Anti-Rec: "Taken"
Sep. 7th, 2013 10:50 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sasha_feather posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
anti_recsIf you haven't already seen "Taken" with Liam Neeson, don't see it, it is awful.
The plot is "Damsel in Distress," and so it may as well be a video game plot. The hero's daughter is kidnapped and his quest is to get her back. Seriously, that's it-- the quest never widens out to anything like rescuing all the other young women also kidnapped by this gang, uncovering corruption, or confronting demons from the hero's past.
The damsel, Kim, is an object for the men to fight over and has little to no agency.
The supposed hero does really awful things like torturing someone. He also shoots a woman who is uninvolved in the kidnapping plot, in order to control her husband, and defends himself by saying "it's a flesh wound." More women as objects/property. Also, there are children in the house when this happens, but they mysteriously don't wake up?
I haven't even gotten to the racism and xenophobia yet. Thesex rape traffickers are Albanians. The original danger for the daughter was leaving the States to go to... PARIS.
If you want to watch a better action movie with righteous violence, I recommend "Safe" instead.
The plot is "Damsel in Distress," and so it may as well be a video game plot. The hero's daughter is kidnapped and his quest is to get her back. Seriously, that's it-- the quest never widens out to anything like rescuing all the other young women also kidnapped by this gang, uncovering corruption, or confronting demons from the hero's past.
The damsel, Kim, is an object for the men to fight over and has little to no agency.
The supposed hero does really awful things like torturing someone. He also shoots a woman who is uninvolved in the kidnapping plot, in order to control her husband, and defends himself by saying "it's a flesh wound." More women as objects/property. Also, there are children in the house when this happens, but they mysteriously don't wake up?
I haven't even gotten to the racism and xenophobia yet. The
If you want to watch a better action movie with righteous violence, I recommend "Safe" instead.
(no subject)
Date: 2013-09-07 08:49 pm (UTC)A friend of mine really loves this movie. I make a point of not discussing gender norms or feminism with him.
(no subject)
Date: 2013-09-17 05:02 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2013-09-07 11:30 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2013-09-17 05:03 pm (UTC)