America's Awards Season ends with The Oscars. So aside from writing, seemingly endlessly, about The Super Bowl I've spent it watching a lot of movies. Some of which I now want to write about. Not that I've been able to watch any of the movies nominated at this year's Oscars.
I should probably start with a movie that did very well at The Oscars 2024. Despite me still not having seen it.
Poor Things (2023): This stars Emma Stone as Victoria Blessington, a pregnant woman who commits suicide. Only to be brought back to life by the mad scientist Godwin Baxter, played by Willem Dafoe, who does so by replacing her brain with the brain of her unborn foetus. Creating an adult woman with the mind of an infant. A woman Godwin Baxter renames Bella Baxter.
Godwin Baxter then hires the medical student Max McCandles, played by Ramy Youssef to raise Bella Baxter and study her learning and development. Rather like how a parent would raise a child. Despite her still only having the mind of a pre-pubescent girl Max McCandles falls in romantic love with Bella Baxter and proposes marriage. Which Godwin Baxter accepts on Bella's behalf. Reaching puberty Bella Baxter then becomes infatuated with Duncan Wedderburn, played by Mark Ruffalo, who whisks her away on a voyage across the World.
Primarily this is a movie about Imposter Syndrome. That uncomfortable sensation we all seem to have that despite our outwards, adult appearance we're all still just silly little children pretending to know what we're doing. A theme that Emma Stone seems to be exploring with every moment of her life. Such as when, at 31 years old, she delayed production on; "Cruella" (2021) after dancing so excitedly at a Spice Girls concert she broke her arm. Or when she tore her dress just before collecting her Best Actress Oscar for this role at The Oscars 2024.
The world in which Poor Things explores Imposter Syndrome also allows it to look at some of the earliest Sci-Fi/Fantasy movies. Silent movies that date back from the very birth of movies. Obviously there is Frankenstein, in which a mad scientist brings a corpse back to life. Both the J.Searle Dawley 1910 short and James Whale's 1931 feature.
Poor Things also touches on George Melies' 1902 feature; "Le voyage dans la lune" (A Trip To The Moon) which is considered the first Sci-Fi/Fantasy movie and one of the first movies ever made. It is an adaptation of the Jules Verne novel which formed part of his; "Voyages Extraodinaires." A series of 61 Sci-Fi/Fantasy novels which were originally published in a magazine in serial form. A form of publication that early filmmakers also adopted. With movies not being released as single, long features but as a series of shortfilms released over weeks/months. What are now considered TV shows. Although TV shows you had to buy cinema tickets to enjoy.
J.Searle Dawley's 1910 version of Frankenstein was released by Edison Studios. George Melies failed to copyright Le voyage dans la lune. Resulting it simply being stolen by Thomas Edison who released it in the US through Edison Studios without George Melies being paid a penny for his work. The earliest copyright scandal in movie history.
Fritz Lange's "Metropolis" (1927) is also referenced by Poor Things. Metropolis is one of the most influential movies ever made. Numerous other filmmakers have paid tribute to it and continue to pay tribute to it in countless other movies and TV shows. Not just within the Sci-Fi/Fantasy genre.
Artistically speaking you could describe Bella Baxter in Poor Things as an Artificial Intelligence (AI) robot/drone. While she has a Human intelligence it is one which has been artificially implanted into the body of Victoria Blessington. A similar AI robot/drone is central to the plot of Metropolis. The mad scientist Rotwang, played Rudolf Klein-Rogge, invents a robot "Machine Man" which can be given the personality and physical likeness of any Human. Rotwang originally invented it to resurrect Hel Fredersen - the dead wife of Joh Fredersen, played by Alfred Abel, and mother to Freder Fredersen, played by Gustav Frohlich.
Although strictly speaking a play rather than a movie it is impossible to talk about Frankenstein, Metropolis or the Sci-Fi/Fantasy genre without mentioning Karel Capek's "R.U.R: Rossumovi Univerzalni Roboti" (Rossum's Universal Robots). The company of the play's title makes AI robots/drones. Living creatures of flesh and blood that can perform complex tasks but lack true Human intelligence.
It was Karel Capek's R.U.R which invented the term; "Robot" - a variation on the Czech word; "Robota" meaning; "Slavery." When scientists developed actual robots, many decades later they named their invention after Karel Capek's play. Karel Capek actually credits his brother Josef with inventing the term.
Both Mary Shelley in Frankenstein and Karel Capek in R.U.R were heavily influenced by the Golem of Jewish folklore. Mary Shelley thinking that "stein" is a very Jewish name suffix. In Jewish folklore a Golem is a Humanlike creature (often a giant) which is created of mud or clay. It is then brought to life and commanded by its creator who puts instructions on pieces of paper into its mouth. Rather like the punchcards which were used to program early computers. Arguably a keyboard is an electronic punchcard.
One of the most famous Golem stories is; "The Golem of Prague." In the 16th Century Rabbi Loew of Prague is said to have created a Golem to protect the Jewish quarter of Prague from anti-Semitic pogroms. A story that was no doubt well known to Czech playwright Karel Capek. Officially Metropolis is an adaptation of a 1925 Thea von Harbou novel of the same name although it could well be viewed as an unauthorised movie adaptation of R.U.R.
Sci-Fi/Fantasy was a hugely popular genre when movie making was invented back in The Victorian Era. "The Gilded Age" as it's known in America. However it quickly fell out of favour. Becoming a much maligned movie and TV genre that takes very simple observations about Human behaviour then clumsily hammers them home for an intelligent yet socially awkward audience.
