July 28, 2010

Sucker Punch: Stilettos, Booty Shorts, and Machine Guns

Filed under: Gender,Media — Tags: , , — Rachel @ 7:23 pm

So the trailer for Zack Snyder’s latest film Sucker Punch premiered on Apple yesterday.  While Zack’s films have featured some kick-ass women in the past, his new movie looks like the hypersexualized violence that Hollywood seems to be such a fan of; feminists deconstructing pop culture, not so much.  Snyder has received critical acclaim in the past for his stylized action movies (some of which I’m a fan of, particularly his Dawn of the Dead remake), but the director’s latest film just looks disgusting.  The homepage for the trailer on Apple’s website shows the main girls in the film in various states of undress shooting machine guns, in front of a background reminiscent of World War I footage.

What I gathered from the trailer was these are supposedly some kick-ass girls breaking out from a patriarchal run insane asylum – but they look super sexy while doing so!  Cuts between images of violence and victimization feature the actresses in showgirl costumes, close-ups of long eyelashes, and sparkly leotard dance numbers. Apparently being in a mental hospital doesn’t cramp your beauty routine!

I’m expecting to see a press tour in the coming months with lots of feminist baiting catch phrases thrown around like “empowerment” “kick-ass women” “girl power”, etc.

Oh, and while I was wrapping up this post, and checking on the correct spelling of Zack Snyder’s name, I came across the promotional pictures – one for each girl in the film.

Amber is seen holding a lollipop, making sexyface, and hanging out in the warzone in her underwear. Blondie, who uh, isn’t blonde (hopefully that’ll be cleared up in the movie) has a big machine gun accessorizing her cleavage-featuring outfit.  Madam Gorski is laced up in a corset, and she’s been so airbrushed it’s a little difficult to tell whether it’s an actual photograph or a complete fabrication.  Rocket’s wearing booty shorts.  Babydoll has blonde pigtails and is in a sexy schoolgirl outfit.  And Sweet Pea hauls her ammo around in her garter belt.  Lovely.

I’m certainly curious whether the film itself will live up to the shocking and offensive trailer that’s being used to advertise for it.  But I’m not getting my hopes up.


8 Comments »

  1. Just to make things a bit more iffy, the track they’re using for most of the preview is “The Crablouse” by Lords of Acid – an act who at least occasionally pushed limits on what female lead singers could say sexually, but aren’t exactly unproblematic themselves. If I trusted the director I might suspect a little sneakiness in the choice, but instead it smells of a frat-boy sense of naughtiness to me.

    The song in question [VERY NSFW]:
    Lords of Acid / Crablouse
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dw28hmEYrJM

    Comment by Kate — August 2, 2010 @ 3:33 am

  2. […] completamente femeninas, además de ricas a niveles a veces imposibles. ¿Es machista esto? Supongo que, como siempre, si, aunque quizá (solo sospecho) existe un grupo de chicas que probablemente pensaría lo contrario. […]

    Pingback by Mátame, nena « OOORYUKEN! — August 31, 2010 @ 5:33 pm

  3. […] Feminist Fatale » Sucker Punch: Stilettos, Booty Shorts, and … What I gathered from the trailer was these are supposedly some kick-ass girls breaking out from a patriarchal run insane asylum – but they look super sexy while doing so! Cuts between images of violence and victimization feature the . Madam Gorski is laced up in a corset, and she's been so airbrushed it's a little difficult to tell whether it's an actual photograph or a complete fabrication. Rocket's wearing booty shorts Babydoll has blonde pigtails and is in a sexy . […]

    Pingback by Booty Shorts In A Gathered — September 9, 2010 @ 9:06 pm

  4. Looks like soft-core porn masquerading as “empowerment.” *yawn*

    Comment by Jim — March 5, 2011 @ 2:05 pm

  5. Hi Melanie. I enjoy reading your blog. 🙂

    Lala

    Comment by lala lingerie — March 24, 2011 @ 7:24 am

  6. I would be interested to know what you thought of the movie itself now it’s come out. I thought it approached the action film genre from a very good perspective. I might be a male viewer, but this felt like a very feminine story. Even if it did have women killing dragons in B52 bombers.

    I think you should take a look at the whole film. Trailers are notorious at misrepresenting the films they advertise.

    Comment by Crusader1089 — July 26, 2011 @ 4:37 am

  7. “I would be interested to know what you thought of the movie itself now it’s come out. I thought it approached the action film genre from a very good perspective. I might be a male viewer, but this felt like a very feminine story. Even if it did have women killing dragons in B52 bombers.

    I think you should take a look at the whole film. Trailers are notorious at misrepresenting the films they advertise.

    Dude, its a feminist website. They dont care about the actual content. They would rather sensationalize the trailer and cry misogyny.

    Comment by Me — November 7, 2011 @ 7:18 am

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