Posts Tagged ‘women’
4 items.
When I started to put together today’s strip, it was much more complicated than it needed to be. Originally Cami was going to be lecturing Jared AND Jimmy. Tom was supposed to walk through the background of the last panel and deliver the punchline. There was much more anti-Sharon Stone commentary from Cami. There wasn’t one punchline, there was three. Each one threw a spin on the one before. It was a convoluted mess.
Thankfully, I was able to bounce a few ideas off Cami and we were able to parse things down to it’s core – which is essentially the insecurity of women.
I don’t pretend to have some profound understanding of the opposite sex. So it’s very handy to have a woman with whom you share your life to tell you, "That joke is out of bounds" or "I think you’re bordering on misogyny with that one." Saves me the trouble of sitting through a lot of boring litigation.
Basic Instinct 2 comes out today and just the thought of it acerbates me to no end. In my mind, it is nothing more than a soapbox for Sharon Stone to say "I’m in my 40’s and I’m sexy! I can do a nude scene and you can’t stop me!"
Not that a woman in her 40’s doesn’t have a right to be sexy. Sex it up! Be as sexy as you please! I insist!
No, what draws my ire is that this becomes a topic of media facination like it’s going completely against the laws of nature. "Maddona turns 40!" "Teri Hatcher is 40 and fabulous!"
And then along comes Sharon Stone. An actress who, despite protest, really never had very much going for her except her looks. I’m speaking in regard to her professional accomplishments. Since the original Basic Instinct, she’s been cast as the sex object. A shame, since I’ve read she’s a lot smarter than she lets on.
But agreeing to Basic Instinct 2 nearly 14 years after the original and proceed to tell anyone who will listen, "Yes, I will be nude in the movie and isn’t that AMAZING?!" comes off as the most desperate, self-promotional ego-trip I can imagine. It’s more than a little sad.
I’ve read commentary about Stone that she’s one of the last great movie stars we have. She’s overtly aware that it is her job to be a glamorous, iconic personality and to live larger than life. Maybe that’s true. But, not to be mean, her star is fading. If forced to watch Basic Instinct 2, I don’t think I could be objective enough to sit there and think "This is supposed to be sexy." Instead, I’m sure all I could think of would be "This is a political statement." The last desperate gasp from an actress facing the impending embargo against employing "women of a certain age" in Hollywood who get by mostly on looks. A big middle finger to the establishment that dictates not everyone can have a career like Judi Dench.
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Sorry for the delay putting today’s comic on the site this morning. I stayed up late working on it before having to get up early this morning to take Henry into surgery and I didn’t have time to write the blog.
Don’t worry. Henry is fine. They just put tubes in his ears to help drain his chronic ear infections. They also removed his adenoids to help lessen the blockage he experiences when he gets a cold.
It’s amazing how fast the whole thing goes down. We took him in at 6:30 this morning and we were out of there by 8:30. It takes more time to get him processed, admitted and discharged than it does to perform the surgery!
At any rate, we’re home now. Henry is sitting next to me as I type this. He’s eaten his second banana. He’s a trooper.
As far as the comic goes, I’m pretty happy with it. Clearly, I’m not a woman, but I think the strip has some funny things to say about women. If I’m wrong, tell me in the comments. I invite your criticism!
I’m sorry, but Bride Wars looks like the very worst of every terrible chick flick cliche on the books. But what I think I find most insulting about it is how clearly it telegraphs it’s ending.
In case you don’t know the plot, two friends get engaged and book their weddings at The Plaza Hotel in New York. A clerical error results in their weddings being booked on the same day thus forcing one of the brides to abandon their dream wedding.
I think you would have to be pretty blind not to see the ending to this thing a mile off. Can you say “double wedding?” It’s the only way the at-war former best friends can reconcile their differences.
To their credit, the screenwriters address the obviousness of this when one of the character mentions a double wedding to Kate Hudson’s character. “A double wedding? No! What are we – 40 year-old twins?” she barks. I’d like to think that they found a more creative solution, but I don’t see that in the cards.
What if the screenwriters did something completely revolutionary for a chick flick and abstained from the happy ending. What if one of the brides has her wedding at The Plaza, the other doesn’t and the friendship is irrevocably broken? They never speak again… CREDITS! What if the grooms left them at the alter to teach them a lesson about their superficial ways? What if the grooms marry each other in Massachusetts?
But no one ever listens to my ideas…
What do you think about Bride Wars ? Do you think it will be as bad as I’ve predicted or do you think there is an appreciative demographic for the film? If it is a chick flick that caterers to all that is catty and superficial about women, is that any worse than a film like Punisher: War Zone which appeals to the nihilistic and violent nature of men? Are these films two sides of the same “lowest common denominator” coin?
Please keep in mind that I went to Punisher: War Zone on opening weekend like a dolt, so I’m fully willing to turn a critical eye on myself.
Leave your thoughts in the comments below! Otherwise, I’ll see you here on Monday! Have a great weekend!
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It occured to me that Jimmy needed some kind of souvenir from his wilder days – and not something easily faked – because even though we know modern day Jimmy as forthright and kind, there needed to be some evidence to back up his claims as a womanizer. A poorly thought through series of tattoos seemed like the appropriate solution.
I imagine a lot of women will probably look at this comic and be really, really turned off by the idea of a guy sporting a sleeve of crossed out names permanently etched into his arm. But there’s something to be said about the appeal of a bad boy, too, right? Oh! But who could hope to tame him?
There’s not much more for me to talk about today and I feel conspicuous cutting today’s blog short. But at the same time, I stayed up WAY too late last night working on the comic after my night class and I’m pretty sure my eyes are focusing in two different directions.
So enjoy the comic and be sure to come back bright and early on Friday for another BIG REVEAL from Jimmy’s sorrid past! Wanna take a guess as to what the big reveal might be? Leave your comments and we’ll see who is right!
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I know I’m kind of getting ahead of myself by talking about movie that don’t come out for another week and a half, but since I’m down to one comic a week now, I kind of have to make it count.
August 13 is looking pretty good in theaters. Between The Expendables, Eat Pray Love and Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, there really is something for everyone.
Truthfully, it wasn’t until I noticed the contrast between the hyper-masculine Expendables and the hyper-feminine Eat Pray Love that I stopped to consider where Scott Pilgrim might fit on that scale.
Maybe it’s a little mean to suggest Scott Pilgrim fans don’t have balls, but it’s all in good fun. I’ll have more to say about Scott Pilgrim when it actually comes out next week. Anyone who might be upset by today’s comic will get their revenge at that time.
Incidentally, there is one movie I’d like to see this weekend and it’s The Other Guys. Chalk it up to my pathological weakness for all things Will Ferrell. Mark Wahlberg, however, is comedy kryptonite. A more humorless and self-important actor you are less likely to find. So I don’t know exactly how he’s going to keep up with Ferrell on this one.
I understand there’s a lot of comedy to be mined from characters who are diametrically opposed. But I kind of think Ferrell is better when he has other comedic actors to bounce off of. Another strike against the film is the WAY past its welcome conceit of two woefully mismatched cops.
But frequent Ferrell collaborator Adam McKay wrote and directed the script, so maybe there will be some curve balls in there. The Anchorman pedigree lives large in my mind, so I’m probably predisposed to ignore the film’s faults when it hits theaters this weekend.
What about the rest of you? Is anyone else anticipating The Other Guys this weekend or does the “mismatched cops” trope have you concerned? Did I go to far with my assessment of Scott Pilgrim vs. The World? Leave your comments below!
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