Sci-Fi/Fantasy then came back into fashion in a big way at the start of the 21st Century. It's the Sci-Fi/Fantasy of the Marvel and D.C comicbook universes along with adaptations of the Lord of the Rings and Dune novels which provide the big, money making Blockbuster movies of our time. It is impossible to talk about the resurgence of the Sci-Fi/Fantasy without mentioning Joss Whedon.
Rather than taking simple, almost childlike, observations about the Human condition Joss Whedon's work almost bombards you with complex philosophy at a break-neck pace. His "Firefly" and "Agents of S.H.E.I.L.D" TV shows involve deep exploration of ancient Asian Animist belief systems and how they have influenced western philosophies such as Stoicism, Existentialism and Nihilism.
Joss Whedon's big breakthrough was the TV show; "Buffy The Vampire Slayer" (1997-2003). A show I seemed to live long before I got to see it. Prior to being introduced to Joss Whedon's work in Firefly and Agents of S.H.E.I.L.D I was perfectly happy to malign and ignore the Sci-Fi/Fantasy genre.
In Season 5, Episode 16 of Buffy her mother dies. Buffy learns of this when she is in a High School artclass. The lesson is about the use of negative space in paintings. How the space you don't paint around the object is as important as the object itself.
As soon as Buffy hears news of her mother's death everything goes silent. The episode then continues like that without any of the sound effects, background noise or incidental music which is normal of every TV show and movie. So unless a character is speaking there is silence. Joss Whedon using negative sound to teach the audience about the importance of negative space. Movies are known as movies because they are moving pictures. When technology allowed sound to be added they became known as; "Talkies."
Joss Whedon's trick in that episode of Buffy The Vampire Slayer would be considered an incredibly inventive, intelligent thing to do in any TV show or movie. It's utterly unheard of within the Sci-Fi/Fantasy genre at the time. A genre more famous for cheap sets collapsing amid the repeating of the 'revelation' that people don't like it when you're rude to them.
One of Joss Whedon's lesser known TV works is; "Dollhouse" (2009-2010) starring Eliza Dushku from Buffy. It tells the story of a mysterious corporation which is capable of wiping Human's minds. Their; "Neuro-Architecture" as it refers to it. The company can then artificially load different personalities into the Human bodies. Adding a sort of Artificial Intelligence. These "Dolls" as they're known are then rented out to wealthy clients. Often for sex stuff. The name of the corporation is; "Rossum." A direct reference to R.U.R.
Of course it's not really possible to discuss Joss Whedon without mentioning the accusations of bad behaviour on set which have come to surround him recently. That feeds into the wider discussion about whether you can separate the artist from their work. I have to say that the finished product of Buffy The Vampire Slayer is really the complete opposite of the stories of what production was like. I should also point out that Joss Whedon has only ever been accused of being rude to people. Rather than the much more serious, criminal behaviour of others in Hollywood.
Emma Stone's breakthrough roles came in High School comedies. Both; "Superbad" and "Zombieland" were released in 2009. The following year Emma Stone had her debut lead role in; "Easy A" (2010). I'm not sure of the production schedules but I suspect these movies were all made at roundabout the same time as each other.
Easy A is a retelling of Nathaniel Hawthorne's 1850 novel; "The Scarlett Letter." A rumour goes round the school that Emma Stone's Olive Penderghast has lost her virginity. Olive Penderghast then decides to embrace the notoriety by accepting payment to pretend that she has taken the virginities of numerous boys at the school. This leads to her being shunned by the school society. As in the 1850 novel.
Obviously it is a movie that has sexual themes. However it doesn't really have any sexual scenes. The point being that the sex being talked about hasn't actually happened. Throughout the movie Olive Penderghast is still a virgin. It is a movie about teenagers becoming sexualised and along with Superbad and Zombieland it is firmly aimed at teenagers in High School, at the time they are becoming sexualised.
The movie does feature a scene where Olive Penderghast is singing in the shower. It is filmed from the shoulders up so Emma Stone is probably less nude than she is in other scenes where she is fully clothed. However it's just enough to put the idea of a nude Emma Stone in your head.
So I suspect that there are quite a few men, and some women, who were in High School around 2010 and first became sexualised to the thought of a nude Emma Stone. No doubt they've been keen to experience the reality ever since.
I also don't doubt that the Porn Industry has been more than happy to cater to this market. Making movies with actresses who look just enough like Emma Stone to fulfil the fantasy. This is really something which has been going on for as long as there has been movies. I don't know what is officially recognised as the first ever movie. However I'm pretty sure the second movie ever made was a porno, featuring a woman who looked just like the actress in the first movie ever made.
The advent of computer technology has made it even easier for pornographers, both professional and amateur, cater to this celebrity fantasy market. Certainly since the 1980's you've been able to use photo-manipulation software like Photoshop to create fake nude photos. Generative AI has really turbocharged this in recent years. You no longer have to spend hours handcrafting nude photos of celebrities. You can just tell an AI model to do it for you. You almost just write the phrase; "Emma Stone Topless" or; "Emma Stone Masturbates With Apple" onto a piece of paper and pop it into the AI model's mouth. Seconds later you get that picture or that video.
This use of Generative AI is, without a doubt, the huge topic within the Entertainment Industry at the moment. If you can use AI to create porn showing Emma Stone in a porn movie she never appeared in then you can also use it to create a regular movie showing Emma Stone. There's no need for anyone to bother employ Emma Stone anymore. There's also no need for pornographers to employ those countless actresses who look just enough like Emma Stone anymore.
