The New Sexy

Recently, I saw two movies that were just really refreshing (two refreshing characters to be precise).

The first was in the R rated film Kiss Kiss Bang Bang which, while I liked it, Don’t Watch It. 

But! At one point, I just was like “Yes!!!”, I think I actually said that aloud. 

Anyway, this girl falls asleep on the couch at this party, and a guy, we'll call him Mark, comes in and begins to grope her leg and looking at her, and you just feel really really gross, and then the protagonist, Harry, comes in, he doesn’t even know her, but he’s like, “Don’t you f***ing touch her!” And Mark is twice Harry's size and ends up beating the crap out of him. But I was like wow, that was really impressive. (impressively bad, Am I right?)

Seriously though, it was so different to see a film address molestation of women in a way that wasn't bludgeoning you over the head, and at the same time wasn't promoting disgusting objectification of human beings.

Also, the protagonist was played by Robert Downey Jr. Which maybe was why it was so refreshing? First, the character wasn’t super smart, but he cared. He cared a lot. And later in the movie he’s having this conversation with the same girl, and she thinks he molested her while she was asleep (He didn’t) and she doesn’t even care. She’s basically says “Whatever”, and he gets super upset that she would be that indifferent concerning her body and who’s touching it, because her self-esteem is so low.

I mean, RDJ plays Sherlock, Tony Stark, and other characters of a similar type: Super smart, and super rude and douches (often also womanizers). Which is disgusting, but also popular?? I mean, a lot of characters we really like are super smart, but are also indifferent, or pretend not to care about people. Sherlock is the best example, but Stark, even the Doctor (I know you’re going to argue that Evanescent Pebble, but think about 10 and 12. 12 does care about Clara, but he really doesn’t care about people in general.)

Why do we raise those people onto platforms? Why are they the ones we idolize??

“Smart is the new Sexy” says Irene, but when did Smart begin to equal indifference to human life?? Why is it that characters who care immensely are often side-lined, or weakened (Castiel/spn, I’m looking at you).

The most popular shows on TV (Arrow, Teen Wolf, Doctor Who, Sherlock, HTGAWM, Scandal, House of Cards, Daredevil, Jessica Jones...etc…) feature characters who are indifferent to the vast majoritiy of humanity, are stoic, nonchalant, and extremely smart. I mean it just goes on and on and on. To drive this home, Spotlight features the second refreshing character.

Mike- the second great character in the last couple of movies I’ve seen. He cared so much about the entire scandal (If you haven't seen Spotlight, you should. I won't spoil anything here). He’s not the only one who cares in the film, but he is the most explosive. And I realized, not in the scene where he explodes, but in the one where he watches… well, I’ll tell you after you see it, but he doesn’t even say anything, you can just see in his eyes how painful it is for him, and how much he wants to do something (it’s not an action scene, he’s just sad). Anyway, caring, being passionate about what you are doing, it matters.

And caring about people? Going out of your way to try and protect the vulnerable? Having compassion on those who need help?

Why isn’t that the new sexy?

 Sorry, this week's post is a little more scattered and rant-like than previous posts have been.