A Fat Acceptance Activist's take on "Wanted"
Thanks to Lucinda, who sent in the following review! I didn’t see Wanted this weekend, but my students have told me it’s really good. Did you guys see it over the holiday weekend? Did you have the same reaction as Lucinda did?
I was psyched to see WANTED, the new summer blockbuster action flick — based on a graphic novel — starring Angelina Jolie, Morgan Freeman and James McAvoy. My girlfriend and I saw it on opening night. (No worries, no spoilers here). My girlfriend and I love Angelina and the risks she takes on film, when she takes them.
I had hoped that Angelina would deliver a babe-kicking-ass role with chops and attitude. I had hoped the movie would be about coming into an identity that is better than the one before.
Instead, the movie was a meditation on how the modern age — and its attendant feminism — has slighted traditional Western (hell, GLOBAL) masculinity, with nice barbs thrown in about fat chicks, Latinos and working women added for a little extra flavor.
McAvoy and Jolie were convincing in their roles, but after 10 short minutes, I found myself fantisizing that Jolie’s Fox might take a sledgehammer to Wesley Gibson’s trachea. This is the unfortunate, mealy-mouthed white guy — The Opressed White Guy — played by McAvoy. I could list the many sins of this script — the principle one being how men must reclaim their roles as gun slinging, alpha-dog cavemen to counter the rising tide of contemporary corporate culture, which is turning us all into women. Pussies, if you want to borrow the language of the movie.
But in the first 5 minutes of the movie, we meet Janice, poor Wesley’s obese, fire-breathing, castrating bitch of a boss. Wait for it, wait for it… she’s eating a generous slice of her own birthday cake before devouring what little is left of Wesley’s Y chromosome. Moments later, she’s downing a donut. Yes, folks, the ultimate cinematic shorthand for a lazy, abusive manager is none other than an obese white woman with a secret stash of jelly donuts in her office desk. Before Wesley grows a pair and tells her off, we get to sit by and listen to a patronizing lecture about how Janice’s mistreatment in junior high gives her no right to be a bully. And she is a bully, folks. She snaps her stapler around Wes’ head as if to say do my bidding, boy, or your testes will be between these metal jaws next. She is physically ugly, personally repulsive and a binge eater. Her drug of choice (after the souls of her employees) is the emblematic donut. We can’t have a white guy tormenting Wes. It has to be a fat, disgusting white woman who feasts on donuts. How fresh.
The movie doesn’t do any better for the rest of its duration. The only role it challenges is the role of a wimpy corporate white hack with a dick. In order to reclaim his manhood, he best dump the demanding girlfriend (who’s fucking Wesley’s best friend) and learn to curve a bullet. Oh, and Fox stands out as the perfect woman. Beautiful, violent and practically silent. And she’s oh so fuckable. The cheating girlfriend’s biggest problem isn’t her cheating. It’s her mouth. It never stops. She actually has relational expectations, the sucubus!
If you think Janice and her donut binge is left behind in the opening scene, well, see the movie.
You’ll be disappointed.
Posted by mo pie
Filed under: Angelina Jolie, Art, Celebrities, Fatism, Guest Post, Movies
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If you think Janice and her donut binge is left behind in the opening scene, well, see the movie.
No, really, don’t. Spot on review, Lucinda. I have a fairly high tolerance for anti-feminist and even anti-fat crap in action movies because… well, I like action movies, and there’s sort of no getting around it. But 30 seconds of Janice had this movie on my permanent Hate List, and there wasn’t even anything else good to counterbalance that, except James McAvoy being really cute. Which is only a plus if you’re into men — and pasty, nerdy-cute men at that — so, yeah.
Anything that originally came from Mark Millar can not expected to be progressive, let alone enjoyable.
Thanks for the warning. I love action flicks, especially with kick-ass women characters, but I’ll be avoiding this one.
So annoying. I’d already decided I would ignore the anti-fat stuff in Wall-E because it was getting such glowing reviews and my ex (a fatty himself) assured me that the fat stuff wouldn’t take away from my enjoyment.
But this pisses me off. And I loooove Angelina Jolie. Sigh.
