[Angelina] Jolie, who made her action-hero mark as the leather-clad archaeologist Lara Croft in the box-office hit "Tomb Raider" movies, has turned the action up several notches as an icy-hot American operative accused of being a Russian sleeper agent. She had joked about wanting to play James Bond but may have gotten something better: a role originally written for Tom Cruise. Jolie transforms the testosterone-and-octane Salt into a more compelling and intriguing character than any of the action-hero boys could've done — yes, even more exciting than Jason Bourne, on whom Salt is pretty much modeled ....Salander is Lisbeth Salander, who stars in "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo," directed by Stieg Larsson.
Are these women the new models of millennial femininity? Do they sacrifice being "real" women — with boyfriends, husbands, kids — to fit a male fantasy ( Phillip Noyce's, the director of "Salt," and Larsson's, respectively)? Or are Salt and Salander the right ideal: brainy, independent, physically and emotionally tough, sexual but coldblooded? The movie critic Owen Gleiberman declared them "the new normal." But are they?
While a Tom Cruise action character could have a wife and kids, Evelyn Salt could not. Mothers define attachments; they aren't free to run for their lives. No mother would walk on a narrow ledge way above the ground or jump from a bridge railing onto a speeding truck below or wipe out a gang of Russian killers without breaking a sweat, mowing them down like a row of toy ducks at the country fair, after she watches them kill her husband with a shot to the head. Evelyn Salt had to be childless and a widow. Among reviewers and bloggers and commenters and my friends, women are split on this thing about Salt and Salander. Men swoon over Salt and back up Salander, but women are not so sure. Some adore Salander and, to a lesser extent, Salt. Some see them as weird, narcissistic and heartless, putting their careers — killing (mostly) bad people, saving the world — above the gentler pleasures of womanhood. And many women, while applauding Salt's guts and Salander's sang-froid, take it all in as just pulse-racing entertainment, a Saturday matinee fantasy.
Thursday, August 12, 2010
The 'Salt' Identity
Interesting piece, from Luisita Lopez Torregrosa, at LAT:
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2 comments:
I think of the gal action heroes as a bit of a fantasy, a nice diver, sion but nothing more. Then again, I think of male action stars in pretty much the same way.
Angelina Jolie is one of the better actresses in the movie business. Lara Croft, in my estimation, was one of her worst. Unlike Tom Cruise, in my opinion, she has the depth to play a wide variety of roles and does an excellent job. Once you have seen Tom Cruise, as in most of the pretty boy actors, you get only slight variations of a theme from him.
I never really worry about whether this kind of woman is the "new normal" because nature tends to take care of this in the long run. Those that do not breed do not succeed. As an aside, this will have significant ramifications on us as a nation in a variety of areas.
Whatever affect they have tends to fade rather quickly. Those who would fall into the "new normal" are an almost insignificant number except in the fantasy land of Hollywood. The vast majority of people live their lives in much the same way, genetically, as they did in the past and will keep doing it because that is what has proven itself to work for the continuation of the species. The only thing that changes is technology and the number of people who are ashamed to be who they are and to glory in it.
It is good to be who you are and there is little that can truly keep you from being the best you can be if you apply yourself. I guess that is why I like so many of the women on the Right. It is because they seem to have the capacity, wherewithal and ability to do great things and still value being a woman and a mother.
What more could a man want in an equal partner to share life.
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