Blog Posts“I want to like it, but…”: Knights of Badassdom

Posted on July 27, 2011 by Theresa Basile

This trailer was recently pointed out to me. It’s a trailer for a movie called Knights of Badassdom, and the premise seems to be that a group of medieval fantasy fans perform a spell that winds up accidentally releasing a demon from Hell.


I watched the beginning of the trailer. It looked amusing and cute, and as an added bonus, had quite a few actors from some of my favorite shows. “Tyrion is in a movie with Abed and River? Sign me up!”

But I couldn’t shake the feeling that Peter Dinklage, Danny Pudi, Steve Zahn, Ryan Kwanten, and the other buddies in this buddy comedy were there to have fun and be silly and have wacky misadventures, and Summer Glau was primarily there to look hot. Oh, and kick ass. She’ll be the Exceptional Woman who can be gorgeous and kickass. She just won’t be allowed to be funny.

If that wasn’t bad enough, the demon that they raise from Hell is a succubus: a female demon that sexually seduces men before eviscerating them.

Of course. Of course they raise a succubus. What was I thinking – that they wouldn’t raise a succubus?

I want to like it, but I’m reflexively sighing and eye-rolling over a movie trailer about a bunch of male sci-fi geeks, written by male sci-fi geeks, where the only two women of note seem to be the Hot Girl Fighter and a sexual demon that devours men. It’s fetishization of female sexuality and fear of female sexuality all rolled into one.

I’m disappointed. In the first half-minute of the trailer or so, I expected a parody of sci-fi/fantasy movies where the characters in it treat their convention with the same seriousness that Frodo and Sam treated their quest in The Lord of the Rings. I thought it would be like that episode of Mr. Show that parodied historical documentaries by doing a fake documentary of Civil War reenactments.

In fact, that was a pretty funny sketch. I think I’ll watch that instead.

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Blog PostsGinny Weasley: The Exceptional Woman

Posted on July 25, 2011 by Theresa Basile

In writing about Hermione Granger a few days ago, I got to thinking about the role of Exceptional Women in some of my favorite sci-fi and fantasy series.

Some history: The term “Exceptional Woman”  refers to a woman, real or fictional, who is the best and awesomest at what she does, but she’s still the only woman who’s allowed to play the game reserved for boys. The first Exceptional Woman I took note of was Tatum O’Neal’s character from the original The Bad News Bears – the best player on the team, but still the only girl on the team. Princess Leia from Star Wars and Eowyn from The Lord of the Rings are great examples of Exceptional Women. Leia in particular stands out: she’s a good fighter and frequently the smartest person in the room. Leia’s great…and the only female character of note in the original Star Wars trilogy. Women are either AWESOME or nonexistent, and only men get to be average.

I feel similarly about Buffy the Vampire Slayer. As much as I love the show (and I love it a LOT, especially because it has several well-developed female characters instead of one Exceptional Woman), I always felt bothered that Buffy was supernaturally strong, Willow was the brainy genius, and only Xander was allowed to be average. For once, I would like to see a trio where the girl took the Xander role – average fighter, average intelligence, but quick-witted and brave.

Anyway, I used to think that Hermione embodied the Exceptional Woman of the Harry Potter series: the smartest kid in the series who always got out of a scrape. Upon further reflection, however, I think that if any female character in the Harry Potter earns the Exceptional Woman title, it’s Ginny Weasley. Ginny fits the Exceptional Woman role in many ways, and I think her “exceptionality” is the reason I could never warm up to her when I instantly adored Hermione and Luna Lovegood. Continue reading →

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Blog PostsScott Adams: “Rape and cannibalism are the same thing, and you’re stupid. And probably fat.”

Posted on July 24, 2011 by Theresa Basile

If you follow the feminist blogosphere, you’re undoubtedly aware of the Scott Adams kerfluffle. Here’s the short, short version of the mini-saga: Scott Adams posted a brilliant analysis on his blog about rape and the natural instincts of men, a bunch of hysterical fat feminists overreacted and put together a whiny petition, and Scott Adams bravely and courageously cut through this swarm of stupid critics with responses that were filled with incisive wit and pithy language.

At least, that’s how Scott Adams views the situation. Others see it differently. I see a case where a popular writer created a navel-gazing blog post where he engaged in unintentional rape apologia (yes, I do believe it was unintentional), a group of survivors put together a petition, and the popular writer spent his copious amount of free time responding to each and every one of the criticisms, accusing his petitioners of slander. (At least, he started by accusing them of slander, but I guess someone told him that slander refers to spoken word and libel is the term for the written word, so he started accusing his critics of libel instead.)

