quit writing a longer post about it cause it was too wordy but like lol. people in fandom are not subtle with how they treat "imperfect" trauma victims. the level of overanalyzing and hand wringing applied to a character (often justifiably) lashing out in response to trauma is astonishing. there's an insanely disproportionate hatred for many of these characters. there's an overt edge of victim blaming to some fan responses too; people act as if a character deserved what happened to them because they didn't respond well after the fact. this goes TRIPLE for poc characters, whose "aggression" sets off firestorms on social media. even if - and often ESPECIALLY if - that "aggression" was aimed at their oppressors.
there's also the complete whitewashing of characters like these by the fans who claim to like them. when people want to like these sorts of characters, they often just refuse to engage with the character's more messy trauma responses because they can't imagine an "imperfect" victim still being worthy of care. it doesn't make these fans look much better than the other kind. all it does is send the message that recovery can only be achieved by those who didn't have unpalatable responses to their trauma.
like. people online can SEE you acting like this. it's not cute and it's not fun for people whose experiences didn't turn them into perfect angels. I get hating it when characters who commit unforgivable actions are given redemption - I feel the same way pretty often - but maybe some of you should rethink what you define as an "unforgivable action." because the way a lot of you define it now does not give any hope to many trauma victims.
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the meg ramble
I'm the car rn 💪💪💪 going to talk about both The Meg and The Meg 2. Note that I'm no where near a movie critic and really just Some Guy on the internet. Also at it's core I think this is just a goofy little shark movie if anything I'm raining on some parades. I know I said shitty movies though that was actually misleading as this movie in particular wasn't Terrible. Working on watching worse.
Spoilers for both movies of course. Also really long.
preface / summary
Just as a quick summary, ill throw the Wikipedia summary in. I'm horrible with names so I'll be looking then up as I go please correct me if I'm wrong,,
The Wikipedia summary is as followed: " In the plot, a group of scientists encounters a 75-foot-long (23 m) megalodon shark while on a rescue mission on the floor of the Pacific Ocean."
And for the sequel "Like the previous film, it follows a group of scientists who must outrun and outswim the titular Megalodons when a malevolent mining operation threatens their mission and forces them into a high-stakes battle for survival."
so we're introduced with some guy (we later learn this is Jonas (he really should be dead)) who is rescuing some people. He leaves like half the people to die, in favor of saving who he can. Everyone hates him forever because of this. Cut to the research facility, we're diving into the trench because we think actually that isn't the bottom of the ocean. It isn't. We have scientist guy dj who mains computer type things, Minway who essentially stands around and looks important from what I can remember, but is the head of the operation. He has daughter Suyin and granddaughter Meiying. There's a few other people, but more importantly there's this guy named Jack who is annoying as hell the whole movie (his entire personality is being a billionaire and I love him for that). Blahblahblah, sub gets attacked AH! SHARK! Send rescue, Mr I'm a rebel Jonas goes down to save them, succeeds and were back on the surface. And none other than the meg came, because we blew a hole in the thermo cline. Sad. Then we run around a bit, get chased by a shark, kill the wrong shark, and eventually kill the shark. Yay!
first movie thoughts
I didn't. Hate it. Like ok I don't care about anyone at all, but it's a movie, I watched it, and it was fine. I think my biggest grievance (besides all the little things) would be the fact the meying, currently like. Eight. Was just wandering around. The billion dollar research facility. In the middle of the ocean. At one point, she ended up inside of a sub (she just waltzed in there)?? Like as a silly goofy thing. Normal activities. Idk if it's a trope but like "child that knows more than they should/is super perceptive/knows more about the adult's relationships than the adults" is what she falls into.
Its been a second since I've watched it and quite frankly I wasn't paying a horrible amount of attention. Annoying billionaire guy dies (hubris or whatever), we kill the wrong creature and the meg comes and eats said creature scaring everyone, and the meg is starving or something but like. Suspense of disbelief for a bit here, we need a hungry shark. Honestly it wasn't too bad. Solid movie I suppose. DJ (relevant later) serves as like. That classic large black guy comedic relief character. "I didn't sign up for this," "my friends are dying :(" etc. Also he can't swim (works in the middle of the ocean.) Another guy I forgot about who's relevant later is Mr Jonas' ex. She is like... the lead dive lady (only person on the team we really care about) and is all mad at Jonas or whatever.
Sequel thoughts
ok so we watched this on like. The Big Screen. Had my full attention. This one doesn't get a summary because I have a lot more to say. Also heres the movie blurb thing because I found it funny to read.
"Dive into uncharted waters with Jason Statham and global action icon Wu Jing as they lead a daring research team on an exploratory dive into the deepest depths of the ocean. Their voyage spirals into chaos when a malevolent mining operation threatens their mission and forces them into a high-stakes battle for survival. Pitted against colossal Megs and relentless environmental plunderers, our heroes must outrun, outsmart, and outswim their merciless predators in a pulse-pounding race against time. Immerse yourself in the most electrifying cinematic experience of the year with "Meg 2: The Trench" - where the depths of the ocean are matched only by the heights of sheer, unstoppable excitement!" Lots of buzz words or whatever. Literally every other word is unnecessary
first of all. The intro. We're like back in time, and there's a carcass (fairly fresh) conveniently sitting on the shore. There's some aminals (aquatic lizard dino dudes) eating it presumably (though they seem more preoccupied fighting with each other) till a T REX comes. Oooo scary. It yells at them, they run into the ocean. This is presumably to demonstrate their aquatic ability and throw them into the story. I don't actually know what animal they are so if they are a real animal lmk 👍 I had a bit of a problem with the t Rex deciding to try and catch these things it just scared away (now swimming) instead of the carcas it scared them away from but I digress. Anyways. What I really wanted to talk about. You know how beaches work right? There's a drop off like eventually but it's relatively shallow. Well. This t rex is standing in maybe 4 feet of water at best. Barely off the shore. Then this fucking GIANT ASS SHARK (the meg) comes out of absolutely nowhere and eats the t rex. I know that this is just like. Introducing the gang (weird water reptiles and megalodon) but oh my goodness. She would Not be eating t rexes standing in 4 foot deep water. It's going to get beached man.