Due to its potential to leave them unemployed Generative AI is a huge concern for celebrities in the Entertainment Industry. Generative AI's ability to turn anyone into non-consenting sex workers is also a particular concern for celebrities. As they are well known they are more likely to be targeted. Although I think that's probably a lesser concern for many of them. As they have already done nude and sex scenes then seen them turn up on pornographic websites alongside porn videos featuring actors who look remarkably like them.
I though think Generative AI's ability to turn everyone into sex workers is a much bigger concern for non-celebrities. People who are not famous, people whose chosen profession doesn't involve them producing nude and sexual content.
In the summer of 2014 nude photos of the actress Jennifer Lawrence were leaked on the Internet. Something I remember as a traumatic experience. The version of Twitter I was using at the time was trying desperately to be Instagram. So when you would click on a Trend Twitter would show you all the images related to that Trend before showing you the text explaining that Trend. So I absent mindedly clicked on the Jennifer Lawrence Trend thinking she'd got a new haircut or something. I then had to scroll through all of the nude photos of Jennifer Lawrence before I was able to learn why there were suddenly nude photos of Jennifer Lawrence all over the Internet.
That incident then gave rise to some modern Hollywood lore. With everyone having already seen her nude Jennifer Lawrence decided she might as well start accepting roles featuring nude and sex scenes. Starting with "Red Sparrow" (2018) where her nudity is really portrayed as an act of revenge against a male sexual abuser. Then Paul Verhoven, famed for the trashy, gossipy movie; "Showgirls" (1995), released; "Benedetta" (2021). A very sexually explicit movie with Virginie Efira in the lead role. Virginie Efira being an actress who looks just enough like Jennifer Lawrence. Charlotte Rampling appeared in both movies, after being a child star in Britain in the 1970's.
The hack of Apple's iCould online storage didn't just affect Jennifer Lawrence. A very long list of, predominately female, celebrities also had nude photos and sexual videos released. Going through the list it was clear that many of those affected were porn stars. Something which stood out for its sheer stupidity. If you want to see a porn star nude there are ways to go about it that don't involve 18 months in prison.
Two of the names really stood out for me though. Rihanna and Lisa Kelly, from the Reality TV show; "Ice Road Truckers." Coming shortly after my yearlong Arranged/Forced 'marriage' to Rihanna I had a rather keen sense of the calibre of investigator and lawyer you come up against if you try and pull a stunt like leaking nude photos of Rihanna. I couldn't help but wonder whether Lisa Kelly was afforded the same level of protection. Due to her fame coming from her appearance in a documentary about her doing a normal job. Although a traditionally very male dominated job where she was only one of a handful of women.
Most of the celebrities who had their nude photos and sexual videos leaked were rather able to laugh it off. While they weren't pleased it was really only contributing to millions of nude photos and sexual videos of them already in the public domain. We are now so used to Internet pornography, celebrity nude photo scandals and sending each other nude pictures of ourselves on Dating Apps I think most adults can react to having their nude photos leaked in the same way. Obviously it's embarrassing for a little while but ultimately it's something which can be quickly laughed off and forgotten about.
Generative AI models though can create pictures and videos of people doing things which they have never done. So not only can they produce fake nude photos of people they can produce fake videos of people engaging in child sexual abuse. Something which happened to the actor Jacob Elordi back in the Summer of 2024.
Obviously if you're Jacob Elordi and something like that happens to you. Then you can instruct your army of lawyers to have the videos removed and the people who made them prosecuted. While you instruct your army of publicists to contact every news outlet to make sure they're running stories about how it's not true and legal action is being taken.
However if you're just a typical man-in-the-street who lives in a Housing Estate/Project and works as an Amazon delivery driver and it happens to you. Then that's your life over. With the rise in vigilante anti-paedophile groups I mean there's a real possibility of you being killed or suffering other serious bodily injury.
Poor Things includes Emma Stones first nude and sex scenes in a movie. I've not seen the movie and I feel that before I can properly discuss it I really need to see it. I also need to watch it specifically for the sex scenes. I suspect the technical way in which they are done is hugely important to the point of the movie.
They could be done in a very warm, erotic and celebratory way. Essentially saying to the viewer; "This is it. What you've been waiting for, ever since that shower scene in Easy A. Enjoy!"
Or they could be done in a very aggressive, violent and spiteful manner. Essentially saying to the viewer; "You've been excitedly waiting for this for 14 years, sitting alone in your bedroom photoshopping fake nudes(!) What a creep! Why don't you go outside, touch some grass. Maybe try talking to an actual woman(!)"
I strongly suspect it will be the latter though. Not only does the movie contain a lot of strong sexual scenes and themes it also seems to involve a lot of very unpleasant sexual themes. While Bella Baxter has the body of an adult woman, Victoria Blessington, she has the intellectual and emotional development of a child. So throughout the movie both Max McCandles and Duncan Wedderburn are both engaging in the sexual abuse of a child. Hamas fanboy Ramy Youssef's offences seem particularly unpleasant. Falling in 'love' with a pre-pubescent child and forcing her into marriage.
If I ever do get to see the movie I won't be able to see the full version of the movie in Britain. During events like Awards Season and the Eurovision Song Contest I find myself frequently writing about the US Federal Communication Commission's (FCC's) delightfully absurd; "No Nipples" rule. Which reduces all of Human sexuality down to the binary test of whether female nipples are shown onscreen or not. Regulatory bodies in other countries and the Motion Picture Association (MPA) which regulates movies in the US take a more rounded, qualitative approach. So two men engaged in penetrative sex would be classed as sexual while a female corpse with its nipples showing in a documentary about the Nazi Holocaust would not be classed as sexual.
