Opinion: Social Justice Issues Shouldn't Determine A Film's Merit
What's in a title? Well, the title in the case of this post, probably enough fuel to get me lit on fire by anyone who is strongly opinionated on this topic. But remember that this is just my opinion, and you're entitled to yours as well, none of the following is a fact, but simply a manifestation of my thoughts on a subject presented to you in a slightly non inflammatory manner, that's all it is. So let's get on with this subject shall we.
Social issues are a part of our society, like it or not, our generation is a generation of opinionated people. They like to share their opinions, they like to flaunt them, they are strong minded individuals who believe they should be treated above and beyond the other people in our society. Or so it seems, at some times. There are good social justice enforcers, and there are bad social justice enforcers, as with any social caste one bad apple spoils the bunch. What's this all have to do with film you might ask? I'd have to answer with: A hell of a lot actually. Whether you know it or not, these young social justice warriors, these people who hide behind the veil of a keyboard to write their wild manifesto's against Hollywood and the patriarchy, have an impact on how Hollywood films do. They have followers, you see, and they will agree with the writer if they think a film isn't socially acceptable. What's socially acceptable? Well, I guess that depends on who you ask!
There are many levels of social justice enforcement, some, like I said, are rational people who will listen to you and reason with you. I will call them rational social warriors, for simplicity's sake. These rational social warriors understand that everyone is entitled to their own freedom's, and that controlling someone's opinion and thoughts is not cool. They also accept that filmmakers can take creative license with a character and use it in any way they see fit, since they are artists and freedom of expression is good. They also realize that social issues shouldn't be the end all be all determining factor of a films merit, and they don't subscribe to the paranoid way of thinking that more extreme social warriors follow. They know that some of the social norms about females and males are indeed true, and that the race of a main character shouldn't determine if you like a film, or that not having a lesbian or bisexual couple in a film is okay too actually. These people are good people, they are rational thinkers, that fight for social issues that exist and actually matter.
Then, you have the people on the extreme side of social justice issues. They'll be referred to as the radical social justice warriors, because there is no true amalgamation of opinions on this side of social justice issues. It seems to just be a clusterfuck mess of people coming up with new concepts about social norms and finding deeper philosophical meaning in things that don't require it. It also just so happens that these people have strong opinions about films, and how they should be made, and what is required to make a film good. Take for example the newly released film Wonder Woman. Wonder Woman should be every social justice warriors example for a social film, right? It has an Israeli woman in the leading role (Gal Gadot), she's an IDF warrior, she's a strong woman, but she also has some womanly qualities that these social justice warriors seem to like ignoring the existence of. She falls in love with a man (apparently that's a mortal sin), and she coo's at babies in some of the scenes! Oh, the humanity, someone better burn her at the stake for conforming to the social constructs of the patriarchy! I've read many articles about how the radical social justice warriors don't like the film because of those two simple reasons, and their followers all seem to agree and will likely boycott the film because of it.
Why is this a bad thing? Because it will sometimes destroy the chance for a film to be successful. Now, I'm not saying Wonder Woman is not going to be a success, because to say that at this point seems to be foolish. It is doing quite well, and is likely on track to break even and make a profit for DC, which is something their Extended Universe desperately needs after the lackluster performance of Batman V Superman. But what does it do to films without an established following or name brand to bank off of? Wonder Woman can be successful based on the fact that is simply the very first cinematic film to feature the character, even with the radical social warriors trying to get their followers to complain about and hate it with them, it will still succeed. But what about films like Ghost in the Shell? A film that was accused of whitewashing, which by the way, is something only the people of America complain about. Paramount believes that because of that social justice snafu the film under-performed, and I'm not saying it was really a good film story-wise by any means, but it would have likely done better had there not been a giant false social issue built around it.