I didn't like. Watch any trailers n such for this movie. But after skimming the Wikipedia article, apparently we're being funded by a new billionaire (this time she ISN'T being annoying as hell the whole time.) Also they make a really big deal about the SENTENCE CANCELED I WAS LOOKUNG UP THE TRAILER BUT I FOUND A DIFFERENT ONE AND THE SHARK JUST FREAKING. FLIES BACK INTO THE WATER. LOOK: https://youtu.be/dG91B3hHyY4?t=35 SHE FLIES BACK IN THERE...........ok anwyas ummmm.. forget whatever I was talking about let's talk about the kraken. There's a weird emphasis placed on it in the other trailer but it's super absent in this one. There's a lot going on in this movie hang on. Ok. There's the meg(s), illegal mining, and kraken. Also they kept a pet baby meg and it waits till this movie to escape, Of Course.
Kraken
Ok emrmremrmrmemrm!!!!!!!! I think it was introduced last movie....? Basically this lady almost dies to it but the meg comes along. Classic. Never really mentioned again. This movie though it takes like a massive backseat despite how important it tries to be. Like in the beginning we're walking around in some uncharted land, happy guy who is clearly gonna die dies to it, and we go about our way. It isn't brought up till like... the end or so. And all it does is kill a few people, be a minor obstacle, and eventually gets eaten by the meg. Basically she does nothing to the plot. I want to say like... last movie? We talked about Megs and krakens being enemies or whatever, though I forget the exact phrasing
Illegal mining
Ok so. I had gotten a bit lost at this part. But basically billionaire lady (name irrelevant and also she only appears via video calls till the end where she just dies) is funding both the illegal mining and Good Guys (I only found this out via Wikipedia but I miss things a lot.) Jess (Jonas' ex) is currently working with the Good Guys but SECRETLY is working with the illegal mining organization? This is also presumably why they never explored further into the trench but honestly that's really absurd. Unrelated but Meiying is like 14 now, snuck onto and rode a sub, and contributes nothing to the plot. But long story short the Good Guys get hit by a rockslide, end up in the evil mining organization base (completely empty for some reason?) And get trapped in this room. Jess reveals herself to be a hater and is like hey [girl I forget the name of] harpoon Jonas in the heart or you're all gonna die. [Girl I forgot the name of] doesn't and Jess starts filling the room with water slowly because that's a thing she can do. JONAS. Ok. We're like. Literally lower than the mariana trench. Jonas, Mr I'm gonna save everyone is like. Hey guys don't worry I'm going to SWIM TO THE ENTRANCE. Ok. So. Not to mention the immense pressure, it's also probably like... a bit cold. We don't care about the cold shhh ignore it. But don't worry about the pressure! Because you know fish right? Glub glub? How do you think they breathe? Humans have stupid air in their nose (and nowhere else in their body) so if we fill our nasal cavity with water, then we won't die from pressure. Also we'll be fine for a solid 30 seconds. So you know what Jonas does. He breathes in a bunch of water. And swims out there. In his stupid little wetsuit. And he makes it Of Course because Jonas has no respect for his health and is therefore immortal. The number of times this guy should have or could have died is insane but he doesn't because he's the main character and the "wildcard" or whatever so it has to work out in the end. You sure showed them Jonas. Good job.
DJ (he gets his own paragraph
Anyways like. There isn't much character growth going on (less here than the first movie) and they're sorta just running around doing stuff which I respect but also eh. My man dj!!!! He's still really a comedic side character but like. He learned how to swim. Got some useful survival skills. And like. Actually helps people. Generally speaking this movie sorta follows a "if you aren't helpful or related to Meiying you Will die before the end and no one will care" rule. Dj is an exception to this in the first movie. Though he contributes nothing besides being a warn body that watches computer screens (not helpful when they're stranded in the middle of the ocean). BUT THE SECOND MOVIE!!! HE CONTRIBUTES STUFF. Irrelevant stuff (side plot or whatever) but he does something and I think that was pretty cool of him. Also at the very very end he saves meiying. He's still the comedic relief black guy but he does something and I think that's pretty neat.
Final thoughts
this duo wasn't like. Bad or anything. Not particularly for me, but didn't make me actively homicidal [see: escape room 2]. If I like. Close my eyes. It's a pretty fine movie. I didnt care about any of the characters and was quite frankly actively rooting against jonas because I'm mean like that but that'd just a me thing. Would probably hit better with the "I just want things to happen and a giant shark to be there" crew though that is not me unfortunately. There were a lot of things happening and I didn't do a great job keeping up with the things, nor did they all get the attention they probably needed (coughs at kraken). Also i forgot to mention this but they just. Leave one of the Megs out there. Haiqi. The one they kept as a pet. It just.... swam away. And they let it. Top ten worst invasive species to introduce to society. I don't know if they take care of it in the future but as of the end of that movie, there's a BABY megalodon swimming around the ocean freely.
mom enjoyed it so that's all that matters. I love you mom.
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