#problematic fame

[blackandwhlteaesthetlc]

Olivia Wilde’s off-the-rails press tour for “Don’t Worry Darling” started with the “Booksmart” helmer praising the film for being a beacon of female pleasure (spoiler: lead star Florence Pugh’s character is repeatedly raped in retrospect and cannot consent since she is chained to a bed and held captive unconscious). In a splashy pre-release cover story, Wilde made what seemed to be a sex-positive statement to Variety: “Men don’t come in this film. … Only women here!”

A source revealed to IndieWire that the highly controversial set was without an intimacy coordinator at the request of director Wilde, all while off-set she emphasized just how sexy and Adrian Lyne-y the sex scenes between Pugh and Styles were on her year-long press tour. “Why isn’t there any good sex in film anymore?” Wilde infamously asked, promising that “Don’t Worry Darling” would rectify that.

“I think the idea that just because you have a female lead character, that instantly makes the film feminist, is a bit naïve. bell hooks said it best. She said, ‘Patriarchy has no gender,'” Menkes said. “As women, we have internalized a lot of these concepts on a very, very deep level to the point that they’re just reproduced. When women directors reproduce these tropes, you wonder how much is just automatic. I ask the same question of women that I ask of men: How do you think that reproducing the same shit is supposed to be revolutionary or commenting on it? Because we have had 120 years of the male gaze on our backs, because we have had 96 percent of films directed by men that objectify women all throughout history. It’s so ingrained, it’s so deep.”

While Menkes credited Wilde for employing a feminist shot design and use of visual language, especially when filming lead star Pugh’s nudity, Menkes noted that on a script level, “Don’t Worry Darling” is decidedly anti-feminist. Why?

Well, mainly because none of that hot sex Wilde boasted about is consensual. Spoiler alert: The ending of “Don’t Worry Darling” is that Pugh’s character is actually being held hostage by her abusive incel partner (Styles) and literally chained to a bed as they live out their “ideal” lives in a virtual reality simulation called Victory. Pugh eventually escapes, but there is no redemption. It’s a rape fantasy without the rape-revenge.

The plot of “Don’t Worry Darling” is hardly feminist when examined more closely, but behind-the-scenes issues are troubling as well: A source told IndieWire that more than half of the production assistants were not included in the film’s credits, despite being listed on IMDb. The production assistants left out, including COVID compliance officers, are all women. (IndieWire has reached out to representatives for the “Don’t Worry Darling” production for comment.)

🗣🗣🗣

[twopoppies]

Problematicfame on instagram did a bunch of stories wrapping up their opinion on OW’s statements regarding DWD and the promo and included this most recent interview. Really hope this gains some traction, the page has a substantial following. I want her to be called out like this but also need everyone to just stop talking about her already, enough interviews, magazines, appearances etc. it’s so absurd and every time she opens her mouth it gets more stupid.

Finally outlets are picking up on what we’ve been saying for over a year now.

This is just a portion of their IG story about this.

[enlitment]

I'm allowed to have one (1) problematic fave... I whisper to myself as I add yet another unhinged historical figure to my evergrowing collection

[danko420]

gfdi i just saw a gifset from a movie I LOVED but cannot enjoy or rec anymore because it recently came out that the author has a history of sexually assaulting women and im so mad

[glamournessmygod]

hot take but while i get joost being upset about people posting his old stuff and bothering him, it's not like he is the first or last that this is happening to. i know that with kpop and the world post-covid things have gotten worse fandom-wise, but there have always been groupies and weirdos. him just saying "please stop" will definitely not make them stop. the people who are decent feel guilty but the people who aren't will just keep doing their thing. imo the only thing he can do is limit his social media consumption and stop being so personal in his live shows. i know he probably says it with his heart, but saying stuff like "i love you" and being extremely personal doesn't help. i've been noticing his behaviours in lives and treating them like some sort of alternative therapy isn't the solution. random strangers won't start being kinder to him just because he said so and he shouldn't expect this to happen either.

[cilil]

forgive me because i love to ramble about characters i love so i'm genuinely curious about your hall of fame of “look a real man” because i 1000000% agree about manwe but since im obsessed with eonwe x gothmog because of your wonderful fics, is gothmog also there? because eonwe can be his babygirl lmao idk

Never apologize because omg this is the single best thing to pop up in my inbox after fleeing the crime scene of my (for now) last exam - if Tumblr had decided to notify me, which it hasn't because it's still glitched, but now I found it anyway. Thank you so much🤍

(Since I don't remember if I listed my current "look a real man" hall of fame in the tags/not everyone's seen those, the men I've currently accepted into this prestigious category are Manwë, Eönwë and Beren. Cases for new nominees may be made freely at any time.)

