Transformers 2 has made over $200 million dollars in less than a week. It’s a monster hit. I saw the first one and thought it was terrible and had no desire to see this film. I found this review from a Laura Sundstrom who blogs at Adventures of a Young Feminist and she was kind enough to let me cross post it.
I saw “Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen” for the second time last night when I took my neighbors to see it. I was interested in seeing it again not only because I like action movies but also because something about it bothered me the first time. I thought that seeing it a second time would help me get past the explosions and loud noises to help me better understand what bothered me about it the first time.
It was obvious, even the first time, that there were racial stereotypes (even though Michael Bay, the director, claims it’s just comedic relief) and it was also obvious that Megan Fox’s character didn’t really serve a whole lot of purpose, at least not to me.
I’m not going to talk too much about the racial stereotypes, there has been a lot of discussion of that (see Newsday and Valley24 – for a more positive review of the movie). What I do want to talk about is the obsolete character of Mikaela Banes, played by Megan Fox.
To me, it seems like the only thing that Fox seems good at in this movie is having pouty lips and wearing low cut shirts while running in slow motion and falling cleavage first in front of the
camera. And the main storyline surrounding Mikaela Banes is her trying to get Sam (Shia LaBeouf) to tell her that he loves her.
The first time she tries to get him to say those three words she changes into a white dress to look like the hot, innocent girl. Throughout the movie, she brings this up numerous times and threatens to leave him if he doesn’t say it. The message that I got out of this is that to get boys to love you, you have to look hot and wear low cut shirts and very high heels and this is your whole purpose in life. You can’t contribute meaningfully to saving the world from killer robots, you just have to get the guy to want you. What kind of message is this sending to the teenage (and younger) boys and girls that are populating the theaters in the thousands (or more, I don’t know exactly)?
When I saw this last night, I took four children (1 girl and 3 boys) all under the age of 12. I didn’t know what to tell them when they asked why I didn’t like Megan Fox’s character. Do I tell them that she’s only there as a sexual object whose only purpose is to have teenage boys stare at her for hours on end (and Fox likes it that way)? What I did end up telling them was that she was setting a bad example for women and teenage girls. But they didn’t really understand what I meant.
How do we talk to children (especially ones that aren’t your own, in my case) about what Megan Fox and her character mean for women? How do we expect these children to grow up to have healthy relationships if they keep seeing these types of ones in the media where girl is desperate to be desired and the guy refuses to say “I love you” until the girl says it first? Not to mention how do you discuss the racial stereotypes of the Transformers with them?
Maybe it’s just me or the fact that these children aren’t my own (I don’t want to step on the toes of their parents), but it was a really awkward moment for me when they asked why I didn’t like Megan Fox. If they don’t understand why this character is harmful to women, what does that mean for them when they grow up?
Laura Sundstrom is a recent graduate with a degree in Women’s and Gender Studies with specific interest in reproductive rights and pop culture who is just trying to find her way in the world.
Yep, it’s a Michael Bay movie. He’s a douche and I hate him. I only liked “The Rock,” a good film which he directed. I think Megan Fox could have a brilliant career, but she has said a lot of things (that would excite males) that made me roll my eyes.
I was disgusted with how Fox was portrayed in Transformers 2. I felt bad for her when the first shot of her was of her ASS slinking on the motorcycle. Personally, I am curious to hear how SHE felt about that.
I hated that blonde chick (I don’t remember her name). I hated how all females were portrayed in this stupid movie. I love action films, but Transformers 2 was rubbish.
- Megan Fox is definitely one of the most beautiful and sexiest woman ever to roam this planet, she is totally hot -
@Body Detox Diets…which is irrelevant really, to the subject of the post.
I actually liked Megan’s character in the first movie. She was sort of used as a sex object but she also was a tough chick that actually did contribute to killing the bad guys without the help of the male hero.
Given this characterization of her role in the second movie, it’s even more reason not for me to see this mess of a film.
Had to send this on after reading your cross post on Fox. I read this article (link below) on hard copy and it has bothered me since. Although I am not interested in seeing the Transformer movie regardless, it makes me cringe (esp the comment…”before I was a feminist” and at the top of pg 3 where the remark is made that ALL women in Hollywood are known as sex symbols, so sending you the digital link…
http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20246950_20263258_20284375,00.html
So really it is not just how women are portrayed in films; (though that is a huge concern, but some of the most respectable actresses play murderers and other types of criminals even) but how they express themselves to the public when given an opportunity to use their own words.
Melissa, you make valid arguments, but here’s where I have a problem with your article:
“When I saw this last night, I took four children (1 girl and 3 boys) all under the age of 12… How do we talk to children (especially ones that aren’t your own, in my case) about what Megan Fox and her character mean for women? How do we expect these children to grow up to have healthy relationships if they keep seeing these types of ones in the media where girl is desperate to be desired and the guy refuses to say “I love you” until the girl says it first?”
Those are good questions for which I have no answer for, but you can avoid this situation simply but limiting their exposure to such media. Sure, you can’t have 100% control over what your children see in the media, but in this case you could have avoided the situation. You were well-aware of the racial stereotypes and still brought children under 12 into a PG-13 rated movie. If you weren’t aware of these issues, the PG-13 rating is still there to help you make your decision when taking your children out for a movie.
There are many things that are out of parents’ control, but with proper parenting they can minimize the damage caused by the media.
If you want to blame somebody for Megan Fox character go and talk about.
Michael Bay & writer: Roberto Orci & Alex Kurtzman
Yeah, let me tell you, she’s a bad example for all the overwieght people going to see TF2 in theaters. I totally agree she should put on 300+ pounds just so she doesn’t “set a bad example” for women who range from 2-82 in age, because they’ll believe that’s the only way to get a man. If you actually listened to yourself you’d be sickened with what you said, she’s there as a supportive role to Shia(aka Sam), in other words she’s one of the people who Sam can go to when he needs help, because other people in the movie would think that he’s crazy talking about alien robots. What’s she supposed to do? Save the world from 40 ft robots single handedly? The real “bad example” is idiots like you who don’t teach their kids how to act then when the kids turn out to be sluts you find a way to blame others. All you soccer moms need to chill out, just because you’re not hot doesn’t mean you have the right to bag on others who are better looking than you.