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Mephariel's Replies
You think Passengers is an excellent movie? I think you are in the minority here.
They could have done it with Q. But they didn't. They chose Moneypenny. You can bitch about ideology all you want. Doesn't change the fact that Moneypenny works well for the Craig films and her character is more interesting because of it.
Bottom line, they made Moneypenny into a much more active, interesting character than a secretary. You can bitch about political spectrum or feminism etc. The movie didn't suffer because of it. And you don't need Q and M and M16 to have a story. You have many different ways of telling a story. Having female agents are also a way of telling stories. I don't care what or why they did it. As long as it serves the story.
But they didn't pick some other person because they chose to take her character in a different direction. Imo, a more interesting direction. Why is that a problem? Characters evolved. She was never given more screen time before because those Bond films chose to focus the time on other characters. Different movies, different direction, different scripts.
Feminism is not necessary for entertainment value, but masculism is? Do you know how many things in a James Bond film are not necessary for entertainment value? Practically all of it. Do they need Q and M and M16 and cars and women to provide entertainment? Nope. White characters are also not necessary for entertainment value right? Again, why do have an issue with strong female characters when strong male characters have been doing unrealistic things for decades?
I disagree. I don't think you speak for everyone. I think having Moneypenny as a field agent adds entertainment value. It makes her part of the team, with more interactions than just a stale character.
And I am not sure what ideology you are talking about. All those decades, you have invincible white men surviving legions of bad guys and with no issue. None of it was realistic. What ideology was it promoting then?
Except there is no evidence supporting that people didn't quite enjoyed the Craig films. The Craig Bond films are the most successful in franchise history. Skyfall earned $1.109 billion worldwide. Spectre did $800+ million. No Time to Die is approaching that in the middle of a pandemic. Casino Royale, Skyfall, and No Time to Die have over 80% ratings--both critics and audience--on RT while Spectre and QOS were less well received. But overall, the Craig films have been a tremendous success. And I agree that many 30+ years old watches Bond. I disagree with your assessment of this "segment." There is no evidence this "segment" didn't enjoy the Craig films.
Let's just put it this way. There are more black women likely to be field agents than there are white men that can do what James Bond does. Realistic? Bond is like the most capable human being ever. And you think black women as field agents are unrealistic? James Bond taking down legions and legions of bad guys wearing a suit is what then?
And what is wrong with making Moneypenny a field agent? It change things up to keep the character fresh. Who cares if she is white or black in this regard?
All of the Craig films are far more popular than The Man from UNCLE and Kingsman.
The question is, who is in this segment that you are talking about? 50+ year old boomers?
Bro, return to reality for a day. Please.
Again, there are 700-800 films made a year. So yeah, if you can easily find minority starring films if you just randomly search for them. The fact is, white males are still anchoring big franchises and are the face of big budgeted Hollywood. White males are also the face of the acclaimed film circuit. I am not sure what you are trying to say other than the fact that you can find a list of new films with minority leads. You keep moving the goal post. First it is white males don't lead. Then white males only lead in sequels. And now, white males only lead in action films?
Reality: White males are doing fine in Hollywood.
Dr. Strange is also far more popular as a character and was made at the height of the Infinity War saga. Plus, he has magical abilities that easily translate to the screen.
LOL, except for Black Widow, none of those movies you listed are anywhere near the status of my list. Nightmare Alley, Dune, The Last Duel, Power of the Dog, not to mention House of Gucci, Red Rocket, Cyrano, and The French Dispatch are all on track to be nominated for awards. All feature prominent white males in the lead. No Time to Die, Venom, and Top Gun are 3 of the biggest blockbusters around. Then you have Free Guy, Chaos Walking, Infinite, Reminiscence, The Conjuring 3, The Tomorrow War...This December you have Spider-Man 3. On your list, you have Stowaway and Karen? Seriously?
Even if I am to take your list seriously, doesn't that prove what I am saying? There are plenty of movies for everyone. Every year the US releases like 700-800 films.
