Tracy, my mother did her utmost to censor my upbringing. Thank Deity I was rebellious and had a Jesuit priest as a father figure, else I might be... *normal*. (shuddering)
On Sat, Apr 17, 2010 at 11:57 AM, Tracy Curtis <tlcurti...@gmail.com> wrote: > > > i feel as though I should buy tickets right now. > I didn't have anything censored from me when I was a kid. I think it made > me develop my reading and film preferences earlier and without much peer > pressure. And now I'm faculty at UW-Madison. Rave, I hope your child at > least comes to visit my office. > > > On Sat, Apr 17, 2010 at 7:16 AM, Martin Baxter <martinbaxt...@gmail.com>wrote: > >> >> >> Say it again, Mr Worf! >> >> >> On Fri, Apr 16, 2010 at 11:22 PM, Mr. Worf <hellomahog...@gmail.com>wrote: >> >>> >>> >>> The article's title should have been "some people have totally >>> unrealistic opinions of how 11 year olds act when adults are not around...." >>> >>> >>> People have also forgotten how things have changed. When I was 12 there >>> were 12 year old hookers and heroin junkies in the bad parts of town. >>> Worrying about a fictional 11 year old on screen and her influences on kids >>> is silly. >>> >>> On Fri, Apr 16, 2010 at 6:03 PM, Martin Baxter >>> <martinbaxt...@gmail.com>wrote: >>> >>>> >>>> >>>> Puh-LEEEEEEEEEEZE! >>>> >>>> I come from The Projects, where FIVE-year-olds know more cuss words than >>>> I've heard come out of her. >>>> >>>> >>>> On Fri, Apr 16, 2010 at 10:10 AM, Kelwyn <ravena...@yahoo.com> wrote: >>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> Profanity-slinging kid does damage in Kick-Ass' >>>>> >>>>> By MARK CARO >>>>> >>>>> A pistols-wielding girl massacres a suite's worth of thugs, exchanges >>>>> brutal blows with the kingpin and uses language that might make David >>>>> Mamet >>>>> blush - if only because it's coming out of the mouth of an 11-year-old >>>>> girl. >>>>> >>>>> The movie may be called "Kick-Ass," a title that already has some >>>>> parents shielding their young'uns from the marketing campaign, but the >>>>> pre-release publicity has focused less on the high school-age male title >>>>> character than the diminutive Hit Girl, played by now-13-year-old Chloe >>>>> Grace Moretz. One of the film's explicit trailers plays like Hit Girl's >>>>> greatest hits, complete with her dropping "f" and "c" bombs and shooting a >>>>> doorman through the cheek while dressed in a schoolgirl outfit. >>>>> >>>>> This is all played for kicks, of course. Director Matthew Vaughn's >>>>> R-rated "Kick-Ass," which opens Friday, is a comic book movie based on the >>>>> work of Mark Millar and John S. Romita Jr., so everything is delivered >>>>> inside giant, nothing-reallycounts quotation marks. >>>>> >>>>> Still, you can't forget that you are watching an 11-year-old girl >>>>> causing violent mayhem and taking punches in the face from an adult, all >>>>> while out-cussing Tony Soprano. Sure, you can't take your eyes off Hit >>>>> Girl, >>>>> but is this a good thing? >>>>> >>>>> "I don't know that it means anything other than the destruction of >>>>> civilization as we know it," joked film critic-historian Leonard Maltin. >>>>> >>>>> "There's always that question of whether movies lead social change or >>>>> reflect it. I always think the answer is somewhere in the middle, but >>>>> there's no question that movies and TV shows have broken down or >>>>> dissolved a >>>>> lot of barriers of what is considered acceptable for men and women and >>>>> boys >>>>> and girls." >>>>> >>>>> Hit Girl certainly marks the extreme end of a progression that can be >>>>> traced back a few decades. Audiences were shocked when Linda Blair spewed >>>>> profanities and vomit as the12-year-old possessed girl of "The Exorcist" >>>>> (1973), though they could console themselves that it was the devil's >>>>> doing. >>>>> >>>>> Also in1973, Tatum O'Neal played the sassy-mouthed (PG-rated), >>>>> cigarettesmoking, 9-year-old con artist of Peter Bogdanovich's "Paper >>>>> Moon"; >>>>> she became the youngest Oscar winner, for best supporting actress, the >>>>> next >>>>> year. >>>>> >>>>> Jodie Foster became another troubledgirl icon with her Oscar-nominated >>>>> performance as the 12-year-old prostitute of Martin Scorsese's "Taxi >>>>> Driver" >>>>> (1976). >>>>> >>>>> No