However the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) does have a similar binary rule. "No Children in Sexual Scenes. Under Any Circumstances." Apparently the full version of Poor Things includes a scene in which Bella Baxter is working as a prostitute and two children peer through the curtains to watch her having sex. It is simply illegal to show such a scene in a film in Britain.
I suspect that what actually happened is that Poor Things shot the scenes of the children peering through some curtains. Then at an entirely separate location, at an entirely separate time they filmed the sex scene. Then edited the footage together in order to drive home the movie's, I hope condemnatory, point about child rape and child sexual exploitation. Although looking back at some of the mainstream movies that were released in Britain during the 1970's you can certainly see why the binary rule was introduced.
It's certainly the sort of scene that when you hear about it you're given immediate follow-up questions.
At around 19:15 on 13/3/25 (UK date) it looks like I'll have to continue this next week now.
Edited at around 18:05 on 17/3/25 (UK date) to tidy the above and copy & paste;
I now want to write about a movie I have seen. Although that's not quite true. I don't want to write about it. I want to talk about it with my friends who have also seen the movie. Perhaps we could turn it into a Podcast, get some of the people from the movie on as guests.
However it seems that's not allowed. So I'll have to make do with writing about it instead.
Challengers (2024): This is a movie about a young gay couple - Patrick Zweig, played by Josh O'Connor, and Art Donaldson, played by Mike Faist, who have bonded over their shared hobby of Tennis. Their happy home is then wrecked when they meet their icon, their idol, their coach, their 'Mother' Zendaya. Here assuming the name Tashi Duncan.
The main theme of the movie is Queer-Baiting. That cultural phenomenon in which celebrities, often popstars, make a point of appealing to gay fans. Knowing that certain sections of the gay community make for very loyal fans. Meaning they can be endlessly manipulated and exploited into giving their icon all of their money. In current gay slang such a female icon is often described as a; "Mother."
However beyond raising the issue Challengers doesn't really have much to say about the issue. That's because it's supposed to be subtext. The hidden little secret that only the cool kids are in on.
Everyone else is supposed to be too busy being shocked by the Threesome or Throuple between Zweig, Donaldson and Duncan. Despite the fact the movie doesn't actually feature a Threesome, let alone a Throuple. Tashi Duncan dates Art Donaldson. They then break-up and Tashi Duncan separately dates Patrick Zweig.
The trailer for the movie does feature a scene in which all three are kissing one another. However that scene in the trailer is as far as the movie goes in terms of group sex, they only ever kiss and it's only in that one scene. Although the suggestion of a Threesome or Throuple does hang over the entire movie as a sort of fantasy.
I streamed Challengers on Amazon Prime Video where it was categorised as a; "Young Adult Movie." That seems a fair categorisation as I think you'd either need to be rather young or very inexperienced in the world of movies to be shocked by the themes of Challengers.
A Threesome with two women at the same time has long been recognised as the leading heterosexual male fantasy, twice as much of everything you enjoy. So it would almost logically follow that the leading heterosexual female fantasy would be a Threesome with two men, as is hinted at in Challengers. This is an issue which has been explored rather a lot in popular culture and movies.
It was recently touched upon in "Joy Ride" (2023). In which Audrey Sullivan, played by Ashley Park, has a Threesome with two men. While in the same montage Kat Huang, played by Stephanie Hsu, finds an imaginative and rather dangerous use for a vibrating massage-gun.
It was something which was particularly explored in the mid-to-late 1990's and early part of the 2000's. The culture of; "Girl Power" which arose after the Spice Girls made their 1996 debut gave way to what became known as; "Ladette Culture." Probably most famously embraced by Supermodel Kate Moss this showed that women wanted to and could behave as badly as men. The boys, the lads. So they could go out drinking, taking drugs, partying all night and having casual sex. Rather than demurely waiting at home for their Prince Charming to come to them.
An Oscar nominated movie which deals with these issues from that era is; "Y tu mamá también (And Your Mother Too)" (2001). It tells the story of two friends - Julio Zapata, played by Gael García Bernal, and Tenoch Iturbide, played by Diego Luna, who fall in love and end up in a Throuple with the same, older, woman. Luisa Cortés, played by Maribel Verdú.
The movie's title is a play on a Spanish insult. Along the lines of; "Go screw yourself...and your mother too!" However in the comparisons that Challengers invites it helps reinforce the notion that Patrick Zweig and Art Donaldson are a gay couple, in a relationship with each other. And their Mother too.
It shows the impact that Ladette Culture had on western culture that what was considered shocking back then is now so common that it almost seems strange pointing it out. We're well used to hard partying female celebrities and their casual flings. Along with movies depicting women behaving badly such as "Bridesmaids" (2011), "Rough Night" (2017) and; "Girls Trip" (2017). However it might not yet be as common for women from traditional Asian families. Such as those depicted in Joy Ride.
I now seem to have reached that annual point in proceedings where I remind you that amid the wide world of movie making The Oscars tends to only consider a very narrow type of movie. They're all very safe, very mainstream and very tame. The inclusion of Poor Things, let alone its success, at The Oscars 2024 was a talking point about and attempt to push back against that convention.
