Do you remember the “TRON: Legacy” trailer that was playing at nearly all the big mainstream movie theaters this summer? In case you don’t, here’s a brief summary; Sam Flynn sits on a leather couch and emotes while an older gentleman tells him that there may be some new information regarding the mysterious disappearance of his father. Sam whizzes through the dimly-lit city on his motorcycle and into a building so dusty it’s a wonder that he doesn’t have asthma. He drops a coin, discovers a hidden room, and suddenly finds himself in another world where there are blue lights and strange machinery. Then there is Olivia Wilde wearing a cat suit as she turns her head to one side. Next the tribal drums begin to beat, and Sam throws a discus. His father appears menacingly and the sexy blonde in a cat suit takes two steps forward. Sam walks purposefully into a glaring light, and “TRON: LEGACY” flashes onto the screen.
It’s just your standard action movie fare, right? Take a closer look at the difference between the men and women in the trailer. What are the men doing? Why, exciting and important things that advance the plot, of course. What are the women doing? Well…pretty much nothing at all. They just hang around and look sexually appealing.
This is a problem. Trailers are designed to pique audiences’ interest. Did the trailer’s producers actually edit the women’s scenes so that they look like mute sex objects in order to get people to see the movie?
To give the trailer’s producers the benefit of the doubt, I considered that maybe they were just accurately portraying the movie’s content. Maybe the female characters in this movie really do just hang around sexily, and those were the most interesting shots they could find. So I looked up “TRON”, and was informed by imbd.com that Olivia Wilde’s character, Quorra, is a “fearless warrior.” A fearless warrior? Then why is it that the only trailer-worthy thing she does is lounge about in a cat suit while turning her head slowly to one side?
The men in this trailer are not portrayed as sex objects, and their value as characters is in no way based on their appearances. Sure, you might find Garrett Hedlund attractive, but his scenes in the trailer are not dependent upon his sex appeal. Conversely, if Olivia Wilde wasn’t widely considered to be a sex symbol, would there be a shot of her lying on the couch in a cat suit? Absolutely not.
The “TRON” trailer is hardly the only one with this glaring discrepancy. Take “Iron Man 2” as another example. Where are the women in this film? Well, we’ve got Gwyneth Paltrow standing around and kissing the Iron Man helmet, for one. I suppose Scarlett Johansson does slam a man to the ground, but only after pointlessly (and sexily) getting out of a car. Johansson certainly doesn’t speak. For the rest, there are a lot of bikini-clad babes shaking their butts. Silently.
Trailers are designed to make us want to watch the movie. Thus, by definition, the makers are showing us what they think we want to see: women who are beautiful and sexy, but mute.
I understand that “TRON’s” production company (like those of most action movies) is clearly going after the coveted 18-35-year-old male demographic. Now, this is already a dicey issue for me, since I think that an enormous number of people outside of that demographic might well be interested in seeing an action movie too (but let’s leave that notion aside for the time being). In essence, I just don’t think that this kind of advertising does 18-35 year old males any justice. I suspect that many of them do have interest in female characters who are more than just dolls, and that they would be compelled by a woman in a movie who was original, independent, and not reliant upon her sexual appeal.
I realize that about half of the University of Massachusetts campus is made up of the exact demographic to which the “TRON” trailer is trying to appeal. Therefore, I leave it to you, 18-35 year old males (and everyone else who watches action movies); Is it important to you that women in cinema be portrayed as something more than mere sex objects? If it is, you can show that to the movie industry by not responding the way it expects you to. Next time you see a trailer that shows women doing nothing more than standing around and looking pretty, make your point by not going to see the movie. Or at the very least, wait until it comes out on DVD.
Sophie Kaner is a Collegian columnist. She can be reached at [email protected].
EJ • Jan 4, 2011 at 10:57 pm
You only gave one of the trailers. There is another one with Oliva is beating up a bunch of dudes and her driving the light cycles while Garret basically learns about Tron and talks to his dad.
