Screw Seth Rogen

Comments (64)

1. It's highly unlikely I was going to end up in watching "Observe and Report" on DVD let alone in a theater --not completely averse to mindless entertainment but I generally try to keep it to a minimum.

   That being said, I watched the trailer posted by here by Peter, and the Rogen bed scene is a dud comedically and otherwise. Better taste would have left it out, but then good taste is clearly not the point of such blatantly empty-headed fare to begin with.

   Best of luck to Feministing.com on this one.

   Posted by b_kool_66 at 04/10/2009 @ 4:47pm

2. I think many people are going to miss the point of Rogen's character in this movie. He is not a desirable human being; Rogen said so himself in an interview with Jon Stewart. Everything I saw in the trailer confirms Rogen's claim. This movie is supposed to be dark. This movie is supposed to portray a loser (c'mon, mall security, hello!) with serious dysfunctional and sociopathic issues.

   There are many horrible, disgusting crimes committed in this world everyday, sexual assault is near the top of the list. If everyone were to take the attitude of the feminist in the clip then anyone who's ever been tased should be offended, anyone who's ever had a parent leave should be offended. I should be offended by the coke-snorting scene since that drug has destroyed the lives of a number of people I am close to (far more than sexual assault, I might add), but I still laughed at the thought of mall rent-a-cops doing blow in the back halls while preserving order and justice in the food court.

   It's a movie folks; if you don't want to see it, don't. But you shouldn't try to stigmatize those who might actually want to laugh. And I don't think the "date-rape scene" (which is what it is, I'm not denying that) is going to encourage throngs of "Bro-men" to go on a non-consensual sex spree after viewing this movie as is alluded to by our Feministing.org spokesperson.

   I think the energy wasted on trying to boycott this innocuous, sophomoric black comedy could be put to use actually trying to stop date-rape and other sexual assault as well as drug abuse and unlawful tasering.

   Real life shit people! Not Hollywood. Wake up!

   Posted by mlatourelle at 04/10/2009 @ 4:54pm

3. Full disclosure: It is extremely unlikely that I will see this movie until 2012 when it's on TBS at 2am and I have insomnia...

   Posted by mlatourelle at 04/10/2009 @ 4:58pm

4. Wow, this movie is hilarious. If you're going to draw a line between what is funny and what isn't, someone is always going to disagree. So why not laugh about everything? What's so wrong with that.

   Posted by VenatioDecorus at 04/10/2009 @ 4:58pm

5. VD -- B/c some things just aren't funny.

   Posted by Peter Rothberg at 04/10/2009 @ 5:25pm

6. Peter Rotherberg - Well I chuckled at the trailer so you can see my point.

   Posted by VenatioDecorus at 04/10/2009 @ 5:32pm

7. Who is Seth Rogen?

   Posted by antisocialist at 04/10/2009 @ 5:54pm

8. Judging by the preview, the film is astonishingly stupid and more than anything else more proof (as if any was needed) that the L.A. entertainment biz isn't capable of producing anything (even something offensive to many) of any actual quality.

   As for the boycott, I don't think the film (as such) deserves the attention of anyone who is actively concerned about serious issues. The date rate rape isn't going to go up because of a dumb movie. This stupid, stupid movie will flop and go direct-to-dvd where it will gather dust on rental and discount shelves.

   The saddest part is that Anna Faris is actually a decent comic actress who apparently missed her train.

   Posted by syfriendly at 04/10/2009 @ 5:54pm

9. Posted by Peter Rothberg at 04/10/2009 @ 5:25pm | ignore this person | warn this person

   You're reacting to the "product" of an industry that specializes in digitally enhanced fart and feces jokes. I agree the film is recklessly offensive but that in and of itself is no crime whatsoever (ask Lenny Bruce or George Carlin if you can find either) and the real question is whether or not it would lead to more offensive acts such as rape. Nobody is going to commit date rape because it was depicted in this stupid, stupid movie. Don't waste your valuable time and energy boycotting this thing just manage to avoid to expending your time on it.

   Hell, I'll bet Anna Faris is already wishing she'd avoided spending time on it.

   Posted by syfriendly at 04/10/2009 @ 5:58pm

10. "I don't think the film (as such) deserves the attention of anyone who is actively concerned about serious issues."

    "I don't think the film (as such) deserves the attention of anyone who is actively concerned about serious issues."

    "I don't think the film (as such) deserves the attention of anyone who is actively concerned about serious issues."

    Posted by syfriendly at 04/10/2009 @ 5:54pm

    ... have you thought about it?

