Annnnnnd, the rest of it is over here. Along with an exciting headshot, and my last name. (Also, people who believe that the fact that Seth Rogen is Canadian undermines my entire argument. Um, OK!) That's me: solving mysteries, right and left, for you.You know, people of the UK, I often wonder why you put up with folks from the United States. Think of what you have given us, in terms of entertainment, over the last few years: Lily Allen, Sasha Baron Cohen, Idris Elba, Daniel Craig as James Bond - the list goes on. Yet what has America given you in return? Well, here's one answer: Observe & Report, which opened in cinemas - for the British, anyway - recently.
On behalf of my nation, I would like to apologise.
Observe & Report has already caused quite a stir, containing as it does a scene in which the hero, Ronnie (Seth Rogen) rapes an intoxicated and unconscious woman by the name of Brandi (Anna Faris). The scene is played for laughs: after a series of scenes in which it's shown that Brandi has eaten handfuls of anti-depressants, downed massive amounts of tequila, and is unable to walk, maintain consciousness, or form a coherent sentence, Rogen drags her into her house, and the movie cuts to a shot of Rogen humping Brandi's passed-out, vomit-spattered body. He stops for a moment. She mutters "Why'd you stop," without opening her eyes or moving. Cue audience laughter!
The thing is, at the showing I attended (ah, research), that was the only point in the movie at which the audience laughed.
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT:
I have a piece up at the Guardian's Comment is Free! I know, right? NEATO. It begins:
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You are awesome. I've loved your stuff up to now, and congratulations on getting in the Guardian.
ReplyDeleteGreat response to the film, Sady.
ReplyDeleteDo skip the comments over there though.
You rock igneously, Sady. And now internationally too! W00t!
ReplyDeleteCongratulations!!
ReplyDelete"apologise." yes!
ReplyDeleteGood on you! Thanks for watching that shitpile so we don't have to.
ReplyDeleteWish I hadn't looked at the comments, though--yikes...I didn't have enough Sanity Watchers Points saved up...
Sarah
I'm always so amazed at how vicious the comments are at CIF...
ReplyDeleteIn any case, great article! And congratulations!
Wheres all the exclamation points! Thats your style! See what I mean! Congratulations mainly though for having the integrit to use your real name. Its hard sometimes being inspired to revolution by someone going as 'hamsterwheel' you now? I do wish you'd pay less attention to movies and more attention to society. You know! Ok!
ReplyDeleteI really wish I hadn't read the comments over there. It was a huge mistake. Now I have to go wash my brain.
ReplyDeleteGood article though!
I do wish you'd pay less attention to movies and more attention to society.Yeah, Sady. Where'd you get that crazy idea that movies are part of society?
ReplyDelete@Anonymous: I! Totally! Apologize! For! The lack! Of exclamation points!
ReplyDelete@All, re: Commenters: Yeah, it's a free forum, and I expected some poop-buckets to make their ways onto the post. It's interesting to see what they have to say, anyway, and to see people actually duking it out.
Oh dear, my line break went missing. Curse you, Blogger! Apologies for the poor formatting.
ReplyDeleteI didn't read the article, but I do find it suprising that you're ok with Borat but not with Seth Rogan
ReplyDeleteWonderful article, Sady--it expressed the outrage that many of us feel about "Observe and Report" with your characteristic good humor. (Though I missed! the exclamation! marks! Also: colons) ;)
ReplyDeleteLovely how quickly the rape deniers and People Without A Clue About Their Privilege (I know this joke doesn't hurt anyone, because it doesn't hurt *me*) came out of the woodwork...but I expect little better, sadly, from the commentators at CIF....
@Homicidal Orange: Yeah, it's been a while since I've seen Sacha Baron Cohen's stuff, but what I appreciate about him is that he CAN do risky, or dark, or gross stuff, but it's typically in the service of fucking with people's small-mindedness. That said, the Pamela Anderson thing in "Borat," along with a few other jokes, were problems. Dude needs to work on his gender awareness.
