I May Have Been Wrong About Maleficent

[Bara_no_Hime]

Note: If you were assuming that third wave feminism always blames the man, because men are evil, then you're thinking about the wrong feminism. That's militant second wave.

The whole movie was about showing Maleficent isn't "just evil" and evil really is just a grey area. It was that she was betrayed (which certain people read as "rape metaphor"), and does bad things because she's angry.

However, she's put in this position by a one-dimensionally evil man who "raped" her, and one-dimensional stupid male characters antagonize her. None of them get the "shades of grey" or "I have my tragic reasons" treatment.

So yea, on the level you examine it; It's a bad man's fault for everything Maleficent does, and because of the severity, she can be absolved of her bad deeds and be seen as sympathetic.

First off, your quote from me above A) was not about the movie and B) had nothing to do with the movie - it was a general comment about a third wave feminist philosophy. And, even if it had been, the philosophy it referenced directly tied into Maleficent choosing to un-curse Aurora because Aurora had done nothing wrong. The quote that the quote you quoted was referring to had absolutely nothing to do with Stefan.

Secondly, Stefan is actually given a fairly nuanced performance that implies he feels very guilty about his act. That doesn't forgive his act, but it certainly isn't an example of a character being entirely evil.

 

[Fsyco]

I saw this movie with my girlfriend, and I pretty much agreed with Bob. The opening and end were cool, but all the stuff in the middle bored me to tears. That might be because A) I didn't grow up with that much Disney and therefore don't particularly care about what they do and B) I'm not a part of the target audience. I imagine if you do care about Disney or are part of it's target audience, it's wonderful (my girlfriend loved it, and apparently so does tumblr). I've never seen the original Sleeping Beauty, though, so maybe that's why I found it so dull. Not that I'm opposed to female characters, mind, but this movie seemed to speak mostly to female experiences. Which is cool, glad it exists, but it really was just not my cup of tea.

EDIT: I just realized that probably EVERY single person that cheered thinks that MUTILATING a little boys penis without his consent is A-OK. What a disgusting society America has.

Nope. My son remains uncut because I am absolutely against genital mutilation in any form.

Actually, it was a discussion right here on the Escapist that convinced me that circumcision was wrong.

As someone who had to get a circumcision as an adult (for medical reasons), I can tell you it's really not so bad, and much, much easier if you get it done as a baby. Not everybody runs into the kind of problems I ran into, though.

 

[RolandOfGilead]

I'm the same demographic as MovieBob but I didn't have his initial reaction either, cause seriously, who's seen I Spit On Your Grave and other revenge movies? I've seen one, it was terrible.

 

[gorfias]

I get adding to Maleficent's backstory (like GIVING her a past), but not rewriting every character who isn't her into either a moron (Charming, the 3 fairies) or a total bastard (the King). Maybe, as a dude, I'm not the target audience for this movie. Bob admitting the same also explains why he didn't like the Hunger Games either, despite his reviews for those always being a hoot to watch).

I think you are on to something.

I watched it and came away from it thinking it a pretty strong piece of misandria though pretty to look at. Other parts struck me as absurd.

But think of any fantasy and then re-write it to make the hero a monster everyone else fools except the villain, who you make a hero? The more you care about the original fantasy, the more likely you are to be pissed off at its "re-writing".

I like deconstruction. Hansel and Gretel were, if you think about it, home invaders. As was Jack... who not only invades the Giant's home, but steals from him and murders him!

But no, I don't want to see the Joker stop Batman from robbing a bank as Gordon plays Batman's inside man.