Comments

1

If anyone knows “trash for the masses” is Ellis. Who cares what that never-was-been thinks? I’m surprised he’s still alive.

2

Defenders of "American Psycho" as high art, anyone?
Ellis really is one of his own characters from "Less than Zeros".

5

Take out the racist idiocy, then replace the words “Black Panther,” with “Bohemian Rhapsody,” and he would actually have a valid point.

6

Black Panther's heap of nominations does, I suspect, have a bit of racism behind it-- but real racism, not the reverse-racism Ellis has in mind.

And this racism does indeed have something to do with perceptions of entertainment vs. art, and about what sort of merit the White academy wants to recognize in Black filmmakers and performers.

Or maybe Sorry To Bother You wasn't anywhere near as good as I thought it was, who knows.

7

"The entertainment press and the studio is selling the notion that ‘Black Panther’ is a grand piece of cinematic art that cannot be ignored. And this notion is being shoved down our throats and we can only smile in disbelief. Or perhaps understand that this is just the moment we’re trapped in. A joke, a hoax. It’s all fake news, folks."

Where, exactly, is race even mentioned in that statement?

8

@7. Black Panther is a film about a black character, directed by a black man, and including many black actors. If you were “woke” you’d understand how racist it is to not consider it high art, even if the basic genre of comic book hero movies is low brow. (Sarcasm)

9

The author left out the part where more than one of Ellis's books have been made into movies, so maybe he does have the authority to speak on this matter. I saw no reasons why this movie qualifies as Oscar worthy, just insults thrown at Ellis. Not to mention the piece was very poorly written. There's no racism here. Film critics and the public love or hate films & share those opinions everyday. Try not to turn that into a hate crime every time.

10

Ellis has a long tradition of popping up on social media and panning Oscar nominations and/or slights. I wouldn't really read to much into it, he seems to relish taking a contrarian approach, as well as calling out others for herd mentality. Look at his prior comments on Hurt Locker, Batman v. Superman, etc.

One of his usual refrains is that the Oscars are too focused on gender/race/sexual orientation or whatever, and not really worried about whether a film was actually any good.

Charles, you might want to look for Ellis' podcast, he's been harping on these issues for years.

11

It's racist to state that the film is being considered only for inclusion reasons. And that culture of diversity and inclusion is nauseating. Do you really think you could tell a person of color that the only reason they got the promotion is to promote diversity and not sound racist?

12

Bill Maher wishes death on adults that read comic books before proclaiming them all (comic books and their movies) to be trash, and Dan Savage claps and laughs.

Bret Easton Ellis calls a comic book movie trash undeserving of an Oscar nomination oh, and Charles Mudede call Ellis a racist.

Come on Stranger, comic books can't be art one minute and trash the next. Please make up your mind.

13

Agree Charles, re books by Ellis. Trash and crap.
Can’t comment on the movie because I haven’t seen it.

14

I haven't read the rest of Ellis' post, but why bother: Black Panther is an exceedingly average movie. It absolutely does not deserve an Academy attention for it's filmmaking. Make your case about social impact, that's valid, but as a work of art within the bounds of what the Academy has expertise in judging (we DO NOT want the academy being a defacto Nobel Prize granters), hard no.

I think it's abundantly clear that this movie is generating attention specifically to affirm the "diversity is good" angle, although it is not so much a conspiracy of nominators, but it is a conspiracy among white people who aren't racist, but are so unable to see 'others' as fully human that they're afraid to hold blacks (or women, or trans people, or sexual-orientation minorities, etc) to the same standard they'd hold themselves to.

15

12: Dan Savage and Charles Mudede are two different people.

16

"YOU MUST LIKE THIS MOVIE OR YOU'RE RACIST!!!"

"Why are our industries dying?"

"Holy shit, why do you all hate us?"

The Left in 2019.

17

desperate to remind people that he still exists, bret easton ellis lashes out at a wildly successful movie. the ensuing silence is broken only by the sound of computer keyboards as people rush to the interwebs to ask "who is bret easton ellis?" and, moreover, who gives a rat's ass?

18

@14

The Oscars have a long history of putting aside "high art" considerations when the box office take is high enough (or when lowbrow fare is appealing enough, at the risk of repeating myself).

Of course if that were the case, you'd expect to see a lot of technical award nominations along with best picture, and not many "artistic" awards (e.g. best actor, screenplay, supporting actor, cinematography), but what we see instead is... oh wait, that's exactly what we see here.

19

Black Panther was really no better than any Marvel movie. But the Oscars are stupid anyway, so who cares who they choose to acknowledge.
If any award committees want to acknowledge black filmmakers, which I believe is obviously a good thing, more love should be shown to Sorry to Bother You. Boots is a genius.

20

Black Panther was dumb. That's not racist. Because ALL superhero movies are dumb. They are FOR dumb people and children. Some superhero movies might be an okay way to waste a couple hours when you can't think of anything better to do.

