Escape to the Movies: Riddick

[josemlopes]

I'd still recommend Chronicles of Riddick as a worthy candidate for Movie Defense Force. It wasn't an oscar-winner but for me it was a fun ride with some nice action scenes, a big universe, interesting set pieces (especially that prison planet, easily the highlight of the movie), etc. It was watchable, and ended on a pretty awesome cliffhanger:

Spoiler

Riddick is left as the leader of the Necromongers after slaying Lord Marshall and taking his place upon the throne

...so when Bob tells me that the new Riddick has no explanation of what the FUCK happened after Chronicles, I'm a little pissed. Sorry but...WHAT? An entire evil galactic empire with gigantic fleets of ships and high-technology wasn't a big enough deal to continue on about? Where the hell did Riddick go from there?

You know what, screw spoilers, I'm going to dig up the plot of Riddick and see if it's even worth my time.

Here:

Isnt as cool as Peter Chung's animation Dark Fury but it explains things.

So essentially this film's approach to sex can be summarized as both misogynistic AND homophobic. Yeah... like I needed more of a reason NOT to go and see this.
Also, stone-faced meat golem would be a really cool band name. I just needed to say that.

I still havent seen it but I highly doubt its like that, he probably hits on her, she says she is a lesbian and he being Riddick probably keeps hitting on her because he is just that good. Not going after the "fuck you straight" but after the "I am so good that for me its worth it, the other guys just dont know how to pleasure you", the idea isnt that after he fucks her she is no longer lesbian, the idea is that he is the exception because he is that good.

At least thats what I think it probably is as it fits the character since it wouldnt be the first time he acted like that (not related to sexuality though).

If Im wrong then they really went after a really dumb idea.

 

[Towels]

A) It is possible for a lady to say that she doesn't "fuck dudes" when she's surrounded by a bunch of horny douchey bounty hunter guys without her actually being a lesbian. She might just *gasp* not like their company all that much. I could also see her going with the pretty religious boy if Riddick didn't make it.

Wait... She's not actually gay? I'm going to be little miffed if I got this feminist lesbian outrage worked up over nothing.

A woman that chooses to lie about her sexuality to discourage unwanted attention? Around a bunch of horny macho testostercannons? You mean like some women at the gym just trying to get a workout? WHAT ARE THE ODDS?!

No, No. Clearly she's gay. People must die for this.

 

[Canadamus Prime]

Didn't Riddick become like Emperor of the Necromongers (sp?) at the end of Chronicles?

 

[Farther than stars]

So essentially this film's approach to sex can be summarized as both misogynistic AND homophobic. Yeah... like I needed more of a reason NOT to go and see this.
Also, stone-faced meat golem would be a really cool band name. I just needed to say that.

I still havent seen it but I highly doubt its like that, he probably hits on her, she says she is a lesbian and he being Riddick probably keeps hitting on her because he is just that good. Not going after the "fuck you straight" but after the "I am so good that for me its worth it, the other guys just dont know how to pleasure you", the idea isnt that after he fucks her she is no longer lesbian, the idea is that he is the exception because he is that good.

That's what's misogynistic about it though. Essentially that's him saying: "Don't you worry your pretty little head about your sexual orientation. Let 'the man' figure out what you really want." On top of being incredibly chauvinistic, it's also just plainly arrogant. Never trust a man who touts his abilities more than his actions prove them.

And I can't stress this enough: in this case those abilities should not be proved. Everyone should be able to decide for themselves what they want and not be coerced into anything.

 

[josemlopes]

So essentially this film's approach to sex can be summarized as both misogynistic AND homophobic. Yeah... like I needed more of a reason NOT to go and see this.
Also, stone-faced meat golem would be a really cool band name. I just needed to say that.