The problem with these radical social warriors is not that their opinions are necessarily invalid, they are just extremely biased and based more on emotion than logic and reason. They want to be good people to every culture, be accepting of everyone, show diversity in everything, and want to be the perfect community for every culture of the world. Except they ignore that some of those cultures hate each other outright, or that not every culture is necessarily even wholesome or good. They also like to force their views on others, and don't like to listen to valid facts or reason, which is not a good way to go about getting social changes done. All of these issues have an impact on the way Hollywood presents films, and the way they present our social climate as a whole, and it seems like more and more studios are just trying to be as politically correct as possible. They have to bend over backwards to meet the demands of everyone, everyone's opinion is heard, everyone's thoughts are considered "valid" in today's society of social media. These radical social warriors can have hundreds of thousands if not millions of followers who all agree that Hollywood should do what they see fit. The studios don't have freedom of expression when they're shackled by their views and opinions.
No one person should decide a films merit, it's as simple as that. No one should have that power, no one should be allowed the freedom to destroy a film simply because they disagree with who the main actor is, or who the main character fell in love with, or the race of the actor in the film. Think with your own mind, form your own opinion, do not follow someone blindly who bases all their opinions on emotional thought. Don't even let my opinion be the end all be all, I'm just here to tell you all to think for yourselves. If you don't think for yourself, you're just as good as a sheep, and I hate the term sheeple, but bahh, bahhh, bahh. There was a time when Hollywood didn't have to cave to the opinion of the masses, but that time is gone, as the era of social media has given everyone a platform to espouse their views to all their nubile young followers minds. It should be quite telling that a majority of the followers are in their teen and young adult ages, when the mind is most malleable, and our opinions on society have not yet fully formed.
So there you have it, that is why I firmly believe that social justice issues shouldn't determine a films merit. It's really quite simple guys, if you don't like a film don't go see it. But that doesn't mean everyone else has to hate it too. Your opinion isn't gold, it isn't better than anyone else's, so stop thinking it is. Think for yourself, and you will lead a much more successful and happy life. Don't allow what society thinks is good to determine what you like and don't like. The constructs of our social norms are always changing, if you try to keep up with it, it will only slowly drive you madder and madder until you too are blindly following someone who hates anything even slightly challenging to their opinion...
Social issues are a part of our society, like it or not, our generation is a generation of opinionated people. They like to share their opinions, they like to flaunt them, they are strong minded individuals who believe they should be treated above and beyond the other people in our society. Or so it seems, at some times. There are good social justice enforcers, and there are bad social justice enforcers, as with any social caste one bad apple spoils the bunch. What's this all have to do with film you might ask? I'd have to answer with: A hell of a lot actually. Whether you know it or not, these young social justice warriors, these people who hide behind the veil of a keyboard to write their wild manifesto's against Hollywood and the patriarchy, have an impact on how Hollywood films do. They have followers, you see, and they will agree with the writer if they think a film isn't socially acceptable. What's socially acceptable? Well, I guess that depends on who you ask!
There are many levels of social justice enforcement, some, like I said, are rational people who will listen to you and reason with you. I will call them rational social warriors, for simplicity's sake. These rational social warriors understand that everyone is entitled to their own freedom's, and that controlling someone's opinion and thoughts is not cool. They also accept that filmmakers can take creative license with a character and use it in any way they see fit, since they are artists and freedom of expression is good. They also realize that social issues shouldn't be the end all be all determining factor of a films merit, and they don't subscribe to the paranoid way of thinking that more extreme social warriors follow. They know that some of the social norms about females and males are indeed true, and that the race of a main character shouldn't determine if you like a film, or that not having a lesbian or bisexual couple in a film is okay too actually. These people are good people, they are rational thinkers, that fight for social issues that exist and actually matter.
