Fox Apologizes for 'X-Men' Billboard

[nightflight]

Women have access to colleges and universities, (and actually do better than a lot of men). Women can enter the military. Women have the right to vote. Women hold political positions from councilwomen to mayors, to congresswomen and senators, all the way to top White House cabinet positions, including one woman who is now running for president. Women are CEO's of corporations. Where I work, over 90% of management are female, including the top management position. Many court judges, all the way to the Supreme Court, are women. These are just a few examples of gender equality in this country.

Other than Hollywood, can you follow my lead and give specific examples demonstrating gender inequality? Thanks.

Oil rigs, mines, sewage, animal slaughter, garbage collection, fishing; all underrepresented by women.

 

[ChristsSoldier115]

First Rule of America: if one person is offended, everyone is offended.

Fox is about making the moolah, but I don't think changing the sign is going to help its bad reviews and ticket sales. lol

 

[Belk]

Wow, a thread where I agree with every post....even Blondepudding's.

Will wonders never cease.

Right?

 

[JustOneWay]

I liked the old Mystique better.

The movie company had nothing to apologize for. This is a sci-fi movie where a blue woman can shape-shift into anybody and can pretty much kill any man on the planet.

 

[BadHabit]

https://www.yahoo.com/movies/rose-mcgowan-calls-out-x-men-billboard-that-162518329.html

Thoughts?

Hot air from Social Justice Warriors looking for a cause to champion.

 

[Hetta]

It depends, really.

Just one picture of a character (that character being female) being choked used as advertisement is okay.

Posters of a variety of characters of both genders being chocked used as advertisement is also okay.

What would not be okay would be a poster of every single female character being choked used as advertisement, and no male characters getting the same treatment.

It's not a big deal, either way.

I admit that, in retrospect, I thought a lot about this last night, and one thing I wondered was why that particular image was chosen. I'd love to have a recording of that meeting, because I think that would be very interesting. I have actually seen the movie, and there are a lot of really huge violent/action packed moments, so why this one over another is a puzzle. Of course, JLaw is a big star so perhaps because of that, but I didn't even know the guy who played Apocalypse, and it wouldn't matter because his real face is indistinguishable. So I decided that it was perhaps because of JLaw's fame and the fact that she would perhaps be killed by Apocalypse, and it was intended to raise curiosity and increase interest in the movie, as this might be the one where Mystique meets her match. Like, yeah right. So, just rambling here.

 

[TheBear]

Oil rigs, mines, sewage, animal slaughter, garbage collection, fishing; all underrepresented by women.

Indeed. The reason for that is not many women want or even apply for those jobs. (leave the filthy, heavy lifting and dangerous job for the men )
So, that's more about women's choices, not inequality.

 

[Hetta]

Most men don't want to do dirty jobs either. That's why they go to college so that they can get into a white collar career and keep their hands clean.

It's also silly to say that women don't do any heavy lifting or getting their hands dirty. The majority of cleaners are women, the majority of carers and nurses are also women. Then women get the majority of cleaning up after our babies - even when both spouses work. It's as well that women don't mind getting their hands dirty or I don't know who would deal with diapers and wiping babies' butts.

 

[Hetta]

I liked the old Mystique better.

The movie company had nothing to apologize for. This is a sci-fi movie where a blue woman can shape-shift into anybody and can pretty much kill any man on the planet.

What do you not like about the "new" Mystique? I mean, still blue, right? Still a butt kicker, right?

 

[TheBear]

And then you have occupations like nurses and executive secretaries, which are underrepresented by men. Again, nothing nefarious going on, just choices.

 

[variant]

We are going to have to navigate a rather large number of strange cul-de-sacs as our society continues to advance toward actual gender equality. Pretending that billboards are hugely important is one of those cul-de-sacs. Putting up with morons who assume that gender equality has already been achieved is another one.

The billboard actually shows gender equality though, in that, a normal human being wouldn't have cared a bit about a fictional male super villain choking a fictional female superhero.

It's the sheer number of non-issues that make for equality. Walking on egg shells around each other doesn't make for equality, living peacefully with one another as equals without having to constantly fight does.

 

[TerranceL]

Tell that to Quicksilver.

That honestly made me angry.

I saw no reason to kill off such an awesome character. (For those confused in, Avengers Age of Ultron, Quicksilver dies at the end. Oh.. and ... spoilers.)

 

[TerranceL]

I liked the old Mystique better.

The movie company had nothing to apologize for. This is a sci-fi movie where a blue woman can shape-shift into anybody and can pretty much kill any man on the planet.

I am annoyed that she's portrayed as a hero.

 

[Kenny'sID]

The movie company had nothing to apologize for. This is a sci-fi movie where a blue woman can shape-shift into anybody and can pretty much kill any man on the planet.

Hmm, for all we know she IS a man.

Hot air from Social Justice Warriors looking for a cause to champion.

Sometimes I wonder if these things are such an extreme need/want for attention, they don't think clearly before they jump and end up with not exactly what they had in mind, but the well deserved type attention they do get.

Then there's the media's role who really doesn't care one way or another as long as someone reads their story.

 

[rambot]

Thank you internet for giving every single human on the planet the same volume to spout their tripe.

 

[TLK Valentine]

That honestly made me angry.

I saw no reason to kill off such an awesome character. (For those confused in, Avengers Age of Ultron, Quicksilver dies at the end. Oh.. and ... spoilers.)

Two words: Joss Whedon.

 

[TLK Valentine]

The billboard actually shows gender equality though, in that, a normal human being wouldn't have cared a bit about a fictional male super villain choking a fictional female superhero.

It's the sheer number of non-issues that make for equality. Walking on egg shells around each other doesn't make for equality, living peacefully with one another as equals without having to constantly fight does.

Here's what got my attention -- forget about the gender issue for a moment; how many billboards (or other print media) for other action films show the hero being choked out by the villain? Did Man of Steel's ads show Superman's face under Zod's boot? Did Spider-Man's promotional material show the web-head getting thrown through a wall by the green Goblin?

It's one thing to show the hero struggling against the villain -- that's conflict; we expect that. Quite another to advertise the film by having them graphically manhandled (no pun intended) over a California freeway.

IMHO, that was a poor choice right there -- although having the film's biggest female lead in that position didn't help matters any.

Did it merit a formal apology? No. But still, someone should've known better.

 

[civilwarbuff]

https://www.yahoo.com/movies/rose-mcgowan-calls-out-x-men-billboard-that-162518329.html

Thoughts?

Anyone who follows X-Men understands the context. She is commenting out of ignorance.

 

[Chesterton]

Did it merit a formal apology? No. But still, someone should've known better.

See I told you how political correctness can tend to eat itself. What if Apocalypse is a devout Muslim? Then you'd be a racist phobe because that's perfectly acceptable in their culture. Maybe Mystique got lippy, we don't know.

 

[lasthero]

Here's what got my attention -- forget about the gender issue for a moment; how many billboards (or other print media) for other action films show the hero being choked out by the villain? Did Man of Steel's ads show Superman's face under Zod's boot? Did Spider-Man's promotional material show the web-head getting thrown through a wall by the green Goblin?

It's actually a very common sight on comic book covers. There are plenty of comics out there with covers where some villain has Superman under his boot, or is choking Spider-Man seemingly to death.