What's the Problem With Hit-Girl?

[Quaxar]

I liked Hit-Girl. All the brutality and harsh language was, like the film put it, "kick-ass". She's an interesting character with all the background.

I've read the comic book but haven't seen the movie yet (it premieres on august here in Uruguay). Can somebody tell me how bad are the spoilers in my case?

Are they transporting the DVDs on donkeys from Hollywood down to you, or what? That's awful man, my sincere condolences.
If you mean the article's spoilers... I wouldn't read it, if I hadn't already seen the pre-premiere. But then again I'm very strict about that, I don't even read episode descriptions from DVD series because I don't want to be spoilered beforehand.

 

[the December King]

My problem with HitGirl was two-fold:

Watching a young girl get beaten to a pulp by a man in his 40s makes you (the audience) feel uncomfortable. But they didn't do anything with it. If you're going to make the audience uncomfortable, at least do it with a message or *some* kind.

Second, her level of cursing went from "Adult language to illustrate that her childhood has been stolen" to (in many parts) the writer saying "I have an 11-yr-old girl saying 'cu**' 4 times in 5 minutes. Look at how edgy I am!"

Pointless cussing and violence isn't anything even remotely new, I can understand finding that offensive and tasteless, but many people aren't complaining when other so many other characters do it, just Hit-Girl. This smacks of a double standard that I don't really care for.

I'm sorry if I find violence against young children to be disgusting. But I don't see it as a double standard. Violence against adults is more acceptable because they can recognize the consequences of their choices and understand what they're getting into.

Watching a child who thinks that being a superhero is a game because that's what her dad made it for her get beaten up made me feel sick to my stomach, and then the writer barely acknowledged it. Some call it good, but I found it short-sighted writing.

And therein lies the rub, really. Suddenly she's just an 11 year old girl again, after murdering people with preternatural and superhuman skill, and cursing horribly.

I try not to think of such characters, male or female, adult or child, as 'human'. The notion of violence against anyone as being more acceptable, to me, is self- deceptive, in this context. If this weren't a comic based superhero romp, I'd agree with you.

But it is!

An excellent example of this same effect is in 'The Last Action Hero', when the main character's daughter, who was also very young and seemingly innocent, violently kills a thug with her bare hands. It was meant to shock us, and it did. But it's in a superhero context- I expect inplausible scenarios, and some look forward to it- it's part of the formula. I see it all as an equal playing field, where gender, size, etc. all take a back seat to the battle of good vs. evil, heroes vs. villains.

In short, I sympathize with your sentiment- but I try not to bring it to such fare.

 

[bakonslayer]

Hey Escapists, I have a quick question that I think goes well here.
Is there some kind of "culture gap" between the West Coast and the East Coast of America pertaining to cartoon literature?

In Bob's article, Japanese-inspiration and Manga was brought up a few times as the theme of Hit Girl's outfit. Now, I live in Seattle, and in bookstores, comics will take up a back wall of space whereas Manga and Japanese graphic novels will have there own section. (You can't find Kick-Ass at the local Barnes and Nobels OR Borders, trust me, I've tried). So, I'm wondering, on the East Coast, is there more of a fanbase for comics than there is on the West Coast?

I just think that would make a very interesting social gap in the realms of Nerdery. If anyone can shed light on this, that would be great.

 

[duchaked]

chances are, a good number of guys walked out of the theater totally in love with her

...not...that I would know what kind of madness overcame them...ha...ha...don't be ridiculous

=}

 

[BehattedWanderer]

*****Spoilers to follow*****




I was supposed to be disturbed at that? I fucking loved every minute of it. I loved watching her slice through legs, rips shit up, get all fucking blood splattered. The car crusher scene in particular had me hysterically laughing, as did when Nic Cage put two bullets to her chest on screen. Watching her get the shit beat out of her and in turn beat the shit out of everyone around was just unapologetically eye-pleasing, and I wouldn't want it any other way. To tone down what made the movie so astounding would be throw the roaring bonfire of awesomeness that is this movie into a deep hole, then simultaneously dump in a truck load of sand and an entire reservoir in to extinguish it. Likewise, watching Kick Ass and Big Daddy get fucked up while strapped to chairs was just fucking mesmerizing, and watching as she rips that entire crew whole new orifices to bleed profusely from was wonderfully fantastic. I want no apology from the makers at all, for, to me, they have no need to apologize for the awards I would give them.

 

[Zombie Nixon]

I think the reason many people hate hit-girl is because she ruined the entire fucking movie.

 

[Skooterz]

What problem? I don't see a problem, I love Hit-Girl, she's awesome.

 

[rddj623]

Sir, this is the finest thing I've ever heard or read from you. A very good article.

 

[MasterSplinter]

I liked Hit-Girl. All the brutality and harsh
Are they transporting the DVDs on donkeys from Hollywood down to you, or what? That's awful man, my sincere condolences.

I think it has more to do with the kind of movie it is, lower budget or rarer movies often don't ever get to cinemas here. But i wouldn't discard the donkey theory just yet, stranger things have happened, last time i checked they are going to premiere Iron man 2 here a week before the date i saw on IMDB.

