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seriousficSo I've heard some criticism of Scott Pilgrim and surprisingly, it's on racial/feminist grounds. So I thought I'd take a moment to pass around the peace pipe and reason this out.
1. Matthew Patel, the first Evil Ex, uses Bollywood music tropes in his fight with Scott.
This one just confuses me. The entire cast uses their passions and hobbies to fight with. Scott is into video games and rock & roll, so he fights with those. Lucas Lee likes being an actor, so he uses aspects of that persona to fight. Gideon Graves is a rich bitch, so he uses a pimp cane to fight. Roxie Richter is a lesbian, so she uses a studded belt to fight.
What? I'm just keeping it real.
Patel is probably just a guy who likes Bollywood musicals. So why isn't he a white guy who uses Bollywood dance moves? Because then you'd complain about cultural appropriation.
2. The Katayanagi Twins have no lines.
Yeah, if only there were an Asian character in this movie that had a lot of screentime. And was a good guy, just to get away from all that "evil Asian" stuff. Maybe she could even be a girl!
3. One of the bad guys hits a girl!
Oh, come on, next you're going to complain that there's fighting in the Star Wars movies.
4. There's fighting in the Star Wars movies.
Shut it!
Okay, so before Scott Pilgrim fights Todd Ingram, Todd gets annoyed with Knives Chau and punches her. And I guess people take issue with that because Scott doesn't get upset until Todd insults Ontario. Well, you're not the only one who can bust out some bullet points.
A. It's funny. You would expect someone to be annoyed by an insult to their hometown and outraged by someone attacking an innocent woman, rather than the other way around. By showing characters operating in ways contrary to expectation, something known as a "sense of humor" is activated in people, causing a joyous sensation within them. A lot of people complaining about Scott Pilgrim do not have this "sense of humor," and are secretly disappointed that Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World is not a hard-hitting look at the indie music scene in Canada.
B. It's actually a plot point. The theme of the movie is that Scott is acting callous and indecent towards Knives, and needs to stop. Him acting nonchalant about her being hit is more amped up than him ignoring her or being dishonest with her, but then, this is a movie where Michael Cera gets punched through multiple walls. So if you're upset that Scott doesn't get upset over Knives, good. That's what the movie is going for.
Moreover, a lot of what's being complained about is just basic storytelling that probably any adaptation would do. Except for Matthew Patel doing a Bollywood dance routine during a fight, that's just fun. Part of storytelling is rising conflict: exactly what it sounds like. So Matthew Patel is kind of nice, aside from trying to kill Scott. He sends Scott an e-mail informing him of the situation, he's kinda dorky, he dresses like a pirate. And Lucas Lee is a jerk, but he's the kind of jerk you would hang out with. So when Todd Ingram punches Knives, you're going "oh, shit, this guy is actually bad news."
Then the fight with Gideon Graves is the climax, so the second half of the movie is building up to that. Roxie talks about how if Gideon can't have Ramona, no one can. The Katayanagi Twins are seen taking orders from Gideon. It's all to show the audience that he's more than just one more Evil Ex, he's the Big Bad and Scott's really going to be hard-pressed to beat him. Now, maybe you don't like that these characters are playing second fiddle to Gideon, but it is a two-hour movie based on an entire series of graphic novels, so some stuff is going to have to be left out. If you don't like it, line starts behind Tom Bombadil.
1. Matthew Patel, the first Evil Ex, uses Bollywood music tropes in his fight with Scott.
This one just confuses me. The entire cast uses their passions and hobbies to fight with. Scott is into video games and rock & roll, so he fights with those. Lucas Lee likes being an actor, so he uses aspects of that persona to fight. Gideon Graves is a rich bitch, so he uses a pimp cane to fight. Roxie Richter is a lesbian, so she uses a studded belt to fight.
What? I'm just keeping it real.
Patel is probably just a guy who likes Bollywood musicals. So why isn't he a white guy who uses Bollywood dance moves? Because then you'd complain about cultural appropriation.
2. The Katayanagi Twins have no lines.
Yeah, if only there were an Asian character in this movie that had a lot of screentime. And was a good guy, just to get away from all that "evil Asian" stuff. Maybe she could even be a girl!
3. One of the bad guys hits a girl!
Oh, come on, next you're going to complain that there's fighting in the Star Wars movies.
Shut it!
Okay, so before Scott Pilgrim fights Todd Ingram, Todd gets annoyed with Knives Chau and punches her. And I guess people take issue with that because Scott doesn't get upset until Todd insults Ontario. Well, you're not the only one who can bust out some bullet points.
A. It's funny. You would expect someone to be annoyed by an insult to their hometown and outraged by someone attacking an innocent woman, rather than the other way around. By showing characters operating in ways contrary to expectation, something known as a "sense of humor" is activated in people, causing a joyous sensation within them. A lot of people complaining about Scott Pilgrim do not have this "sense of humor," and are secretly disappointed that Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World is not a hard-hitting look at the indie music scene in Canada.
B. It's actually a plot point. The theme of the movie is that Scott is acting callous and indecent towards Knives, and needs to stop. Him acting nonchalant about her being hit is more amped up than him ignoring her or being dishonest with her, but then, this is a movie where Michael Cera gets punched through multiple walls. So if you're upset that Scott doesn't get upset over Knives, good. That's what the movie is going for.
Moreover, a lot of what's being complained about is just basic storytelling that probably any adaptation would do. Except for Matthew Patel doing a Bollywood dance routine during a fight, that's just fun. Part of storytelling is rising conflict: exactly what it sounds like. So Matthew Patel is kind of nice, aside from trying to kill Scott. He sends Scott an e-mail informing him of the situation, he's kinda dorky, he dresses like a pirate. And Lucas Lee is a jerk, but he's the kind of jerk you would hang out with. So when Todd Ingram punches Knives, you're going "oh, shit, this guy is actually bad news."
Then the fight with Gideon Graves is the climax, so the second half of the movie is building up to that. Roxie talks about how if Gideon can't have Ramona, no one can. The Katayanagi Twins are seen taking orders from Gideon. It's all to show the audience that he's more than just one more Evil Ex, he's the Big Bad and Scott's really going to be hard-pressed to beat him. Now, maybe you don't like that these characters are playing second fiddle to Gideon, but it is a two-hour movie based on an entire series of graphic novels, so some stuff is going to have to be left out. If you don't like it, line starts behind Tom Bombadil.
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Date: 2010-09-21 10:41 pm (UTC)However, people are just criticizing the movie so just drawing from that every challenge is just there to reinforce the central plot in subtle and not so subtle ways. Some of these characters may seem like sterotypes but I find it blindingly funny because as an Toronto chickie who a bit in the scene - I Have Met These Personalities. Really; they are not a stretch and Bryan Lee O'Malley made me almost piss my pants laughing at these people.