Anyway... Gothmog. Let me think. I'm gonna say: Old canon Gothmog (son of Melkor) definitely not, new canon Gothmog maybe not, my Gothmog (as in based on my headcanons) potentially yes.

Moral alignment is not really a factor here, now that I think about it. The "real man" criteria is more that the character in question is secure in his masculinity, no matter if he chooses to express it in a more traditionally masculine way - for example Beren and Eönwë being your typical "hero" characters - or if he goes against traditional or toxic masculinity - for example Manwë being unafraid to cry in public. The latter gives bonus points in fact. The other big thing is being a supportive lover regardless of said lover's gender, treating them respectfully and not acting creepy.

My Gothmog may be a slayer of blorbos, but aside from that he's a weirdly chill guy for a Balrog who likes bickering with his siblings, play-fighting and bathing in lava and also sleeps a lot. While he may participate in some taunting to keep up appearances, he has always known and acknowledged that Eönwë is just as much of a warrior as he is, even if his fána is just half his size and way cuter. He would even admit that Eönwë is the better warrior in a heartbeat. Of course he wouldn't back down from a fight, either because it's a fun sparring session or because they have to do their duty in a war - something both of them understand - but he knows what's up.

He's the classic big, strong, tough guy who doesn't talk much and appears "simple", though that doesn't mean he lacks intelligence. In fact, I do think Gothmog possesses the amount of emotional intelligence he needs to stay out of the drama Melkor and Mairon are causing all the time and to deal with Eönwë's particular brand of "weird bird man". It sounds so strange to say considering what a nightmare it is to face just any Balrog, let alone Gothmog himself, in battle, but I do think on a personal level he's awesome for anxious people. He'll be your literal rock and take care of everything.

So yeah, I actually do think Gothmog might make it into the "real man" hall of fame on the evil side as the reliable and weirdly sweet tough guy. Good thinking, bestie!

Some more nominees from me: Dior and fanon Irmo

[mermaidsirennikita]

Haven't finished The Crown but might I say that the show implying via Staunch Feminist Kate Middleton that the type of stalking and media interrogation William (a man I dislike intensely but I will be fair) and by extension Harry have received since literal birth, first photo opp when they were less than 72 hours old for both, people inquiring about their sex lives when they were underage en masse, people selling photos and stories about them, their mom dying because of (sorta kinda... a lot going on there) media attention in part...

is like the SAME THING as the way women in general live under the male gaze...

is truly WILD lol

[she-could-never]

I will gladly take music from problematic artist for my fame dr

[justworthlessreblogs]

I can’t believe that Rio would hold a gun to your head and force you to write 10k words

it's just one of his many crimes

[simplysummers]

MING-NA WEN FINALLY GOT HER STAR ON THE WALK OF FAME AND NOBODY TOLD ME??

[wizardysseus]

really cute that my (going on 14-year-old) sister decided to read the odyssey for a school project even though no one is making her do that, and somehow even cuter that my mom researched which translation to get and landed on emily wilson's, which is exactly what i would have recommended

[deathdxnces]

i did say that somewhere but in modern verse irelia still got to kill one or two of the men who murdered her family, as a treat because i think she deserves to be violent

i want to say even though the violence and death is far less routine than base verse it remained in some form especially when she was younger (and during the time she was really close to just end up in a life of crime ksdnfksjdnf), and death may not have been as common but it might still have happened.

either way, local kpop star would in fact hunt down an elderly man and stab him in the throat for killing her family i'm afraid :/

[ipoddymouth]

tbh i don’t think anything m*tty’s said or done is like……THAT bad to warrant all the media around it BUT I do think the way him/taylor and her team have chosen to handle it is WILD dkdkssksksk

[winged-void]

It's weird that to this day a lot of people don't really get the difference between like. "this author is a bad person and the work is problematic" normal style and the much more intense "the author is an important figure in a hate group and actively uses her money and power and fame to take away people's rights, and is currently very successful at doing that"

[notanartistjustapersonwithfeels]

If we made a living off reading our journals and diaries to a crowd of people who know nothing about our lives behind closed doors, a lot of us would be labelled as problematic too

[shmeegledeegledorp]

The craziest thing I will constantly see on fandom twitterdotcom (regular twitter Is Worse) is when someone posts fan content abt a particular series, movie, game, character etc. and theres like 7 Dumb Assholes in the comment section who will say shit like "actually i hate this thing and you suck for liking it kys" and its like???? Why are you posting your Hot Takes under fanart of the thing you hate. are you fucking serious