Lastly, just because you think a movie is "woke" doesn't mean a white male wasn't the lead. Why the hell are you such a crybaby? Like you are crying over nothing. Next year, you have The Batman, Jurassic World 3, Morbius, Scream, Death on the Nile, Uncharted, Ambulance, Doctor Strange, The Northman, The Lost City of D, Fantastic Beast 3, Indiana Jones 5, Mission Impossible 7, The Ant Man 3, The Flash, Avatar 2...And guess what? They all feature white male leads!
Dude, white men are doing fine. Don't be so insecure that you have to marginalize minorities.
Yeah...except we are in the middle of a raging pandemic and Shang-Chi is a new character. A $90+ million four day debut for a character no one has heard of is damn good. Marvel movies are never about the actors. Chris Hemsworth is handsome as fuck and he couldn't draw anyone outside of Marvel. Shang-Chi already opened bigger than Thor, Ant-Man. People go see Marvel films because they are Marvel films. The surveys conducted for Shang-Chi shows the same thing. The important thing for this film is that it got a 8.1 rating on IMDB, and a 92% rating on RT. That means it has good word of mouth.
Mortal Kombat did not make 3 times multiplier, but they are planning a sequel. Jungle Cruise has yet to make back its $200 million budget and they already confirmed a sequel. The Boss Baby 2 barely make over its budget and they are planning a third film. Even F9 barely cleared the 3x multiplier worldwide and that was an established franchise. We are in unprecedented times. Shang-Chi has a $150 million budget, so anywhere near $300 million is a success. Because that means in a pandemic times, that translates to $500-600 or more. It would have opened over $100 million pre-pandemic.
I understand it frustrates you because you want to sell the false narrative that this movie won't be successful, but the truth is, it most certainly already is. It shattered expectations already. People were predicting $25 million - $50 million opening numbers.
It is like you are living in an alternative universe or something...Just this year alone, here are some major movies with lead white male:
Free Guy
No Time to Die
Infinite
Army of Thieves
Chaos Walking
Reminiscence
The Tomorrow War
Venom: Let There Be Carnage
The Last Duel
Top Gun: Maverick
Dune
Power of the Dog
Nightmare Alley
Stillwater
.
.
.
There are plenty of movies with plenty of roles for everyone. But keep acting like a crybaby.
It is already a success. It will probably have longer legs than BW, and is generating buzz with good word of mouth. Kukuxu is trying really how to stress how "woke" movies don't do well, like cyguration. They constantly fail. Shang Chi is already shattering all expectations. A sequel is probably already in their minds now.
Statistically speaking, how many times an American vacationing in Europe gets caught in a political conspiracy?
Statistically speaking, how many normal dudes can escape and fight back against trained assassins?
Statistically speaking, how many guys can jump off a parking garage and land perfectly on a moving vehicle?
If anything, the most statistically realistic thing about that movie is him having a white woman as a significant other.
Only 6% of BLM ended in violent protests. So not that many today either.
None of those are even the biggest problems.
1. Sending soldiers back without any training, orientation.
2. Sending middle aged, old people back. Asking them to shoot creatures moving at the speed of a wild animal.
3. Asking them to immediately assemble for a risky rescue mission rather than a headquarter for briefing.
4. Holding the toxin in his hand in a vial rather than a protective secondary container. Also, the toxin suffers from no
degradation from heat, time travel, etc.
5. Not immediately assembling a group of soldiers to store the toxin and keep them prepped for time travel. Instead, some
crazy speech about trust.
6. The world government not seeing Pratt's return as their final hope. Instead, they ignored his return.
7. Only one kid knows anything about volcanoes.
8. Deducing the origins of the alien ship as if the entire world couldn't have speculated that sooner.
9. Sneaking into Russia on a plane. The entire final battle. Could have just dropped or rig explosives.
Except this has never happened. White men remains the most successful group of people on the planet across all professions. That is just your social contagion talking.
Those are just bad movies. Nothing to do with woke. The Tomorrow War has a white male lead and is absolutely atrocious in storytelling. Having a white male lead has nothing to do with it though.