I looked up the movie on IMDB and it showed pictures of Lorna Scott, the woman who played Janice. She is sooo cute with her curly red hair!! Anyway, I’ll be avoiding that movie. Thanks!! I’m still reluctant to see Wall-E.
Might I suggest that you share with your readers this email that I received in my inbox:
At last, it’s coming! DISFIGURED will be playing theatrically in New
York City prior to its DVD release at the end of the month!
Friday, July 18th at 5pm
Saturday, July 19th through Thursday July 24th at 7pm
I’ll be there for a Q&A after the Friday, Saturday and Sunday shows.
Two Boots Pioneer Theater
155 East 3rd St (at Avenue A)
New York City, NY
theater info (212) 591-0434
advance tickets: http://www.twoboots.com/pioneer/ or call (800) 595-4849
(service charges apply)
If you live in NYC, come see it on the Big Screen. If you don’t, but
know people who do: tell ’em to check it out!
GG
It’s a movie called Disfigured and shows a more positive representation of full-figured women.
Cheers,
Liberty Bell
F.A.I.T.H. (Fighters Against International Tyranny and Hatred)
freedomfightersunited.wordpress.com
Here’s the link for the trailer:
http://www.disfiguredmovie.com/trailer.html
Pingback: At the movies . . . « Freedom Fighters United
Excellent review!
I’m totally disgusted, but completely unsurprised. I lived (and worked) in Hollywood for a number of years, and the people in that industry basically suck. If other corporations treated women (and anyone who’s not a white guy) the way Hollywood does, they’d be up to their asses in harassment lawsuits.
When I moved there I weighed 140. I’m 5’9″, and I was told constantly to lose weight. Never mind that I was borderline anorexic. And my friends who were bigger? Forget it! 90% of the time they couldn’t even get an agent to look at their picture, let alone get an audition (unless it was for the “funny fat girl” or the “Bitchy fat woman.”) I’m sure none of this is news to you folks, lol!
And I have to say, Angelina kind of bugs me. I’m not entirely sure why, but I think it’s because so many of the roles she takes are about her body. I think she’s quite talented, but she succumbs to the pressure to be just a sexpot. That’s just my opinion.
Thank you, Lucinda!
I saw this movie with Mr. Thorn this weekend, and while I was prepared for the usual misogynistic action movie bullshit, I was totally not prepared for the rabid fat hatred in the early part of the movie. I could not BELIEVE how hard they worked to make Janice a completely repulsive character, both physically and personally.
Really folks – stay away from this one. Besides, the plot wanders off into the weeds partway through. The action sequences were admittedly rather pretty, but it was all I could do from standing up in the theater to shout BINGO! at all the fat-hate on the screen.
I’m wondering if I’m just desensitised to that sort of ‘short hand’ in films because it is in there for a ton of things that I find unacceptable. Just about every lifestyle choice and body shape has it’s own short hand.
I just want to add (in reference to the way Hollywood treats fat, women, and specifically fat women) that I was shocked to watch the behind the scenes part of the Friends DVD. It appears that the co-producer and at least one of the writing team is a fat woman. How could they write in Fat Monica? I mean, how they they actually sit in a room of fellow writers and work on developing that character?
please, she’s just an insignificant character ( I saw it)
The “Janice” character bothered me too/ But what really bothered me was Jolie’s nose. Amongst me and my lezzie friends, we consider Anjelina Jolie the hottest woman ever, but even her perfection wasn’t perfect enough. And now she looks vaugly disfigured. It just goes to show no woman is ever perfect enough for hollywood.
Wanted recycles tropes from a bunch of films: Fight Club, Star Wars, Lara Croft, the Matrix, La Femme Nikita, Willard. It’s really lazy filmmaking at its worst, and the special effects are not special enough to compensate for an overly complicated but nevertheless thin plot and non-existent character development.
Doesn’t anyone wonder how a fat woman could degrade herself enough to PLAY THAT ROLE?!?!?!?!?
That is what I think of during those kinds of movies or shows.
Don’t THEY have any pride?!
Take the time to give yourself a huge, wonderful present: watch the trailer for DISFIGURED! What a great piece of film this is & don’t I wish I were in NYC to be able to see it! If it’s going to come to L.A., I’ll be the first in line for a ticket. Looks like a REALLY terrific job.
