Tag Archive for 'Transformers'

Sexism Watch: Michael Bay Makes Me Hate Victoria’s Secret

Published
by
Melissa Silverstein
on December 10, 2009
in Sexism
. 18 Comments

I don’t know about you but I wear Victoria’s Secret underwear.  I wear the regular kind not the stuff featured in this stupid, sexist ridiculous ad made by Michael Bay that looks like a sexed up version of Bad Boys.

But I have to say that it is making me think twice about giving my money to them.  See Victoria’s Secret is a store that makes all its money from women (and guys buying gifts for women.)  Yet, they hire a man who is notorious for objectifying women to direct a commercial that highlights the underwear that no woman with any type of real body can ever wear.

Not cool.

Warning- you will be very angry after watching.

h/t Sarah Fain

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Tags: Transformers

Will New Moon Be the Biggest Film of the Year?

Published
by
Melissa Silverstein
on November 12, 2009
in Box Office
. 15 Comments

new-moon-posters-3I spend a lot (too much) time in the twittersphere and the blogopshere and from the people I follow and read (lots of movie, TV and pop culture people and feminists) you’d never think that New Moon is opening next week.  Granted all the movie folks have turned attention to all things awards and Oscar, but just looming on the horizon, a little over a week away, is a huge juggernaut New Moon. This is a franchise like Transformers and Harry Potter yet it does not get the proper respect in movieland.  I’m not talking about the content of the film, I’m talking pure numbers.  Why is New Moon not as respected? Maybe it’s not respected because it is targeted at girls and women?  I’m not surprised at the disdain for all things Twilight.  Think about how Mamma Mia was treated.  The movie has grossed over 600 million worldwide, yet that movie gets no respect.

Let’s think about the potential of New Moon.  According to Paul Dergarabedian who tracks the box office at Hollywood.com, the opening weekend of New Moon will hands down beat the Twilight numbers of $69 million.  What we also might witness is the biggest opening weekend of the year.  According to Dergerabedian, this movie has the potential to beat the Transformers sequel opening weekend numbers.  That movie made $108 million.  That movie also opened when school was out of session in most places at the end of June, and on a Wednesday, and this movie is opening the weekend of the 20th of November when school is still in session and yet it still might beat it out.  Degarabedian says the opening weekend will be “girls kicking the crap out of the boys.”  He says that this is the “holy grail” and that this is to the female audience was “Star Wars was to the guys.”

Let’s just think about that. A franchise fueled by girls and women has the potential of beating the machines for the box office record.   This movie could potentially be “guy proof” meaning they won’t need guys to see it for it to kick some box office butt.  Whereas the other franchises NEED women to make their numbers.

Here are just some other facts that are helping to propel the film to huge heights:

  • According to movietickets.com (h/t Thompson on Hollywood) tickets to New Moon are selling at 4 times the rate than Twilight.  There will be several thousand screenings at midnight around the country on November 19.  Many will be sold out.
  • According to Fandango.com New Moon has already sold more advance tickets than Twilight and it is the company’s 4th biggest seller, and is tracking to be the #1 best seller ever.
  • The trailer for New Moon broke records for viewing and was watched over 18 million times the week ending November 5.  The two previous weeks had 25 million and 21 million.
  • 18 million fans voted Twilight into one of the top movie slots (and also Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson for best actress and actor) for the People’s Choice Awards.
  • The New Moon soundtrack debuted at number 1 and has been a top 10 seller for 4 weeks.

So folks, the question is are you going to see New Moon and do you love all things Twilight?

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Tags: New Moon, Transformers, Twilight

Hating on Megan Fox

Published
by
Melissa Silverstein
on September 16, 2009
in Sexism
. 18 Comments

mf-reutersMegan Fox seems to have stirred about a big pile of poo by talking to a magazine about Michael Bay and his dictatorial tactics on the set of Transformers.  Setting aside her talent — or lack thereof –  (she was so bad in the first Transformers but I don’t blame her since I know the part was written for her to just look like a sexpot, and she is really bad in Jennifer’s Body) she has guts to call a spade a spade.

Here’s part of the quote of what she said to a magazine:

He wants to be like Hitler on his sets, and he is. So he’s a nightmare to work for but when you get him away from set, and he’s not in director mode, I kind of really enjoy his personality because he’s so awkward, so hopelessly awkward.

That’s not so bad to me.  But then some idiot anonymous crew members (and yes you are idiots) decided they had to to defend Michael Bay from Megan and escalated the rhetoric by calling her “dumb as a rock” on Bay’s site.

Yes, Megan has great eyes, a tight stomach we spray with glycerin, and an awful silly Marilyn Monroe tattoo plastered on her arm that we cover up to keep the moms happy.

AND

So this is the Megan Fox you don’t get to see. Maybe she will learn, but we figure if she can sling insults, then she can take them too. Megan really is a thankless, classless, graceless, and shall we say unfriendly bitch. It’s sad how fame can twist people, and even sadder that young girls look up to her. If only they knew who they’re really looking up to.

But ‘fame’ is fleeting. We, being behind the scenes, seen em’ come and go. Hopefully Michael will have Megatron squish her character in the first ten minutes of Transformers 3. We can tell you that will make the crew happy.

Bay removed the letter from his site and then added this:

I don’t condone the crew letter to Megan. And I don’t condone Megan’s outlandish quotes. But her crazy quips are part of her crazy charm. The fact of the matter I still love working with her, and I know we still get along. I even expect more crazy quotes from her on Transformers 3.

Another crew member has stood up and used his name to defend her from the crew rant

Contrary to popular belief, she is like us (human) and has both good and bad days as well. Working on the Transformers movies can be intense at times and sometimes intense situations cause intense moments.

So now Fox has been chastened and released the following statement: “I am very fortunate to be involved in this amazing franchise and look forward to Transformers 3.”

So why do I care about this.  It’s Megan’s job to do press.  It’s part of her job to create interest in the film to keep people coming back for more and more.  It’s not the job of anonymous crew members to defend their star director who is known in Hollywood for being a sexist.  To me, Megan and Michael Bay seem to have developed some sort of sick back and forth about the film.  He discovered her so probably feels she should be like most women pretty and silent.  But she’s not, and clearly she’s not as dumb as a rock which you can tell from earlier statements she has made about the film business.

This is about getting Megan to shut up.  This is about getting women to shut up.  It’s about using sexist insults like being pretty and dumb to shut up a woman with opinions.  Not cool.  But I guess all the press this week will help drive up the grosses of Jennifer’s Body which opens on Friday.

Another Megan Fox Letter — This One Sings Her Praises (EW)

Megan Fox is dumb as a rock,’ claim Transformers film crew (Daily Mail)

Michael Bay’s Crew Bitchslaps Megan Fox (Deadline Hollywood)

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Tags: Megan Fox, Michael Bay, Transformers

Cross Post: Megan Fox is Setting a Bad Example…Anyone Surprised?

Published
by
Melissa Silverstein
on July 1, 2009
in Reviews
. 7 Comments

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.

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Tags: Megan Fox, Michael Bay, Transformers