I still havent seen it but I highly doubt its like that, he probably hits on her, she says she is a lesbian and he being Riddick probably keeps hitting on her because he is just that good. Not going after the "fuck you straight" but after the "I am so good that for me its worth it, the other guys just dont know how to pleasure you", the idea isnt that after he fucks her she is no longer lesbian, the idea is that he is the exception because he is that good.

That's what's misogynistic about it though. Essentially that's him saying: "Don't you worry your pretty little head about your sexual orientation. Let 'the man' figure out what you really want." On top of being incredibly chauvinistic, it's also just plainly arrogant. Never trust a man who touts his abilities more than his actions prove them.

Plain arrogant, yeah! Thats Riddick alright, but about this whole situation thats probably all he is and its not about man being superior to woman, its about him being superior to everyone. The guy isnt just talk though, he really is superior to everyone else (he isnt exactly human)

I mean, the guy basicly fights and wins against the most powerfull enemies out there and becomes like, king of the universe or some shit.

 

[Drake Barrow]

When I watched Chronicles, I thought less "Star Wars Meets D&D" and more Lensman or other old-school sci-fi. Come to think of it, a lot of old sci-fi was basically D&D with blasters and alien powers instead of magic swords and magic-users. I don't know if the aesthetic was entirely intentional on Diesel's part, but I enjoyed it all the same. This film is going on my 'to-see' list, but not for full price. I'll wait until it hits the local cheap theater first.

 

[KiramidHead]

I just saw the movie today, and I quite enjoyed it. It was just all around fun. The cast is good to great, and the action is a total blast. They actually *do* explain what happened after Chronicles, but it's very brief and in flashback form.

And about the "fuck her straight" thing, it's really not as bad as Bob makes it out. Riddick just says that "I'll be balls deep in you when all this is over, but only because you asked me." I don't think that Riddick even knew she was a lesbian at the time, and he never actually does anything about it. And really, when a guy who is explicitly told so attempts to rape her, the outlaw barbarian coming onto her doesn't seem like such a big deal to me.

Edit: and I don't think RoboCop looks all that bad. There's actually a reason why he's now black and why it looks like a suit. Rest assured, he's still mostly robotic. But I guess whiny internet nonsense is going to rule the day, no matter how good or bad the movie itself is.

 

[otakon17]

Could be enjoyable at least. Oh and Bob, you HAVE to review Robocop, or at least to a retrospective of the original series in light of the remake. Please?

 

[Towels]

Hey guys

If a woman is physically attracted to a man enough to allow him to have consensual sex with her then she, no matter how many times she says she's gay, isn't actually gay.

Seriously, you're demeaning the whole Lesbian movement by getting outraged over a pretend-lesbian turning out to actually be straight. Sometime a woman really does need a real man when she's surrounded by a bunch of assholes. That's not sexist. Its human nature.

 

[KiramidHead]

Hey guys

If a woman is physically attracted to a man enough to allow him to have consensual sex with her, no matter how many times she says she's gay, isn't actually gay.

Seriously, you're demeaning the whole Lesbian movement by getting outraged over a pretend-lesbian turning out to actually be straight. Sometime a woman really does need a real man when she's surrounded by a bunch of assholes. That's not sexist. Its human nature.

She doesn't actually have sex with Riddick, though. All he does is make a few lewd comments and grab her ass at the end.

 

[Towels]

Hey guys

If a woman is physically attracted to a man enough to allow him to have consensual sex with her, no matter how many times she says she's gay, isn't actually gay.

Seriously, you're demeaning the whole Lesbian movement by getting outraged over a pretend-lesbian turning out to actually be straight. Sometime a woman really does need a real man when she's surrounded by a bunch of assholes. That's not sexist. Its human nature.

She doesn't actually have sex with Riddick, though. All he does is make a few lewd comments and grab her ass at the end.

Ah, thank you for the clarity. Back to the OUTRAGE!!!!... uh... wait. That's still not a big deal.

 

[Frost27]

"Fucked Straight" Still better then how they handled Batwoman's Marriage.