Maybe the dvd donkey got high on coke while passing through Colombia and got here at road runner speed.

If you mean the article's spoilers...

yeap

I wouldn't read it, if I hadn't already seen the pre-premiere. But then again I'm very strict about that, I don't even read episode descriptions from DVD series because I don't want to be spoilered beforehand.

Well... let's just hope i don't get too bored.

 

[Kinguendo]

My problem with Hit-Girl is that there are a bunch of Hit-Girl clones on Champions Online, seriously... they could make a Super Group of just Hit-Girls... its madness.

 

[Jaded Scribe]

My problem with HitGirl was two-fold:

Watching a young girl get beaten to a pulp by a man in his 40s makes you (the audience) feel uncomfortable. But they didn't do anything with it. If you're going to make the audience uncomfortable, at least do it with a message or *some* kind.

Second, her level of cursing went from "Adult language to illustrate that her childhood has been stolen" to (in many parts) the writer saying "I have an 11-yr-old girl saying 'cu**' 4 times in 5 minutes. Look at how edgy I am!"

Pointless cussing and violence isn't anything even remotely new, I can understand finding that offensive and tasteless, but many people aren't complaining when other so many other characters do it, just Hit-Girl. This smacks of a double standard that I don't really care for.

I'm sorry if I find violence against young children to be disgusting. But I don't see it as a double standard. Violence against adults is more acceptable because they can recognize the consequences of their choices and understand what they're getting into.

Watching a child who thinks that being a superhero is a game because that's what her dad made it for her get beaten up made me feel sick to my stomach, and then the writer barely acknowledged it. Some call it good, but I found it short-sighted writing.

And therein lies the rub, really. Suddenly she's just an 11 year old girl again, after murdering people with preternatural and superhuman skill, and cursing horribly.

I try not to think of such characters, male or female, adult or child, as 'human'. The notion of violence against anyone as being more acceptable, to me, is self- deceptive, in this context. If this weren't a comic based superhero romp, I'd agree with you.

But it is!

An excellent example of this same effect is in 'The Last Action Hero', when the main character's daughter, who was also very young and seemingly innocent, violently kills a thug with her bare hands. It was meant to shock us, and it did. But it's in a superhero context- I expect inplausible scenarios, and some look forward to it- it's part of the formula. I see it all as an equal playing field, where gender, size, etc. all take a back seat to the battle of good vs. evil, heroes vs. villains.

In short, I sympathize with your sentiment- but I try not to bring it to such fare.

I avoid bringing it in to such movies as well. And overall, I got a real kick out of the movie. It was fun, decently acted (except for Nicholas Cage who went from decent to just flat out great).

My problems with Hit Girl were not enough to really damage my opinion of the movie, I just think it could have been done better.

 

[the December King]

My problem with HitGirl was two-fold:

Watching a young girl get beaten to a pulp by a man in his 40s makes you (the audience) feel uncomfortable. But they didn't do anything with it. If you're going to make the audience uncomfortable, at least do it with a message or *some* kind.

Second, her level of cursing went from "Adult language to illustrate that her childhood has been stolen" to (in many parts) the writer saying "I have an 11-yr-old girl saying 'cu**' 4 times in 5 minutes. Look at how edgy I am!"

Pointless cussing and violence isn't anything even remotely new, I can understand finding that offensive and tasteless, but many people aren't complaining when other so many other characters do it, just Hit-Girl. This smacks of a double standard that I don't really care for.

I'm sorry if I find violence against young children to be disgusting. But I don't see it as a double standard. Violence against adults is more acceptable because they can recognize the consequences of their choices and understand what they're getting into.

Watching a child who thinks that being a superhero is a game because that's what her dad made it for her get beaten up made me feel sick to my stomach, and then the writer barely acknowledged it. Some call it good, but I found it short-sighted writing.

And therein lies the rub, really. Suddenly she's just an 11 year old girl again, after murdering people with preternatural and superhuman skill, and cursing horribly.

I try not to think of such characters, male or female, adult or child, as 'human'. The notion of violence against anyone as being more acceptable, to me, is self- deceptive, in this context. If this weren't a comic based superhero romp, I'd agree with you.

But it is!

An excellent example of this same effect is in 'The Last Action Hero', when the main character's daughter, who was also very young and seemingly innocent, violently kills a thug with her bare hands. It was meant to shock us, and it did. But it's in a superhero context- I expect inplausible scenarios, and some look forward to it- it's part of the formula. I see it all as an equal playing field, where gender, size, etc. all take a back seat to the battle of good vs. evil, heroes vs. villains.

In short, I sympathize with your sentiment- but I try not to bring it to such fare.

I avoid bringing it in to such movies as well. And overall, I got a real kick out of the movie. It was fun, decently acted (except for Nicholas Cage who went from decent to just flat out great).

My problems with Hit Girl were not enough to really damage my opinion of the movie, I just think it could have been done better.

Understood and well met.

...

To be fair, I haven't seen it yet!

I hope this hasn't totally invalidated my position to you.