While The Oscars ceremony is broadcast on a Sunday evening, very much in the same Family Time as the Super Bowl, they don't actually show the movies during the ceremony. In order to see the movies you need to make the active choice to go to a cinema at the time they are showing the movie. You then have to prove that you are above the age that the Motion Picture Association (MPA) has deemed the movie appropriate for. If your child has unrestricted access to the Internet via a Smartphone then them stumbling across a written description of a movie like Poor Things, such as this blog, is really the least of your worries.
Challengers was made by Amazon Studios. Which is now Amazon MGM Studios. Having purchased the huge, Hollywood royalty, Metro-Goldwyn Mayer (MGM) studios back in 2022. Allowing us to discuss Amazon and other Streaming platforms impact on the Movie Industry.
I have to say that Amazon seems to be having a very positive impact in terms of distribution. As you should probably expect from what is, primarily, a logistics company.
At The Oscars 2020 Lulu Wang caused a bit of controversy by complaining that she was only able to choose between Netflix and A24 who both wanted to make her movie; "The Farewell" (2019). While old White men like Martin Scorsese get the opportunity to make whatever movie they like. Such as Martin Scorsese's hugely expensive, long-running passion project; "The Irishman" (2019).
In making those comments I suspect that Lulu Wang was unaware of; "Hi, Mom!" (1970). The seriously weird, experimental movie that long-time Martin Scorsese collaborator Robert De Niro and Brian De Palma had to make on their way to becoming the old White men who can make pretty much any movie they like.
Obviously if I'd had to scour Robert De Niro's filmography to find out about Hi Mom!. Then search for a faraway cinema which was showing it or a faraway video store that still had a copy. Then there's no way I would have bothered watching it. However with it being there, right in front of me on Amazon Prime Video and me having already paid for it I watched it. Leaving me better educated and more knowledgeable about the world of movie making and the topics being discussed during Awards Season. All for the effort of sitting in an armchair for 90 minutes, drinking a glass of wine.
Of course America isn't the only country which makes movies. India also has a huge movie industry, known collectively as; "Bollywood." While Nigeria also has a vibrant movie industry, dubbed; "Nollywood." Streaming platforms, particularly Amazon, really helps bring these movies which would otherwise only be seen in India or Nigeria to a much wider audience. Amazon-MGM Studios actually made the 2023 movie; "Gangs of Lagos" as a sort of introduction to Nollywood. As with Nigeria itself Nollywood can be a bit of a culture shock.
I'm normally a bit hesitant about what is often lumped together as; "World Cinema." The type of movies that get nominated at The Oscars in the Best Foreign Language Feature and Best Foreign Language Short categories. World Cinema is usually the preserve of the sort of very pretentious people who make a point of telling you that they don't really watch TV, but they really enjoyed; "Succession" (2018-2023). As a way of letting you know that they are so much more intelligent than you. They've also just watched; "In The Shadow Of The Cypress" (2023), so are now expert on all things Iranian and Persian.
Gangs of Lagos is really only slightly more intellectual than the 2024 Amazon-MGM remake of; "Road House." Which certainly shouldn't be considered an insult. It turns out life is hard. There's absolutely nothing wrong with just being entertained. I just don't see why Gangs of Lagos should be seen as less valid as a good Action movie simply because it's Nigerian.
Up until now much of the discussion about Streaming's impact on the Movie Industry has focused on the negative. How it is destroying traditional cinemas with no-one bothering to go out to see movies they can watch at home. The Oscars 2025 ceremony even included a skit in which the host, Conan O'Brian, gathered up a group of people who normally only watch movies on their phones and took them to this special room in a special building. Where they'd put dozens of Smartphones together to make one giant screen. The people were amazed by this new invention called a cinema.
However the movies I'm talking about here are the sort of movies that wouldn't be distributed through cinemas. Certainly not the big cinema chains which cater to the Sci-Fi/Fantasy and Action Blockbusters. So without Streamers like Amazon and Netflix they wouldn't be seen by very many people at all. Which, in turn, means it's unlikely they wouldn't get made in the first place. Or the people making them would quickly go out of business.
Although, how's this for a unique anecdote? Shortly after our Arranged/Forced marriage Rihanna embarked on her "777 Tour." A sort of honeymoon from hell that involved 7 concerts in 7 cities in 7 days. All connected by travel on a Boeing 777. In Britain one of largest demolition companies is also called "777." During this time I got to see them at work a lot. They were busy tearing down the local, independent cinema. This was actually a Tamil cinema although it showed a lot of Bollywood movies, as that's what the audience wanted. While people who wanted to watch Nollywood movies would have to make do with buying DVD's at the local Bodega/Convenience Store.
However. For people who don't seem to live in a refugee camp. Without Streamers like Amazon and Netflix they'd probably never get to see Bollywood or Nollywood movies and discover they actually quite like some of the movies from industries which make movies across a range of genres.
Queer-Baiting was also the main theme of the 2024 Super Bowl, which along with The Oscars is a huge part of America's Awards Season. The game itself was a battle between Taylor Swift's Kansas City Chiefs and the gays of the San Francisco 49'ers. Highlighting that Taylor Swift is a particularly abusive sort of Mother. With constant re-releases of the same album seeming to be attempts to drain all of the money from the pockets of all of her gay children. Throughout Challengers Tashi Duncan wears a Taylor Swift style friendship bracelet. Making it clear who this abusive Mother is based on.