    Posted by V at 04/10/2009 @ 8:08pm

11. 1. feministing needs a new spokesperson

    2. seth rogen is a cunt

    Posted by darladoon at 04/10/2009 @ 9:18pm

12. 2. seth rogen is a cunt

    Posted by darladoon at 04/10/2009 @ 9:18pm

    well, if he's the dude in the picture up there, he does need a shave...

    Posted by frosty zoom at 04/10/2009 @ 9:31pm

13. who's seth rogen?

    Posted by frosty zoom at 04/10/2009 @ 9:32pm

14. From what I could see in the preview it appears that both of them are supposed to be highly intoxicated, so I don't know why it is 100% his fault.

    Posted by Deepstacks at 04/10/2009 @ 9:44pm

15. Wow, are you fucking kidding me? I am damn near 50 and I see plenty of humor in what many consider sick and inappropriate situations but this is beyond belief. Who and the FUCK thought his was funny, what moron at the studio said this is"killer" hilarious no way it gets cut. I am in total shock. I can't think of any ever attempt in humor that made me want to puke until now. I thought Bush was the sickest humor in the world until now. What next? A suicide bomber inadvertantly blows himself up in the bus station restroom taking a crap (oops no that is funny) sorry I digress I am in total amazement as to who in the world thought this was funny, not only that but many people had to think it was funny to make it through editing. The trailor shows this to be another moronic comedy destined for DVD as it is, so maybe the geniuses at Time-Warner thought this would be a way to get them a 80's "Faces of Death" following like someone eating monkey brains. Hell I don't even go to church and the first thing that came to mind was God help us. I'm out, I need to go and vomit, hope your mother's proud there Seth and by the way "Go to Hell".

    Posted by mickfowl at 04/10/2009 @ 9:52pm

16. mlatourelle: what the fuck?! Do you seriously think seeing someone get tased is comparable to seeing a woman get raped?! You have completely missed the point feministing makes which is that sexual assault is never, ever, ever, ever funny.

    It is hard for me to imagine finding humor in the examples you attempt to analogize to rape, mlatourelle, I admit that. It is not comedy to see someone hurt with a taser or, for that matter, bullets from legal or illegal firearms. Neither is it comedy to witness someone experiencing real emotional suffering such as, using the weird example you used, mlatourelle, witnessing someone's parents' leave them: I can't quite imagine a male-adolescent-mentality showing real emotional suffering AND milking it for laughs.

    And what about your example of watching someone snort coke: um, that is a choice a person makes for themselves, it is completely and totally different than watching someone be submitted to physically intimate violence (aka rape).

    I am way irritated that your stupid comments ever entered my thoughts, matourelle. . . let me try to redirect myself . . . .

    Violence against women is not a source for humour in a civil society.

    Isn't it sickening to realize that people are going to make money off this film?

    And it is even more sickening that people don't get that rape is never comedy. People will hear about the rape scene and still go, thus reinforcing the choices made by the people who created this crap to make money.

    Posted by Tree_Fitz at 04/10/2009 @ 10:28pm

17. If you don't approve of it, don't support it. Please spare us all the "outrage". I don't think anyone is accusing the filmmakers or studio of doing anything illegal, so what is everyone getting so upset about? Just let it go everyone. Sometimes I get the feeling people are trying to out-outrage each other.

    Although, as an employee of THE industry I feel compelled to require people to see something before trying to convince me that it is offensive. If you're not going to see it, please just leave it at that. Just a thought.

    Posted by sixstringsam at 04/11/2009 @ 12:37am

18. Posted by Tree_Fitz at 04/10/2009 @ 10:28pm

    Hey Tree_Fitz did it ever occur to you that the kids of my crack whore sister didn't "choose" to have their lives ruined?

    Did it ever occur to you that the bad choices people make not only hurt themselves but those around them?

    Did it ever occur to you that there horrible things in this world and the energy wasted trying to boycott a movie could be put to actually stopping or at least lessening these atrocities?

    I think not, your too busy expressing outrage over the easy stuff.

    Yes sexual assault of any kind is DEAD WRONG and real acts of sexual violence should be punished accordingly. Murder is dead wrong and real acts of murder should be punished accordingly. By your definition, however, there should never be ANY humorous depiction of sexual assault. Well, I'm sorry but rape is NOT mutually exclusive to murder in my opinion and therefore by your definition all humorous depictions of anything wrong should be banned. Have fun in your drab, drab world where no expression at all is better than expression that might offend. We should form the Ministry of Truth and call in the Thought Police with this kind of mentality.