cheap thrills were meant to be derived from her mean-streets >>>>> situation; here was a girl who needed protection - and got it from Robert >>>>> De >>>>> Niro's unhinged title character. Yet the director's seriousminded >>>>> intentions >>>>> couldn't keep John Hinckley Jr. from being so smitten with Foster that he >>>>> tried to impress her by shooting President Ronald Reagan in 1981. >>>>> >>>>> Thematically, the closest movie precedent to Hit Girl may be Natalie >>>>> Portman's 12-year-old Mathilda, who learns hit man Jean Reno's tricks so >>>>> she >>>>> can avenge her murdered family in Luc Besson's "The Professional" (aka >>>>> "Leon," 1994). But Besson is ultimately a sentimentalist who spares >>>>> Portman's character from doing the lethal work, whereas Vaughn isn't >>>>> exactly >>>>> concerned about Hit Girl getting blood on her hands. >>>>> >>>>> Or, as the "Kick-Ass" press notes state: "Hit Girl is a sparky, spunky >>>>> force of nature, likely to be an instant professional icon redolent of >>>>> Jodie >>>>> Foster in 'Taxi Driver' and Natalie Portman in 'The Professional.'" (No >>>>> one >>>>> from Lionsgate or the film was made available to comment.) >>>>> >>>>> "The notion of innocence in this society is gone," said Neal Gabler, >>>>> author of "Life: The Movie: How Entertainment Conquered Reality." "It's >>>>> not >>>>> just a function of violence. I think it's a function of a certain social >>>>> cynicism that has just built and built and built over the years where >>>>> people >>>>> believe in nothing." >>>>> >>>>> Which isn't to say violence doesn't play a role. "There was kind of a >>>>> firewall between kids and violence, and that firewall is completely gone >>>>> now," Gabler said. "Kids sit around and kill people on video games." >>>>> >>>>> And if the finger-waggers come out against "Kick-Ass," then the movie >>>>> essentially has done its job. >>>>> >>>>> "If you're making this movie, you want people to disapprove because >>>>> popular culture has always been a form of rebellion," Gabler said. "One of >>>>> the reasons American popular culture is so 'trashy' is not because >>>>> everybody >>>>> is stupid; it's because people love the idea of challenging official >>>>> culture." >>>>> >>>>> Yet don't assume that the reactions to Hit Girl will be anything close >>>>> to universal. Melissa Silverstein, who writes the feminist blog Women and >>>>> Hollywood (womenandhollywood.com), saw an advance screening of >>>>> "Kick-Ass" and said she was surprised by how torn she felt. >>>>> >>>>> "It was disturbing, but I was also empowered in the same moment, and >>>>> that doesn't happen very often," Silverstein said. "It just kind of flew >>>>> into the face of all expectations of how girls act on screen, and that's >>>>> what was so exciting and breathtaking. I couldn't help but feel some >>>>> semblance of excitement as a person who's watched male comic book >>>>> characters >>>>> save the day time and time again." >>>>> >>>>> At the same time, though, she was "ambivalent about someone who just >>>>> kills people for the sake of killing," and the casual use of a certain >>>>> very >>>>> vulgar anti-female epithet bothered her. "I saw all the boys sitting >>>>> around >>>>> me loving that, and they loved it a little too much." >>>>> >>>>> Given that one of the movie's teen boys is so wowed by Hit Girl that he >>>>> declares he'll wait for her to come of age, male reactions to this >>>>> prepubescent character could represent another can o' worms. >>>>> >>>>> Silverstein didn't think her portrayal ever became "icky" in a "Lolita" >>>>> kind of way. >>>>> >>>>> Still, the image here of a young heroine certainly differs from earlier >>>>> times. >>>>> >>>>> "For prepubescent guys you have to create a different kind of love >>>>> object in this cynical and far less innocent kind of world," Gabler said. >>>>> "How do you design a Shirley Temple for this era?" >>>>> >>>>> Step one: Give her a gun. >>>>> >>>>> Mark Caro: mc...@tribune.com <mcaro%40tribune.com> >>>>> >>>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>> >>> >>> -- >>> Celebrating 10 years of bringing diversity to perversity! >>> Mahogany at: >>> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mahogany_pleasures_of_darkness/ >>> >> >> > >
