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Very interesting, I was with you in the first half of your comment. But Hereditary is one of my favorite movies. And Men In Black is one of my least favorite, f
by digging 2y ago
Very interesting, I was with you in the first half of your comment. But Hereditary is one of my favorite movies. And Men In Black is one of my least favorite, for these reasons. MIB is a disgusting film because it is utterly dehumanizing of the other. Aliens, although fully sentient and obviously "human", are fair game for cruelty, casual dismemberment, and mirthful laughter when their bodies are violently splattered onto other characters. Nobody really bats an eye because they're not Homo sapiens; it's literally the color of their guts which makes it okay to explode them.
That's only one example of the kind of depravity that turns me off of a lot of media, including some very fun Star Wars video games. The parallels with racist thinking are obvious to me; if any being can ask you to respect its bodily autonomy, does it really matter whether or not the creature is familiar? I'll probably get (as I always do) some angered responses that I'm taking things too far. I wonder what those people felt when they watched District 9, but perhaps that movie was too obvious about its protagonist for all viewers to generalize their feelings.
(So why am I okay with Hereditary? It's a literal demon. It's not framed as children's entertainment, it's horror; the filmmakers are very clearly not endorsing the violence depicted.)
- slothtrop 2y agoTo be fair you can make the same criticism of James Bond films or anything similar, with people gunned down wantonly for entertainment. More recently, Deadpool. Personally I'm usually unmoved about gratuitous violence.
- digging 2y agoI believe you've entirely missed the point I was making, as there are only humans in James Bond films and they're mostly (entirely?) "bad" people.
- slothtrop 2y agoI guess I am missing the point, because I don't see the difference between those and "bad" aliens. Which don't exist. It's impossible to relate to your sense of disgust except by contriving that aliens necessarily represent people with different skin color.
- digging 2y agoI feel this already spelled out in my previous post, and I feel strongly that you're not arguing in good faith here by calling my position impossible, but I'm content to try once more if only for readers. I can't stop you from replying but I won't be responding further to you. James Bond movies typically treat all his enemies more or less the same. The only scene I can think of where someone actually explodes frames it as a pretty horrific affair. Characters in the movie and viewers alike are expected to have an uncomfortable reaction when the violence is extreme. MIB doesn't do that. When a non-human is killed, whether or not they're even a hostile enemy (and they aren't always), there is no level of violence and gore that's off-limits. And it's a goddamn childrens' comedy. Do you think the movie would be the same if the aliens were replaced with humans? Or human-looking "elves"?
- slothtrop 2y ago> there is no level of violence and gore that's off-limits This is a PG-13 film. It's necessarily limited. I find it weird that you feel that strongly about a decades-old film.
- kaycey2022 2y agoGratuitous violence, to me, seems more entertaining when the victims “deserve” it. For example in Django Unchained. Or when it serves to introduce the villains who will get what’s coming to them. Unfortunately, common horror movies inflict it on kids having sex, or being rude. It is a bit of a turn off.
- slothtrop 2y agoI guess but there's certainly no moral distinction to me.