    By the way, have you ever been tased? It's a horrifying and traumatic experience!

    Have you ever been tased? It's an extremely traumatizing experience.

    Posted by mlatourelle at 04/11/2009 @ 02:20am

19. Oversensitive people. While you may consider this movie tasteless leave it at that. For one you haven't seen the movie therefore it's funny that you speak of it with such revulsion I don't believe you can really have an opinion of a 2 hour movie from a two minute trailer with no actual context.

    To anyone who says movies make people commit horrible acts I simply have to say that you have absolutely 100% no connection to how a human mind works. If a person goes out and commits a crime and then blames a movie they were going to commit that crime whether they saw that movie or not. It takes a truly low human being to commit rape of any kind and I don't think that person needs a movie to convince them to do it.

    In the end this a movie. Nothing more. It is an attempt at turning a rather dark topic into something humorous. Whether he succeeds or not I will find out in a year or so when it's on HBO. I don't really care either way.

    I just want to point out also that a lot of people on the left love to jump on the right whenever they boycott movies or books that call into question things they find morally abhorrent, The Davinci Code, Harry Potter, The Golden Compass and whatever else. This makes you no different than them in the end. So I at least hope you learn one thing out of this whole situation that either you need to leave the world open to opinions that you disagree with OR the next time you roll your eyes an some Fundy Christian because they are boycotting another movie they find distasteful you better take it back because you do the same thing.

    Posted by Cccomfo1 at 04/11/2009 @ 04:25am

20. "Crappywood" is only intrested in serving the prurient intrest of its followers and seducing new ones. No wonder so many independent and particularly Christian based films totally out gross them at the boxoffice and in further distributions.

    Trash is what "crappywood" produces and most of them go straight to less than hopeful DVD distribution only!

    Its hard to remember 3 or 4 movies made in the last twenty years I have actually been to see! I wouldn't concern myself over anything they put out now unless they actually start making REAL family entertainment again.

    Posted by comancheamerican at 04/11/2009 @ 08:57am

21. "Its hard to remember 3 or 4 movies made in the last twenty years I have actually been to see!"

    ~Rio "Two pound trigger pull" Bravo

    Yep, they don't make 'em like they used to. Now John Wayne movies.....those were the SHIT, dog!

    Posted by b_kool_66 at 04/11/2009 @ 09:10am

22. I was far more offended by Rogen's character beating skateboarders unconscious and shooting -- apparently fatally -- an unarmed man than I was by the scene with Anna Faris, but there was so much that was offensive it was hard to focus on any one scene. The casual ubiquity of gun violence is bad enough in real life, but in a movie posing as a silly comedy, it's a real sucker-punch to the audience.

    The writer/director seems to think a movie doesn't need to be grounded in any kind of moral universe, and despite a rather impressive flair for funny lines, has no sense of what a "dark comedy" really is. This is nothing more than perversity for the sake of perversity.

    Posted by miranda2060 at 04/11/2009 @ 09:19am

23. Try "Wings" with a 19yr. old Gary Coopers first role of a whole 10 minutes. Silent movie 1927. Rent it you'll love it! Family thought I was nuts.

    Rio Bravo, #1 cult movie status, the MOST viewed movie EVER beating even Gone W/ Wind, Wiz of Oz, you name it! I didn't believe it either, but its true!

    Posted by comancheamerican at 04/11/2009 @ 09:24am

24. Posted by comancheamerican at 04/11/2009 @ 09:24am

    Do you REALLY have a 1911 with a two pound trigger? I am honestly curious as to how you keep it from doubling and how you modified the sear.

    Posted by Benchrest at 04/11/2009 @ 10:04am

25. umm, are people seriously denying the influence of entertainment on society? entertainment is a big deal in our society-people are mentally and emotionally moved by performance all the time. yeah, the movie looks beyond stupid but that has nothing to do with the issue at hand. if we're going to talk about beyond stupid humor, let's talk about all the beyond stupid people out there-people who believe what they want despite the proven facts. it's not about the movie creating rapists any more than dungeons and dragons caused kids to kill their parents in the early 90s. it's about boycotting the validation of date rape through thoughtless, inane humor. this movie gives a date rapist an out-allows him to laugh off his offense and allows for comments like the above, especially the one about the drunkenness and the rape not being entirely the guy's fault. yeah, that kind of chronic, slow spreading, social infection is worth boycotting. and, yes, boycotting a stupid movie (and a popular hipster actor) is a legitimate way to raise awareness about date rape. frankly, i'm tired of people getting offended by outrage. outrage is why we have the freedoms we do, freedoms that people who never want to think about injustices done to other people take for granted. and, btw, did any of you critics of "pointless boycotting" bother to look at feministing.com? because they are putting their money where their mouth is - they ARE doing working on a number of levels for victims of sexual abuse (and tons of other issues as well) and provide links for their readers to get involved locally. just by taking a public stand on a pretty clear cut issue (rape is not funny), feministing.com is potentially linking thousands of people with actual ways to make a better world for all of us.

