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    cinquopatedDoug Barry
    5/26/13 1:37pm

    Whenever I have a date and I find out the guy is a real movie buff or who has studied/does film criticism, I know I am for the bore of my life. Honestly, why pontificate endlessly about the cinematography in krzysztof kieslowsky films when you could get all brainy about physics, or philosophy or a thousand other things that have more of a lasting significance than the elaborate fandom of film criticism.

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      i think she said feckcinquopated
      5/26/13 2:01pm

      Maybe because that's what they enjoy?

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      kiisselicinquopated
      5/26/13 2:01pm

      Mr. kiiseli has a B.A in film studies. He likes more academic films, and can expound on theory if you ask him to, but mostly doesn't bring it up. He also got sad because he missed seeing the new Fast/Furious movie with me and my pals this weekend. He's a good one. His classmates though? Hooooly. It's like somehow, because everyone watches movies, this group of film buffs just totally forgets that they're talking on an advanced level and goes for it, regardless of company. It'd be like me getting really technical about the nuances of genetic engineering methods every time Monsanto comes up at a party. That lack of social understanding is SO OBNOXIOUS, regardless of whether or not you think film criticism is a valid field of study.

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    BaakusDoug Barry
    5/26/13 2:10pm

    It is a HUGE privilege to make and be in movies. That's why men, or more specifically, white men, will continue to jealously guard their near-exclusive access from women and minorities.

    Seriously, think of how powerful the media is when it can make Peter Dinklage into somewhat of a sex symbol. Mr. Dinklage is an awesome actor, but there is no way that a "little man" becomes a sex symbol without the power of the media behind him.

    All the privileges that white men enjoy? Much of it comes from their favourable media portrayal, and conversely, from the absence or negative portrayal of women and minorities. It's pretty easy to be on top of society when everybody thinks that the only people who really matter, and the only people who can be romantic heroes, are white dudes.

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      PrometheanLuciferBaakus
      5/26/13 3:56pm

      I think that there's also quite a lot of momentum to the status quo. You're right that the white male doesn't want to shift the perceptions of media away from what he finds most attractive, but that perspective is also such an ingrained part of our culture that women and minorities are willing to accept it as well.

      It's not only what the privilege that operates the media is desperately clinging onto, it's what the consumers have grown to expect or even desire. Like much of our culture and society, it has become an un-examined and automatic part of our institutions.

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      Gonzo the SomethingBaakus
      5/26/13 6:39pm

      Um...

      so it's a *bad* thing that a dwarf is, for the first time in history, a sex symbol? It's all white male privilege?

      Many women I know have said that he is genuinely sexy, and for one reason: it's the voice.

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    Dr. OpossumDoug Barry
    5/26/13 1:52pm

    I am not sure why Gene Shalit, who retired in 2010, is your photo example here. That said, I am not sure I could identify by picture any current film critic. Professional film criticism has been declining for years now.

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      ThaagDr. Opossum
      5/27/13 6:45am

      Because now that both Siskell and Ebert are no moar, Shalit is the next most recognizable nerdtastic-looking critic.

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    ItsARampageLanaDoug Barry
    5/26/13 2:31pm

    Pauline Kael was pretty badass. (I say this not to dismiss the gender bias in the field, but to highlight how great women can be at it when they're given the chance.)

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      ironiclusernameItsARampageLana
      5/26/13 3:17pm

      She was beyond "badass" (I'm assuming from context you think of that word in a positive light). I believe she is one of the best movie critics of all time, and one of the few worth rereading for the sheer pleasure of reading. (She may in fact be one of the best mainstream critics full stop.) She seemed to know everything, she seemed to have seen everything, she had great taste, she could move between high culture and low culture easily, and she wrote with style, confidence, and grace. Pauline Kael was a genius.

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