A person isn't stupid. People are dumb, stupid, and panicky

[serafina20]

Sometimes I wonder how so many people (i.e. Hollywood) can be so fucking stupid. I mean, do they listen to themselves? I was just reading an article about how movies for girls (teenagers, mostly) don't do well. And then, they started complaining about how they didn't seem to be interested in the Cinderella theme anymore, listing all the recent teen movies/Cinderella stories that aren't doing well (Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen, Ella Enchanted, The Prince and Me, and others I can't rememember).

And never, once in the entire article did someone go, "Maybe it's time we told a new story." Instead, the article concluded with a, "Well, we just have to tell it better. Girls are more sophisticated now, but it's a tale that endures."

Now, I loved Ella Enchanted, but a lot of what I liked was Anne Hathaway and the fact the dress, pumpkin, shoes, and house work disappaered. I loved those parts in the book, dont' get me wrong, but it was just nice not seeing it. *However*, I would like to see a 'girl' movie, aimed at teenage girls (at which I am one, right?) that doesn't have to do with getting the guy, achieving popularity, or getting the Cinderella ideal. How about a new stories, guys?

Comments

[tigress35.livejournal.com]

The saying in Hollywood goes, "There are no new stories, only new ways of telling them."

[serafina20.livejournal.com]

Then they're going to have to resign themselves to the fact that their movies are going to do poor business, because there are new stories, they're just too lazy to find them.

Or, at the very least, they could try a different story.

[mayphoenix.livejournal.com]

I applaud you for what you just said. This antiquated belief that today's girls want that Cinderella fantasy of having a rich, handsome guy sweep them away from the boring drudgery of their present existence, that a girl is nothing but an old maid and house frau without Prince Charming. And that a PLAIN girl will never attract a man -- she has to be dolled up before he'll give her the time of day. Puh-LEEZ! Live in the NOW, people!

I'm all for new stories, too. And I haven't been a teen in 20 years!

:)

[kyanoswolf]

Haven't I already posted my possibly (definitely) offensive rant on the subject of girls and parenting in general once today? I don't think I'll do so again.

The only way Hollywood's ever going to get that message is through the box office. Those movies have to not only continue to not make money, they have to be critical failures as well. Don't take your little girls to see them (even if they are based on books you loved -- because Hollywood never goes by the book). If you must see them -- wait for them to be on cable, don't buy the DVD. Support movies that show women in better roles. It may take a generation or two, but who knows, Elle might actually practice real law now that she's a Harvard Grad.