Man Of Steel Turns Superman's Pal Into A Lady

[Owyn_Merrilin]

heh, heh heh heh, HAHAHAHAHAHA! WOW, this just throws a wrench in some of those arguments against the, "Making an established character anything other than X" argument. I'm legitimately surprised that most people on this issue are saying, "So long as" whilst when it comes to a character changing race everyone starts screaming and yelling. It's mind boggling to see people get mad over a characters skin colour, but a complete revamp of gender is okay so long as they're not trying to bang the main character. Welp, I think this has been an interesting insight into the minds of comic fans.

Not really.

A) this is an ancillary character at best not a main character, who B) has a habit of changing fairly often and, C) in case you didnt bother to read the thread is known to cross dress and be a woman at times.

Go propose changing Jonny Storm to Jane Storm and see how much shit gets flung at you.

I think it gives more insight into peoples lack of reading than anything else

Same thing with the guy who played Heimdall in Thor. Yeah, he did a good job. But the character was also essentially unknown to the average person before that movie, and the ones who did know him were more likely to know him from the actual Norse mythology than from the Marvel comics based on it. In fact, Jimmy Olsen, as minor as he is, is probably a more major character than Heimdall ever was. Heimdall also had a pretty darned small amount of screen time, considering how important to the plot he was.

Plus, there's that whole issue with Odinists[footnote]which are as much the Northern European branch of the KKK as they are a legitimate religious group, from what I understand[/footnote] claiming that having a black man play the whitest whitey in the whole mythology was an insult to their religion clouding the issue around him.

 

[HellbirdIV]

I'm betting ten bucks right now that the only reason this gender swap was done is to introduce a love triangle subplot into their "darker, grittier, more REALISTIC" Superman movie.

This. It's the only reason I can think of for doing it.

So, why not just choose Lana Lang?

Who the hell knows.

if she's smart, sassy and competent, that should appeal to the female demo, and the guys-who-like-attractive-smart-and-sassy-women-in-their-fiction demo.

... You.. don't know much about Jimmy Olsen, do you?

If she's smart, sassy and competent, then she's Chloe Sullivan, not Jimmy Olsen.

And actually, that'd be great!

Plus, there's that whole issue with Odinists claiming that having a black man play the whitest whitey in the whole mythology was an insult to their religion clouding the issue around him.

It's not so much insulting as it's non-sensical. If Norse mythology is based on the Asgardians, how come no-one seems to have remembered than Heimdall, one of the principal Aesir, looked like a Moor? It's not like darker-skinned people were unknown to the Vikings. I don't think Elba performed the role badly nor particularily well. He was just there, filling space and saying a half-dozen lines. So why cast him at all?

Okay, that's my last edit. Away!

 

[Raika]

Jimmy has changed into far stranger things than women before. I'm down for it.

Truth. And if we're being totally honest, this isn't the first time Jimmy's been a lady either.

Hey, he filled out those high heels something real nice in All-Star Superman.

 

[Strazdas]

and thus the hollywoods need to fill enough boobs and the need to sell movies to sex deprived teenagers trumphs all. Again.

 

[Arslan Aladeen]

My big questions is how will this affect Olsen's infiltration into the Beard Band. On a side note, does anyone real care about Jimmy Olsen enough for this to matter?

 

[Something Amyss]

I'm sure this will be accepted just as well as the rumors that the new Johnny Storm might be black.

The difference is more boooooobs is usually seen as a good thing. If we got Jenny Storm, we probably woudn't see as big a backlash. Being black, however, is seem as totally horrible and stuff.

 

[HellbirdIV]

I'm sure this will be accepted just as well as the rumors that the new Johnny Storm might be black.

Being black, however, is seem as totally horrible and stuff.

Changing an established character's race isn't always for the worse in people's minds. See Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury.

I think they should change the Invisible Woman to a black actress too, though, for consistency's sake.

 

[Asuka Soryu]

Geez Jimmy, that surgery was amazing.

 

[Proverbial Jon]

They probably hadn't filled their boob quota yet.

(When in doubt about Hollywood, pick the most cynical explanation)

This is exactly what I was thinking. You might as well halt the rumour mill peoples, there's no explanation simpler than the fact that they wanted more breasts in the movie. You really think Hollywood would have thought any deeper than that?

 

[Broken Blade]

I'm? sorry, since when has anyone cared about Jimmy Olson? Honestly, half the time, I forget he exists.