I was one of the fat hysterical feminists that signed this whiny petition. As I read through Scott Adams’ responses to me and the other fat hysterical feminists that signed the whiny petition, I was struck with a realization: Scott Adams is acting like a Professional Troll! Let’s look at some of his most trollish arguments he uses to defend himself. Continue reading →

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Reviews‘Tangled’ and How Trailers Can Be Deceiving

Posted on July 23, 2011 by Theresa Basile

I rented Disney’s Tangled the other day. I wanted to see how Rapunzel compared to some of the other Disney princesses. Would she be a feisty adventurer like Ariel, a perpetual victim like Cinderella, or another Princess “I am legitimately angry to be treated as a prize to be won rather than a human being, and will completley undermine my point by acting as though my life is as hard as a starving man living on the street!” Jasmine?

I couldn’t tell. From the trailer, it seemed as though the movie wasn’t even about Rapunzel. It looked to be a movie about a charming rogue of a thief who happened to fall into the clutches of a lot of blonde hair that happened to have a girl attached to it: Link.

Also noteworthy? The original movie was titled Rapunzel, but apparently Disney changed it to Tangled because they thought a movie with a girl’s name in the title would alienate boys. (As we know, boys and men are a criminally underserved audience who have no movies catered to them ever.)

The trailer combined with the title change did not give me high hopes for this film. I have issues with many of the Disney princesses, but at least most of them get to be in the titles of their own damn movies (Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Mulan, Beauty and the Beast, The Little Mermaid, Pocahontas).

Then I watched the movie and was pleasantly surprised. Continue reading →

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Blog PostsThe Hermione Granger Series: Feminist Criticism of Feminist Criticism

Posted on July 21, 2011 by Theresa Basile

I’m not sure how I’ve managed to blog for eight months without ever writing a post about the female characters from the Harry Potter series, but now seems like a good time to start for two reasons: 1. The last movie was just released. (I saw it, I liked it very much, but I didn’t blog about it because A Dance with Dragons took priority.) 2. Sady Doyle wrote an interesting piece for the Global Comment called, “In praise of Joanne Rowling’s Hermione Granger series.” In this editorial, she takes her readers through an interesting mental exercise, asking us to imagine a world where a fantasy series about a girl heroine, written by Joanne Rowling, receives the same overwhelming success as a fantasy series about a boy named Harry Potter, written by J.K. Rowling.

That world, of course, doesn’t exist. Three young adult fantasy series with strong female leads pop into mind immediately – Suzanne Collins’ The Hunger Games trilogy, Scott Westerfeld’s Uglies, and Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials – but none of them have achieved the same success as the Harry Potter series. (Plus, two of those series were written by men, and Lyra in His Dark Materials shared co-lead status with Will.) As Doyle points out, Rowling was pressured by her publisher to go by the name J.K. Rowling rather than showing to the world that she was – gasp! – a woman. That alone tells you how the world perceives women authors, or at least how the publishing world thinks the world perceives women authors.

Anyway, I read through the whole piece, and I was struck by two things: 1) Doyle accurately and warmly describes everything that’s wonderful about Hermione Granger, while also 2) dismissing Harry and most of the other female characters in the series. I was alternately pleased and annoyed with this editorial to the point where I felt I had to comment. Follow me as I participate in an incredibly self-indulgent activity: criticism of criticism. Continue reading →

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ReviewsA Dance with Dragons and the Five-and-a-Half-Year Itch

Posted on July 20, 2011 by Theresa Basile

I’m back after a two-week break, and it seems appropriate that the first post after my self-imposed sabbatical should focus on George R.R. Martin’s A Dance With Dragons.

I have waited for this book for five and a half years. Critics seem to love this book and find it a highly satisfying continuation of the series. There were many things I liked about the book and Martin’s prose is as strong as it ever was (if not stronger), but some parts of the book upset me so much that I momentarily wanted to buy a pet dragon, shout “Dracarys!” and have it burn the book to a crisp.