There’smoretoyouthanjustfat, the short answer to that question is “No.” Actors are so desperate, even just to get an agent, let alone an actual job. I’m sure that woman’s agent would have dropped her if she’d turned down a role in a “major Hollywood movie.” I’m sure there was pressure on that actress from all sides. It’s hard enough to get cast in anything if you are fat, so you learn to accept whatever comes along. Plus, she can put it on her reel (a DVD composed of scenes she has done on film that is like a visual resume) and show producers that she has worked with “major players.” That, in turn, makes her more “cast-able” in the future.
The thing is, sometimes, as an actor, you feel like you have to do a job, even if it is abhorrent to you, just to stay alive in the industry.
Which is one of the main reasons I quit.
I’m not so offended as much amused by how society seems to think that all fat people are obsessed with donuts. If I had a tray of sweets in front of me to pick from, the donut would be the last one I’d choose.
The last scene of the movie really cinches it, folks.
We fatties just can’t step away from the doughnuts. WANTED reinforces that.
And I didn’t notice Angelina’s nose…
I guess I just loved a movie. I don’t know. So many movies depict the terrible boss in different ways (office space jumps to mind), and it just seems like people are *looking* for something to be offended about. Maybe I’m just more easy going, but between the buzz about this and Walle, I think people just need to be able to see it as what it is – a movie. Janice is a stereotype, yes, but that isn’t saying she depicts every fat woman out there. I’m sure one of the writers met a fat woman on a doughnut binge at one point in their life and thought it would work in the movie.
And I guess that’s really all there is to it for me.
Yes watching this intro into the movie made me feel awful. She was in “High Color” with bright red hair, wearing ugly clothes, and overeating in front of everyone. Yuck.
I mean Wesley even tells her off in a semi-respectful way which I think they added in to negate her horribleness. Maybe that redeemed the role for her? Maybe she will treat her workers better?
I dunno..being fat makes me want to be nicer to my workers because they think I am ugly and incompetent and most likely feel sorry for me.
Because of my blood sugar I eat tiny meals all day long so I think it must look like I do eat all day. And again I am very apologetic. Not a bitch. Not controlling.
It is surprising because the rest of the movie did not fall prey to other Hollywood cliches. It must be in the novel..you’d think?
The question I ask about stereotypes is:
What will this add to the movie?
Will this character be as effective if they were say a little person or a black woman or a over athletic boss or a bill gates look-a-like?
I really, really wasn’t looking to get offended by the movie. I was really excited to see it.
I’m in the camp that believes that stereotypes are never just used in media to take up time and space. I think they are there for a reason.
Janice was just ONE layer of a movie that, to me, was railing against the corporate culture’s neutering of employees. I mean, think about it. In an office, no one is being tested for physical speed, strength or dexterity. It’s all social and mental speed, strength, etc.
I felt like the movie was asking us to feel sorry for a guy who was being made into a woman. And the most grotesque form of the corporate wonk was Janice.
I also HATED that Wesley dispatched The Butcher by thrusting a knife through the Virgen de Guadelupe on his T-shirt. A white guy kills the corpulent Latino-esque character by stabbing him through the emblem of Mexican and Mexican-American solidarity.
To me, the whole movie was The White Guy Soliloquy about women and minorities taking his power. The way the guys in the theater cheered when Janice was taken down a notch and the other “threats” were dispatched sorta sealed for me that the director was playing into a fantasy that makes me really nervous.
Wow! That is the most shitty idea for a movie I’ve ever heard. I mean, a high schooler could write a better script! It’s a shame too, cause I thought Angelina did look like a really cool bad ass. Maybe I should watch Gone in Sixty Seconds instead.
It sounds like the writer of this peice o’ crap fears powerful women. Let’s hope this frightened little boy, doesn’t write anymore films. Grows up, and gets over his infantile grudge, about women having power.
I just read Cindy’s post. I wanted to also add, it seems this film is targeting more of the White Power prejudicial types, who love to hate people of ethnicities as well as fatties.
There was also some anger over the fact that Fox, Jolie’s character, is a woman of color in the comic.