Joshua Rodman • Dec 19, 2010 at 4:08 am
Wow.
You could argue that the article is digging fairly deeply into a short series of clips. That might be a good argument if you had a bunch of counterexamples to show.
However, that’s not what we see. Instead we see here hostility, dismissiveness, and belittlement. Sexism on parade folks. Look in the mirror sometime.
EJC • Dec 3, 2010 at 8:31 pm
Maybe you should go make non-sexist movies then.
QTron • Nov 17, 2010 at 11:26 pm
SEX. SELLS.
…idiots
keith thornton • Nov 15, 2010 at 8:26 pm
I believe Sophie is correct, at least in turning our selective attention in that direction for a minute. The Powers That Be are always trying to shape our attitudes so that we think that certain prejuudices are “natural”.As an african american male I am constantly bombarded by stupid one-sided racist images that are fed to us by those who control media.Blacks are mostly portrayed as moronic , ignorant, drug dealers , prostitutes, all things given us by diliberate racist white males.You only see that so it becmes “natural ” in white males mind .Those are the minds the System wants to control the most.-OPN2MRE2K
David Barro • Oct 30, 2010 at 12:37 pm
Ugh, Sophie, you’re politicizing this for no good reason at all other than to give yourself journalistic creds. Your statements are baseless and unsubstantiated, your claims are bloated and fallacious, and ultimately, you just sound like an uptight brat.
Nappynap • Oct 29, 2010 at 4:05 am
Terrible article 😀
NotASexist • Oct 27, 2010 at 2:45 pm
I’m sorry, but your maturity level is seriously lacking.
You are
a) Basing yourself on a single, short trailer. (as other users have pointed out)
b) Unaware or conveniently ignoring the fact that males are capable of going to a movie simply because there’s a hot character in it, and thus, of how publicity works.
c) Ignoring your own data “fearless warrior”, again just for convenience.
If futurama’s or GATTACCA’s system were to evaluate you based on this article you would end up in the celebrity news sector.
yuka • Oct 25, 2010 at 3:18 am
Seriously! O.o
I got an impression that the girl is more experience in fighting than the male lead.
NicolieTheFace • Oct 14, 2010 at 11:40 pm
….. I’m a fourteen year old girl and I’m freaking dying to see this. So no. go away. You are wrong. Lol.
Olivia • Oct 12, 2010 at 10:19 pm
Do you remember the [insert chick flick] trailer that was playing at nearly all the big mainstream movie theaters this summer? In case you don’t, here’s a brief summary: a bunch of gals gab for 1.5 hours about their mans’ schlong size, weigh the merits of winged pads over tampons, and devour a sinful triple chocolate cake.
What are the women doing? Well…pretty much nothing at all. They just hang around and look sexually appealing. This is a problem.
Nullsign • Oct 11, 2010 at 3:49 pm
This article was written by an angry woman that nobody will ever love.
novaflo • Oct 5, 2010 at 1:25 am
You are a fool – and should be removed from the internet.
steve • Oct 4, 2010 at 10:50 pm
Gee, I started reading this and thought “this sounds like it was written by a women” scroll, scroll, scroll, yep. Stop reading. Hey, there is a new film coming out called “Get a Life Baby” – get your ticket toots.
Jeff • Sep 29, 2010 at 4:05 pm
You are basing your idea off one trailer, you fail as a writer. The move will be out in December watch it then I’ll care what you have to say.
watch the second trailer • Sep 28, 2010 at 11:09 pm
have you watched the second trailer? footage of quorra driving the light runner and smacking some guards around….seriously you need to put more research into your topic as the second trailer clearly depicts her as more than capable.
Bill • Sep 24, 2010 at 5:22 am
Are you saying that the men aren’t intended to be sexually appealing? Did they cast Dustin Diamond and not tell anyone?
scott • Sep 24, 2010 at 2:40 am
This is the same kind of crap that is spewed by people that say Joss Whedon writes sexist films and TV shows based on the fact that the characters own their sexuality instead of being ashamed of it.
