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Yes! I agree. There are several layers to a character. "Sex appeal" is merely one of them, and it doesn't necessarily negate intelligence, wit, charm, strength, ... Sex appeal doesn't have to result in objectification either. In fact, when women or men are blatantly presented as just objects of lust, as mere triggers for the "(fe)male gaze" so to speak, they lose their sex appeal. Only a smart 3D character with depth and charm can be sexy to me; a mere sex toy doesn't do it for me at all.
Take Wonder Woman. I think Gal Gadot is sexy as hell in that film. Yet some critics, trying to push a more extreme agenda, called her "too pretty", suggesting that her exceptional looks actually negated the whole women empowerment thing. That makes zero sense to me. Should we just cast ugly people now? Isn't the heroic nature of the character, her fighting skills, and her elegance what we should focus on? Yes, she is sexy, but I am still respecting the character and taking her seriously. I am not losing focus of the film in some hormonal fever.
Nudity is another thing I do not disrespect. Some women have more or less built a career on cameos and bit parts without their clothes on. Hey, good for them. It takes courage to strip down on camera. I certainly don't regard these women with disdain. Do I like their characters? That depends on other things. Is it a problem that it's mostly women taking their tops off on film for a mostly male audience? Why, it's certainly an obnoxiously unbalanced thing, that's for sure. I have no problem with male nudity. Hell, European cinema isn't too shy about showing both.
Lastly, we encounter lots of sexy people in our lives, that is, people we think of as sexy. It would be seriously problematic if we failed to respect them just because they register as hot or attractive or sexy. I spent my teen years in the '90s and early 2000s. Friends of mine took their tops off at the beach. It was a common thing to do. I can't say that, growing up, that didn't sent me off on the occasional hormonal frenzy, but I have never disrespected these girls. We are all married or in relationships or with children now. We are still good friends. And the fact that I saw them naked 20 years ago has never caused uncomfortable situations between us. But the thing is, I have always respected my friends. And respect is the key to everything. It's not about what you see, it's about how you respecfully deal with another human being.
I’ve long agreed. The indie scene is far more appealing to me than mainstream these days in just about every way, from more interesting stories to not shying away from nudity and sexuality.
@FoxRox It seems we're fighting the same fight, sir. ;-)
Nudity has always been very present in art. In the pre-code era, even mainstream films offered tons of nudity and few complained. Yet some prudes always manage to enforce restrictions in the name of dignity and to protect our children from what is allegedly offensive to them and whatnot. I don't mind those people, really.
Who I do mind are those who take things several steps further, in a more extreme direction, when overthinking things and drawing dangerous conclusions; e.g. the fact that we can appreciate sex appeal and nudity on film means we objectify and disrespect people and will treat them badly. These are, of course, outrageous claims that can never be backed up for the lot of us. Also, I have never apologized for taking pleasure in great beauty and don't ever intend to, even if that gives some folks a sense of strident pandemonium.
Moral panic has always come in waves. But what's happening now is something else. Now we're dealing with people who psychoanalyse those (especially males) with pretty high tolerance or even appreciation levels for sex and nudity onscreen, and call them 'sick', 'dangerous', or 'what stands in the way of emancipation'. I'm frankly insulted by the suggestion that there's something wrong with me, or that I'm a misogynist, a potential rapist and so on, just because I like looking at Kendall Jenner and love to page through a book on Bond girls.
But I'm not too concerned. They are fighting an uphill battle. People love some sweat, steam and heat onscreen. Filmmakers know this, and it's all about the money. They can try all they want to launch a big franchise with bland or ugly people whose sex appeal is no different from that of an empty marmalade jar, it's just not going to work. And they'll soon be casting great-looking people again who can then sport some revealing outfits, because the more you show, the more tickets you'll sell. Phrased this way, yeah, it does come off a bit nasty. You know what, that's okay, as long as the people onscreen aren't ever forced to do something against their will, and as long as we don't forget that every human being deserves our respect, regardless of the density of the textile they are(n't) wearing.
But I have always thought it very disturbing that, here in the US, people get more worked up by nudity in a film than they do about guns and violence in the same film. I suppose it's the Puritan influence.
