I love going to the movies, the whole sitting in the dark with a box/sack/feedbag of popcorn and a cup/gallon/drum of soda (because let’s face it the size of the snacks is insane … but I digress). I love the theater surround sound and the whole big screen experience. I go to be entertained.
Now, I’m no artsy critic. I rarely go for the deep meaningful movies that have everyone walking out of the theater quietly because they’re still trying to wrap their heads around the deeper message of the movie. And I love intelligent slapstick humor as much as the next person, though it can’t just be stupid for the sake of stupidity. What I dislike even more than stupid … degradation.
I can’t help it, I’m a middle child. It’s part of my psyche to make everything all right for everyone. I can’t stand when I think the underdog is being bullied. Which brings me to a couple of summer movies that have recently been released. (And let me preface this by saying I haven’t seen either of these movies and I’m judging them solely on the trailers.)
Bridesmaids is a movie about a woman who’s asked to be the maid of honor for her friend. I know it’s Hollywood’s answer to the “Hangover” movies, but I don’t think any of the men in those movies were made to look like idiots and losers. Just from the trailers I’ve seen, the main character is looked down upon and made to feel small. Then there is the part played by Melissa McCarthy. This actress worked all last year changing the image of plus size women in her role on “Mike and Molly”. And here she is playing a larger woman who is crass and very (in my opinion) man-ish.
And more recently released, Cameron Diaz in Bad Teacher. Now this one–even in the public trailer–shows a teacher bullying her students. Whaaaat? There is just too much wrong with what I’ve seen in the previews for me to even consider watching it.
I know both of these movies are supposed to be funny. And I have no doubt there will be a really sweet ending in both of them. They’re about a couple of mindless hours being entertained and not about teaching life lessons. But I think some of these movies are just stepping over the line. In a world where we continue to encounter rudeness and bullying, prejudism and stereotyping, I’m just not sure some movies aren’t depicting the very things we’re working to stop.
I know this blog post sounds kinda preachy and it’s not really what I intended. It’s just that some of the movies that are coming out of Hollywood make me cringe and I was just wondering if I was the only one who felt this way.
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