She says that Olivia Wilde’s character is wearing a cat suit, but how is her costume significantly different from that of the male characters or the characters in the original TRON for that matter. One of Bruce Boxleitner most famous interviews from 1982 discusses how the male characters costumes were so revealing that they had to wear dance-belts to keep their junk from flopping around all over the place.
Finally, if judging films simply by their trailer in an effort to give us a good representation of what is contained in the film was a legitimate standard then why bother seeing any film. The film “The Social Network” is being released next week and the trailer that I have seen for that movie asserts that the creator of the website was an alcoholic collegiate that stayed up all night and never did any real work on Facebook. If you think that there’s nothing more to that film than those ideas then do the rest of the world a favour and stop consuming media. Obviously your ability to do so in a critical manner is non existent.
Eli Gottlieb • Sep 22, 2010 at 1:10 pm
It’s a big-budget Hollywood action film. Don’t expect intellectualism or moral sophistication from it. In fact, expect the very opposite.
Don’t like it? Don’t pay for it.
J.T Chesterfield • Sep 22, 2010 at 10:59 am
Sexist or not, the movie trailer demonstrates one thing: Americans need stereotypes; reality is not palatable without them.
This is why every hollywood movie is a regurgitation of a similar stock of characters and situations. These easily graspable formulas make the average American, who is intellectually and emotionally handicapped, feel that he is in control. Face it: Americans ARE control freaks, and they need everything their own way.
Although the writer of this article was only dimly aware of the point, I think the message is not so much about sexism, but the idea that movie trailers, like everything else in this damn society, must meet a certain criteria to entice the consumer. To do this, it must present something of the following:
1.) sex
2.) violence
3.) drama
4.) good guys
5.) bad guys
There you have it: a recipe for a hollywood movie
VValdemar • Sep 22, 2010 at 10:51 am
Q: “Is it important to you that women in cinema be portrayed as something more than mere sex objects?”
A: “I am a meat-eating, violent, misogynistic male, who beats his wife and rapes the world with my caveman-like club… so, no.”
LoL – the question itself is ridiculous! The basis of the article attacks the trailer (and the movie) and then the author asks a question that only someone with the above mindset would disagree with – which, I believe, is to garner agreement with her entire article (which is misleading, to say the least!) How offended should I be about a trailer to a film, a sequel, a fantasy, about a man looking for his father inside the world of a computer? Is this the current state of feminist journalism? To be offended by fantasy? Shall we hang Boris Vallejo by his balls?
In all, I had a good laugh at this sophistry.
And for those who say she is only attacking the trailer, her 2nd to last line indirectly attacks the movie, stating: “Next time you see a trailer that shows women doing nothing more than standing around and looking pretty, make your point by not going to see the movie.”
Richard • Sep 22, 2010 at 6:10 am
A troll indeed.. Just the idea of naming the article “TRON’s only legacy is sexism” shows us your lack of judgement. In the topic alone you judge the whole movie.
And on a sidenote: Would you rather that the directors of the movie trailer edited the trailer and its content, so that it contains more “women with power” and less relevance to the plotline and history?
Jason • Sep 21, 2010 at 9:25 pm
Sophie I officially declare you a TROLL.
Jtores • Sep 21, 2010 at 3:15 pm
“Trailers are NEVER an accurate representation of a movie. An ignorant evaluation.”
“quite a bit of accusations for a film you haven’t seen.”
These two comments (and many of the others) are the sort of things said online that cause me to lose a little bit of faith in humanity. The article is about the trailer. Not about the film and not about how the trailers might represent the content of the film. If you can’t parse basic English, you probably don’t have anything meaningful to add to the discussion anyway. It’s just sad that the majority of people commenting cannot grasp a simple, yet important, distinction.