But it is that inability to think of something better that itself is symptomatic of how dumb this country really is.

Another symptom of how dumb this country is? That there exists controversy over who plays what dumb dumb dumb part in a superhero movie.

21

Even if Black Panther didn't deserve a Best Picture nomination, it is at worst only the fourth least deserving film on that nomination list.

22

Black Panther was nominated for best picture despite neither it directors, nor actors, nor screenplay getting the nod. It’s nomination is a joke. And the nominations it did get, for production design, sound editing, and sound mixing should have gone to another superhero movie featuring a black lead, Spider-Verse.

23

So don’t really care whether BEE is a good author or whether he’s a good judge of taste. The very idea of writing a vitriolic take down if anyone over the Black Panther nomination...wow. Get a life!

24

Are you saying that the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences is sometimes more influenced by industry politics than by ars gratia ars?

I’m... scandalized!

25

Catalina Vel-DuRay: Your first response to Ellis is the exact and correct one, and no serious consideration is beyond that is either needed or warranted. One would go nuts taking personal offense at all of the utterly stupid and misinformed things that are said and written every single day.

What if Ellis had instead said something like (nothing at all would have been best) 'A comic book superhero movie? The Academy caved to political correctness and I'm supposed to believe that Black Panther is Schindler's List because it has black people in it? And then I thought about the lack of diversity and exploitation of minorities of all kinds in Hollywood over the years, and thought why not? It's a solid piece of work with a message that people need to hear, a great vision, technically and artistically impressive, and the fact that it was made entirely by black artists further elevates it to one of the more important theatrical film events of 2018. And all those things taken together most certainly make it worthy of a nomination. It's about time. It's lot better than the Wizard of Oz, which received 5 nominations.'

Would that have been any better, or more accurate?

27

"... white males who hate diversity and that sort of thing are under the impression that they, like Ellis, have first-rate creative and mental abilities. They really believe being the best is the default for their kind. This illusion has done so much harm in the world."

After having been catered to for how many hundreds of years,
they've gotten pretty Used To it.

Racism, like Patriarchy, whose time has elapsed, needs to GO.

"You only have to look at the president."

28

Charles sees racism under every rock and behind every tree. Even if it is not clearly visible it surely is there. If you squint real hard lo and behold there it is.
What right does some White person have criticizing a movie with a Black director and Black stars! What possible motive could they have?
For all his racial sleuthing there is one place Charles has forever overlooked a place where racism is firmly entrenched yet invisible to his eyes.

29

kristofarian: I don't know what you mean by "the Patriarchy needs to GO". Do you mean the biological reality that males are physically and culturally dominant down to the crustacean level? Or something else?

Man also die 6 or 7 years earlier than women, fight and the vast majority of mankind's wars, are 10 times more likely to commit suicide, are the victims of, and commit, most violent crimes, account for over 90% of the prison population, are far more likely to work dangerous and/or outdoor jobs, work longer hours, suffer more work and other injuries, experience greater rates of depression and mental illnesses, make up 80-90% of the homeless population... Which parts of that do you want to equalize? Or do you mean something else?

30

kristofarian: I don't know what you mean by "the Patriarchy needs to GO". Do you mean the biological reality that males are physically and culturally dominant down to the crustacean level? Or something else?

Men also die 6 or 7 years earlier than women, fight the vast majority of mankind's wars, are 10 times more likely to commit suicide, are the victims of, and commit, most violent crimes, account for over 90% of the prison population, are far more likely to work dangerous and/or outdoor jobs, work longer hours, suffer more work and other injuries, experience greater rates of depression and mental illnesses, make up 80-90% of the homeless population... Which parts of that do you want to equalize? Or do you mean something else?

31

Oops.

32

@15

Dan and Charles are different people.

So are Bill Maher and Bret Easton Ellis.
Bill Maher says all comic book movies are trash, and no one says shit to him. Ellis says a comic book movie is trash, and he gets called a racist.

Bill Maher specifically singled out people who said they we're first exposed to the idea of Racial Justice buy comic books. He said they should have read a "real" book about Racial Justice.
Dan Savage, the most recognizable member of The Stranger staff, laughed and clapped his hands in agreement.

Bill Maher said comic book movies are bullshit.
Black Panther is a comic book movie.
Dan Savage didn't say shit to Bill Maher. He certainly didn't say, " look at Black Panther, is that shit too?"

I guess it's not what you say, it's who you are.

33

@29

I have bad news for you from the kingdom of the insects. It's a little hard to read, though, it looks like a Hyena delivered it.

34

Oh look, don't you even cut down Sebald now.

35

You're mad because you know he is right.

Black Panther was a completely forgettable, mediocre movie in every way.

The only reason it got any Oscar nods was because a lot of black people worked on it, and everyone knows it. It's as obvious as the sky is blue.

