Transformers (2007)
I watched Transformers yesterday and can allow myself to give it only 2 noddies (my rating scale).
Ok let me get something straight. I didn't hate the movie. It was brilliant, if you like cars unfolding into obscenely gigantic robots that can 'lubricate' on the baddies. I liked the fact that the pace of the movie, once set, was followed right till the finale. The special effects were pretty good as was Shia LeBeouf as the central character. I liked the movie at first because it didn't seem to take itself seriously, much in the vein of Joss Whedon's "Buffy" and "Firefly", both of which knitted humor into very serious narratives.
However, in the last half hour, the movie just seemed overbearing. Basically what I found problematic about the movie (as usual) was the placement of Megan Fox (who apparently is so hot that her clothes melt off her, if NY Times is to be believed). She is someone who likes tinkering with cars, but thats not where it ends. I was extremely puzzled by her long sighs and sultry expressions when she tinkers with one of the Autobots (the good bots). Why, I asked myself (popcorn forgotten) does she look orgasmic? And then it struck me! The transformers are asexual (because robots aren't male or female). So by cleverly placing motifs in the movie they made it so the bots would be explicitly male. You see the bad bots in the movie are portrayed by military equipment. They don't need their sexuality made clear to the audience. The arena of war is a masculine one. But with the good bots we're confused. So here's how they placed motifs to show the good bots as masculine.
1. AutoBot 'lubricating' on bad guy, the way men do.
2. Female lead shown getting somewhat turned on by AutoBot (when she looks under the car's hood).
And of course, there are the deep, gruff voices of the Bots!
However, to get back to the plot - the battle is on between the Autobots and the Decepticons (bad bots) over something very very important called the All Spark. Megatron (the baddest bot of 'em all) wants to control the All Spark so he can declare war on the universe. The location of the All Spark is somehow known to Sam Witwiki (Shia LeBeouf) and the bad bots and good bots must try and reach him before the other. Of course Sam bonds with his Camaro (a voice-impaired Autobot) and with Optimus Prime (the nicest bot of 'em all). Between saving themselves and the world Sam, the Autobots, the Secretary of Defense (Jon Voight), hot blonde hacker with a strange Australian accent, a group of marines who got kicked by a wicked transformer in Qatar, and agent from Sector 7 (the most secret organization of all) must learn to work together, run around madly together and basically try and make themselves useful while the real battle ensues between Optimus Prime and Megatron.
So why didn't I like the movie as much. Well, being a confessional feminist I had trouble engaging with the whole idea of the bonding between man and machine. Somehow, men are the ones that bond best with machines while women must perceive bots as masculine and oblige by never assuming command over superior technology. Second, the whole idea of the movie was to glorify war by technological means and to present war-making as somehow essential to the maintenance of peace. Third, I realized after watching the movie that I had paid money to watch a two and a half hour long advertisement for General Motors. With the exception of Optimus Prime, all the Autobots were GM cars and the Decepticons were portrayed by military equipment and the one car-based Deception was a Saleen.
Apparently, Michael Bay (the director) wanted a car manufacturer that would easily license their designs for the cars to Hasbro ( a toy-making company which originally launched the transformer toys). GM was only too keen!
I had somehow hoped (very foolishly, I think) that one of the good bots would be a hybrid car of some kind, perhaps a Prius. After all, I reasoned, the Transformers don't use gas. This would be a unique opportunity to boost the sales of Prius and fulfill the pledge made by Hollywood at the Oscars to 'go green'. Then it occurred to me that many people don't think that hybrids are 'cool' (read masculine) enough. When clever motifs were placed to heighten the 'maleness' of the bots, using a Prius would confuse the audience further, because it would be tantamount to enervating the metallic heroes. Of course, Hollywood let me down again.
So what's new
My rating: 2 noddies
Remarks: Mostly migraine-giving!
Ok let me get something straight. I didn't hate the movie. It was brilliant, if you like cars unfolding into obscenely gigantic robots that can 'lubricate' on the baddies. I liked the fact that the pace of the movie, once set, was followed right till the finale. The special effects were pretty good as was Shia LeBeouf as the central character. I liked the movie at first because it didn't seem to take itself seriously, much in the vein of Joss Whedon's "Buffy" and "Firefly", both of which knitted humor into very serious narratives.
However, in the last half hour, the movie just seemed overbearing. Basically what I found problematic about the movie (as usual) was the placement of Megan Fox (who apparently is so hot that her clothes melt off her, if NY Times is to be believed). She is someone who likes tinkering with cars, but thats not where it ends. I was extremely puzzled by her long sighs and sultry expressions when she tinkers with one of the Autobots (the good bots). Why, I asked myself (popcorn forgotten) does she look orgasmic? And then it struck me! The transformers are asexual (because robots aren't male or female). So by cleverly placing motifs in the movie they made it so the bots would be explicitly male. You see the bad bots in the movie are portrayed by military equipment. They don't need their sexuality made clear to the audience. The arena of war is a masculine one. But with the good bots we're confused. So here's how they placed motifs to show the good bots as masculine.
1. AutoBot 'lubricating' on bad guy, the way men do.
2. Female lead shown getting somewhat turned on by AutoBot (when she looks under the car's hood).
And of course, there are the deep, gruff voices of the Bots!
However, to get back to the plot - the battle is on between the Autobots and the Decepticons (bad bots) over something very very important called the All Spark. Megatron (the baddest bot of 'em all) wants to control the All Spark so he can declare war on the universe. The location of the All Spark is somehow known to Sam Witwiki (Shia LeBeouf) and the bad bots and good bots must try and reach him before the other. Of course Sam bonds with his Camaro (a voice-impaired Autobot) and with Optimus Prime (the nicest bot of 'em all). Between saving themselves and the world Sam, the Autobots, the Secretary of Defense (Jon Voight), hot blonde hacker with a strange Australian accent, a group of marines who got kicked by a wicked transformer in Qatar, and agent from Sector 7 (the most secret organization of all) must learn to work together, run around madly together and basically try and make themselves useful while the real battle ensues between Optimus Prime and Megatron.
So why didn't I like the movie as much. Well, being a confessional feminist I had trouble engaging with the whole idea of the bonding between man and machine. Somehow, men are the ones that bond best with machines while women must perceive bots as masculine and oblige by never assuming command over superior technology. Second, the whole idea of the movie was to glorify war by technological means and to present war-making as somehow essential to the maintenance of peace. Third, I realized after watching the movie that I had paid money to watch a two and a half hour long advertisement for General Motors. With the exception of Optimus Prime, all the Autobots were GM cars and the Decepticons were portrayed by military equipment and the one car-based Deception was a Saleen.
Apparently, Michael Bay (the director) wanted a car manufacturer that would easily license their designs for the cars to Hasbro ( a toy-making company which originally launched the transformer toys). GM was only too keen!
I had somehow hoped (very foolishly, I think) that one of the good bots would be a hybrid car of some kind, perhaps a Prius. After all, I reasoned, the Transformers don't use gas. This would be a unique opportunity to boost the sales of Prius and fulfill the pledge made by Hollywood at the Oscars to 'go green'. Then it occurred to me that many people don't think that hybrids are 'cool' (read masculine) enough. When clever motifs were placed to heighten the 'maleness' of the bots, using a Prius would confuse the audience further, because it would be tantamount to enervating the metallic heroes. Of course, Hollywood let me down again.
So what's new
My rating: 2 noddies
Remarks: Mostly migraine-giving!
posted by Vasundhara at 5:38 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home