 

[Jaded Scribe]

My problem with HitGirl was two-fold:

Watching a young girl get beaten to a pulp by a man in his 40s makes you (the audience) feel uncomfortable. But they didn't do anything with it. If you're going to make the audience uncomfortable, at least do it with a message or *some* kind.

Second, her level of cursing went from "Adult language to illustrate that her childhood has been stolen" to (in many parts) the writer saying "I have an 11-yr-old girl saying 'cu**' 4 times in 5 minutes. Look at how edgy I am!"

Pointless cussing and violence isn't anything even remotely new, I can understand finding that offensive and tasteless, but many people aren't complaining when other so many other characters do it, just Hit-Girl. This smacks of a double standard that I don't really care for.

I'm sorry if I find violence against young children to be disgusting. But I don't see it as a double standard. Violence against adults is more acceptable because they can recognize the consequences of their choices and understand what they're getting into.

Watching a child who thinks that being a superhero is a game because that's what her dad made it for her get beaten up made me feel sick to my stomach, and then the writer barely acknowledged it. Some call it good, but I found it short-sighted writing.

And therein lies the rub, really. Suddenly she's just an 11 year old girl again, after murdering people with preternatural and superhuman skill, and cursing horribly.

I try not to think of such characters, male or female, adult or child, as 'human'. The notion of violence against anyone as being more acceptable, to me, is self- deceptive, in this context. If this weren't a comic based superhero romp, I'd agree with you.

But it is!

An excellent example of this same effect is in 'The Last Action Hero', when the main character's daughter, who was also very young and seemingly innocent, violently kills a thug with her bare hands. It was meant to shock us, and it did. But it's in a superhero context- I expect inplausible scenarios, and some look forward to it- it's part of the formula. I see it all as an equal playing field, where gender, size, etc. all take a back seat to the battle of good vs. evil, heroes vs. villains.

In short, I sympathize with your sentiment- but I try not to bring it to such fare.

I avoid bringing it in to such movies as well. And overall, I got a real kick out of the movie. It was fun, decently acted (except for Nicholas Cage who went from decent to just flat out great).

My problems with Hit Girl were not enough to really damage my opinion of the movie, I just think it could have been done better.

Understood and well met.

...

To be fair, I haven't seen it yet!

I hope this hasn't totally invalidated my position to you.

Not at all. And I do suggest going to see it. It is worth the ticket price, and despite from my problems with Hit-Girl and a couple other minor points, they weren't big enough problems to make me dislike the movie. It's funny, it's a little different from the standard super-hero fare, and thoroughly enjoyable.

 

[Wolfram23]

This movie was great, really funny. Hit Girl was awesome. Call me crazy but I didn't really take her actualy age into account - it's just a movie! I thought it was hilarious to see her kicking some serious ass, and even get her ass (well, face) kicked. It's hard not to find it amusing when the grown men are pissing themselves because of a super badass little girl.

 

[Shadeovblack]

Right and wrong are illusions.

 

[Lord Krunk]

Whoa, someone else who likes Baby's Day Out? I've never met someone else who's even heard of that film. It is a guilty pleasure of mine, mostly brought about by childhood nostalgia.

On-topic: I haven't seen Kick-Ass yet, but the more I hear of it the more boundaries it seems to push. And that's great for an industry so dependent on the same cliches, great because with new horizons we can wow the audience once more.

That's my take anyway.

 

[BrotherRool]

In the end it wasn't so much she was a girl that made me feel uncomfortable but purely the fact that the movie didn't challenge the concept that it was right to kill all these people. There was no justification, the movie had enough complexity for it to not fall into the "watch a film where we massacre lots of Nazis" style trend and yet it failed on delivering the answers to any of the questions it set.

And Hit Girl is the centre of that, purely because she kills the most people, with the smallest amount of reason and the most amount of inhibition. It was also jarring to see such "unrealistic" fight scenes in a movie that seemed to be about portraying heroes as real people.

I guess a lot of this comes from a translation loss between the mediums, thanks for informing me

 

[shemoanscazrex3]

Fuck that, children are just as fucked up as the rest of us. Perhaps more so in places.

gotta agree tenfold

 

[GL2814E]

I loved Hit-Girl! She was hilarious. But I wouldn't let a minor see that. Not that I think that will inexorably warp them or something. No, I just don't think minors need to see that kind of violence period.

If people are worried about their kids seeing Hit-Girl and being inspired by them, I have one question. Why are you allowing a child to see a movie like Kick-Ass? To me, if you have, that says you are a bad parent. (Or if the kid is mature enough, a really cool uncle but that is besides the point...)

And what is eaxtly wrong about letting them see stuff like that? I mean when I was that age I was already watching stuff like Starship Troopers, James Bond and Robocop

I also saw that sort of material by that age, and worse when I was younger. I don't believe however that minors need to see that kind of material. Maybe James Bond, he's pretty tame in this day and age... But Starship Troopers, Robocop? Those aren't terribly appropriate for children and I can see why my father changed his mind on allowing for the viewing of violent material with his last two kids vs his first three.

That being said, as I said before, some kids are a bit more mature and can handle that kind of content.