Comments on: Saturday Night at the Drive-in http://www.fffblog.net/blog/?p=8 ...and so it continues Sat, 25 May 2013 00:37:51 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.2.2 By: Mara http://www.fffblog.net/blog/?p=8#comment-12 Mara Thu, 06 Sep 2007 00:48:40 +0000 http://www.fffblog.net/blog/?p=8#comment-12 I was talking about the issue of Homer's behavior toward Marge (something that I also see in Peter's character in Family Guy, also one of my favorite shows) with my boyfriend recently. His response was that the humor in these characters' behavior lies precisely in the fact that they could never get away with stuff like that in real life, and that pointing an accusing finger at them was like trying to humiliate the court jester -- completely beside the point. I wonder though, even if these characters' bad behavior is recognized as outlandish, could people who watch these shows still be affected in subtle ways by how gender roles are portrayed? I was talking about the issue of Homer’s behavior toward Marge (something that I also see in Peter’s character in Family Guy, also one of my favorite shows) with my boyfriend recently. His response was that the humor in these characters’ behavior lies precisely in the fact that they could never get away with stuff like that in real life, and that pointing an accusing finger at them was like trying to humiliate the court jester — completely beside the point. I wonder though, even if these characters’ bad behavior is recognized as outlandish, could people who watch these shows still be affected in subtle ways by how gender roles are portrayed?

]]> By: Red http://www.fffblog.net/blog/?p=8#comment-11 Red Tue, 04 Sep 2007 23:59:04 +0000 http://www.fffblog.net/blog/?p=8#comment-11 It shows how little I care about the movie that I did not take 12 seconds to look it up the title on imdb. The other preview was 'The Brave One,' which looks like a remake of 'Death Wish' with Jodie Foster all empowerfulled and kicking ass. It did not look good either. I think the moral of that one was...well I guess I'm not sure. Maybe that crappy rote revenge flicks are elevated above crappy rote revenge flicks if you have a Serious Actor in the lead role? It shows how little I care about the movie that I did not take 12 seconds to look it up the title on imdb.

The other preview was ‘The Brave One,’ which looks like a remake of ‘Death Wish’ with Jodie Foster all empowerfulled and kicking ass. It did not look good either. I think the moral of that one was…well I guess I’m not sure. Maybe that crappy rote revenge flicks are elevated above crappy rote revenge flicks if you have a Serious Actor in the lead role?

]]> By: Shina http://www.fffblog.net/blog/?p=8#comment-10 Shina Tue, 04 Sep 2007 01:47:53 +0000 http://www.fffblog.net/blog/?p=8#comment-10 Yay drive in! Notes: - That whole "well-meaning-men-don't-have-to-change-or-grow-to-keep-women" phenomenon seems to be much more common in movies/tv than in real life. To me, this means that this particular narrative device is especially harmful because it has the power to change perceptions of men's roles in relationships at a faster rate than it would if it were only slightly exaggerated from real life. I call this the Law Of Lovable Asshole Diffusion Rates. - From what I could gather from the preview, the moral of the story for that Reese Witherspoon movie (Rendition) seemed to be that illegal detainment is bad because it could happen to a pretty white woman's family. Yay drive in!

Notes:

- That whole “well-meaning-men-don’t-have-to-change-or-grow-to-keep-women” phenomenon seems to be much more common in movies/tv than in real life. To me, this means that this particular narrative device is especially harmful because it has the power to change perceptions of men’s roles in relationships at a faster rate than it would if it were only slightly exaggerated from real life. I call this the Law Of Lovable Asshole Diffusion Rates.

- From what I could gather from the preview, the moral of the story for that Reese Witherspoon movie (Rendition) seemed to be that illegal detainment is bad because it could happen to a pretty white woman’s family.

]]>