    Posted by lisakarese at 04/11/2009 @ 10:18am

26. Posted by Benchrest at 04/11/2009 @ 10:04am | ignore this person | warn this person

    Nope! Goes back to the actual trigger pull of "police" weapons of the L.A. transit authority per the L.A. dept. site specs. of approved weapons. I argued that under stress its easy to squeeze of a nervous round by accident rather than condemn the officer for the shooting! Some idiot thought it was 6-lbs.

    Here's one you'ed like, 9mm Steyr 1919 (stripper clip feed) (yep, its the rare mfg.50,000 only) An inspector's mark 'Wn' for Wiener-Neustadt, a Habsburg eagle and a two-digit date (16) is found on the frame recess immediately above the trigger-guard. Steyr manufactured parts are stamped with a 'K'. The 'S' stands for 'Scarfe patrone'. (haven't checked into 9x19 or 9x23 but suspect 9x19)

    Posted by comancheamerican at 04/11/2009 @ 11:19am

27. I think everyone here needs to remember that just because Seth Rogen's character is the so-called protagonist does not mean you have to like him, or anything he does for that matter. Actually, I believe Jody Hill and Rogen have both made statements saying that by the end you may end up hating this person. They also list Taxi Driver as a possible influence so you know the lead is going to have some type of sociopathic tendencies.

    I can't really speak on behalf of the movie because I honestly don't know the context which these events occur or how they tend to look at the characters themselves. (I haven't seen the film.) But considering what I've read so far from film critics of all sorts, nothing really overwhelmingly shocking is displayed (by today's standards that is.)

    Posted by daniel.f at 04/11/2009 @ 11:41am

28. Ok, I'm against date rape. But from the clip, I can't tell if the women didn't just fall asleep from boredom; then woke-up for a sec. The guy is a loser after all. The joke would then be that he is 'tiny' or ineffectual-- I'd assume not knowing the rest of the story. He did look surprised she wasn't reacting and stopped until she said something... I'll take it from others that that isn't the case. But then again isn't the point of the movie-- to be offensive? Aren't people that view movies like this one into S&M? Seriously, I don't get the attraction to this. Is the issue that no one should be into hurting themselves in all manner of ways for 'fun'?

    Posted by hsuBfools at 04/11/2009 @ 11:52am

29. It's obvious that the character of the woman and of Seth Rogen are dysfunctional. They aren't normal, and they probably won't be found anywhere within the viewer's personal experience. They don't represent real people. When most people look at the "date rape" scene, as it's been called, it probably won't appeal to them because most people already have convictions about actual date rape and most prospective date-raping males won't personally relate to Seth Rogen's somewhat repulsive character. To most guys, copulating with what is perceived to be an unconscious female covered in vomit isn't exactly their idea of fun, because we aren't at the same kind of grotesque low in life as Rogen's character.

    I mean, Rogen's character is a delusional idiot, and the fact that we laugh at him demonstrates that we recognize something is not right about his world view, his behavior, whatever. Get over it. Boycott the move, fine, but I can't believe some strident yet poorly explained complaint with a particular scene in a movie is finding space on the Nation, and that so many pseudo-intellectual jerks are finding occasion to comment also on "mindless" humor and the drastic effect of film on national consciousness. People still manage to say very important things with free speech, so you have to take the good with the bad. Save it. As a note, when you post a video of you speaking about a subject, make sure that you know what you're going to say before you open your mouth so that you aren't um um um umming like every other idiot in a youtube video.

    Posted by firstnamenavarre at 04/11/2009 @ 11:56am

30. er, woman

    Posted by hsuBfools at 04/11/2009 @ 11:56am

31. I heard that in 'Me, myself and Irene', that a cop while tied-up, got a chicken(?) stuffed up his butt. That's rape-- was there this much outcry? No, because it was an unusual scene? Really?

    Any kind of rape is just wrong.

    Wouldn't this inconsistent outrage be an issue too?

