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?

[–] puschit-1 8 years ago

No, it isn't sexist. But if you really want to find sexism, then you will able to do so in about everything. I could claim it is sexist because it depicts men as rapists, abusers, corrupts etc. but I won't because I know these elements are necessary to make up a story.

[–] MydnightRose 8 years ago

I laugh at men who call this sexist then tun off to read comic books and play video games with characters like Lara Croft and Sonya Blade. Never saw a woman built like that who fights in costumes with their boobs out.

1. BVS 2. TWS 3. Avengers

[–] yurenchu 8 years ago

I laugh at men who call this sexist then tun off to read comic books and play video games with characters like Lara Croft and Sonya Blade. Never saw a woman built like that who fights in costumes with their boobs out.

I'm afraid the joke's on you. I don't think there are many men who'd claim there's a difference between this movie on one hand and those comic books and videogames on the other. If they'd call this movie sexist, then I'm sure they'd acknowledge that their comic books and videogames are sexist too. The word sexist doesn't imply "not enjoyable to men" or "disapproved of by men"; so why would/should those men stop playing their Lara Croft games when they call this movie sexist?

______
Keiko Matsui & Carl Anderson - "A Drop of Water"
http://youtu.be/kPUENUUuqSk

[–] duongdogg 8 years ago

It is more about empowerment. People just like to complain about everything.

[–] pajamawolfie 8 years ago

I honestly think it's only as sexist as the viewer feels that it is. What "empowers" one woman will offend another. Sexism is something you can't really measure objectively. (Look at my signature, this is one of my fave movies.)

There's no nudity, and while the whole thing deals with sexual abuse / rape themes, it always shown as a bad thing. The girls are pretty, and wear a bunch of makeup while fighting dragons and robots and stuff, but there aren't any up-skirt shots (there were plenty of opportunities).

If we just go "good guys vs. bad guys", all but one of the men are evil and most of the female characters are good.

There is no objective reality... and that's Sucker Punch