I’m really glad you brought up this angle. I don’t know if my mind would’ve gone there, but the discussion it prompted has been very insightful and informative. And a helpful reminder that context matters.
For some reason those Walmart shoppers wearing the swastika face masks came to mind when you referenced the goat analogy.
Just tell me that Cruz and Cotton claim to hate it, and I go immediately to watch. Which I did
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You get to decide what’s the correct proportion? Maybe let the actual victims do that.
Cancel Culture isn’t real. It’s a boogeyman invented by people in power who don’t like being told that punching down is a bad look.
Also not real. This is a boogeyman invented by privileged people who are too lazy to learn about other peoples’ real problems.
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That last point. It really disgusts me the ease with which actual victims of a societal problem are blamed for the fact that a whole cadre of opportunistic grifters appropriate the oppression of others without fail.
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Not having seen it, that’s my thought too. But they will count it a win because it creates engagement and views.
i don’t know, jordan peterson and bari weiss have made a lot of money off of claiming to be victims.
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Some people can indeed make having a persecution complex into a scam, but in general there’s no ‘entire culture’ of people inventing harassment for attention.
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The couple examples in the post I agree are arguing things that it is not. Though the headline mentions “and others”, and not everyone who is voicing an issue with this film are as hyperbolic.
I agree no one here is saying that kind of culture is good. But the original post didn’t address the depiction of that culture except for the tweet saying “I didn’t love the dance scenes”.
The original post focuses almost completely on the hyperbole of a couple Republicans. I dislike hyperbole because everyone focuses on the obvious ridiculousness of it, when there is some reasonable criticism that can be made.
So I too am condemning Ted Cruz etc, but I am also voicing my opinion that I don’t like some of the depictions I have seen from the film.
Though I do agree with the last part of the post:
And I, for one, am relieved that Republicans are once again nakedly revealing themselves as the censorious authoritarians they have always been.
Conservatives have always been one to “cancel” people or censor content. The fact there are now real social consequences for being a racist or sexist douche is just what is new.
I wonder what their opinion is on Little Miss Sunshine. (Actually, I really don’t.)
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So now I’ve seen the film.
It’s very well done, and it is hard to watch at some points, though let me be clear;
IN NO WAY DOES THIS FILM ENDORSE THE SEXUALIZATION OF PRETEEN GIRLS.
The scenes that depict the girls’ inappropriate dance routines are intentionally cringey and uncomfortable; not at all salacious or approving. It’s a harsh look at the reality of how tweens are influenced by social media and the desire for approval it often fosters. It’s also a subtle but effective commentary on society’s unfair and sexist expectations of women.
Lastly, the film ends on a positive note with the main character quitting the dance group, skipping her father’s wedding, and going outside to play in appropriate clothes.
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Just from watching the trailer (it was linked in an NPR video) I knew the film was criticizing the sexualization of tweens. It looks like an interesting movie. Less than five minutes looking at a trailer or an interview with the director reveals this film is very anti-sexualization of girls. I’d like to watch it.
But Ted Cruz has to manufacture outrage or his constituents stop paying attention. If he did more than see some promo pic before firing up, he’d ignore the context in favor of moral raging and distraction. I am continously ashamed he represents my state.
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Hey, don’t forget Donny Darko!
Given that they control the senate and the white house right now, their hyperbole matters. Their lies matter.
You don’t have to like the film, of course. But it is not remotely what they are portraying it as, which is promoting the exploitation of children, at least not from reviews from reputable sources or from folks here who have seen it.
We HAVE to talk about this, and women have to be able to share their experiences or else things will NEVER improve for us. It will be the same misogynistic bullshit on into infinity, because far too many people have their head in the sand and purposefully mistake the critique for the thing, and then shut down the critique but let the thing being critique continue on. That’s what is actually happening here.
That’s good to hear. I thought it would be the case.
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I haven’t seen American History X, but I have seen Romper Stomper and Train Spotting. These too are very effective depictions and critiques of their cultures. Problem is that in order for us to care about the central characters’ journey, the first act has to draw us in to the big bad by showing us why the hero is attracted to it. Which means these are favourites with enthusiasts of the evils they critique who spend the first act punching the air and then they leave.
As far as the film in the OP goes, (which I also have not seen,) keeping your hands out of your pants by clutching your pearls does not change the fact that you watched a film in which young girls are sexualised. Intention doesn’t really count.
Which is not the case in this film.
It does. And the people here who HAVE seen the movie, including actual women who might know a thing or two about this issue personally (not that that apparently matters, because hey, who gives a shit when it’s MEN who are doing the talking) have said that it does not actually sexualize tween girls, but functions very well as a critique of culture that does that.
Once again, Ted Cruz and others based their entire peal clutching ON THINGS THAT WERE NOT IN THE FILM. They did NOT SEE THE FILM. Others here have seen it and you can see what they took away from it if you care to actual read their comments.
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it wouldn’t be so bad if this were a one-off but this is something so-called conservatives do all the time. i remember when the movie life of brian came out malcolm muggeridge and john cleese discussed the film on a british show. cleese kept pointing out that things muggeridge was saying weren’t even in the film. finally cleese asked him if he had even seen it to which muggeridge said something like “i would never go to see a movie like that” (i’m paraphrasing but still . . .) to which cleese gave a very expressive eyeroll.
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Same with the Catholic League protesting Dogma in the 90s…
And yes, that IS Kevin Smith protesting his own movie! 
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I’m not disagreeing with you that the intention of the filmmakers is entirely admirable.
But these aren’t the problem.
There are no scenes at all of the subjects of the documentary? How then do you know that the thing represented is bad? Does it assume prior knowledge?
You said intention does not matter.
Um. What?
Um. It’s not a documentary.
Sexualization of tweens is bad.
Of what, exactly? The film? Being a tween girl? What knowledge? Whose assumptions?
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The patriarchy has ALWAYS pretended to care and has ALWAYS exploited us. Nothing new under the sun here
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