Minions creator on why there are no female minions

RDM_83 again · 19-07-2015 03:48PM

meeeeh wrote: »

Hollywood, advertising or society has no problem peddling dumb blond with big tits stereotype since ever so I really don't know why sudden fuss about only one gender being considered stupid. And finally, that quote was only a deflection to avoid uncomfortable question why there is such a gender imbalance in favour of male characters in Hollywood. If you want to be outraged about that you have all my support.

Thats not one gender being considered stupid, thats blonde girls with big tits being stupid, its the same as stupid jocks thing.

Personally I think the reason there is such a gender imbalance in Hollywood is cold logic.
Look at the maximum age of person that X young women find attractive, it probably goes up to include Brad Pit and Tom Cruise (apparently Liam Neeson is good too

), look at the age young men find attractive tails of at 40ish.
A studio can cast a older male without a penalty (loss of the sex appeal), an older female lead involves a penalty (loss of sex appeal).

Basically its women that should change their behaviour/preferences if they want that to change.

meeeeh · 19-07-2015 03:58PM

RDM_83 again wrote: »

Thats not one gender being considered stupid, thats blonde girls with big tits being stupid, its the same as stupid jocks thing.

Personally I think the reason there is such a gender imbalance in Hollywood is cold logic.
Look at the maximum age of person that X young women find attractive, it probably goes up to include Brad Pit and Tom Cruise (apparently Liam Neeson is good too ), look at the age young men find attractive tails of at 40ish.
A studio can cast a older male without a penalty (loss of the sex appeal), an older female lead involves a penalty (loss of sex appeal).

Basically its women that should change their behaviour/preferences if they want that to change.

I don't believe that all criticism about gender representation is valid because through history men were a lot more present in public life and they still are. Movies reflect that, there is a limited amount of stuff you can film about stay at home mothers. But don't serve me patronizing bs that it's because of what women watch.

Wright · 19-07-2015 05:46PM

NachoBusiness wrote: »

I think your confusing MRAs with sexist male chauvinists.

If this was a venn diagram, it would be a single circle.

The Corinthian · 19-07-2015 05:54PM

Wright wrote: »

If this was a venn diagram, it would be a single circle.

If it were drawn by someone who didn't have a clue about the subject matter they were describing, sure.

FortySeven · 19-07-2015 06:00PM

Apparently minions is the most sexist film eva!

http://reelgirl.com/2015/07/minions-most-sexist-kids-movie-of-the-year-rated-triple-s-for-gender-stereotyping/

How I laughed. I pity that womans children.

19-07-2015 06:10PM

*sigh*

why is this even a debate? They're cartoon characters geared towards children who, realistically, are genderless really.

rubadub · 19-07-2015 06:34PM

eet fuk wrote: »

Well you know full well that it would go down poorly if the gender roles were reversed. Everybody does...

So I ask you - why ask a question that you seem to know the answer to?

I think it's good to make others think about it, and to realise they might only care about particular groups.

You say it would go down badly if reversed, so those (male or female) who would think nothing of this, but would have complained about it if reversed should acknowledge that they are actually sexist themselves, as they are treating the case depending on gender, and seemingly only give a shit about 1 gender.

Some people have no problem admitting this, which is fine, but some go on about being against sexism or racism in general when in reality they only give a **** if it effects a particular gender or races.

Tony EH · 19-07-2015 06:44PM

OneOfThem wrote: »

My first thought was that he sensed a feministy "How dare you not write any female characters!?" coming and deftly slipped it by making the comment he did.

"ehh well, you know, women are just so awesome, so that's why. Quick, look behind you! "

I think it was quite a good save TBH.

I also think that if the creator of the minions had made them all female, there would be "outrage" about that too.

"Is he trying to say that women are stupid?"

Fuck sake...can we not just enjoy the film? Pretty mediocre films, too, IMHO.

CuriousOwl · 19-07-2015 07:01PM

I'm a female myself and am also tired of the gender war in modern society. What the Minions' creator said is highly sexist and demeaning towards men and should be recognised as such, as it would be if it were said about females.

The idea that people are even thinking about what gender these minions are is inherently sexist and the root of the whole problem. When I see fictional characters, I don't care what gender they are, whether it be all men, all women, or mixed. It's hard to believe that in something as innocent as a kids movie, people are checking to see what gender the characters are and then seem oblivious to the fact that such a preoccupation with gender inevitably perpetuates a mindset of sexism.

Back to the creator's remark: Being demeaning towards either sex is sexism and the selective outrage of those who fight for gender equality is extremely hypocritical. Society needs to get rid of the idea of it being men vs. women and recognise that neither gender should be discriminated against.

tritium · 19-07-2015 07:13PM

FortySeven wrote: »

Apparently minions is the most sexist film eva!

http://reelgirl.com/2015/07/minions-most-sexist-kids-movie-of-the-year-rated-triple-s-for-gender-stereotyping/

How I laughed. I pity that womans children.

The author of that piece is an imbecile, looking for some mathematically definable quantum of outrage to make her life worthwhile. It's akin to Una Mulallys IT article where she whined about film sexism and opined that Hollywood was sexist because Frozen (strong female lead) wasn't somehow as epic in her view as the Lion King (strong male?-wtf its about lions for Christ's sake). Yep somehow the fact the feminism had never really taken off on the Lion community was lost on her vaccuous twittering.