Darkling • Sep 21, 2010 at 2:12 pm
Strange, I don’t remember Quorra being the only female character in the Tron Legacy trailer, nor do I remember her “just standing around and looking pretty” as you call it. She is a beautiful character but she’s not one of those under-clothed women like other movies (even movies that are made for a female audience) or a damsel in distress.
Maybe next time if you’re going to try to write an article (that’s a big if) of any kind, try do a little more research instead of pulling a nonsense conclusion (Like “Tron’s only legacy is Sexism”) out of thin air.
By the way, I’m female and this movie is the only one I’m seeing in theaters this year. No Sex and the City or idiotic vampire romance movies for me.
eroot • Sep 21, 2010 at 3:39 am
quite a bit of accusations for a film you haven’t seen.
well played?
Anonymous • Sep 21, 2010 at 12:16 am
Trailers are NEVER an accurate representation of a movie. An ignorant evaluation.
Memyself • Sep 20, 2010 at 9:07 pm
I think that’s a fairly accurate assessment of the trailer. But so what? Not every piece of fiction or every marketing effort should cater to each and every demographic. You seem to think showing women as sexy and men in action is tantamount to sexism simply because of an absence of women in action. That might make sense if we limit any examination of a marketing effort to singular instances, ignoring each and every companion marketing effort. But that’s not reasonable.
On a base level, men AND women have been shown to respond to men in action and women as attractive. Marketing has one job. To appeal to the lowest common denominator. Not to push an agenda of equality.
We are what we are. We respond to what we respond to. It’s one thing to counter overt acts of sexism. It’s another to attack natural instinctual response. In short: You don’t fight sexism by de-sexualizing culture.
Brandon • Sep 20, 2010 at 8:06 pm
” Next time you see a trailer that shows women doing nothing more than standing around and looking pretty, make your point by not going to see the movie. ”
I don’t care if part of the message of this movie is selling drugs to kids, this movie looks dope.
FlynnLives • Sep 20, 2010 at 6:35 pm
@ James
Yea I know how the press can be. I can get antsy about things. Its like people trying to explain the Scriptures to me, without knowing what it’s really saying. She has never seen it(T:L). I did see the 8 minute clip at Comic Con, I didn’t see anything sexy about the Siren’s. I mean yea, chicks in spandex looking clothes can be sexy looking, heck..even Cindy Morgan was beautiful in her outfit. Its not like I can see girls in spandex at like a excercise place. But anyways I guess I will take a chill pill on it all.
@L calling people Tard’s is not cool bro. Why dont you calm down
Roasty • Sep 20, 2010 at 6:32 pm
Did anyone think that maybe they hadn’t shot footage of any women doing cool things yet? The first trailer came out like 6+ months ago didn’t it. I’m really open to these kinds of arguments but this is honestly looking into nothing. I personally feel you’re judged too quickly.
To those saying it’s only judging the trailer, well sort of. Except the articles name is “TRON’s only legacy is sexism” This implies that TRON: Legacy as a movie, not just the trailer will be sexist. Which we already know it won’t be from the warrior characters in the movie.
Doc • Sep 20, 2010 at 6:27 pm
With all the anger floating around on these posts after Ms. Kaner’s article we are forgetting one thing- who was the man that hurt you? obviously taking such frustration out on a trailer means that you have been really hurt by some heterosexual man and now when you see something a heterosexual man would like (being hot women and video games) you feel the need to tear it down because you are still hurt over not being enough for him, and he probably moved on to someone who looked a little more like Wilde than you do. What was his name?
Grant Brown • Sep 20, 2010 at 6:21 pm
Wow this must be the stupidest thing I’ve read. Pretty much everything said in this article is just some dumb woman thinking she’s bringing up some kind of issue of women being put down in Hollywood. Is this really a new issue that needs to be brought up? I happen to disagree with this notion seeing as movies that are generally marketed towards women make men seem either like flawless body-building gods that have no brains whatsoever and its always the women who are right. Yes it is true of trailers to make different genders look appealing to those they are marketing to. Action movies have violence and hot women to appeal to men and romantic comedies have sappy love stories and hot guys to appeal to women.
