Tidbits for June, 2018

I watched Dr. Strangelove (1964) many times before I realized that the centerfold model that Slim Pickens peruses in his Playboy magazine is Tracy Reed, who later appears in the film as the girlfriend of General Buck Turgidson (George C. Scott).

 

Don't ask me how I missed that.  I suppose that I am just get a shy guy who averts his eyes at the sight of a beautiful naked woman.  It's just something a virtuous guy like me does.

The lovely Ms. Reed would not be able to show off her feminine beauty in today's films.  An online protest of Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (2018) raged after the following publicity still was released.

Feminists were appalled to see actress Karen Gillan in this sexy outfit.  Excuse me, I must avert my eyes again.

Welcome to the Jungle is about a magical video game that transports players into an imaginary jungle as various game avatars.  Jess Denham of The Independent wrote: "[W]hile her male co-stars are well-covered up, Gillan is wearing a tight-fitting crop top, tiny hotpants and boots that look far more sexy than they do durable [for the jungle]."

Gillan told Vanity Fair, "I don't know if I was fully expecting that much sort of controversy around it.  However, I have to say, I think everybody had a point.  To look at the picture out of context, it is ridiculous, and that is exactly the point that we're making with it."

Producer Matt Tolmach said, "[T]here's a very real consciousness and idea there. When all the noise came out it was like, this is exactly what we anticipated, and is very definitely spoken to in the movie… Super aware of what we were doing there, and it’s addressed in the movie."

Run, Bad Ass Girl, Run!!!

Simon Abrams of The Hollywood Reporter did not agree that the sexism concerns were resolved by the film.  He wrote:

Martha pre-emptively pushes people away because she doesn't like herself, as Bethany diagnoses in one scene. So apparently the cure for what ails her is to assume the identity of generic lady badass Ruby Roundhouse (Karen Gillan) and "dance-fight" her way out of situations.  Again, this is a cop-out solution, since the idea here is that, at film's end, Martha feels empowered by abilities that she does not naturally possess. Which self is Martha supposed to believe in: the scantily-clad, karate-chopping stereotype that reeks of unexamined sexist values or the sassy teen girl whose character flaws are magically fixed as soon as she accepts milquetoast Spencer's generous offer to date him?

Abrams is probably one of those white knight idiots that averts his eyes at the sight of a beautiful naked woman.  Okay, fine, you got me - I lied.  I cannot get through a day without ogling a naked woman.

I don't know what to say about the Welcome to the Jungle controversy.  I get my philosophy of life from the 1971 film Cold Turkey.  The booze bone is connected to the smoke bone and the smoke bone is connected to the head bone and that's the word of the Lord!

Abrams is right that woman are being unduly influenced by films.  Women are expressing a fascination with fish sex after seeing The Shape of Water.

A woman who has seen an endless stream of empowered women shoot guns in films decided that it was time for a woman to engage in a mass shooting.

Let me get to lighter subjects now.  

Kenneth Connor and Sid James find themselves avoiding a serial killer while spending a night in a gloomy mansion  in What a Carve Up! (1961).

Bob Hope must explain to Helen Vinson the reason he is in her room dressed in her gown in Nothing But the Truth (1941).

A final observation: a fish many not share in your sexual fantasies.

References sources

Simon Abrams, "'Jumanji' Has a Confusing Message for Teenagers," The Hollywood Reporter (December 23, 2017).  https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/jumanji-welcome-jungle-has-a-confusing-message-teenagers-1070207.

Jess Denham, "Jumanji 2: Dwayne Johnson tries and fails to calm sexism outcry over Karen Gillan's skimpy outfit," The Independent (September 21, 2016).  https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/news/jumanji-2-dwayne-johnson-tries-and-fails-to-calm-sexism-outcry-over-karen-gillans-skimpy-outfit-a7320456.html.

Yohana Desta, "Karen Gillan Agrees with You About Her 'Ridiculous' Jumanji Costume,: Vanity Fair (Decembe 18, 2017).  https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2017/12/karen-gillan-jumanji-welcome-to-the-jungle.