A surprisingly violent and funny meshing of youth naiveté and kids’ natural badassness, Kick-Ass features a tolerable Nicolas Cage in a body suit, Aaron Johnson as a harmless sometimes-gay with charisma, and Chloe Moretz as an adorable and feisty 11-year-old with a bigger dick than yours, in a digestible plot sequence with token bad guys and bazookas. You should see the film in theaters, because the communal laughter of your seatmates will distract you from the not-so-hilarious throat slitting and stomach knifings.
Jay
I really want to see this movie with friends, but I have no desire to sit in a crowded movie theater if every other word out of the actor’s mouths is going to be “faggot”. I read the comic, and like almost all of Mark Millar’s work, the characters are EXTREMELY homophobic. I think every page of the Kick-Ass comic had at least one use of the word “faggot”
(maybe exaggerating, but not by much).
Has anyone seen this and can they advise on the homophobia?
And please, for the love of god, don’t start debating me that the CHARACTERS are homophobic and that is they way that they talk. I don’t care. I don’t want to hear the word over and over again for 2 hours, even if it comes from morally reprehensible characters and is supposed to be an example of what bad guys they are.
unclemike
Actually, Jay, I don’t think that word was said at all in the movie (haven’t read the comic yet). I just saw it today and thought it was awesome and funny and bloody as hell.
alan brickman
Gays say that word all the time…..what flakey postering…
alan brickman
posturing…my bad…
alan brickman
Can’t wait to see it!!!!!
chris
@alan brickman: Just because we say it doesn’t make it right. In fact, why the fuck do we say it?
It’s not cool to degrade ourselves.
D'oh, The Magnificent
@Jay: There is apparently at least one homophobic type element to the story, but since I have no interest in seeing the movie, I can’t say if that’s true or what it is.
It is interesting that you mention this because as a comic book geek I am researching a project looking at queer comic book stories. I was just looking at the works of Grant Morrison who is the exact opposite (Midnighter, Sebastian O, etc) and the recent decision by DC to start a Batwoman series based on her popularity during her run in Detective Comics. Actually there seems to be explosion of queer characters– Batwoman, Northstar, two characters in Young Avengers, Two characters in X-Factor, The Authority, Starman who will be a part of the Justice League (the story last year revolved around his lover being killed (not because he is gay, but as a plot point) so Starman tracks down the killer if I remember the story.
There is definitely a changing world in comic books that some of the straight geeks can’t handle. So that probably explains the hostility. But, whatever- fuck ’em, and not in a good way.
Will
Dave (ie Kick-Ass) is mistaken as gay by Katie, his crush, so he goes along with it to get into her pants. He doesn’t act homophobic when he finds out that she thinks he’s gay, but is just a little upset as it presents a barrier. That’s about all the gay themes in the whole film.
This movie is HEAPS of fun and I didn’t notice an over use of the word “faggot”. Go see it.
hephaestion
@alan brickman: I’ve never said it, nor have any of my friends, except one now-deceased friends who was incredibly self-loathing. To me use if the word indicates sickness and pathetic self-loathing.
Jay
Meh, what can you do? The easiest way to spot a troll is when they need 3 posts to say one thing. At that point you know they are not running on all cylinders.
Thanks everyone else for answering my simple question without the need to get political.
@hephaeston: There is absolutely no point in responding directly to the troll. They have no love or attention in their lives, and they crave your (negative) attention because it fuels their masturbatory cycle. Don’t be a part of that cycle, it’s just icky. Best to completely ignore the troll. Or to mock him with all the other intelligent people, while not referring to him directly. Maybe he will just go away? I hope, I hope, I hope.
D'oh, The Magnificent
@Jay: I agree with much of what you say except for avoiding politics. I don’t think that is our choice. Not at this point in history. Every time a character is gay in a story line- there is always a subgroup who perceives of that as political whether you or I do or not. For example, making Shatterstar and Rictor in Xfactor gay (or bi in the case of Rictor) was perceived of as being political. The same anytime a story has any gay character at all. There are just a lot of haters who can’t imagine we are a part of any story or a lot of gay folks who don’t see gay as just a part of wanting to tell many different types of story. How do some of the classic stories we think of change if a character is gay? For example, what if the guy helping Sarah Connor in T1 was actually gay or how would you rewrite any movie and story line if you throw in the gay factor. That certainly changes the dynamic of the story, and it can be in interesting ways. For a writer, that can be fun. For a homophobic public (including gay men expecting a narrow subset of stories) that can be alienating.
Jay
@d’oh.
Yes. That is wonderful d’oh. But it has nothing to do with what I asked.
It’s a fairly simple question. Did the movie use the word faggot as much as the source material, or at all?
I didn’t ask people not to be political in their everyday lives. I only asked them to answer the question, and not get sidetracked by saying “Oh, well, that shouldn’t bother you because if you read Kant’s epic diatribe on the subject matter….blah blah blah”.
You know, the “Oooh, here is an opportunity for me to show how many big words I know” type of politics.
