Saturday, July 17, 2010

Girl With the OH GOD MY EYES

So, we just watched Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, which for me was basically all about Noomi Rapace's character who is in all the publicity photos so you probably know what she looks like. But here she is again. Because wow.


I do have one question.
WHY ARE SO MANY THRILLERS ABOUT MASS-MURDERING RAPISTS.
Now--don't get me wrong. I like to see the good guys win. I as a general rule feel negatively towards killing people. So if the good guys have to win by killing people, yes, having the people they kill be mass-murdering rapists is ONE OF THE THINGS that would make me less conflicted and more satisfied at the outcome. ONE OF THE THINGS.
The good guys could also, for instance--Not kill the people. The people could realize how evil they are and feel horrible remorse. (That's another thing I like to see, is evil people realizing their evil. In Dragon Tattoo it's all lost in the horrible torture/violence that precedes their deaths.)
But the PROBLEMS with the almost total fixation of the suspense genre on mass-murdering rapists (and of course pharmaceutical companies taking advantage of the disadvantaged) are
  • Really, really hopefully it represents a statistically improbable number of sexually-disordered serial killers
  • It neglects the BULK of horrible evil in the world, which is NOT perpetrated by effete crazymen with upper class connections to protect them
  • IT CANNOT BE GOOD FOR US. 
Seriously. Like.... **I** feel like my innocence was bruised by that film. **I** feel like my life is somehow cheaper. Especially since  as a female you don't have to go too long before you see one of those intensely production-designed murder/torture crime scene photos where the victim looks just like you. (Seriously are there production designers who specialize in that? Is it like "call up the horribly-abused-body-tossed-aside-like-so-much-rubbish expert"?)  And I'm not even a BORDERLINE sociopathic killer. Like NOT EVEN CLOSE.
Posted by Emily Carmichael at 5:28 PM

3 comments:

  1. But IF you make a movie about a mass-murderer their victims are MUCH more likely to be women, even leaving out the rape part. We're just easier to kill if that's what you are into. And it's not OK to kill us as long as you keep the naughty parts out of us before hand, so it's not like I'd be more comforted if they threw in a line where they said "hey, at least he didn't rape her."

    But, the bigger thing is that dead girls get people worked up more because we seem weaker and easier to kill, so it's not sporting to do it and because we can have babies and perpetuate life it's extra sad when we die because underlying our death is also the death of the little lives that might have been. At least that's what everyone thinks without thinking it. That's why we get to go into the lifeboats first.

    It also riles up men and women equally. The little dears want to see justice done for hurting us and so do we. Guys deep down probably think dead guys were just pussies and didn't fight back hard enough. or something. Maybe we think that too a little. And then there's the Edgar Allen Poe thing nothing more tragic (or beautiful?) than a young dead girl?

    It triggers these deeply held gender biases and evolutionary reactions that aren't right, but are real. It's really not the films fault that they use it to get a rise out of us. Right? I get turned on when Jason Bourne kicks the shit out of another dude. What the hell is that? They are mostly just poor cops trying to do their jobs. Why should they get their noses broken so I can get a tickle down below?
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  2. Oh. Saw Ledo and Ix Go to Town and loved it btw!! Is there a place online to see your other movies? When does Play/Stop and The Hunter and the Swan come out?

    I have hard to talk about Peter Gerety fantasies. Is he amazing in person or the opposite of that?
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  3. OMG he is SO AMAZING in person! Everyone had the best time the day he was on set. He's funny and flexible and generous.

    So if that's what the fantasies are about--right on.
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