It is disturbing, isn’t it? I swear I was meant to be a European, not an American haha. I always joke about how I find it funny Bond gets to piss off both sides - the violence for the far left and sex for far right! In any case, I’m sure I’ve ranted about it somewhere in here that I wish people would just leave art alone.
Universal healthcare is nice though.
The grass is always greener on the other side. ;)
Yup. I nicknamed their utopia the United States of Talibans.
Unfortunately the indie scene is also extremely homogenised at this point as everyone is trying to please aging art and drama filmmakers who never bothered to care for quality storytelling or pop culture.
But it seems to be the only place to find content that isn’t completely predictable today.
Gosh do I miss the 90’s, or even pre 2015, when Hollywood studios embraced original and indie productions. Now everything is based on books to minimise risks. It’s just no one reads books anymore.
corrected that for you ;-)
I've never ever heard anyone say Finnish people are pretentious. I don't like the term 'Europeans' either. Don't forget a good deal of Russians are Europeans too, as they officially live on the same continent. And those are just creatures, not even human. Except for the ones who try to stop Putin and his fashist band of zombies (now you know what 'Z' stands for).
I used to think like that as well, but if you see what Russian forces are doing in Ukraine, especially when you've got family over there (even though the family we have left in Ukraine is relatively safe, not in the east), you can't keep that up any longer. Too many have been raped, murdered, tortured. All because Russians weren't willing to step up and stop their government. I know very brave Russians that do stand up against Putin, that DO condemn his actions. And I feel for them, for the situation they got into. They are brave. But for all of those who don't speak out, they are complicit. Yes, it's bad, but it is what it is. Sometimes beeing human, having principles, means taking risks.
This hits closer to you as I know, and I can’t pretend to imagine the stronger feelings you have to go through with it. I fully agree there’s something to be said for not doing anything being wrong, even if not as outwardly evil as the atrocities themselves.
And the best part is, it's a largely theoretical problem. Yes, a hot desk system could lead to a situation where someone can't have a room for themselves, Peter. And yes, taking rooms out of the hot desk system, because some people have specific need for them for a certain amount of time does reduce the amount of bookable space for everyone else, Mary (and I won't even go into the reason why this happens which is largely people being daft and not thinking about more than their own needs for more than a minute). And yet we have yet to have a situation where people need to use one of the multi-function rooms as a co-working/open plan office, let alone anyone having no place to work at all. And if you would just stoop down to the level of working in the group office your team has been assigned, Steve, instead of insisting on a room for yourself from where you continously shout over to your subordinates in the group office, the 2 times a month you actually are in the offices, then maybe you would have less of a problem with booking single rooms. So why the **** are we discussing the ******* hot desk system for the fifteenth time?
But I guess that's what I get for drifting more and more into an office management role. When you try to solve people's problems, the only thing that happens is that people will drop more and more of their problems on your desk. Don't get me started on whether the fruit basket should be organic or not...
Rant over.
Not in the North it seems.
I might move to the North then. I hate heatwaves.
Yes, the weather is much less predictable here with it often being overcast, dull and wet. It has actually brightened up here since my post this morning so maybe things are looking up?🤞
oh they sometimes do, and sure get applauded for it by a lot of people. I like Spain (we're there now, not in Pamplona) but its one part of this culture that I'll never understand.
It is utterly barbaric. I don't get it. Once again the foolish notion that "tradition" is somehow to be preserved reigns supreme. Culture, tradition, habits... I've never understood their appalling rigidity.
Oh i can tell you a lot about that, they play into human instict. Which is fair enough. the question is why so many people choose not to follow their own reasoning, but follow the majority's example, even starting to defend that position knowing perfectly well that's utterly wrong. We've not come very far in that respect I fear.
This is the famous one:
dealer . what dealer.....how is this gonna help people if you cant even name who it is , you damn fool !
Anecdote about this: I'm a big opera fan, my wife is not. She's also a vegetarian and appalled by bullfighting. Once I was watching the film adaptation of Bizet's Carmen by Francesco Rosi and during the knife fight between Don Jose and Escamillo, she was rooting for Don Jose to kill the torero.
😃
Agreed!
It is mostly an excuse to be intellectually lazy and not having to adjust to a constantly changing world.