The Half-Time Show made glancing references to; "The Greatest Showman" (2017) in which Zendaya played the love interest, Annie Wheeler. The other big theme of the Super Bowl was those special feelings we all seem to harbour for people we've watched grow-up on screen. Zendaya launched her career aged 14 playing Rocky Blue on the Disney Channel's "Shake It Up" (2010-2013). We've been watching her grow-up on screen ever since.
It should hardly be a surprise then that the 2024 Super Bowl provoked a particularly strong reaction from Zendaya. During that Awards Season Zendaya was promoting her movie; "Dune: Part Two" (2024). A long, global promotional tour which ended just before The Oscars.
Early in that promotional tour Zendaya appeared at the London premiere wearing Thierry Mugler's famed "Machinenmensch" dress from 1996, the year of Zendaya's birth. Thierry Mugler states that the Machinenmensch dress is inspired by the Machine Man character from the Fritz Lange's Metropolis. A movie much talked about during the 2024 Awards Season due to it being referenced in Poor Things.
In Metropolis the Machine Man character is sort of AI drone/robot. When the Freder character seemingly becomes infatuated with the Maria character, played by Brigitte Helm, his Father Joh Frederson orders Rotwang to steal Maria's persona and give it to Machine Man. This AI drone version of Maria is made into a highly sexualised character used to drive all the young men wild.
Thierry Mugler's Machinenmensch dress differs from the Machine Man character in that the Machine Man is made entirely of shiny metal. While the Machinenmensch dress is mostly shiny metal only with plastic cutouts exposing the wearer's skin. It particularly does that around what are considered secondary sexual features such as the buttocks and breasts.
This effect was really magnified by the way Zendaya wore the Machinenmensch dress. Rather than having a traditional red carpet the Dune: Part Two premiere had a sort of stage made of sand, like the world where Dune: Part Two is set. The way the light reflected from this sand onto the Machinenmensch dress was very similar to Zendaya's own skin-tone. Making it hard to tell what was a plastic cutout and what was reflected light. Giving the impression that Zendaya was showing off a lot more of her nude body than the parts which were actually being revealed by the dress.
The 2024 Super Bowl really focused on the TV show; "Modern Family" (2009-2020). The American Football coach character Cameron Tucker, played by Eric Stonestreet, is from Missouri like the Kansas City Chiefs. So the person who we've watched grow-up on screen was Aubrey Anderson-Emmons who plays Cameron's daughter Lily.
Aubrey Anderson-Emmons was cast as the 2 year old Lily when she was just 2 years old. She then played the role continuously until the show ended when they were both 12 years old. This is something which is almost unprecedented in US TV shows. While the use of child actors is common a role will often be recast as the character ages.
If you watch closely in many of her early scenes Lily doesn't interact with the other characters much. They may appear to be in the same room at the same time, however you rarely see them in the same shot. Making me think Lily's scenes were filmed separately, in one go. To make sure the production didn't break any child labour laws. Lily's character grows as Aubrey Anderson-Emmons grows into a different age-group of child labour laws.
With Modern Family being shown in syndication in the UK they completely screwed it up, showing episodes completely out of order. So you would see Lily as 2 year old, then as a 12 year old, then as an 8 year old. All in the space of an hour. However it seems to be a universal truth, shared among all Mammals that babies are adorable. So if you were watching Modern Family being broadcast in real-time, watching Lily grow up in real-time then I imagine you would develop quite a lot of affection for Aubrey Anderson-Emmons. Almost as if she was your niece or the daughter of your close friends. No doubt quite a weird thing for Aubrey Anderson-Emmons to deal with as she turns 18.
Modern Family ended when Lily was a, big for her age, 12 year old. So I would hope that our feelings of affection for her aren't sexual. However if you were a boy or a girl who was also around 12 years old when Modern Family ended then it would almost be right and natural for you to have the beginnings of sexualised feelings towards her.
What the Disney Channel really specialises in is having actors and characters who are the same age as the audience. So I don't doubt that there are a fair few people who started developing sexual feelings towards Zendaya when they were 14 year olds, watching her as a 14 year old. I wouldn't be surprised if they've been clinging onto those feelings ever since. Just as some people will have been clinging onto the fantasy of a nude Emma Stone ever since Easy A.
I think those people will have been very disappointed by Zendaya's performance in Euphoria (2019-Present). It being a show that makes a point of how shocking it's trying to be with its portrayals of sex and nudity. However Zendaya is one of the few cast members who doesn't appear nude in Euphoria. Although I should point out that her Ruby "Rue" Bennett character is a drug addict. Her drug use dulls all aspects of her personality, including her libido. So nudity just wouldn't fit with the character.
I think the Zendaya fans who were disappointed by Euphoria would be equally disappointed by Challengers. In the trailer this movie, with obvious sexual themes, seems to carry a clear promise that Zendaya will appear nude. A promise it fails to deliver on.
For example the trailer shows glimpses of a sex scene in which Zendaya appears to be topless. However when you watch the movie Zendaya is actually wearing a mesh-style bra. Giving the impression that her breasts are being pixelated. As if they were being shown on a Social Media site which has adopted the FCC's No Nipple's rule as the de facto global rule. While Zendaya doesn't appear nude that mesh-style bra and other scenes in which she appears in similarly revealing underwear does seem to beg the question of how much detail people will need to see Zendaya's breasts in for them to be satisfied.
This practice of producing both amateur and professional pornography to feed the celebrity fantasy market has really been going on for as long as there have been celebrities. When you couldn't produce a pornographic photograph of a stage actress you would simply do a pornographic drawing or woodblock etching instead. With the Machinenmensch dress Thierry Mugler seemed to be playing about with photo-manipulation software such as Photoshop's growing role in producing fake pornographic images of celebrities in the mid-1990's. Machine Man being a highly sexualised copy of Maria in Metropolis.
