098 - Trigger leads to EXCITEMENT!

[captain_slinky]

I admit that my Straight White Male Privilege activated the "They're Ruining My Childhood" alarm when I first read that Disney is making a Reboot/Sequel to The Rocketeer featuring a Black Female lead, but then once I actually stopped to think about it and tried to argue exactly *why* this "triggered" me, I got REAL EXCITED FOR THIS MOVIE!!!

So here's everything we know about it so far (which isn't much) - The title is "The Rocketeers". The events of this movie take place six years after the original Rocketeer disappeared while fighting the Nazis, which places this movie at some time between 1944 and 1951, considering that the first movie was set in 1938). In his absence, a young African-American pilot dons the jetpack in order to stop a scientist from using technology to turn the tide of the Cold War.

So we have that all-important tension of an unlikely hero who would be shunned and mocked if the world ever found out who they really are - Before Civil Rights, before Feminism, here is a Black Female super hero! CRAZY!

If they do it right, at least. Put TOO MUCH emphasis n the racial and gender-based challenges, the film comes off as misogynistic and racist. Not enough, it's "White Washing". How do you find that sweet spot between the two?

Comments

[lynna12000.livejournal.com]

Disney has done a pretty good job with their comic type movies. So, I'll give them the benefit of the doubt, and see it at least once. And to be honest, knowing Disney, they will ignore the historical reality of the era, and have all the characters act like the only fact about the character that matters is that the pilot is a woman. Completely ignoring the fact that she is African-American.

[captain-slinky.livejournal.com]

That's my fear - that they'll just sweep it under the rug and this will become another "Song Of The South" :(

[lynna12000.livejournal.com]

If they do go that route, I'd rather view it as presenting something to today's audience: a happy possibility. The late 40's up to the 60's was not all sweetness and light when it comes to racial and gender relations. Not by any stretch.

But if I wanted historical accuracy in a WWII movie, I'd watch Schindler's List (not that it was exact in it's portrayals). The Rocketeer is a fantasy, Fantasies are what we WANT to happen. Possibilities can be fun.

[man-of-snows.livejournal.com]

I hope they get Beyoncé to play her!