 

[bug_of_war]

Not really.

A) this is an ancillary character at best not a main character, who B) has a habit of changing fairly often and, C) in case you didnt bother to read the thread is known to cross dress and be a woman at times.

Go propose changing Jonny Storm to Jane Storm and see how much shit gets flung at you.

I think it gives more insight into peoples lack of reading than anything else

The character has a habit of changing, yes, however he is still a white male in all incarnations right? Also, regardless if he is more side character than main character, he is still a character whom has been established for a decent amount of time, which is what one of the main issues people had with changing someone like Johnny Storm into a black character. I read the article, and I read the retorts on Jimmy's cross-dressing fiasco, but this isn't a dude pretending to be a chick, this is a woman whom has connections to an established character made up for the film and is likely to be standing in that particular character's place. It is essentially the same thing as changing a characters race and I find it quite funny that people seem to be comfortable with a characters gender being switched, but change their colour and boy do we have problems. In the end, I think it shouldn't matter, they're fictitious people whom really shouldn't be defined by their outwards appearance, but rather by their personality, skills and abilities. So yeah, I can read quite fine, it's just from the angle I am looking at it appears to be really skewed on what's okay to change and what's not.

 

[Winnosh]

As said by others If they wanted a female friend for Clark why not just put Lana into it. Contrary to the Smallville series Lana Lang became a great supporting cast member precisely when they stopped treating her like a corner of a love triangle, had her start her own family and just BE Clarks friend and another connection to his adoptive home and childhood.

Lana was an amazing plotonic friend.

 

[Winnosh]

I'm? sorry, since when has anyone cared about Jimmy Olson? Honestly, half the time, I forget he exists.

Superman's Supporting cast is one of the main reasons people read the book. Hell Lois, Jimmy and a few others were popular enough to have their own solo books for years.

 

[Lieju]

This makes very little sense, but if she serves as the kind of platonic friend and comic relief Jimmy did, I'm fine with it. If she is a love interest, I must scratch my head and wonder what they were thinking.

"We can make a Superman movie that appeals to the mainstream audiences by throwing in a ham-fisted love triangle between clingy girls and dark brooding guys. The teenagers love that shit!"

That's exactly what they'd be thinking.

But, like I said, there already is a canon love-triangle in Superman comics. Why not use that? The same goes for any other reason for making Jimmy a woman; why not just take an existing female character and use her?

So yeah, I can read quite fine, it's just from the angle I am looking at it appears to be really skewed on what's okay to change and what's not.

My issue is that it's just pointless, because there already are female characters that could be used in this role. (Whether you want a platonic female friend or another corner to a love-triangle)

In Johnny Storm's case, there are no black characters in the main cast, and casting a black character in the role wouldn't change anything.

 

[O maestre]

a major minor charaecter change!.. or wait was it the other way around, minor major ... noo i think the first one was right. his is kind of odd considering superman once adopted Jimmy as his son.... well clark adopted anyway. Regardless i can only hope that "Jenny" will be just as inconsequential as Jimmy was. Besides the loove triangle thing, the greatest danger is if she turns out to be annoying...

 

[RaikuFA]

They couldn't get Seth Green? Payment for that Robot Chicken DC special?

"Ok Seth, you can do your special but in return, you have to play Jimmy Olsen in Man of Steel." I can actually picture him doing it.

OT: Don't really care if she's a lady now, as long as the film's good.

 

[Gaias]

There hasn't been a good superman movie ever, so I don't see how any of this will change that.

 

[Lightknight]

Haha, it feels like they've changed the wall paper in the Daily Planet. I can't imagine this mattering, but I've also never cared anything for Jimmy. To be honest, I've always rooted against him. So this will be a nice change of pace.

 

[Lieju]

But, like I said, there already is a canon love-triangle in Superman comics. Why not use that? The same goes for any other reason for making Jimmy a woman; why not just take an existing female character and use her?

You're assuming they read deeply into the comic books to look for a potential love triangle choice.

This is not a good assumption. Movie writers have made it very clear that they'll piss all over comic canon to write their stories. And sometimes it works....but oftentimes it doesn't.

It's not like Lana Lang is some terribly obscure character, she was in Smallville, among other things.

I'm not a fan of Superman, and I know about her and the love-triangle.
But maybe they're pissing all over canon for no other reason than that they were too lazy read up on Superman on Wikipedia for five minutes.