Generative AI models of the type used to produce Deepfake pornography are still just computer animation. The difference is that the computer needed to have a Human operator to actually do the animation. Where Generative AI takes over the role of the Human operator, allowing the computer to produce the animation all on its own. Meaning that there's a whole other area of jobs in the Entertainment Industry that are now under threat.
There are many different ways in which you can do computer animation. Depending on the time, money and effort you want to put into it compared to the quality of the results.
However the gold-standard computer animation which is considered for nomination at The Oscars often begins with the animation of a skeleton. What is technically known as an; "Endoskeleton" or; "Inner Skeleton." Next you animate the muscles onto the skeleton as they would appear in the Human body. Then you animate the flesh and skin onto the skeleton. Assuming you're not making pornography you then finish by animating the clothes.
Technically the Machinenmensch dress is an example of an Exoskeleton or outer skeleton. However in wearing it at the Dune: Part Two premiere Zendaya seemed to be inviting all of those fans of hers who were so disappointed by Euphoria and Challengers to make their own Deepfake porn of her. Providing them with the Endoskeleton, so all they need to do is add the skin. You wonder whether they'll bother add skin to the entire skeleton or just the bits they're particularly interested in.
At around 19:00 on 17/3/25 (UK date) I probably won't be able to touch this again until Wednesday now.
Edited at around 16:35 on 19/3/25 (UK date) to tidy all of the above and copy & paste;
Another movie I got to see thanks to Amazon's improvements to distribution is; "Lockdowners" (2021). Shot entirely in the style of a Zoom call it is billed as four women meeting up regularly to maintain their friendship during the Pandemic. Something I thought would make an interesting way to spend an hour.
Back when Streaming movies and TV shows was pretty much all we were allowed to do I did wonder how, particularly, TV shows would address the Pandemic. Would they ignore it or incorporate it into their storylines? Something which would particularly fix them to a point in time in the syndication market. It's actually a big part of why I finally got around to watching Buffy The Vampire Slayer during the Pandemic. I knew it was one of a few shows which straddled the September 11th 2001 (11/9/01) Terrorist Attacks. A similar shocking, World changing event.
Lockdowners is another one of those movies which was never going to get a cinema release. At best it would be shown at an obscure film festival where it would be watched by only a handful of people. Probably the family and friends of the people who made the movie. Not only would that mean that few people would get to see and comment on the movie. It also meant that the people making the movie would lose money doing so. Making it difficult for them to make more movies.
That's a problem for the Movie Industry because small movies Lockdowners are where filmmakers learn their skills and refine their craft before they're able to make movies of the type that are considered for The Oscars or are the big Blockbusters that sell movie tickets. They're sort of like the G-League is to the NBA. It's a career stage that the likes of Martin Scorsese, Robert De Niro and Brian De Palma all had to go through. Even if Lulu Wang considers it beneath her.
Lockdowners does carry a sexual content warning. However I've noticed that Prime Video sexual content warnings seem to cover everything from any whispered reference to; "S-E-X" through to full penetration. So I went into Lockdowners thinking that at some point one of the women is going to complain to the other women about how the Pandemic is ruining her sex life. It is something that ruined a lot of people's sex lives. The Dutch government even published official advice for its citizens who still wanted to engage in casual sex during the Pandemic.
I quickly became aware of the fact that I'd got my initial prediction very badly wrong. Lockdowners is really not a movie about the Pandemic. It's actually a movie about women's deepest, most perverted sexual fantasies. Which they graphically detail over the course of an hour.
To me that felt like an authentic expression of female heterosexuality. While it does use, essentially, dream sequences to free itself from the confines of the Zoom call premise it doesn't really contain many sex scenes. The sexual fantasies are explored in a much more narrative, immersive and descriptive way rather than visually.
In contrast Challengers struck me more as an expression of male homosexuality being imposed or grafted onto straight women. It's not really a movie about Tashi Duncan fantasising about having sex with two men. It's about the male director, Luca Guadagino, fantasising about being able to get two athletic young men to want to have sex with each other. A seemingly magical power that Tashi Duncan has that Luca Guadagino wishes he could possess. Obviously when you phrase it like that it sounds rather creepy. However isn't that the essence of every celebrity crush? Fantasising about getting the people we like to like us back.
I suspect that Zendaya is probably able to dress herself. However for her job, appearing at public events like movie premieres, she employs the self-styled; "Style Architect" Law Roach to help her. As far as I can tell Law Roach is a gay man.
I also think it's unlikely that Zendaya really wanted to make it easier for people to produce Deepfake porn of her. So I suspect the decision to wear the Machinenmensch dress at the Dune: Part Two premiere was Law Roach's decision rather than Zendaya's. An example of male homosexuality being imposed or grafted onto a straight woman. Almost exactly like Challengers does. I don't know anything about Zendaya and Law Roach's personal relationship. However I do know when we're being invited to gossip. Outrageously.
This issue of male homosexuality being grafted or imposed on straight women is particularly relevant to that topic which is so very fashionable in the US at the moment - Transgenderism. Particularly Feminists think that an adult man who undergoes gender-confirmation treatment is still just a man pretending to be a woman. Particularly now the definition of; "Transgender" seems to have been expanded to include; "Any Gay Man in a Dress."