I guess I should explain. All the spoiler warnings apply. Continue reading →

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Blog PostsFemale Character of the Fortnight: Sansa Stark

Posted on July 2, 2011 by Theresa Basile

George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire presents us with a lot of tough, ass-kicking female characters. There’s Daenerys Targaryen, also known as Daenerys Stormborn, the Unburnt, Mother of Dragons, and one damn strong warrior. There’s Arya Stark, assassin-in-training, the self-titled ghost of Harrenhal. There’s Brienne of Tarth, also known as Brienne the Beauty, one of the only truly noble knights in Westeros. And we have warrior women like Asha Greyjoy and Maege and Dacey Mormont, and tough wildling warriors like Osha and Ygritte. Being a woman in Westeros isn’t easy, but some manage to break through the ranks and establish themselves as formidable forces of nature, skilled with swords, daggers, and dragons.

But there are more ways than one to show strength in Westeros. This woman shows her own strength of character and incredible growth over the series without ever learning how to wield a sword. It’s time to talk about how much I love Sansa Stark. (WARNING: Behind the cut lies spoilers for all four Song of Ice and Fire books.)

Continue reading →

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Blog PostsJuly Movies I Won’t Be Seeing (And One I Will)

Posted on July 1, 2011 by Theresa Basile

July 2011 has arrived, and the approach of the month was making me feel a little nervous. I knew I wanted to see Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 on opening night, but I still felt fretful. What if I was treated to a group of truly excellent movies and had to choose between seeing Deathly Hallows for the third time and seeing a brand-new movie?

Thankfully, the month is treating me to awful-looking films, which means Deathly Hallows will have very little competition.  Thanks, July!

First up is Larry Crowne, starring the cast of Charlie Wilson’s War:

Summary: I’m not sure I can write a better summary than this one.

Predicted ending: Tom Hanks marries Julia Roberts, because the only way she can find true fulfillment through her teaching is if she bangs one of her students. The token black characters teach the white people how to live their lives, because that’s what black people are put on Earth for, doncha know.

My verdict: Somehow, I doubt that Tom Hanks’s character will ever say, “There’s no crying in Wal-Mart!” or “There’s no crying in community college!” so it automatically loses points. I’ll pass.

More movies starring white people behind the cut! Continue reading →

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Reviews“Bad Teacher”: A Cathartic Experience

Posted on June 26, 2011 by Theresa Basile

I bit the bullet and saw Bad Teacher on opening night. Even though the trailer made me cringe, I knew from the moment I saw it that I would have to see it in the theater, and it would have to be on opening night, no matter how badly it bashed my profession.

The movie was better than I thought it would be. It’s not a great film. I wouldn’t even call it a good film. There are too many “comic” moments that rely on cruelty or sexual harassment or stupid jokes. But for the most part, the jokes in this movie are too broad and silly to give anti-teacher “education” “reformers” more anti-union fodder, and all in all, this movie will do much less damage to public education than Bill Gates or Waiting for Superman will.

And even though the movie wasn’t great, and even though this movie will likely be a more meaningful use of time, there were two things about it that I really liked.

Continue reading →

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Blog PostsThe Rape of Lyanna Stark?

Posted on June 24, 2011 by Theresa Basile

The first season of Game of Thrones is over, and given the most recent events in the land of Westeros, I imagine that the minds of most viewers (who have not read the books) exploded approximately three times over the last two episodes.  I want to talk about the show, but even more than that, I want to talk about the backstory in A Song of Ice and Fire, because there seems to be a variety of interpretations about Lyanna Stark and her relationships with Robert Baratheon and Rhaegar Targaryen.  (Spoilers for the first book/first season follow.)

There is a popular theory among book fans that Jon Snow is not actually the son of Ned Stark, but the son of Lyanna Stark and Rhaegar Targaryen.  Once I heard about this theory, I glommed onto it in a heartbeat because it seemed perfect.  There’s not a lot of concrete evidence in the books thus far (so therefore I am not actually spoiling, readers – don’t worry), just a lot of symbolic, subtle hints, and holes in the backstory that have left people questioning.  I love this theory and fully believe it to be true.  It never made sense to me that Ned Stark, who always does what is honorable and “right” and follows the rules, would just randomly sleep with a woman that wasn’t his wife and then raise their child.  Ned raising his dead sister’s son as his own to protect the kid from a Targaryen-hating king and allowing everyone to believe that he was a cheating hypocrite to ensure Jon’s safety is a much more Ned Stark thing to do.

I try to watch Game of Thrones with another book-fan friend of mine whenever our schedules coincide, and we had an interesting, friendly debate concerning this issue.  She shares my opinion that Jon is probably the son of Rhaegar and Lyanna, but we had completely different interpretations about the tone of Rhaegar and Lyanna’s relationship. Continue reading →

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