    Posted by hsuBfools at 04/11/2009 @ 12:18pm

32. hmm. what if the rogen character got drunk with a casual male acquaintance and woke up to find himself being raped? would that be a hoot? or negligible? no slam against gays, but just to wake up some of those alpha male defenders of this obnoxious scene.

    Posted by poster at 04/11/2009 @ 1:17pm

33. why are people getting upset that people are upset? that's just ridiculous. take your own advice. get over it and move on.

    Posted by black cat at 04/11/2009 @ 3:46pm

34. why are people getting upset that people are upset? that's just ridiculous. take your own advice. get over it and move on.

    Posted by black cat at 04/11/2009 @ 3:46pm

    Well if we follow that logic cat, why are you getting upset that people are getting upset at people fore being upset?

    Posted by Cccomfo1 at 04/11/2009 @ 5:23pm

35. Posted by firstnamenavarre at 4/11/2009@11:56am

    The Friday Feminist FU was anything but strident, and it was very well explained, and what planet are you from, anyway?

    Posted by cdlepthien at 04/11/2009 @ 5:35pm

36. Actually, men getting raped is often played for laughs. There was an episode of the TV show [i]My Name Is Earl[/i] where an evil man has everything go his way, as evidenced by his collection of "World's Best" mugs, and when he gets sent to prison, he's shown holding a "World's Best Bottom" mug, looking fearfully over his shoulder at his cellmate, who is smiling at him. I don't recall anyone protesting that.

    Posted by magh at 04/11/2009 @ 7:03pm

37. posted by magh at 4/11/2009@7:03pm

    I've seen it played for laughs, too. I don't think it's funny, and you should feel free to protest it. However, every time I've seen it played for laughs, it was in a similar situation to the one you mentioned - some guy who had metaphorically screwed people was himself getting literally screwed. I have never seen it as a joke where the guy was just some unconscious bystander (maybe someone has an example?)

    I think every one of us understands the cultural context in which someone makes a joke out of a date rape, and it's a context in which women getting screwed (literally & metaphorically) for no particular reason is funny. Hence the anger from women.

    I think we can understand the FFFO as a message to people who don't think rape is funny - don't go see the movie or you'll just encourage the sob's to make more of them.

    To Cccfomfo1 04/11/2009@4:25pm - whom I seldom agree with - he's right. A boycott is not the same as censorship, and people (on the left or the right) should not act as though it is. And to further roil the waters - no one should have to stand in a checkout line with their 10 yr old kid perusing Cosmo covers.

    Posted by cdlepthien at 04/11/2009 @ 8:16pm

38. > So when we were shooting it, even the date-rape scene--or as I refer to it, 'The Tender Love-Making Scene'--I just thought, 'We'll shoot it, but it's not gonna be in the movie. I don't have to worry about that one.' And yet there it is."

    IMNSHO, ANNA FARIS is the ultimate "loser" here. I read her comments, excerpted above, before I watched the trailer; from her words, I assumed the scene was peripheral to the theme of the movie.

    After watching the trailer, it appears that scene (bad and sad as it is) is one of the PRIMARY "plot twists" (?) in the entire MOVIE!

    Anna, I've always wanted to be someone's "agent." Let me be yours:

    1. NEVER commit to star in a movie until AFTER you've read the script! (D'uh...)

    2. Having seen ONLY the trailer, it's totally beyond my comprehension that YOU thought the scene wouldn't leave the editing room!

    3. Ummm.... > "I'm so grateful I was cast, but when I read the script, I thought..."

    Anna, I don't go to the movies very often AT ALL, and I don't even OWN a TeeVee. I'd never even HEARD YOUR NAME until I started reading this piece. Let's say my 1st impression wasn't terribly impressive!

    Methinks you need to gain some experience in Hollywood. The scenes I saw you in in the trailer, swapping you out for PARIS HILTON wouldn't have made a bit of difference. And no, that's NOT a compliment! (D'uh...)

    Posted by grndrush at 04/12/2009 @ 08:36am

39. Has feministing produced any videos decrying the war in Iraq? Starving children in America? Single homeless mothers and their babies? Discrimination on the job against people over 50? Those seem like more important issues to the women of America.

    Posted by Citizen54 at 04/12/2009 @ 5:08pm

40. What does "Courtney", that smug, self-righteous, prim-faced scold at Feministing, have to say about male rape being played for laughs on the silver screen(e.g. Animal House, Pulp Fiction, Office Space, or any prison comedy)? Not only is it portrayed as funny, but in some instances, such as Animal House, a justifiable comeuppance for the victim? Presumably that's okay.