Name one thing that was exemplary filmmaking about Black Panther without anything related to race.

@1: I am not a personal fan of his works either, but Ellis is certainly not a "never-was."

36

@30 "males are physically and culturally dominant down to the crustacean level"

Found the dumbfuck incel, go back to cleaning your room and ruminating about how evil cultural Marxism is (you know, that thing that doesn't even exist in the real world).

37

29, 30, [31*]

"Which parts of that [size matters?] do you want to equalize?" --mfg5k

Given that Women hold up œ of the sky, well, Congress would be an excellent place to start:

"The drop in the number of white men in the Senate and the House has been steady and dramatic. The decline in white male representation has been gradual but considerable – from 95 percent in both the House and the Senate in the 90th Congress to 60 percent of the House and 71 percent of the Senate.

White men make up only about 38 percent of the larger population, so even with their losses over time, they are still very much overrepresented.

White men make up only about 38 percent of the larger population, so even with their losses over time, they are still very much overrepresented.

White men make up only about 38 percent of the larger population, so even with their losses over time, they are still very much overrepresented. [over-emphasis mine]

Republicans in Congress continue to be, for the most part, a party of white men. About 41 percent of the Democrats but 88 percent of the Republicans in the House are white men. In the Senate, they make up about 63 percent of the Democrats but 82 percent of the Republicans."

https://theconversation.com/the-116th-congress-has-more-women-and-people-of-color-than-ever-but-theres-still-room-to-improve-105930

Oh, and when it comes to the USA! USA! USA's National Bird
(WA's [the State's] is the Goldfinch), the Bald Eagle, females are the Larger.
This is hugely Significant.

*pretty sure we've all been there

38

No, there's nothing racist about presuming that a garbage superhero movie is the best a black person can do! Black people aren't regular people, they're really bad at making films so you know if they manage to turn out some superhero garbage you kind of have to give them a pat on the head for trying right? Hidden figures wasn't directed by a black person I don't think but really should have won every award that was it was nominated for and I heard nobody complain about that. But superheroes are cool and thinking is "lame" so you do the math I guess.

39

@30 tell me more about crustacean culture...

40

Sorry to Bother You is overrated too. Blindspotting is the truth

41

37: Lifelong bird enthusiast here. The reason female balds are larger is because their role (or maybe roll?) is to sit on eggs and then keep the eaglets warm after they hatch, where a larger body mass better helps assure the survival of the next generation. The males role is provide food and defend against predators, tasks for which a leaner and more muscular body is better suited. Eliminate that quirk of evolution, and Rachel Carson, and the bald eagle would have long ago gone extinct.

42

Bloated Jesus: Believe me, I would never utter or write a phrase as idiotic as "cultural Marxism". Don't know what that might be but it doesn't sound good.

Hard to have kids if one is an Incel, like I do. Unless, of course, one believes in immaculate conception.

As for being a "dumbfuck", I think your nonsensical and childish post demonstrates which one of us fits that description.

43

Charles, why is Sebald second rate?

44

Sadly Charles - He is right. Why would a comic book movie that is literally a mediocre piece of trash be up for the best picture category... When even movies such as Blindspotting and Sorry to Bother You were far superior and more intelligent made movies. Stop using the race baiting clique bait as a catalyst of people being racist. It makes you look racist yourself and honestly identity politics according to people like Bernie Sanders is a horrible thing that only segregates us. This isn't to say that movies such as Malcolm X and Do the Right Thing shouldn't have been nominated in years past - because they should have. But Black Panther - even now is just trash cinema and comic book movies should not be on the platform the same way a fantasy movie won the best pic last year. I guarantee this year's academy awards will have the lowest audience it's ever had and people will not wonder why.

45

Completely unsurprised to see that the extremely brave "anti-PC" heroes that live in the Stranger comment section didn't feel the need to take Blackface Week off from insisting that racism is something liberals made up to have something to complain about, that the history of the country/academy is irrelevant because that's reverse discrimination, and that a fragile white dude can't be racist if he hasn't been caught on tape using the N word. At least you mushy turds are consistent.

46

Well if you don’t want the anti-PC heroes showing up in force, don’t take idiotic positions where they have the opportunity to be right.

47

This is such bullshit Charles. This is pure hate speech. Your racist marxist bullshit is plainly on display and you wear nothing on parade.

The Kuck that pays you is either trolling Seattle or is laughing his ass off stoned and if any American is stupid enough to believe that perpetual revolution is the answer... you deserve the Stranger. The means of hate is the end. They'll go down punching.

You're not even a third rate writer and your editors laugh at you and try to make you comprehensible. It's a fucking sham everywhere I look. Have you tried the tunnel yet?

48

Yeah, Bret is opinionated, but he's smart. Yet I can understand your anger. But
Sebald, second rate? I'm not so sure. Check this out: https://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/why-you-should-read-w-g-sebald


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