ReplyDeleteI thought, when I wrote that, that it might draw some fire - some deserved fire! So, thanks for giving me the chance to address it - but I wanted to put it in there just to indicate that I do, in fact, appreciate raunchy or risk-taking stuff. I just prefer it to be GOOD.
"Observe & Report" WANTS to be risky and dark and raunchy - oh, how it wants that - but it's just too stupid and poseur-y to pull it off. EVERY. SINGLE. SECOND is filled with classic rock, actions NEVER have consequences - at one point, Rogen tells the police that he's killed six people, and it is never mentioned again - Hill can't comment on or critique or implicate racism or sexism in interesting ways so he just presents them, and every single thing that you might be tempted to admire (like, an abrupt move to slo-mo from regular action, THANK YOU WES ANDERSON) is lifted directly from another, recent movie, or even his own work, including a drug montage that I liked a lot better when it was in "Eastbound and Down." Also: most of this was better in "Eastbound and Down." Jody Hill is making the same thing over and over again, has anyone noticed this? So, it just comes off as some woman-hating, racist frat boy with cool-dude pretensions trying to piss people off to show how edgy he is. Borrrrring.
Yeah, to say women live with the threat of rape in their daily lives is totally hyperbolic. The fact that going on a first date without cab fare and an escape plan is "asking for it" and leaving your home at night is "asking for it" and not vigilantly guarding your drink for roofies is "asking for it" and walking to your car without your keys through your fingers and pepper spray at the ready is "asking for it" and not checking inside your car before you get into it is "asking for it" and not owning a gun and a concealed carry permit is "asking for it" and not taking judo lessons is "asking for it" etc... has nothing to do with anything that women live with on a daily basis.
ReplyDeleteTo be fair, I suppose, people rarely use the term "asking for it" anymore. Instead, they say "it's stupid not to take precautions," which means exactly the same thing as "asking for it." And I suppose it's just a coincidence that I've never heard anyone tell a male victim of a violent crime that he was stupid not to have prepared for it in advance.
That last was in response to many commenters at CIF, btw. I just prefer to comment here.
ReplyDeleteI first came across your blog when you were linked to from Whedonesque and I instantly wondered where you had been all my life :-)
ReplyDeleteI can't read the comments over at CiF because they alternatively make my blood boil or make me feel sick.
Anyway, I am sorry this has been one of your worst days but pleased that it has also been one of your best.
Sady -
ReplyDeleteeeeh, the comments over there totally grossed me out...
Been reading every day for a while and am highly amused!
Thanks
Sady, I am so glad Liss from Shakesville sent me over here about a week ago...love your writing and this blog.
ReplyDeleteI got kind of obsessive and read all your links on the Apatow-Rogan franchise. So glad to have someone put in words what's been pissing me off about all this.
Rock on.
I know it was a long post from Tom, but I'm still not quite at ease seeing certain parts lifted elsewhere for comment, better to see the whole context wouldnt it be? Im not defending him or attacking you, I'm just saying the internets are so full of wordbytes that sometimes I miss reading longer pieces to get the overall flavor and tone - there may be disclaimers early on that get lost later etc.
ReplyDeleteWon't comment over there because I hate the company I'd be keeping. Your article expresses perfectly the paradox of the craptastic artistic endeavor: you can't say how much you hate it until you've actually paid money to the despicable person who created it.
ReplyDeleteGreat job, Sady!
ReplyDeleteI often read the Guardian's female columnists, and I can tell you that the crazy comments in response to Sady's piece are par for the course. There are a group of "men's rights" guys who immediately glom onto anything a woman says in the Guardian, and fill the comments thread with obnoxious anti-feminist, misogynist BS.
They always say the same things: the writer is exaggerating because she is a feminist. the writer is in favor of censorship. women have more rights than men. British culture has been thoroughly feminized and thus ruined. all women are prostitutes on some level. And of course - why isn't this article about me, and my problems.
They are a study in and of themselves. But I like to think that by spending so much time haranguing the Guardian for the thoughtcrime of feminism, the rest of us are a bit safer - at least they are all indoors, and alone.