from Facebook: Chris Hemsworth flops again
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I agree, but for this particular argument wouldn’t it make more sense to look at male writers or directors?
Like, ahem, Kevin Munroe?
If Hollywood were a factory environment and Kevin was an associate employee… he got called down to HR, two hours ago. Who am I kidding, he’s a supervisor, and he just got a huge raise. :P
His writers on that project have even worse CVs — and Marvel gave them Doctor Strange. Let them NEVER come crying to us that they HAD to hire some bloke because they were just “hiring the best there is Because Money Reasons — affirmative action for
mediocreINCOMPETENT white guys is what Hollywood is all about.The writers are just as guilty – Sahara, A Sound of Thunder and the Conan reboot are not a resume that justifies further commissions — and yet, on top of the mess of Ratchet & Clank, they were awarded Doctor Strange!!
Yes, this applies to writers and directors as well. Which I’ve also noted many times.
It’s not that I disagree with your argument, it’s just that this particular example sort of blames Chris for problems likely caused by other members of the creative team. I like Chris too is what I’m saying. :)
It doesn’t blame Hemsworth for anything, though. It’s not even really an argument about why the movie was a flop. It’s just pointing out that, despite numerous flops, studios keep making male-centered movies and giving male actors second and third and fourth and hundredth chances to star in them. The same courtesy should be extended to female actors and female-centered films.
No, this does not blame Hemsworth for anything.
The studios will, of course, find a way to blame this on women. As you and others have pointed out, the film was heavily marketed with deceptive trailers to suggest that the story would focus on Theron, Blunt, and Chastain. So the studios’ takeaway will probably be “We couldn’t fool people into buying tickets by putting the women upfront. That means people aren’t interested in women and we should put fewer of them in our films.”
This is not a “rare misstep” for Universal – they had a dismal track record the last two years that was only saved by Jurassic World and Straight Outta Compton — which they had no faith in, so its box office success can’t be credited to them but the material and audiences, and Jurassic World was going to make bank on regardless so long as it wasn’t Battlefield Earth levels of bad. And everyone said this was a movie that had no reason to exist, so it’s no more of surprise than Pan or Gods of Egypt flopping.
Do the film industry media think that we are simply incapable of remembering their own articles on the subject? Or that we can’t look these figures up online?
So why don’t female stars get the same benefit of the doubt?
Seriously? You can’t think of any women who *haven’t* appeared in flop after flop yet still keeping getting work?
Think about what you are asking…
You’re asking me to give you examples of a thing that does not exist!
Bingo!
And why do you think that is?
You’re so close! You can’t think of any men because it doesn’t happen to me, and you can’t think of any women because they don’t get the chance to appear in a series of flops!
Cheap comeback? You are asking for the impossible.
But perhaps this will help you. When the 2007 film *The Brave One* “flopped” — although it just about earned back its production budget, which is a helluva lot more than can be said about Hemsworth’s *Blackhat* — Warner Bros head Jeff Robinov didn’t say, “That’s it, Jodie Foster,” who starred in the film, “will never work in this town again.” No: he declared that from then on, Warner Bros would not make another movie with a female protagonist. Not just with Jodie Foster as a female protagonist, with *any* female human being starring as the central character.
Jodie Foster has not had another starring role in a movie. And Jeff Robinov still works in Hollywood.
Vivica A. Fox
Make your case. Give me the list of big Hollywood movies akin to those Hemsworth keeps appearing in that Fox has headlined. Go on…
Well, that wasn’t what I was responding to. Whats’-his-face said something about not being able to remember a woman finding work after appearing in a series of flops. Just look through her wiki page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vivica_A._Fox#Filmography Contrast the beginning (so many BAFTA nominations!) with the avalanche of ‘meh’ at the end.
You replied to my comment. Natural that I would think you were replying to me. :-)
Fox has been in lots of supporting roles. She has never been someone who has been expected to open a movie, like Hemsworth has been.
ACTUALLY THOUGH! OMFG, I can do EXACTLY what you just asked! Because I just remembered that MEGAN Fox has been in some pretty big bombs (Jennifer’s Body and Jonah Hex come to mind), yet she still got cast in the Ninja Turtles movies.
*Jennifer’s Body* did okay, actually. *Jonah Hex* was a flop, but a small one (it had a moderate budget), and she certainly did not headline that film. She’s not headlining the TMNT movies, either.
You seem to be changing the parameters of the challenge after I answer it. I don’t have time for yet another argument like that.
This particular conversation began with a post from Captain Megaton (which appears above). Here’s the original comment:
So she’s asking you (and Captain Megaton) to name a female star who has the following qualities:
(1.) A good, reliable, versatile actress
(2.) A-list name recognition
(3.) Appeared in hit movies…
(4.) …Then appeared in a string of duds
(5.) Keeps getting work in major studio films.
Neither of the actresses you mentioned seems to qualify. People were surprised that Megan Fox got even a supporting role in the TMNT films.
Scarlet Johanson.
Did some good stuff, then along came The Island, The Black Dahlia, and (eek) The Spirit. And now she’s Black Widow.
The only film she can be said to have headlined (and then only as a coprotagonist) is *The Island.* And that movie, while probably considered a box office disappointment, did earn back significantly more than its production cost. But, say, Hemsworth’s *Black Hat* cost $70 million and earned less than $20 million globally.
LOL. I’m not “changing parameters.” It’s perfectly clear what we’re talking about male stars who headline big blockbusters.
And you’re arbitrarily deciding that, unless something fits your Hemsworth example exactly, it doesn’t count. Because you’re a sore loser with a flimsy theory that any film geek can punch holes in. Why should I play a game with someone who gerrymanders the goal so only they can score?
You can’t use Vivica A. Fox as an example and complain that we’re being arbitrary.
That was my first, off-the-cuff try. Megan Fox and ScarJo have each come closer to meeting the narrowing qualifications for the challenge before being swatted away. The nitpicks matter less than the substance of the claim being made: Hemsworth’s getting special treatment because he’s a man. I say bullshit; he’s getting special treatment because he’s PRETTY. Same as dozens of other actors and actresses who have appeared in turds but continued to get cast because they continued making audiences horny.
If there are dozens of actresses who meet the qualifications, then you should be able to name one.
I named two, you illiterate mustelid.
You have now crossed the line, and you’re gone.
It’s not a game. Don’t play if you don’t want to.