Now can this really be said about Tron Legacy, no not at all. “I understand that “TRON’s” production company (like those of most action movies) is clearly going after the coveted 18-35-year-old male demographic.” Tron’s production company?? Do you mean that little company called DISNEY?!?! Now really think about this, Disney isn’t going to market this Science-Fiction/Fantasy film as some male only Action movie the likes of The Expendables and Machete, and they haven’t been, more along the lines of that little movie that came out last year around the same time, oh what was it…AVATAR.
Stupid women assuming stupid things.
THAT was a sexist comment.
Darklordmtt • Sep 20, 2010 at 5:39 pm
@ L: your response to a “sexist” poster is to use a derogatory name for handicapped individuals (“tard”)? Nice, real nice. Kick any puppies on your way into the computer lab to write that response?
Krystal • Sep 20, 2010 at 5:08 pm
wooooooow, I don’t think this could possibly be more ridiculous. I love bad ass female characters who can kick the sh*t out of anyone who comes their way. The fact that they’re gorgeous adds to it if anything. As a female myself, I ask that you not write “articles” that belittle kick ass heroines!!! In fact, just stop reviewing thrillers/action movies altogether and just stick to girly bubblegum Sex and the City stuff.
jilly • Sep 20, 2010 at 5:01 pm
this is dumb
Tommy • Sep 20, 2010 at 4:12 pm
BORING! -Click-
Leovinus • Sep 20, 2010 at 2:48 pm
Cripes! Your judging the role of women in this movie by about 7 to 8 minutes of footage that has been released? Look at Christopher Johnson’s link above, or better yet, watch the movie on December 17th when it comes out. Stop complaining and just be entertained.
bob silva • Sep 20, 2010 at 1:19 pm
EVEN IF YOU THINK IT’S A SEXIST TRAILER, WHO CARES? OLIVIA WILDE IS HOT. YOU HAVE SOME SERIOUS ISSUES IF WRITING ABOUT THIS IS THE PINNACLE OF YOUR DAY. YES, IT APPEALS TO THAT DEMOGRAPHIC. GUESS WHAT, IT APPEALS TO ALL THE OTHER MALE DEMOGRAPHICS AS WELL. I’M SURE SOME LESBIANS ARE EQUALLY AS INTERESTED. THERE’S A REASON THEY DIDN’T CHOOSE CATHY BATES FOR TH ROLE. IF YOU WANT TO CALL ME A SEXIST, GO AHEAD. I’M COMFORTABLE WITH THAT AND MYSELF. BY THE WAY DOES THIS MEAN YOUR HUSBAND OR SOON TO BE EX-BOYFRIEND IS GOING TO THE PREMEIRE WITHOUT YOU?
Ron John • Sep 20, 2010 at 12:48 pm
This is dumb! It’s neo-feminist like you that way too much time to sit and “reflect” on something as ultimately trivial as “Tron!” Seriously, this movie is produced by one of the most subliminally liberal and homo-erotic companies in the entertainment industry. How dare you hound Disney with accusations of “sexism!” Pocahontas, Fox and the Hound, Bugs Life, Toy Story 2 and 3, The Incredibles… the list goes on and on with movies that promote female empowerment from the same people. This movie isn’t for you and your lack luster looking female cohorts! This movies is another masturbatory aid for nerdy virgins and I say “SHUT UP!” for trying to take that away from them with your propaganda!
L • Sep 20, 2010 at 12:41 pm
@John
Only a douchebag male would refer to a woman as a “dumb broad” 🙂
@Flynn
The whole point was to judge the TRAILER, not the movie itself. Tard. Get off the high horse and take a chill pill.
Also, sidenote, Collegian staff edited the SHIT out of this and Sophie didn’t actually write a lot of this, including the title. GRAMMAR FAIL COLLEGIAN.
