Read that jacket cover. I have one thing to say about this here critically acclaimed film.
HE HAD A FUCKING SISTER. Yeah sure it was the director's daughter, so maybe it wouldn't be seen as fair to focus on her as much as the "boy". But hot damn, what a missed opportunity! All those years of footage for a male director to jerk off on his male younger self, when all this perfectly great girlhood, fuck, childhood material lays in waste.
Are young girls not interestingly shaped by divorced parents and alcoholic step-dads as well? Surely they are.
Yes, this movie passed the Bechdel Test, and yes, the supporting female characters were strong (and strongly played). But come on, Richard Linklater. Get out of yourself. The women in your life aren't just your supporting cast. They have their own stories. I know what you're thinking. I'm just one man. I raised the money and poured my heart into this, not you. I did what interested me. It didn't hurt that it interested the people who funded it.
Surely you can do better than that.
This kind of movie, taken together with all the buzz about it and the jacket cover (all of which ignores that this boy shared screentime almost equally with a girl, his fictional sister) does something so secretly and pervasively to the people who watch it. Men who watch this movie will rarely come to my rant on their own. Women might, and probably do, but maybe don't all realize how toxic this male-view can be when accumulated over time.
I guess that's why I'm here. To ruin your viewing enjoyment and your day.
Anyone seen any good movies lately?
P.S. Here's a related, much more articulate article on the subject. Highly recommended reading.
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