This tripe is on a similar vein-scrutinise till you find the outrage (it must be there!). The fact she had to close the comments because, well, no-one agreed with her, tells you everything. Unfortunately the internet only encourages these fools by making them feel important.

Worth pointing out that the OP wasn't the first to spot sexism in minions though

Medusa22 · 19-07-2015 10:39PM

I think the creator just meant his comment not to be taken so seriously, and that the minions are buffoon-like characters. I have to say though, I think that Kermit does have a point, I mean I don't think anyone needs to get outraged or climb up onto a soapbox but I do think that if Pierre Coffin had made such a comment about the creation of stupid female minions then there would be outrage from a certain section of society, a small percentage of radical feminists I suppose, and people on social media who enjoy being offended. All the same, I dislike the small percentage of men (who seem to be disproportionately represented on AH) who claim that all women are misandrists who are out to get them and that equality means favouring women over men, etc. Though I really don't think that applies to Kermit here, who didn't get outraged, he just simply asked a question.

Wright · 20-07-2015 12:17AM

The Corinthian wrote: »

If it were drawn by someone who didn't have a clue about the subject matter they were describing, sure.

Yeah; no, sorry, thats both facile and incorrect.

Wright · 20-07-2015 12:19AM

Medusa22 wrote: »

I mean I don't think anyone needs to get outraged or climb up onto a soapbox

... what website are we on again?

The Corinthian · 20-07-2015 05:54AM

Wright wrote: »

Yeah; no, sorry, thats both facile and incorrect.

Well if you say so...

suicide_circus · 20-07-2015 09:20AM

Half the minions are male and half of the minions are female who self identify as male. STOP OPPRESSING THE MINIONS!

anvilfour · 20-07-2015 09:25AM

Banjo String wrote: »

He's not saying it about men/women, boys/girls.

He's saying it about minions. A made up species in a cartoon.

Have you ever debated Feminists? Try telling them that it's just a TV show... it doesn't make any difference, they still claim oppression.

Then again I have a sense of humour and have no insecurities about my intelligence, so am not going to get upset about fictional characters, hope some of the Feminazis can learn from my example...

20-07-2015 11:21AM

You know it could be actually pretty funny if it turned out that one of the minions were female.

"Bob? Oh Bob is feeemale", said in Gru's voice.

NachoBusiness · 20-07-2015 11:44AM

SparkySpitfire wrote: »

There's actually a part in the film where one of them gets hit in the crotch with an iron bar, and he looks shocked and waits for pain, but then he laughs cos he doesn't feel any.

THEY DON'T HAVE GENITALS

Children watching do not know that the Minions have no genitals and so the meaning behind that joke would be lost on them. All they would see is a boy getting hit in the balls being presented as being something funny as essentially the Minions are seen as boys because of how they dress and their facial features. No real problem with it though. Would depend on the context.

SparkySpitfire · 20-07-2015 12:42PM

NachoBusiness wrote: »

Children watching do not know that the Minions have no genitals and so the meaning behind that joke would be lost on them. All they would see is a boy getting hit in the balls being presented as being something funny as essentially the Minions are seen as boys because of how they dress and their facial features. No real problem with it though. Would depend on the context.

They're cartoons!! If not for the names they'd be androgynous.

Most animated films have jokes for adults, I didn't think this fell into that category but ok.

NachoBusiness · 20-07-2015 01:43PM

SparkySpitfire wrote: »

They're cartoons!! If not for the names they'd be androgynous.

Like I said: children see them as boys because of how they dress, their facial features etc and that is all that matters here, how kids relate to them.

Most animated films have jokes for adults..

Precisely, thank you: the lack of genitalia joke was for adults and so all children would have seen was a boy getting hit in the balls with an iron bar and that being presented as something that was funny. Would they show one of these young female animated characters getting hit between the legs with an iron bar and pass that off as a joke? I doubt it.

In any case, like I said, I wouldn't necessarily have a problem with it, as I feel it would be dependent on the context whether I felt it was appropriate or not. I think the Simpsons and Family Guy have numbed people a little to such 'jokes' in animation and it must be remembered that cartoons are basically teaching young kids about life. Kids are in effect sponges and will soak up all messages sent to them, may of which are quite often missed by the adults sitting right there beside them.

The Corinthian · 20-07-2015 01:59PM

SparkySpitfire wrote: »

They're cartoons!! If not for the names they'd be androgynous.

Then you should not really be able to differentiate between these either.

CuriousOwl · 20-07-2015 03:27PM

Is there any thread on here where this subject is discussed more in-depth? Definitely an interesting topic worthy of awareness.

starlit · 25-07-2015 05:58PM

Ah that's interesting I didn't take much notice of that I assumed was all one gender or no gender kind of thing until I knew their names.

They neither sound or look male or female?

kowloon · 25-07-2015 07:02PM

Candie wrote: »

I'm outraged at all the cleaning fluid ads featuring women cleaning toilets and mopping floors. If it was only men doing it, there'd be uproar.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=85HT4Om6JT4

Minions creator on why there are no female minions

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