The Big Picture: You Are Wrong About Sucker Punch, Part Two
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I think it's unfortunate that you didn't comment on the character of the "High Roller", the other sympathetically portrayed male character and the one you'd least expect to be shown that way. It's shame that his only scene was in the directors cut.
The other thing is: While i see where your interpretation of the movie as a commentary on the progress of feminism comes from i interprete it a bit differently. To me it's mostly a coming of age story. Babydoll, representing childhood, obviously has to sacrifice herself for Sweetpea, the adult, to survive. This happens, in the burlesque world, with the loss of her virginity to the High Roller and in the asylum world with her lobotomy. While the symbolism of sex as a rite of passage is fairly obvious the lobotomy part is far more interesting. She accepts the loss of her free will to let the other part, the adult, take control. That seems pretty brutal but it's not that bad of a representation of the transition into adulthood.
The other thing is: While i see where your interpretation of the movie as a commentary on the progress of feminism comes from i interprete it a bit differently. To me it's mostly a coming of age story. Babydoll, representing childhood, obviously has to sacrifice herself for Sweetpea, the adult, to survive. This happens, in the burlesque world, with the loss of her virginity to the High Roller and in the asylum world with her lobotomy. While the symbolism of sex as a rite of passage is fairly obvious the lobotomy part is far more interesting. She accepts the loss of her free will to let the other part, the adult, take control. That seems pretty brutal but it's not that bad of a representation of the transition into adulthood.
If I'm in a certain mood I really did this kind of deep analysis of movies. Hunting for metaphors and hidden meanings can be fun. Its hard to know where to stop though. For example its probably safe to assume the curtain call thing at the beginning was put there for a reason. On the other hand, last week MovieBob included the advertising for the film as part of the film's message, and I'm not sure that moviemakers always artistic direction over their posters and trailers.
can we have more heavy deconstructions in future please?
its nice to learn something new about films ive seen which isnt common for me because ive usually analyzed it myself
thx bob, your the best critic on the web i know of
its nice to learn something new about films ive seen which isnt common for me because ive usually analyzed it myself
thx bob, your the best critic on the web i know of
EDIT: Removed, because I wrote it when I was tired and having a bad day.
Plus I don't want to get any more flak for it.
Plus I don't want to get any more flak for it.
This is odd. I so often disagree with MovieBob, that I feel weird about totally getting what he's said in these two episodes, because they mirror so closely what I took away from Sucker Punch. Although I'm 99 44/100% sure that he's wrong about Abbie Cornish being 6' 8". ;-)
Captcha: fishy smell (ain't that the truth)
Captcha: fishy smell (ain't that the truth)
It's an interesting interpretation. I'm not sure it's in any way invalid, but I do have some problems with it.
Well, any story in which characters are in some sense entirely not characters performing actions but symbolic representations of philosophies or... I dunno, Jungian archetypes?... whose activities serve only to reflect upon those philosophies/archetypes and their successes/failings is going to have a hard row to hoe. Not least because those "characters'" successes or failures is going to starkly be due to the whim of the storyteller. If the failure of Babydoll's plan is the failure of third-wave sexualized feminism, if I disagree with the notion that third-wave sexualized feminism has failed in the way portrayed, the whole thing kind of unravels, even having come so far as to recognize all the symbolism the director intended.
When I saw "Sucker Punch", I was most irritated by the notion that Sweet Pea was the "actual hero", and I guess I still feel that way. I felt that the earlier story of Sweet Pea coming to the asylum to protect her sister Rocket might be a story in which she was a hero, but the one we were seeing was one where Babydoll was the instigator of all the action; that being the case, saying that Sweet Pea was the hero was simply not a choice the movie had the right to make for its audience.
Yes, in many ways Baby Doll's plan was a failure. But it wasn't a failure because of Baby Doll, aside perhaps from her excessive willingness to put the others at risk, a risk each girl agreed to take on; it was a failure because of bad luck, and one girl's reaction to setback being an unfortunate decision to confess the plan. And while Sweet Pea's desire to keep Rocket safe might be admirable, what does she offer in opposition to Babydoll's plan, other than a continuation of the status quo (which appears to consist of the girls continuing to suffer routine sexually abuse until their captors tire of them and decide to get rid of them?) What's "heroic" about that in this story?
In the final hour, it's still Babydoll who has to rescue Sweet Pea and choose to sacrifice herself.
Sucker Punch was certainly an interesting film, and not one I'm sorry I saw, but however one chooses to interpret it (and even to the extent that many interpretations run into their own road blocks), I think my ultimate description would probably have to be something like "ambitious failure".
Well, any story in which characters are in some sense entirely not characters performing actions but symbolic representations of philosophies or... I dunno, Jungian archetypes?... whose activities serve only to reflect upon those philosophies/archetypes and their successes/failings is going to have a hard row to hoe. Not least because those "characters'" successes or failures is going to starkly be due to the whim of the storyteller. If the failure of Babydoll's plan is the failure of third-wave sexualized feminism, if I disagree with the notion that third-wave sexualized feminism has failed in the way portrayed, the whole thing kind of unravels, even having come so far as to recognize all the symbolism the director intended.
When I saw "Sucker Punch", I was most irritated by the notion that Sweet Pea was the "actual hero", and I guess I still feel that way. I felt that the earlier story of Sweet Pea coming to the asylum to protect her sister Rocket might be a story in which she was a hero, but the one we were seeing was one where Babydoll was the instigator of all the action; that being the case, saying that Sweet Pea was the hero was simply not a choice the movie had the right to make for its audience.
Yes, in many ways Baby Doll's plan was a failure. But it wasn't a failure because of Baby Doll, aside perhaps from her excessive willingness to put the others at risk, a risk each girl agreed to take on; it was a failure because of bad luck, and one girl's reaction to setback being an unfortunate decision to confess the plan. And while Sweet Pea's desire to keep Rocket safe might be admirable, what does she offer in opposition to Babydoll's plan, other than a continuation of the status quo (which appears to consist of the girls continuing to suffer routine sexually abuse until their captors tire of them and decide to get rid of them?) What's "heroic" about that in this story?
In the final hour, it's still Babydoll who has to rescue Sweet Pea and choose to sacrifice herself.
Sucker Punch was certainly an interesting film, and not one I'm sorry I saw, but however one chooses to interpret it (and even to the extent that many interpretations run into their own road blocks), I think my ultimate description would probably have to be something like "ambitious failure".
Why do I feel like it's totally illegal for anyone to like this movie? This was one of my favorite movies from last year, but every time I bring it up people call me an idiot, misogynist, etc. Even when I try to explain things like Bob did, they just tell me I'm an idiot.
Sucker Punch wasn't perfect, but at least *attempted* to do more with its narrative. Whether it succeeded or not is up for you to decide, but I'm glad it took a risk.
Sucker Punch wasn't perfect, but at least *attempted* to do more with its narrative. Whether it succeeded or not is up for you to decide, but I'm glad it took a risk.
I'm still not sure how any of this "makes me wrong about Sucker Punch." Because the movie is more thought out then what most people gives it credit for makes it a good movie? It's like saying, "You're wrong about Call of Duty." Because they put a lot of work into making the game and have refined multiplayer to a level that can be carried over so many people. It's still a crap game, you haven't changed that. And you haven't made me wrong about it or this movie.