Actually, that is a pretty damn good metaphor for exactly how DC handled Batwoman's lesbian marriage.

 

[Something Amyss]

That pitch for Bob's book was ironically less irritating than the first. At least he was referencing The Critic.

Damnit.

For some reason I really want Riddick to work, those games were amazing and I loved pitch black.

Because there's a solid action hero and solid action star in there somewhere. They just can't be bothered to pull it out....

"Fucked Straight" Still better then how they handled Batwoman's Marriage.

I don't know, at least they acknowledged those two were gay.

Though it was straight fucked.

 

[Grabehn]

I really liked Pitch Black, and Chronicles of Riddick was one of those movies that I saw with my father, in which I basically turn off my brain and enjoy the whole thing through. It wasn't "Bad" by any means, it just tried way too hard to set Riddick as the stereotypical "hey this guy's cool because he's the chosen one", instead of just leaving him as "this guy's cool".

 

[WanderingFool]

What? You dont want the RoboCop remake (which I dont blame you for), but you're giving a maybe to Transformers 4? I havent been paying any mind to the news around T4, but is there something big I dont know? Is Bay not directing it?

 

[leviadragon99]

Huh... well the "fucking her straight" thing is pretty repulsive, if it weren't for that I might've considered watching this as popcorn fare...

 

[leviadragon99]

Also if your a straight male who hasn't thought about turning a lesbian straight then obviously you should just leave your man card at the door. All it is, is a harmless fantasy and people should just get over taking sexuality so damn serious.

It becomes a little more serious when you consider that the real world does have a history of trying to force gay people to be straight, from camps where they're indoctrinated and encouraged to "pray the gay away" to straight-up raping them, there's also a difference between having a ridiculous fantasy and shouting it to the world through mass-media, potentially influencing people into thinking that sort of thing is okay.

Also, for using the term "man card" you're automatically kind of a douche.

 

[Psychobabble]

Huh... well the "fucking her straight" thing is pretty repulsive, if it weren't for that I might've considered watching this as popcorn fare...

I blame poor paint by numbers script writing. They wanted to add a tough self reliant female character but had to use the hackneyed old chestnut of potential sexual tension and romance to titillate the audience. Note to screen writers, if the character really is a tough self reliant female who has established a place in the pecking order of a team of violent bounty hunters, the matter of her sexuality never need be brought up. But no they decided to go with the old stand by and claim she was a lesbian. So once again we get the stereotype that the only way a female character can be considered tough is by becoming one of the boys. Brilliant message, did a 12 year old write this script?.

 

[Paradoxrifts]

In Riddick's defense he might have thought that he was a lesbian too. It would go a long way to explaining just how he manages to not only keep himself completely devoid of body hair, but also why he is covered at all times by a thin sheen of body oil. I would also point out in such a case that it is more than likely that his entire understanding of LGBT people has in all likelihood been gleaned exclusively from pornography.

"Fucked Straight" Still better then how they handled Batwoman's Marriage.

Nobody wants to read comics about married superheroes. Or at least that's the impression I took away from the industry-wide back-flips when it comes to continuity on the subject. Maybe they're misapplying lessons that they learned from selling comic books to a straight male audience to an altogether different audience.

But are you honestly complaining that a company wants to sell more comics about a lesbian super-heroine over the long term instead of writing the intellectual property of Batwoman into an increasingly dead-end corner with a series of highly lucrative, but ultimately short-minded cash grabs?

 

[KiramidHead]

Huh... well the "fucking her straight" thing is pretty repulsive, if it weren't for that I might've considered watching this as popcorn fare...

Like I mentioned earlier, nowhere is the phrase "fucking her straight" ever used in the actual movie. Riddick merely makes a few lewd comments and then grabs her ass at the end. BTW, I don;t recall her sexual orientation even being mentioned in front of Riddick. There's also the small matter of the merc who attempts to rape her, but nooooooo, a couple of lewd comments is just sooooo much worse.