Breakdowns: No One Has Puked On Ryan Reynolds

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Beejoli Shah

11/11/13 12:18PM

Filed to: Breakdowns

If you haven't vomited on Ryan Reynolds yet, now is your chance; Angela Lansbury is on the case to change the title of the new Murder, She Wrote remake; Star Wars is looking for you to star in Star Wars VII; Joss Whedon has drawn the ire of feminists, while giving a speech in support of equality and feminism.

Despite reports to the contrary, no one has vomited on Ryan Reynolds…yet. Get on it, America. [Vulture]
Jessica Fletcher is not happy about NBC rebooting Murder, She Wrote under the same name as the original. Angela Lansbury told The AP over the weekend that the original was a special show, and titling the reboot under the same name is a mistake. [THR]
Think you have what it takes to hold your own with Han Solo? The Star Wars reboot has opened up online auditions, after thousands showed up at their auditions in the UK. What are you waiting for? The role of Rachel or Thomas could be you! (It probably won't be you.) [Rolling Stone]
Joss Whedon gave a beautiful speech at the Make Equality A Reality convention about supporting women and making feminism the norm, and some feminists are already displeased at his remarks. Faux-outrage is alive and well this morning. [Salon]

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This Is A Dead Account Beejoli Shah 11/11/13 02:54PM

Picking a fight against people who are irked by Whedon's speech probably seems like a good move for you career-wise and for this blog. I get it. You come out on the side of most of Hollywood and geekdom and this makes it very clear that you're not one of those man-hatin' radfem ladies. Makes sense on paper.

Personally, I think it's a mistake. In your position and industry, you're going to be hitting that glass ceiling hard, over and over and over. Feminism could probably help with that. But whatever, I suppose "faux-outrage" is just easier to type.

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Beejoli Shah This Is A Dead Account 11/11/13 03:20PM

I didn't make that point for the sake of this blog, or my career. I made that point because I agree with Joss Whedon. Did you watch the speech? He didn't come out asking women to stop complaining, or stop fighting. He spoke about a post-bigoted society in which the equal rights that women deserve shouldn't be such an aberration from the norm, that they deserve the title of "feminism." Sure, it's idealistic, and sure, we're very far from it, but it's an ideal I'd like to strive towards.

It was also an ideal I covered from a racial standpoint, back when Miss America was crowned this fall. I got lambasted then as well, and I don't mind, I stand by it. I'm not saying that this is something we should stop talking about/fighting for/acknowledging as a problem, I'm just hoping I raise my kids one day in a world where we shouldn't have to fight for what should already be a given.

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This Is A Dead Account Beejoli Shah 11/11/13 03:33PM

I see what you're saying, and what he was saying, but for a rich white man to stand up and declare that we should all just have this utopian society and do away with the word that got us halfway there is pretty nutso. To deny that word is to deny its history, and to declare that we're in a post racist society is also pretty dumb. He may want that for the future—I think most rational, good people do—but he went about this wrong.

To be totally honest, that wasn't even my real objection to what you wrote. My real objection is your dismissal of people's concerns about this. You can stand by your position that he made a good speech, but don't sweep the rest of us under the rug. If you are really in support of continuing a dialogue about these issues and feminism as a whole then you should be in support of women—women who hold different feminist ideals than you do—speaking up about it. "Faux-outrage" is just offensive to me, you know?

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Beejoli Shah This Is A Dead Account 11/11/13 04:08PM

I think it's easy in this moment for you to engender him as a "rich, white man"—but isn't getting rich, white men to realize this is a problem a major step towards getting more rich, white men (traditionally, they are the ones disenfranchsing women and minorities, no?) to take notice? It's very easy to pick and choose bits that support your argument, and I get that, but as a proud feminist, I stand by my statement that the Salon writer who wrote that piece went with faux-outrage over something that was good and pure, from a writer who has made a career of portraying women as asskicking wonder women, instead of secondary to males. I am in support of women, but that doesn't mean I have to agree with every woman, every time. That idea—that we as women can't have disagreements and debates amongst ourselves, because we're all fighting for the same goal—is inherently sexist, don't ya think?

This Is A Dead Account Beejoli Shah 11/11/13 04:45PM

I love Whedon's work too, but you're framing it as though McDonough is picking on him or something. She's not the only person on the internet pissed off about this and IMO it isn't a case of bullying, it's a case of very valid concerns about the content of his speech. Here's an even better criticism written by someone on GroupThink.

I don't know that anyone is saying Joss Whedon isn't a feminist ally and hasn't done good things for women, I think people are pissed off that he's telling women how to do feminism. People who are generally great can sometimes fuck up. And he fucked up on this one.

I never said women can't have disagreements and debates, but I did say that we don't need to dismiss each other's views when we don't agree. Your dismissal of McDonough's concerns was my issue, and reading this latest response it seems you did so because you think, generally, Whedon is a good guy. He is, I'm quite sure. That doesn't mean we don't need to take a closer look at what he's saying here.