MovieChat Forums > Journey to the Center of the Earth Discussion > Impossible to watch now due to the sexis...

Impossible to watch now due to the sexism

posted 5 years ago by FootOfDavros (8405)
30 replies | jump to latest

Gosh, I've got to say I was shocked! Having tired of the copy / paste output of modern Hollywood family films (maybe trying making something without Dwayne Johnson eh?) I thought I'd introduce this (remembering it as a timeless classic) to the kids in order to refresh their jaded palates...

Anyway, it started off ok (a nice convoluted opening, going into far more detail before the Journey begins than you'd possibly get nowadays) but then it got to the scene with Madame Göteborg giving her conditioned blessing to the caper and it happened:-

"you can't come. You're a WOMAN!!"

and it didn't stop there:-
"We're not contemplating a stroll down Piccadilly... to burden myself with a women is sheer STUPIDITY!"

You could hear a pin drop in our house before the crying began... "I don't understand papa" said young Poppy, "why couldn't that lady go with them? Why is that man insulting all women as incompetent? Papa are you making us watch a sexist movie? Why is the Professor so misogynistic? Isn't he... a... Hero?". And then the tears began with Poppy consoling her little brother Otis - shocked to silence by the casual anti-female language being employed. I turned it off there and then.

I implore any right thinking parents to seriously consider ever showing this filth to their precious offspring. There's no place for these films anymore, even as a cultural curiosity. They should really simply be erased from history.

[–] [deleted] 5 years ago

Yeah, maybe leave out the "filth" and the "erased from history" parts. Otherwise this is a fairly good satire. But if you take satire a little too far, it loses its validity and then it's not useful for its intended purpose.

[–] FootOfDavros (8405) 5 years ago

There's no place for these films anymore, even as a cultural curiosity. They should really simply be erased from history.

So I wrote in my original piece - Gosh, perhaps I am clairvoyant!

Today Gone With The Wind begins it's journey into the cultural wilderness due to its racism. How much longer until historical sexism is likewise no longer tolerated?

[–] Devilman (448) 5 years ago

Stop disturbing yourself by the act and behavior of people from ages ago or from a foreign country.

That was and still is a norm in many countries in the world today only western society and especially Americans seem to have became overly sensitive regarding sexism and other topics in culture and social behavior.

Please stop with the drama, we don't need to become like the Nazis when they used to burn the books that didn't fit their ideals.

[–] FootOfDavros (8405) 5 years ago

I think you are missing the point - the world is now changing very rapidly, primarily through social media.

When you say "other topics in culture and social behaviour" do you mean racism? Are you saying America has become "overly sensitive" re racism?

Like racism this kind of historic sexism is not going to be tolerated very much longer. Doesn't matter how old the product is, like Gone With The Wind if it's unacceptable measured against today's society it's unacceptable full stop.

[–] FilmBuff (7355) 5 years ago

I think you're approaching this the wrong way. If you can't enjoy a film because aspects of it offend you, then you can choose not to watch it. You can choose not to show it to your children. You can even implore others to do the same. Asking that it be "erased from history" is nonsensical. Who even has the power to do such a thing? And if someone does have the ability to do so, how does it work? You submit a list of the films that offend you, I submit a list of those that offend me, everyone submits a list and anything listed is erased? The most-listed films are erased? It doesn't make sense. You can't erase a film from history anymore than you can go back and change history. The film itself is a part of the history.

[–] Owlwise (1536) 5 years ago

Well said!

[–] Owlwise (1536) 5 years ago

I agree that mores & attitudes change over time. But in dealing with entertainment from the past, depicting the past, I think it's much better to trust that an intelligent, educated audience will not only see that those mores & attitudes are part of the period depicted, but that they won't confuse an accurate depiction with an endorsement of them.

For example, is watching Gone With the Wind really going to turn someone into a racist who wasn't one before? Is the traditional Victorian model for men & women in Journey to the Center of the Earth really going to change the minds of modern viewers about men & women?

By the way, while my politics have always been progressive, I just don't believe in the sort of censorship that you're proposing. I also recognize that what many consider progressive attitudes today might well be considered hopelessly out of date & just plain ignorant some 50 years down the road. Human decency & respect are admirable qualities; blind zealotry, even in a good cause, isn't.

But most of all, I don't want anyone imposing rigid, zero-tolerance standards on thought & art. Not even if those standards happen to coincide with my own beliefs. I don't especially like racist or sexist speech, for instance, but I don't want it removed from existing art, especially if it's honest to the characters & period depicted. Presumably a mature, intelligent viewer will be able to understand it in context. We should trust other people to be able to figure that out for themselves.

[–] Devilman (448) 5 years ago

[deleted]

[–] Devilman (448) 5 years ago

The whole world is changing into what ? I don't have much faith in what the world is going to be simply because social media is influencing it, people on social media are influencing vandalism, destruction of public property and theft.

Sounds more to be like brainwashing mindless zombies to believe in rightful things while in the same time make them do all the wrong things in the book !

[–] [deleted] 4 years ago

[deleted]

[–] liscarkat (18932) 4 years ago

OP was obviously pretending to be some kind of PC snowflake, just to fool people into actually taking this discussion seriously, and it worked!

[–] brux (14774) 2 years ago

Frickin' trolling.