Hollywood’s obsession with ignoring the science when it comes to the male and female sexes is what has killed so many of these once-bulletproof franchises:
- Charlie’s Angels
- Men in Black
- Star Wars
- Indiana Jones
- Marvel
- Supergirl
- Terminator
- Star Trek
James Gunn, the guy who leads the DC Superhero branch of Warner Bros., seemed pretty cutting-edge 12 years ago when he wrote and directed Guardians of the Galaxy. Today, though, he’s as stale as Warner Bros. co-founder and studio head Jack Warner was in 1966. The public has moved on. Capes, CGI, snark, sexless heroines, and needle drops are as tired today as bloated musicals like Doctor Doolittle were in 1967. Moviegoers today are looking for something new, something they haven’t seen before, like Obsession, Backrooms, and, yes, Citizen Vigilante. These are the Bonnie and Clydes, Easy Riders, and The Graduates of today.
Sure, movies like Toy Story 5 and Michael still pack ‘em in, for one simple reason: they are crafted to appeal to their audience, which is something else James Gunn has forgotten.
Who was Supergirl made for?
I have no freaken idea, but I’ll tell you who Supergirl and the franchises listed above should have been made for: young, heterosexual guys.
Here are the rules. These have been the rules for thousands of years of storytelling. If you want to salvage these franchises, you’ll follow the rules – which come down to this: Men are from Mars, women are from Venus.
- Young Men Like Action and Adventure Movies
For over a decade now, Hollywood has destroyed franchise after franchise with some variation of the retarded notion that “The Force Is Female,” which was then-Lucasfilm chief Kathleen Kennedy’s approach to the Star Wars franchise she went on to destroy.
Kennedy’s idea was to expand an already (mostly male) massive fanbase by appealing to girls. Worth a try? Sure. But it immediately failed. Instead of expanding the fanbase to females, the woketard heavy-handedness of it all alienated the mostly male fanbase. For some reason, Hollywood believes women will show up in droves if men are emasculated, sidelined, and villainized. Newsflash: most women like men.
It is long past time to go back to basics. Action and adventure movies should be made to appeal to young men. Period.
The opening weekend breakdown for Supergirl was 60 percent male and 40 percent female. What does that tell you? Imagine how many more guys would have shown up if Gunn’s Supergirl looked like this.
- Young Men Want Masculine Heroes
Whether it’s John McClane, James Bond, Han Solo, or Indiana Jones, the whole idea is allowing the guys in the audience to live vicariously through the guys on the screen. We want to save the day. We want to get the girl. We want to take the hot air out of the uptight. We want to drive cool cars and overcome insurmountable odds. That doesn’t mean our heroes are flawless. Quite the opposite. We can relate to their flaws, which makes their character arcs all the more satisfying. When John McClane learns to appreciate his wife and Han Solo returns to save Luke Skywalker’s skin, those moments make us want to be better men.
- Young Men Want To Gaze Upon Hot Women
Sex appeal matters and has mattered since movies began. Supergirl might be titled Supergirl, but because men are from Mars and women are from Venus, it’s still an action-adventure movie, which means it’s a movie for guys, which means you have to appeal to guys, which means you don’t cast the weird-looking Milly Alcock over a Sidney Sweeney type. Even Jack Warner in his dotage did not forget that lesson.
- Women Want to See Girly-Girl Movies
The Devil Wears Prada 2. That’s the kind of movie you make for women and girls. Women like romance, fashion, and pretty things. They are from Venus.
Imagine if Hollywood added barfights, car chases, and monster trucks to The Devil Wears Prada. Hey, why not try to expand the Prada audience to guys? Crazy, right? But that’s precisely what Hollywood is doing to guy movies.
Yes, there are exceptions. Yes, women enjoy action movies and horror movies. They always have. But it’s the “always have” part that matters most. You see, women don’t like to see their male heroes emasculated any more than men do. Women also like to watch gorgeous female stars (see: Wears Prada, Devil) because they live vicariously through them.
- Women Like To Be Saved By Male Heroes
In its retarded, anti-science gender crusade, Hollywood has eliminated one of the most popular tropes in storytelling: the damsel in distress. Sorry, but it is coded in the male DNA for men to want to save a beautiful woman. It is coded in the female DNA for women to want to be saved by heroic men. Then the kiss. Then the Happily Ever After. Then the fade.
It is primal for women to want to know their mate is capable and willing to save and protect them. These are the basics of human nature, you stupes.
- There Is Nothing Immoral About the “Male Gaze”
Whether it’s Ursula Andress emerging from the water in Dr. No, or Marilyn Monroe standing over a subway grate in The Seven Year Itch, or Cindy Crawford buying a soda in a Pepsi ad, Normal Guys like to gaze upon the beauty of the opposite sex.
Hollywood is so out of touch the sex appeal was removed from the most recent Charlie’s Angels movie. Charlie’s Angels!?!
Removing sex appeal from movies is the dumbest thing I’ve ever seen.