Then, you have the people on the extreme side of social justice issues. They'll be referred to as the radical social justice warriors, because there is no true amalgamation of opinions on this side of social justice issues. It seems to just be a clusterfuck mess of people coming up with new concepts about social norms and finding deeper philosophical meaning in things that don't require it. It also just so happens that these people have strong opinions about films, and how they should be made, and what is required to make a film good. Take for example the newly released film Wonder Woman. Wonder Woman should be every social justice warriors example for a social film, right? It has an Israeli woman in the leading role (Gal Gadot), she's an IDF warrior, she's a strong woman, but she also has some womanly qualities that these social justice warriors seem to like ignoring the existence of. She falls in love with a man (apparently that's a mortal sin), and she coo's at babies in some of the scenes! Oh, the humanity, someone better burn her at the stake for conforming to the social constructs of the patriarchy! I've read many articles about how the radical social justice warriors don't like the film because of those two simple reasons, and their followers all seem to agree and will likely boycott the film because of it.
Why is this a bad thing? Because it will sometimes destroy the chance for a film to be successful. Now, I'm not saying Wonder Woman is not going to be a success, because to say that at this point seems to be foolish. It is doing quite well, and is likely on track to break even and make a profit for DC, which is something their Extended Universe desperately needs after the lackluster performance of Batman V Superman. But what does it do to films without an established following or name brand to bank off of? Wonder Woman can be successful based on the fact that is simply the very first cinematic film to feature the character, even with the radical social warriors trying to get their followers to complain about and hate it with them, it will still succeed. But what about films like Ghost in the Shell? A film that was accused of whitewashing, which by the way, is something only the people of America complain about. Paramount believes that because of that social justice snafu the film under-performed, and I'm not saying it was really a good film story-wise by any means, but it would have likely done better had there not been a giant false social issue built around it.
The problem with these radical social warriors is not that their opinions are necessarily invalid, they are just extremely biased and based more on emotion than logic and reason. They want to be good people to every culture, be accepting of everyone, show diversity in everything, and want to be the perfect community for every culture of the world. Except they ignore that some of those cultures hate each other outright, or that not every culture is necessarily even wholesome or good. They also like to force their views on others, and don't like to listen to valid facts or reason, which is not a good way to go about getting social changes done. All of these issues have an impact on the way Hollywood presents films, and the way they present our social climate as a whole, and it seems like more and more studios are just trying to be as politically correct as possible. They have to bend over backwards to meet the demands of everyone, everyone's opinion is heard, everyone's thoughts are considered "valid" in today's society of social media. These radical social warriors can have hundreds of thousands if not millions of followers who all agree that Hollywood should do what they see fit. The studios don't have freedom of expression when they're shackled by their views and opinions.
No one person should decide a films merit, it's as simple as that. No one should have that power, no one should be allowed the freedom to destroy a film simply because they disagree with who the main actor is, or who the main character fell in love with, or the race of the actor in the film. Think with your own mind, form your own opinion, do not follow someone blindly who bases all their opinions on emotional thought. Don't even let my opinion be the end all be all, I'm just here to tell you all to think for yourselves. If you don't think for yourself, you're just as good as a sheep, and I hate the term sheeple, but bahh, bahhh, bahh. There was a time when Hollywood didn't have to cave to the opinion of the masses, but that time is gone, as the era of social media has given everyone a platform to espouse their views to all their nubile young followers minds. It should be quite telling that a majority of the followers are in their teen and young adult ages, when the mind is most malleable, and our opinions on society have not yet fully formed.
So there you have it, that is why I firmly believe that social justice issues shouldn't determine a films merit. It's really quite simple guys, if you don't like a film don't go see it. But that doesn't mean everyone else has to hate it too. Your opinion isn't gold, it isn't better than anyone else's, so stop thinking it is. Think for yourself, and you will lead a much more successful and happy life. Don't allow what society thinks is good to determine what you like and don't like. The constructs of our social norms are always changing, if you try to keep up with it, it will only slowly drive you madder and madder until you too are blindly following someone who hates anything even slightly challenging to their opinion...
"It seems to just be a clusterfuck mess of people coming up with new concepts about social norms and finding deeper philosophical meaning in things that don't require it." Very well-put! Thank you for speaking your mind on the issue.
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