 8 was really cute and really fun!
The kid actors were very believable and it was fun to hear their dialogue bouncing off of each other. I liked the hero kid Joe, and his friend Charles, and the only girl in the whole movie Alice, was really well written! She was really lovable and interesting!
The movie had a really 80's feel to it and was of course very Speilburg, I had to laugh that he set it in the 80s.BUT it works, the movie is touching and cute and funny and SCARY in parts. I liked the monster design!
BAD THINGS
The adults were DULL. The Dad of Joe who was the Deputee in the town wavered between DRY and MEAN. I think he is supposed to be troubled because his wife died, but a side character mentions that he was NEVER a dad to Joe even when the mom was alive. So really he was just a huge jerk all along. So when he's kicking some ass and being cool I'm just waiting for the movie to get back to the kids who are fun and likable and engaging.
Okay here's where I get into the nitty gritty of my problems with this movie.
There are all of 3 black characters in this movie(all minor roles) 2 have lines. All three die. This is 2011. Why do we still do this? WHY do we still have it that its okay to have no minority characters, and when we do we kill them off to show the situation is serious. That is a HIDEOUS thing to do. It IS racism and just because its not "evil" does NOT make it GOOD. It's heinous and stupid (and I think it IS pretty evil but thats my opinion) The problem with that kind of racism is that since its not IN YO FACE people just dont SEE IT. Which is INSANE. Its okay to have black characters, this movie is for EVERYONE apperantly. That's how it's marketed, a movie for EVERYONE. Be more inclusive if thats your GOAL. When I was a kid there WERE tv shows for kids and whole families where all of the characters were black! And everyone watched them and people liked it! Why is it that so many kids shows are now the rich white kid show?
OTHER BEEF
This movie has ONE female character. WELL 2. One is Joe's dead mom, she is dead so the character has a sad backstory and because it causes strife in Joe's life. She has no lines and is only seen in pictures.
The other is Alice. I loved Alice I was looking forward to seeing what Alice was going to do. She was interesting capable, cute. A great female character. She gets kidnapped in the 2nd Act. to give Joe motivation and something to do. YOU THINK well "hey the alien has its own backstory maybe while we arent seeing Alice she is getting to know the alien and will be a major player in the finale, opening peoples eyes to the fact that it isn't a monster or coming up with a way to defeat it!" BUT no. She is asleep the entire time she is kidnapped.
HOW MANY MOVIES NEED TO DO THIS?
They have ONE female character who is there to be the love interest/prize and is often times kidnapped.
IT IS OKAY TO HAVE MORE THAN ONE FEMALE CHARACTER.
Why is that in movies touted as being for EVERYONE there is usually only ONE girl? ONE. Ive heard people say its because men just "shut off their brains when they hear more than one woman talking", but I really don't think this is true! I don't want to believe that of guys! But I feel like MOVIE studios think that its true, and that its normal (AND FINE) to have one token useless chick who is there to look pretty and cry and hope the hero comes back safely.
It's LAZY to have your female characters do nothing, its STUPID to have them be pointless eyecandy.
The number of movies where there is only one woman or girl and she is there just to be a prize rescued or protected is astounding. Why is it that women are expected to relate to MEN. But men are supposedly unable to relate to women? We aren't aliens!
Its 2011, I would expect crap like this from a 60s movie, but apparently it's still normal to have this stuff be in movies. It's only whiners and complainers who care about this stuff and really everyone LOVES the all white male leads.
GAH at least I have the ability to make my own stories where there is more than one girl and *GASP* not everyone is right.
And ALSO its NOT impossible for a male writer to imagine what its like to be a woman or a different race, and they can do it WELL! So I don't want to hear that excuse from any writer ever. Empathy and imagination can be developed. It just takes some brain work...
This ended up being more ranty than I meant it to. And over all Super 8 was really cute and fun. But it just jutted these issues to the front of my mind.
MY THOUGHTS
UNDER THE CUT
THINGS THAT WERE GOOD!