Since this is the internet, I wasn’t expecting to get a straight up yes or no answer because people absolutely MUST either 1) troll or 2) Expound needlessly about something totally different.
But what the hell, I thought I would give it a try.
D'oh, The Magnificent
@Jay: But that is whatyou asked. Whether you realize it or not. It is odd to ask something that’s political then to say you aren’t. THe funny thing about someone like you is you seem to get off on pretending. Whatever. Grow a bit. I don’t expect you to. I expect you to whine as you are doing now. If you don’t want to discuss politics don’t bring up political things since saying “faggot” is a political statement.
D'oh, The Magnificent
@Jay: Also, it is funny to whine about the internet when you are on the internet. Next you will whine about reading on the internet as a problem you hate to deal with.
Ricky
I don’t recall the word “faggot” being used in the movie, though it may have dropped at some point because, face it, the language was harsh across the board and after watching the little girl out-cuss a sailor, I was desensatized rather quickly. This movie certainly earned its “R” rating and I loved every minute of it.
The mistaken-for-gay subplot wasn’t handled in a negative way although when he first decides to go with the flow, he does give into stereotypes just a bit.
Ricky
and Jay, your actual question was rather political and not just about the usage of the word “faggot”. See copy-n-paste below.
“Has anyone seen this and can they advise on the homophobia?”
I don’t know if you have beef with certain people here, but your reaction to some of the comments certainly do imply as much. Just keep in mind, you get what you ask for, and you asked a rather broad level question… not nearly as precise as you think it was.
myrios123
I left the movie giddy with happiness and I would definitely see it again. It satisfies your action, superhero, gritty, comedic side, and covers the bases of American movie staples: horny white straight kid who gets the girl and saves the day.
Mike in Asheville, nee "in Brooklyn"
My hubby and I went to see Kick-Ass yesterday — LOVED IT!
The gay elements of the story line end up being very gay supporting; and underneath the story line there is a great pro-gay sentiment: victims bashing back against their oppressors, what’s not to love about that?
Basically, this movie is “The Love Bug” meets “Scream”.
Jay
@d’oh.
That is one way to look at it.
Another way to look at it is this. I asked a very specific question about a movie. And instead of answering it, you took the opportunity to pontificate about a reasearch project you are working on. While that is certainly your prerogative, it’s not very helpful to me. Sort of like if I go to your house and say “Hey, do you mind if I have a beer?” And then you say, “But what is a Beer? I am currently writing a research project on the history of beer and how it applies to the gay condition. Let me tell you about it. Our story begins in the windswept plains of Mesopotamia.” Now, while you may find this interesting, it doesn’t exactly get me my beer.
You and Ricky can continue to tell me ad infinitum that I was asking a politically charged question. That every question about anything to do with the word faggot is political. That any question about that word requires weeks of debate. But that is just your opinion, and I have right to post and say “Yeah, that is not helpful, I was not asking about that”. You can tell me what YOU think my question meant. But since it is MY question and MY mind, I think that I am the authority on what I was trying to ask.
Like I said before, there are two types of posters that hijack and make internet threads unbearably long and uphelpful. The troll, and the pontificator. You sir are the latter. And when I point out to you that your post was not helpful to me, you call me a whiner? So basically you get to hijack the thread with your opinions, but anyone that doesn’t agree that they are the most profound writings on the gay condtion ever, are “whiners”?
Sort of like the bohemian performance artist that says “I AM A GENIUS. Those plebians just don’t UNDERSTAND me!”
But feel free to call me names. That probably makes you feel smart, and I can tell that being viewed as smart is VERY VERY important to you. So far be it for me to deprive you.
To the other posters who answered my question, Thanks! I really appreciate it. Since you have answered it, I don’t really need to come back to this thread and keep an argument going with people. So I take my leave.
Bye.
D'oh, The Magnificent
@Jay: Look, whether you accept it or not, your question is about politics. Indeed, you went off on someone who didn’t agree with your political view of the use of the word “faggot.”
You seem like you want to make a political statement, but not call it that. Whatever, this is more work than this conversation deserves. Stop trying to control others and spend a little more time realize what exactly you are saying regardless of how you want to label it.
Henry Holland
Blah blah blah politics blah blah blah. I want to know one thing before I plop down money on this: does Christopher Mintz-Plasse show any skin/a huge package in tight spandex? Thanks!
sidd
Peeps, just answer the man’s question – does the movie overuse the word faggot and is it homophobic. Now, I haven’t seen the movie, (though it would seem that it’s not used that much, if at all) but I do know for sure that the graphic novel that it’s based on does use the word quite frequently. And, no, not just by the bad guys, but more often by the hero’s high school friends. The word is used the way it is by most of this homophobic society, as synonymous with creep, jerk, ect. i.e. the worst insult imaginable. As far as I can tell, there’s no irony in the way it’s used, it’s just the usual mainstream homophobia made explicit like everything else in the comic.