MovieChat Forums > Sucker Punch (2011) Discussion > Is Sucker Punch sexist?

Is Sucker Punch sexist?

posted 11 years ago by Burnoutsss
80 replies | jump to latest

I remember seeing the film and being entertained by it, but not at one point did I say, "this is offensive towards women.". Then, to my surprise, I found many articles stating it was sexist to exploit women that way. To me, all I saw were a lot of action scenes where girls do stuff while wearing various outfits.

The thing is, the sex appeal completely flew over my head: I didn't find Emily Browning or any of the girls that attractive so I just focused on the action scenes and anime fights. Does this mean I'm sexist? Do you find Sucker Punch sexist? Is there an underlying subtext that I'm missing?

[–] Adept296 10 years ago

Played out as a tribute to cosplay for me...

[–] superfly2008 10 years ago

If anything, this movie is sexist against men considering most of them are portrayed as pigs

[–] ItsLukeyBitch 9 years ago

If anything, this movie is sexist against men considering most of them are portrayed as pigs

Then i can name many movie that are sexist against women considering they are portrayed as damsels in distress and sluts like in the James Bond movie, most horror movies, 50 shades and Twilight.

"No one is gonna take my soul away i'm living like Targaryen"

[–] LukeLovesFilm28 8 years ago

Right, because being portrayed as vulnerable or sexually liberated is the same as being portrayed as a sexist, abusive and evil... which is all the time. Honestly, how many truly repulsive female villains have we had. Cruela DeVille? The original Maleficent? The Wicked Queen in Snow White? That's why I love movies like Basic Instinct so much. We get one really evil bitch and she actually gets away with it. BUT how many movies feature men as evil scum?? Almost every other movie, am I right?

Get off your soapbox while I play you a tune on the tiniest violin.

[–] nimmy1 10 years ago

Of course it's sexist - against men.

Yet again all the bad nasty men are all out to sexually exploit poor innocent little girls.

Only those with no valid argument pick holes in people's spelling and grammar. 

[–] BaltimoreStrong 10 years ago

Everything is sexist. You make a character a sexy badass, and there's complaints that it's objectifying her. You put her in sweatpants and a tshirt there are complaints that she's not exemplifying femininity. Either way, someone will find a way to turn it into feminist argument.

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[–] tyujivulpus 9 years ago

Not to me it isn't sexist
women being exploited fighting back...loved it. It's a fantasy film with japanese manga overtones. No-one was up in arms with Jolie after Tombraider

[–] ScorpionTDC 9 years ago

Based on the trailer, I'd absolutely lean towards yes. It's possible the film portrays the ridiculous costumes in a completely and totally different way, but the trailer was objectifying every single one of those girls (all of them are hawt and half-naked while kicking ass and acting like fighting in a bra and panties = normal) while every single one of the guys didn't even show an inch of skin. And the hot half naked kick ass thing is already a sexist stereotype (just look up Skyrim female characters of you don't believe me), so having it completely one-sided towards that portrayal comes across pretty sexist.

The most painful part is you can tell the trailer was completel clueless, because it's trying to be "Girl power!" and "Feminism!" in like every other scene. It would be kinda like making a pro-LGBT film where every gay guy talks in a high pitched, effeminate voice and walks around in heels/mini-skirt while every lesbian is uber-butch and masculine and ball-busting AND every bisexual person sleeps with every human being in sight. Meanwhile, all the straight people are represented as actual human beings and not a one-dimensional, offensive stereotypes.

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[–] 9 years ago

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[–] ScorpionTDC 9 years ago

Trailers are meant to make money. Also, the girls keep their objectified outfits all film. It's basically objectifying then and saying "Bad! Now look at her boobs!"

Death Awaits (Horror forum)
http://w11.zetaboards.com/Death_Awaits/index/

[–] yurenchu 9 years ago

In my view, the movie was indeed trying to "have its cake and eat it too". I don't think the movie producers are gonna care where the money is coming from, whether it be from people who'll laud the movie for its (perceived) "daring, woman-empowering message", or from geeky adolescent boys (of any age) who merely want to gawk at skimpy-clothed girls doing karate-kicks. Instead, they'd rather make sure that both groups are entertained.

______
Joe Satriani - "Always With Me, Always With You"
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