FA+
Shop
Mars Needs Moms and What Hollywood (Doesn't) Learn
14 years ago
So I've been reading som ereally scathing things about the film "Mars Needs Moms" today. Several reviewers feel that the film is anti-feminist, homophobic, and teaches children that families other than one dad and one mom are failed families. Something Awful of all places actually had a rather nice critique...
"It's not often in this line of work that I get to write pieces that really matter, so I want to make the most of this. Mars Needs Moms isn't just offensive to gays, it's offensive to anyone who has a non-structuralist family. The overall message of the film is "Unless you're raised by one Mom AND one Dad, then you're wrong." Single parent? Wrong. Living with other relatives? Wrong. The film even makes sure we know that Milo has a Dad, though he serves no purpose other than letting us know Milo is in a "proper family." Hell, there's even an inter-species romance between Gribble and Ke, because apparently that's okay, as long as it's not gay.
Too often we tell ourselves that if a movie is made for kids, we shouldn't analyze it too hard, and that is insane. We should take an ever closer look at films designed to entertain our children. Children are impressionable, and what they see in their programming leaves a mark on their development, whether we want to admit it or not. If you want to show your children that love -- like bravery and every other emotion -- takes all forms, take them to see Rango again. At least that won't make them look at their friends' families (or their own) and think they're inherently flawed. However, if you can tell me that you want to send the message to your children that there's only one way a kid can be loved, then by all means take them to see Mars Needs Moms, and remind me not to let my future offspring play with yours."
http://www.somethingawful.com/d/cur.....les.php?page=2
This is to say nothing of a nonsensical plot full of holes, and Zemeckis' freaking uncanny-valley motion capture animation.
According to this Times article however, Hollywood is taking the following lessons from this colossal flop:
-There are too many CGI animated films
-Ticket Prices for these films in 3-D are too high
-Zemeckis's animation is super creepy
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/15/b.....15mars.html?hp
Points are likely true, but only the last point that Hollywood is 'learning' is linked to actual quality issues in regards to this particular film. This is the wondrous thing about Hollywood and a lot of mass media, in that the massive and obvious learned lesson to all of us is "if your movie sucks and is offensive and terrible it may fail" but this isn't the lesson Hollywood is taking in. Instead of oh we made something crap, it's oh, we've made too much. In part this shifts the blame to the public rather than the producers. We ran out of money to spend to see Mars, and that was the problem, not that it's terrible.
"It's not often in this line of work that I get to write pieces that really matter, so I want to make the most of this. Mars Needs Moms isn't just offensive to gays, it's offensive to anyone who has a non-structuralist family. The overall message of the film is "Unless you're raised by one Mom AND one Dad, then you're wrong." Single parent? Wrong. Living with other relatives? Wrong. The film even makes sure we know that Milo has a Dad, though he serves no purpose other than letting us know Milo is in a "proper family." Hell, there's even an inter-species romance between Gribble and Ke, because apparently that's okay, as long as it's not gay.
Too often we tell ourselves that if a movie is made for kids, we shouldn't analyze it too hard, and that is insane. We should take an ever closer look at films designed to entertain our children. Children are impressionable, and what they see in their programming leaves a mark on their development, whether we want to admit it or not. If you want to show your children that love -- like bravery and every other emotion -- takes all forms, take them to see Rango again. At least that won't make them look at their friends' families (or their own) and think they're inherently flawed. However, if you can tell me that you want to send the message to your children that there's only one way a kid can be loved, then by all means take them to see Mars Needs Moms, and remind me not to let my future offspring play with yours."
http://www.somethingawful.com/d/cur.....les.php?page=2
This is to say nothing of a nonsensical plot full of holes, and Zemeckis' freaking uncanny-valley motion capture animation.
According to this Times article however, Hollywood is taking the following lessons from this colossal flop:
-There are too many CGI animated films
-Ticket Prices for these films in 3-D are too high
-Zemeckis's animation is super creepy
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/15/b.....15mars.html?hp
Points are likely true, but only the last point that Hollywood is 'learning' is linked to actual quality issues in regards to this particular film. This is the wondrous thing about Hollywood and a lot of mass media, in that the massive and obvious learned lesson to all of us is "if your movie sucks and is offensive and terrible it may fail" but this isn't the lesson Hollywood is taking in. Instead of oh we made something crap, it's oh, we've made too much. In part this shifts the blame to the public rather than the producers. We ran out of money to spend to see Mars, and that was the problem, not that it's terrible.
Teko
~teko
There's also something to be said for the perceived value of a film. People are cheerfully willing to pay $14 to see an 'event movie' like Avatar or Toy Story 3 in 3D; they know they're getting a big spectacle or a trusted quality film. Whatever the quality of the actual movie, "Mars Needs Moms" looked super creepy, very cheap, and junky in every preview and commercial; its marketing was terrible. No parent wants to spend $50+ to take their family to an unproven, chintzy looking movie when they can wait three months and watch it on DVD for a few dollars.
Lapso
~lapso
I agree movies are starting to get too expensive and I'm glad I read this review before I wasted the ten bucks to go see the movie. *bows* Thank you sir!