James Hemmings • Sep 20, 2010 at 11:54 am
Hey Flynn, cool it, you know what the press are like.
Why let the truth get in the way of a good story??
Besides, if she were any good as a reporter, the writer wouldn’t be on a provincial online rag, but writing for a proper newspaper…
Perhaps, as a previous poster said, she should try to do some research, not rely on hearsay, rumour and supposition….
FlynnLives • Sep 20, 2010 at 8:23 am
You’re wrong on so many levels. Quorra is actually a WARRIOR in the Tron world. You haven’t seen anything else but 1 freakin trailer. Get your facts straight. You can’t judge a book by it’s cover just because of what someone wears in a film. You haven’t even seen it yet, so how can you go judging the movie off of trailers. Tron is not a sexist film.
D.S.B. • Sep 20, 2010 at 7:43 am
Kind of like the trailers for Sex and the City or Eat, Pray, Love that show women and a woman, respectively, living the high life but stopping to gawk at hot guys as if they were candy to take off the shelf and eat. Yeah, I agree with everything you’ve said. It’s a shame that men and women feel the need to construct their lives around attraction to the opposite sex. At least it’s mutual though. So there’s that saving grace at least. Keep up the insightful work!
Christopher Johnson • Sep 20, 2010 at 4:23 am
Just one example of why you are wrong:
http://www.jivid.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/zz48ca4248.jpg
Christopher Johnson • Sep 20, 2010 at 4:19 am
Um… the only problem is that you do see a woman kicking ass in the trailer. Besides, Olivia Wilde herself has made a point of mentioning that she has some extremely complex fight scenes in the film(which the trailer shows an example of) and had to train extensively before filming began.
Perhaps you should do a little more investigating(or hell, just pay more attention to the trailer) before making ignorant statements like this.
Also, that isn’t Kevin Flynn who acts menacing in the trailer. It’s CLU 2.0, a second version of Flynn’s original program from the beginning of the first film
TheNinjaMax (Kris Russell) • Sep 20, 2010 at 3:05 am
I think you’re reading too much into what you saw from the trailer.
First off, the trailers only act as teaser material, only to entice us to see the movie in theater once released. Therefore, it only makes sense that a minimal amount of all the footage — some action-filled, some static — would be used without giving much away. Perhaps the female characters will have their own share of action inside the movie.
Secondly, I think we’ve gotten to a point in cinema were sexism is becoming more and more scarce, where female characters are becoming more enduring and more than mere eye-candy. Granted, plenty of films still follow this trend. And it is as much that you are worried that the film is degrading women because the way the characters as feeble or oversexed, or in that because every film that doesn’t have women characters kicking more ass than the boys?
Whether you agree or not, men and women in any for of medium tend to follow the generic stereotypes of the sex they represent, relative to the image society sees in them, for better or worse. But probably the best explanation I could offer as to why filmmakers, intentional or not, go with the stereotypes or common views of characters of opposing sexes is usually because it works and seems naturally logical. If it’s not exactly broken. Why try to fix it? At least take some comfort that many filmmakers have taken lengths to make characters of both the male and female sex that go against the grain.
Personally, I don’t think Tron:Legacy is meant to be sexist. Now, if the female characters are all depicted as less intelligent or inferior, then I’d say you would have a good argument. Otherwise, pass all judgment until the case calls for it.
John • Sep 20, 2010 at 2:17 am
“Tron is sexist!”
Something only a dumb broad would say.
Diana Worthington • Sep 20, 2010 at 1:59 am
I think you’re onto something here. The other irony is that the 2 male leads from TRON are back for TRON Legacy, BUT the female lead in the original TRON Cindy Morgan who played the smart & pretty Dr. Lora Baines/Yori and created the digitizing laser to go into the world of TRON was left out. When asked about this decision the producer talked about the need to focus on the father-son relationship in the movie.