Fuck you too, Jody Hill

[exsequar]

I was somehow unaware of this discussion currently going on, but esorlehcar linked the following post and I think you all need to read it:

Observe & Report: On Real Rape

Apparently (and these things still manage to shock me) this movie (Observe & Report, Jody Hill's new movie starring Seth Rogan and Anna Faris) contains a scene in which Rogan's character has sex with Faris's while she is drugged out of her mind and unconscious. It is supposed to be funny. She wakes up for a bleary moment and tells him not to stop - so he doesn't. This is the punchline.

Actual tears of rage.

That post is so much more eloquent than I could ever be, but suffice to say that it's really hard not to completely despair in the face of attitudes like these. To know that many guys (and maybe even girls!) I know or at least am acquainted with will go see this movie and laugh at this scene makes my stomach twist painfully. And the fact that Jody Hill lifts this scene up as something "edgy" and "hilarious" is just as painful. It's not even the product of some studio pushing for it, or something ignorant - it is a willful act of subjugating the right of a woman to her own body for the purposes of humor and entertainment.

I am so, so angry. And sad.

Comments

[hopelessfangirl.livejournal.com]

I only vaguely heard about this somewhere and hadn't read such an in-depth discussion about the scene till now.

This is exactly what disheartens me about the typical "comedy" movie these days. I'm a huge comedy fan; I have just about all of the collections of old SNL alumni "Best Of" DVDs, classic comedies like Airplane and more recent ones like Wayne's World and the Adam Sandler movies from the 90s, even some George Carlin stand-up, stuff like that. So you know I'm honest when I say that comedy is a huge part of my life, and also my personality, because I often gauge how much people like me by whether or not they laugh at my jokes. I love good comedy, and while people in general tend to see most comedians as fools, I have the utmost respect for the people that are able to do it well.

That said, this is not comedy. Too many so-called "comedies" these days are catered to idiots with no morals. It's all about either the shock factor or the disgusting factor. There is no wit or heart anymore. In fact, I just finished watching Tommy Boy (1995 movie with Chris Farley and David Spade), and even though it certainly has its share of silliness and things for frat boys to laugh at, the reason I love it so much is that it a) actually has a plot; b) has heart and c) is not offensive. I'm trying to wrack my brains and I honestly cannot think of a single offensive scene in the movie, and yet it still manages to be hilarious. Now, they say that the best comedy is often the most offensive, and while I agree with that to a degree (some stereotype jokes can be funny, and Lord knows cussing makes me LOL), there is still a line that shouldn't be crossed. When I compare the overall feel of Tommy Boy to what the producers of Observe & Report seem to be trying to convey, I can really tell that they're crossing that line from being funny to just being downright disgusting. I just don't find crude and morally ambiguous things like that to be funny at all, and I don't like to associate with people who do.