A thread for discussing representation and diversity in all kinds of media. This covers creators and casting decisions as well as characters and in-universe discussions.
Historical works and decisions are in-scope as well, not just recent news.
Please put any spoilers behind tags and clearly state which work(s) they apply to.
This week, producer Ross Putnam started a Twitter account called "femscriptintros
", where he puts up examples of how women are introduced in the screenplays he's read. And nearly all of sound like terrible porn or are too concerned with emphasizing said lady is beautiful despite whatever traits she may have. Here's a Take Two podcast made today where he talks about it.
(Edited April 19 2024 to add mod pinned post)
Edited by Mrph1 on Apr 19th 2024 at 11:45:51 AM
In the name of being honest
He also resigned from the WWE job, since Crews refused to accept the apology unless Venit left.
Good. Words are cheap; you need to back them up with actions.
So.... Bryan Singer is directing a Red Sonja movie.
https://www.themarysue.com/bryan-singer-red-sonja/
Guess those sexual abuse allegations didn't tank him at all.
Edited by windleopard on Sep 18th 2018 at 12:06:23 PM
Bryan Singer seems like the LAST guy that you'd want to hire for a Red Sonja film, or a Sword & Sorcery film in general (would he really be willing to embrace the tone, aesthetic, out there elements I don't know honestly). Both because of his past work AND the "issues" surrounding him.
Sadly studios being tone-deaf is sadly to be expected though.
![[up]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/smiles/arrow_up.png "[up]"){kind=icon}
Weren't the issues related to him liking young men? Not that it is a good look either way, but I don't see how in this context Red Sonja specifically would be a bad fit, at least not in the way it would be if they were about him abusing female actors (and no, that is not supposed to be a defence of him in any way, I wouldn't mind if he never directs anything ever again, I just want the context to be correct).
He did direct a Jack And The Beanstalk movie, so I suppose he isn't too unfamiliar with the fantasy genre.
Mind you, his X-Men movies also gave us naked Mystique and they've been criticized for their depiction of female characters, so that's still something to be worried about even if you ignore the allegations surrounding him (which you shouldn't!).
And his Jack & The Beanstalk film is by far his weakest one imo. Admittedly, I like The Usual Suspects, and X1, and X2, and DOFP, and even Valkyrie. But even though I like his X-Men films more than most seem to, I still recognize that he seemed reluctant to fully embrace the truly fantastical elements of the franchise, which doesn't bode well for a Red Sonja film.
And while Mystique being "scale-y naked" didn't bother me as much as others, the fact that she's the ONLY female character who gets some real attention/development in his X-films is, iffy to say the least.
Disasturbator
Mystique was the only reason to watch the Xmen films,other then guy with the claws
New theme music also a box
I mean she has a cool design and is badass at least. BUT, the X-franchise has so many cool/interesting female characters that it's disappointing that the only one who gets some real attention in Singer's films is the one that has to be naked a lot of the time.
I mean, Jean Grey gets a lot more attention than Mystique in the pre-First Class movies. And arguably Apocalypse.
But man-oh-man, Storm is They Wasted a Perfectly Good Character personified. And while they're even more minor, Blink from DOFP... and Psylocke and Jubilee from Apocalypse... you know, now that I'm saying it out loud, he really wastes women of color, huh?
Edited by Larkmarn on Sep 18th 2018 at 9:38:48 AM
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Ok, I'll concede Jean Grey. Screwing her up in X3 was Bret Ratner's fault. However, Storm, Psylocke, Jubilee, heck even Rogue and Kitty Pryde to a degree, being wasted/underused in these films doesn't exactly speak well of Singer's track record with female characters.
Kitty? I mean, 90% of her use was Ratner, and I've gradually warmed up to the necessity of making Wolverine (Wolverine Publicity being a pet peeve trope for me) to the past instead of Kitty, plus at least he made her Logan's conduit.
Rogue just... I don't even know, man. She was a Macguffin Girl in the first movie and... was she even in the second movie?
Oh, forgot another woman of color that got fuuuuuuuuuuuuuucked: Lady Deathstrike. Got turned from badass Wild Card (though with some unfortunate Woman Scorned tendencies depending on the writer) to... mind-controlled servile Asian woman to the white guy. And as an extra kick to the gut, only regains control of herself and awareness while she was in the process of dying. Srsly. That's messed up, guys.
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You know I felt a number of fanfiction at the time that the movies came out utilized Rogue's character better than Singer did. Also I agree Singer shouldn't be making anymore movies after what has happened.
Yeah. Singer is a pederast and should never work again. And I can't think of anything in his filmography that would make me think he'd be a good fit for a Red Sonja movie- Granted, a director not having done something before isn't intrinsically a reason to doubt them (as noted in a lot of diversity discussions, white male directors seem to get a lot more leeway in this respect), but see the point about Singer being a pederast.
I'm surprised that the first thought wasn't Patty Jenkins. I'd think she'd be perfect, especially if (as I hope) the Red Sonja movie would take inspiration from Gail Simone's run. My other thought, although his presentation of female characters also has... issues would be Matthew Vaughan. Alternatively, I'd look to people involved in directing Game of Thrones episodes, MCU movies and/or Star Wars movies.
Edited by Hodor2 on Sep 18th 2018 at 12:21:03 PM
I'm guessing she's still busy with Wonder Woman 1984, but still, you'd think there'd be plenty of women who would jump at the chance to direct a Red Sonja film.
Disasturbator
> you'd think there'd be plenty of women who would jump at the chance to direct a Red Sonja film
There was Red Sonja film before and it sucked,no wonder you'd struggle to find women wanting to the direct that film
New theme music also a box
Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa?
Commander Thor
It should be mentioned that the Red Sonja film is at Millennium Films and its CEO Avi Lerner is the one who pressured Terry Crews on Expendables 4 over his lawsuit against Adam Venit. Terry Crews dropped out not only because of this, but because Avi Lerner himself has sexual harassment claims against him. So it's not surprising that he's willing to give Singer work despite his pederasty.
Edited by CommanderAce on Sep 18th 2018 at 1:28:42 PM
Power of Thor!
Michelle Mac Laran could be an interesting choice for Red Sonja imo.
Shin Megami Tensei IV
I'm wondering some things...
You haven't noticed some Double Standard regarding representation?. Mainly from Alt righters that try to separate between "good natural representation" and "SJW forced garbage".
The fact that some authors with some diversity might side with their edgelord freeeeeeeedom narrative don't help. Hi Yoko Taro.
There criticism towards tokenism. But alt righters seem to believe that only they care about tokenism when it had being a big deal with Social Justice crowds from day 2 (Day 1 is too optimistic).
Edited by KazuyaProta on Sep 18th 2018 at 11:17:06 AM
Watch me destroying my country
Oh, bother.
You're trying to make sense of alt-right "logic".
That right there is an exercise in futility.
Disgusted, but not surprised
At this point I'm just praying the entire industry got blown up by some major scandal and implodes for a better system.