Agents of SHIELD, Game of Thrones, Ant-Man and Geek Misogyny

Got a lot to catch up on (hey, maybe if people actually read and commented on this blog I'd update it more often) but first let me comment on the horrific events of this past weekend in Santa Barbara. There are many genuine problems we could blame Elliot Rodger's rampage on, among them the easy access to guns, lack of treatment of anti-social disorders and the idolization of criminals by the media at the expense of victims. But make no mistake that deep-rooted, ugly hatred of women was at the core of his killing spree. Society has to take some of the blame for creating monsters like him (many of whom are equally hateful and entitled, even if they don't go as far as killing) and geek culture is a big part of that. I'll never understand why a culture that prides itself on supposedly being smarter and more tolerant than other groups (like say, sports jocks) can be equally guilty of objectifying and demeaning women. You see it in the sexual assaults that happen to female cosplayers at conventions as well as the disgust from a lot of geeks when a female character in one of their beloved franchises attempts to be anything other than a sex object.

Look, I've been there. I was once an angry, sexually frustrated teen/twenty-something who couldn't understand why the opposite sex wouldn't give me the time of day. I never lashed out at a girl because she just wanted to be friends, but I had those thoughts that I deserved a companion just for being a "nice guy" because the geeks in movies always won the girl from the jerk they were competing with. Well, I grew up. Women are not prizes. If a woman doesn't want to be with you, it's usually either because you lack confidence or you're just not her type. There's not something wrong with her and harassing her or pretending to be just a friend until you can show her "the error of her ways" is bullshit. Men (geeks and non-geeks alike) need to stop acting like they're the hero of their own movies and just treat women as people, not as potential conquests.

Now back to our regularly scheduled programming. Agents of SHIELD, like many Joss Whedon shows, drastically improved at the end of its first season. The whole HYDRA plot from The Winter Soldier really gave the show the kick in the arse it needed. Bill Paxton made for a scenery-chewing villain and I'm actually pretty excited about Season 2 now. One of the few other shows I regularly keep up with, Game of Thrones, has been typically impressive so far this season. The trial of Tyrion was a highlight (although they need to quit with putting in rape scenes THAT AREN'T EVEN IN THE FUCKING BOOK to titillate viewers).

Finally, on the subject of movies, I was upset like most geeks to learn that Edgar Wright won't be directing Ant-Man. His visual style and wit on a superhero movie would have been a thing of beauty. It's understandable, though, that his vision may no longer mesh with Marvel, which was a very different company in the pre-Disney, pre-Avengers days of 2006 when Wright first started writing the screenplay. Hopefully whoever they get to replace him doesn't just phone it in as director. I want Paul Rudd to be an awesome superhero, dammit!