I chose to do my
film review on, "Ace Venture Pet Detective." It used to be one of my
favorite movies as a child but I never noticed the homophobia,
classicism, abelism, and homophobia until further analysis.I was
especially shocked to see a women get beaten in front of other men
because "she" was a man. In addition, I was surprised the movie is even
suggested as kid friendly because of the sex scenes, and adult humor. If
children are watching this film, they are being exposed to homophobia
in ways their young minds can't grasp. As a child, I remember thinking
the movie was silly. I was intrigued by the transgender plot twist and
it was probably my first exposure. If children are watching this film,
they are learning about homophobia in ways they don't understand, a
distorted view of transgenders, and inappropriate adult humor.
The
film revolves around the fact that one of the characters transitioned
from male to female to hide their identity. In addition, Jim Carrey puts
on a dress to pretend that he has a mental illness, which seems to link
mental illness and transgender identities. On top of insinuating
transgender people are mentally ill, I felt the way the mentally ill
were portrayed was degrading and inaccurate. In the scene where Ace
Ventura gets upset that he kissed a transgender, he goes as far as to
put a plunger in his mouth and burn his clothes. As one person said,
"It becomes something very, very different if when watching this
“comedy”
the character you see as yourself isn’t Ace Ventura, but Lois Einhorn.
Which is why I broke down completely when he begins smashing her face
repeatedly into a metal support beam. I’m not the victor, I’m the one
being beaten, stripped, sexually assaulted and outed, as my entire life
comes crashing around my feet, my cocky abuser laughs and mocks me in
the process, and the entire police force, my employees, sit idly
by watching it happen and then, ultimately slut-shame me as a final act
of humiliation."
(http://freethoughtblogs.com/nataliereed/2012/05/18/ace-ventura-het-perspective/).
After this horrible scene, Ace Ventura simply says, "“Lahooooser!” to
Einhorn.
 |
| The films portrayal of the mentally ill |
Thank you for your review of Ace Ventura, I'm really glad someone chose this film. I was totally shocked to see it on the list to be honest. I think the fact that parents would choose to expose their children to this movie is a great example of all the ways that bias and stereotyping can negatively effect children from very early on. It honestly infuriates me, like when I hear a child talk about watching Family Guy. It's sad to know that as a society this movie was so profitable that there are THREE of them!
ReplyDeleteI can't believe that this is considered a movie for children! To be honest, I have only seen this movie once (a very long time ago) and, although I remember that I didn't really like the humor, I was completely unaware of the violence and intolerance shown to the LGBT community. I think it's awful that information about the LGBT community is so skewed within the media and that children are receiving these negative messages without receiving and positive counter-information. The movie industry is doing such a disservice by condoning violence and intolerance to people who are LGBT.
DeleteI am kind of shocked to read how much negative attributes movie contains, such as "classicism, homophobia, ableism". I remember, watching this movie as teenager, thinking it is funny and hilarious. I see now how wrong messages are expressed and how abnormally LGBT people are presented. As you mentioned the scenes that were very inappropriate:” he kissed a transgender, he goes as far as to put a plunger in his mouth and burn his clothes". Very hurtful for LGBT families, I am not going to watch this movie again.
ReplyDeleteI thought that this movie is so funny. Just from reading you blog and from looking at the pictures you have included within your blog. I watched a different film, but I think this film was really interesting too, just from reading what you have wrote. As I was reading you blog I thought that the movie is boring, but ur blog was so motivational that I really enjoyed reading it and this is a movie that someone might want to watch.
ReplyDeleteHello, I am really excited this was one of the problems that was worked off my the problems brought about. The way rhwy demanded a break illustration is important.
ReplyDelete