The action of Challengers occurs against the backdrop of a Tennis match being played between Patrick Zweig and Art Donaldson, as Tashi Duncan looks on. The Umpire is played by Darnell Appling who has worked with Zendaya on Dune (2021), Dune: Part Two and Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019). So is someone who would be instantly recognisable to Zendaya's fans. There's even a little joke, or; "Easter Egg," in the movie where Tashi Duncan's daughter wants to watch; "Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse," the animated movie from 2018. However, in what also seems to be a play on American attitudes towards Race, I don't think you're meant to be immediately able to tell whether the minor character of the Umpire is a feminine man or a masculine woman.
All of the main characters in Challengers are absolutely terrible people. It's one of those movies where a plane crash killing everyone would be considered a happy ending.
However Zendaya's Tashi Duncan seems to be particularly unpleasant. She is the teenage star. The sensation with all eyes on her who has all the top sponsorship deals and athletic scholarships at all the top universities. She has the power to decide when she is going to turn pro and become the greatest player in the history of Tennis. Then she suffers a career ending knee injury. This sees her start her relationship with Patrick Zweig in which she manipulates and exploits him into having the career and life she always saw as her destiny. While spending all of his money on nice jewellery for herself.
I've said that we've all watched Zendaya grow-up on screen since she first appeared on the Disney Channel's Step Up at age 14. You might have done. However I certainly did not. A big part of the reason why I wanted to watch Challengers is that Euphoria is the only other thing I've seen Zendaya in. Making it a bit difficult for me to separate the actress from the character.
Whereas her Euphoria co-star Sydney Sweeney has done a lot of work with Amazon MGM Studios. Almost as if she was under an Old Hollywood style studio contract. So I'm almost too familiar with her work. To the point I'm starting to worry that if I watch anymore of it I might end up having her shoved in my direction for another Arranged/Forced 'marriage.'
I have though been vaguely aware that Zendaya exists. I do remember the hype, excitement and, rather self-propelled, awards buzz which surrounded her role in; "Malcolm & Marie" (2021) which was written and directed by Euphoria writer and director Sam Levinson. The movie is about a supremely talented director and a supremely talented actress of the night of their critically acclaimed movie premiere. I remember it receiving a bit of a backlash over its pretentious tone. It was seen as Zendaya going; "I am the greatest actress! The World deserves to see me act! The World should be honoured that I am prepared to accept all of the awards!
I also remember that at the end of the final episode of Season 1 of Euphoria Zendaya has an elaborate Interpretative Dance routine. I can't say that Interpretative Dance is a form of storytelling I'm particularly fond of. However it does have some validity to it.
For example there's the TV show "Giri/Haji" from 2019 which sees a Japanese police officer travel to Britain to solve an international crime. That features an Interpretative Dance sequence which tells the story of the police officer's emotional struggle. So his Japanese wife and child are shown almost being pulled away by an invisible force as he is drawn closer to the British woman he is finding himself being increasingly attracted to.
The Interpretative Dance routine in Euphoria doesn't seem to tell any sort of story. It just seems to be Zendaya going; "I am the greatest dancer! The World deserves the gift of seeing me dance!"
So I get the impression that over her career Zendaya has given people the impression of being arrogant and entitled. Almost exactly like her Tashi Duncan character.
Euphoria is a remake of an Israeli TV show while Sam Levinson is an American Jew who is well connected in Israel. Certainly at recent Eurovision Song Contests there has been a lot of Israeli gossip about Zendaya's personality.
The Israeli version of Euphoria is called; "Euphoria." Only in Hebrew, obviously. However Israeli Eurovision delegations will try and convince you that the Israeli version of Euphoria is actually a show called; "Bney Or" which is just the Hebrew name for a district of Beersheba. However Israeli Eurovision delegations will also try to convince you that; "Bney Or" translates into English as; "Pushers." "Pushers" is actually the name of a different Israeli Reality TV Show, similar to; "Dance Moms" in the US, in which pushy parents try and force their arrogant and entitled children into showbiz. Noa Kirel who would've represented Israel at Eurovision in 2023 first appeared on Pushers.
Zendaya wearing the Machinenmensch dress at the UK premiere of Dune: Part Two was such a huge move it came to completely dominate Awards Season 2024. As we all looked to see what Zendaya would be wearing at all the other premieres of Dune 2. What she and Law Roach could possibly do to top it. That forced me to suddenly start paying a lot of attention to Zendaya. As I was trying to gauge whether we'd crossed that fine line between good natured banter and bullying.
I must say that the impression of Zendaya I got was of a highly intelligent yet shy, almost insecure, young woman. Far removed from the gossip of an arrogant, entitled Tashi Duncan-like nightmare to work with. That could be due to what's perceived as arrogance and entitlement actually being an over-correction for shyness and insecurity. As is so often the case. Or it could be a sign that Zendaya's long working relationship with Sam Levinson, backed by the entire nation of Israel, has seen some of the sharper edges being ground off. I certainly know when we're being invited to gossip.
Challengers was not nominated at The Oscars 2025. However it received four nominations at The Golden Globes, The Oscars trashier sibling. It actually won the Golden Globe for Best Original Score. Its use of atmosphere setting sound would have to be particularly impressive, in order to make Tennis seem even vaguely interesting.
Dune: Part Two however was nominated for five awards at The Oscars 2025. Winning for Best Sound and Best Visual Effects. That crucial category which recognises the work of the Humans in, non-Deepfake porn, computer animation. The Humans who are about to all lose their jobs to Generative AI models.
More movies to follow in Part 2.
18:02 on 19/3/25 (UK date).
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