Okay so Super 8 was really cute and really fun!
The kid actors were very believable and it was fun to hear their dialogue bouncing off of each other. I liked the hero kid Joe, and his friend Charles, and the only girl in the whole movie Alice, was really well written! She was really lovable and interesting!
The movie had a really 80's feel to it and was of course very Speilburg, I had to laugh that he set it in the 80s.BUT it works, the movie is touching and cute and funny and SCARY in parts. I liked the monster design!
BAD THINGS
The adults were DULL. The Dad of Joe who was the Deputee in the town wavered between DRY and MEAN. I think he is supposed to be troubled because his wife died, but a side character mentions that he was NEVER a dad to Joe even when the mom was alive. So really he was just a huge jerk all along. So when he's kicking some ass and being cool I'm just waiting for the movie to get back to the kids who are fun and likable and engaging.
Okay here's where I get into the nitty gritty of my problems with this movie.
There are all of 3 black characters in this movie(all minor roles) 2 have lines. All three die. This is 2011. Why do we still do this? WHY do we still have it that its okay to have no minority characters, and when we do we kill them off to show the situation is serious. That is a HIDEOUS thing to do. It IS racism and just because its not "evil" does NOT make it GOOD. It's heinous and stupid (and I think it IS pretty evil but thats my opinion) The problem with that kind of racism is that since its not IN YO FACE people just dont SEE IT. Which is INSANE. Its okay to have black characters, this movie is for EVERYONE apperantly. That's how it's marketed, a movie for EVERYONE. Be more inclusive if thats your GOAL. When I was a kid there WERE tv shows for kids and whole families where all of the characters were black! And everyone watched them and people liked it! Why is it that so many kids shows are now the rich white kid show?
OTHER BEEF
This movie has ONE female character. WELL 2. One is Joe's dead mom, she is dead so the character has a sad backstory and because it causes strife in Joe's life. She has no lines and is only seen in pictures.
The other is Alice. I loved Alice I was looking forward to seeing what Alice was going to do. She was interesting capable, cute. A great female character. She gets kidnapped in the 2nd Act. to give Joe motivation and something to do. YOU THINK well "hey the alien has its own backstory maybe while we arent seeing Alice she is getting to know the alien and will be a major player in the finale, opening peoples eyes to the fact that it isn't a monster or coming up with a way to defeat it!" BUT no. She is asleep the entire time she is kidnapped.
HOW MANY MOVIES NEED TO DO THIS?
They have ONE female character who is there to be the love interest/prize and is often times kidnapped.
IT IS OKAY TO HAVE MORE THAN ONE FEMALE CHARACTER.
Why is that in movies touted as being for EVERYONE there is usually only ONE girl? ONE. Ive heard people say its because men just "shut off their brains when they hear more than one woman talking", but I really don't think this is true! I don't want to believe that of guys! But I feel like MOVIE studios think that its true, and that its normal (AND FINE) to have one token useless chick who is there to look pretty and cry and hope the hero comes back safely.
It's LAZY to have your female characters do nothing, its STUPID to have them be pointless eyecandy.
The number of movies where there is only one woman or girl and she is there just to be a prize rescued or protected is astounding. Why is it that women are expected to relate to MEN. But men are supposedly unable to relate to women? We aren't aliens!
Its 2011, I would expect crap like this from a 60s movie, but apparently it's still normal to have this stuff be in movies. It's only whiners and complainers who care about this stuff and really everyone LOVES the all white male leads.
GAH at least I have the ability to make my own stories where there is more than one girl and *GASP* not everyone is right.
And ALSO its NOT impossible for a male writer to imagine what its like to be a woman or a different race, and they can do it WELL! So I don't want to hear that excuse from any writer ever. Empathy and imagination can be developed. It just takes some brain work...
This ended up being more ranty than I meant it to. And over all Super 8 was really cute and fun. But it just jutted these issues to the front of my mind.