Movie Review: Allegiant*

To celebrate my friend's birthday this week we went and watched the new movie, Allegiant.  Afterwards my friends commented that at one exciting part of the movie, they noticed that they were all on the edge of their seats excitedly enthralled in the drama of the movie, and then they noticed that I was just sitting calmly staring at the screen.  I kind of laughed it off, saying that I hadn't noticed at all, but I knew the real reason that I hadn't been as into the movie as they were.  It's because the whole time I was thinking about what we've learned in class about the messages that the media sends to us.  My friends were seeing an entertaining show, but this is what I was seeing:

• Not only men, but also women shouldn't show emotion.  They must be strong and use violence to get what they want.   
• There was little character development.  One effect of this was that you didn't feel sorrow over the death of the characters because you were never emotionally attached to them.  Some of them were just nameless faces who were in the movie only so they could be killed.  
• Romantic relationships = kissing.  I guess that it could have been worse than kissing, but also anytime the two main characters were together and happy, they were kissing.  There were no words of affirmation, no conversations, no meaningful acts of service or sacrifice for each other.  That is not what a real relationship is like or what it should be like.  
• The man main character was invincible.  Fighting (and killing) ten people and crashing a helicopter, would do more damage than a scratch on the face and a cut on your side.  And then, walking through a desert through a blood storm and being beat up again would take a toll, even if you were a strong manly man. 
• The movie portrayed the main woman character as "genetically pure."  She was also the one who had all the plans, who was in charge most of the time.  Overall it gave the impression that she was better than the other characters.  Which sounds great from a feminist perspective, a strong woman, leading the expedition to save the world.  The problem was that she didn't really do anything to deserve that position.  She seemed to be in charge simply because she was a woman, and she was just as violent as the men.  
• All of the powerful leaders of the different groups who were at war were women.  They all sanctioned violent acts and killing. 
• At first glance, it seems like women have been brought to almost the same level as men in the media (they are given the same amount of power, and they are just as violent) except they are still sexually objectified. 
• The movie showed the woman main character completely naked.  Sure, it was in the dark, so it only showed her silhouette (and may I add that her silhouette fit very well with the idealized body image we've discussed in class) but still, why did they put that scene in?  It wasn't necessary for the plot development. 
• Because, there was little plot development.  The movie was mostly a conglomeration of ACTION (aka violence) and kissing.
• AND the person who was really in charge and had the most power was a white, older man dressed in a business suit. 

So, those are just a few of the thoughts that went through my head during the movie, and that's why I wasn't on the edge of my seat enthralled by the movie while my friends were.

*warning: reading this post may be associated with a slight decrease in one's ability to be mindlessly entertained by the media