Month: June 2015

Pete (may I call you Pete?) I loved “INSIDE OUT.” Everybody loved “INSIDE OUT.” It’s got something like 100% approval rating. People are wondering what you’re going to do next.

I beg of you: let it be animated. Stay the hëll away from live action.

Now I have no idea if you are even considering live action, but if you are, don’t.

Andrew Stanton. Huge Pixar success story. Director of “WALL-E” and “FINDING NEMO.” Both huge hits.

He went live action. Directed “JOHN CARTER.” I loved it, but people didn’t bother to come see it. Lost millions.

Brad Bird. “THe IRON GIANT.” Moved to Pixar and gave us “THE INCREDIBLES.” His name was associated with quality.

He went live action. Directed “TOMORROWLAND.” I loved it, but people didn’t bother to come see it. Lost millions.

Don’t be strike three, Pete.

PAD

I mean, yes, “Inside Out” was wonderful. A terrific response for any Pixar nay-sayers who claim the company can only do sequels, etc.

But I’m wondering: All of Riley’s mom’s emotions are female. All her father’s are male. All the teacher’s are female. The ending sequence went by so fast that I didn’t note the genders of the other characters (except the bus driver’s, who were definitely all male.)

But Riley’s are three female, two male. Does that indicate something about her future sexual personality? Granted, she does have a fantasy male boyfriend, but all that indicates is that she’s contemplating boyfriends. But we don’t see her with any boy. She bumps into one at one point, but we don’t see her display any sort of romantic reaction. We see her with female friends, but no males.

Or is it that when she becomes an adult, some of the emotions will change genders, so they’re uniform like her parents?

Just has me wondering.

PAD

I’ve been reading some angry fan comments about Bryce Howard’s character in “Jurassic World.” How incredibly sexist her portrayal is, mostly because she has a character arc rather than starting out as Ellen Ripley from the beginning. Fans seem outraged that she begins as a corporate shill but ends up so worried about her nephews and thus somehow has acquired maternal instincts. Even though Ripley effectively has something of that same arc, being willing to risk her life by the end for a little girl who ends up embracing her and calling her “mommy.”

And as I thought about Ripley, it made me wonder about “Aliens” and, more specifically, the character of Burke.

And I wondered, if Burke had been a female–with NO change in dialogue or characterization other than gender–would any fans have decried that as sexist? Would they have said that the only reason she was so nasty was because the writer felt the need to balance out the strong female character of Ripley with a total villain?

Thoughts?

PAD