    Secondly, what's with the ad hominem attack on Seth Rogen? Is she not able to distinguish between Mr. Rogen and the character he plays on screen? The movie is not intended to legistimize date rape. Rogen's charcter is an anti-hero, a shizophrenic misanthrope with a greatly inflated sense of self-importance--a far cry from the lovable stoner he has played in previous films. In short, the guy's an SOB.

    I can't comment on people threatening to "boycott" a film they never intended to see in the first place, but the backlash has actually piqued my interest. Does Courtney even realize that her diatribe only makes more people want to go to the movie, just to see the offending scene and judge for themselves?

    Posted by jbuzz1973 at 04/12/2009 @ 5:09pm

41. I'm sorry Peter, but had you profiled a much better blogsite, then I would add my 2 cents on the deal.

    But, I would never boycott anything Feministing.com and her counterpart, feministe.com would request. They are two self-hating blog sites ran by a bunch of snot-nose twenty-somethings. They are horrible and immature.

    If anyone has a difference of opinion or question the substance of their stories, they will erase your entire posts. They distain opposition. They constantly bash all men (except those who happen to agree with them and call themselves feminist).

    Yeah, I know some blogsites like the Daily Kos and Huffington Post can get pretty hairy, but at least they respect dissent.

    Posted by ACook at 04/12/2009 @ 6:36pm

42. 'I don't think I'm particularly censorious and I've sat through numerous movies of poor taste and far worse. But I completely accept the rationale for boycotting this film...' -- Peter Rothberg -- The Nation -- 10 April, 2009

    'Some Catholics have protested against Dogma--pre-emptively, without bothering to see the movie--' -- Stuart Klawans -- The Nation -- 11 November, 1999. -- http://www.the nation.com/doc/19 991129/klawans/2

    Posted by HonestLiberal at 04/13/2009 @ 10:35am

43. I gotta go "me too" on this one.

    Who the hell is Seth Rogen?

    Posted by schnellerheinz at 04/13/2009 @ 1:29pm

44. I'm sorry folks, but I did not see anything wrong with the trailer, except it might be too stupid to watch in its entirety. Looked like everybody involved was treated equally as a victim, in my opinion.

    Posted by Guitar Man at 04/13/2009 @ 2:30pm

45. Please, internet, spare me your trumped up moral outrage over an 8 second clip from a trailer for a movie you'll spend more hours complaining about than anyone will ever spend watching it.

    I've seen Observe and Report, and the Ferris/Rogen sex scene (it's a sex scene, not a date rape scene, though you'd have to see the movie to get that, which I wouldn't even necessarily recommend) isn't the most offensive scene in the movie (victims of gun violence, even recovering drug users have far more to be concerned about). It's not even really that offensive, just kind of unnerving.

    The whole film is unnerving, in an "I'm going to make you uncomfortable as a way of hiding the fact that I don't have the skill to make a genuinely engaging movie" kind of way.

    This is not Seth Rogen's fault, by the way. His performance is great throughout. It's a horrible script half-realized by a mediocre director.

    But you can't just wander around yelling and screaming because you saw a movie trailer in which you think someone might have made a date-rape joke. You diminish the cause. Too much heat with too little light.

    Posted by Jimmytomorrow at 04/14/2009 @ 07:40am

46. The movie peaked at #4 and will soon vanish to Blockbusters and Pay-Per-View. Tempest in a teapot.

    Posted by Mask at 04/14/2009 @ 08:17am

47. Let's burn all remaining copies of Trading Places, when a caged gorilla makes the bad guy his companion.

    Posted by kaviraj at 04/14/2009 @ 09:59am

48. So where was Anna Farris' voice when she was shooting the scene? Did she raise the issue at that teachable moment?

    Posted by stgoldsmith at 04/14/2009 @ 11:59am

49. Posted by Mask at 04/14/2009 @ 08:17am

    Blockbuster video? Wrong century.

    Posted by kaviraj at 04/14/2009 @ 12:09pm

50. Posted by kaviraj at 04/14/2009 @ 12:09pm

    Sorry....still using my Commodore 64 to post to the Internet.

    heheh

    Posted by Mask at 04/14/2009 @ 1:06pm

51. date rape is serious, this movie is not. i am a female seth rogen fan. watching zack and miri make a porno did not make me want to become a pornstar, nor did it make me feel that pornstars were better people. watching pineapple express did not make me want to take up arms against a local pot dealer, or become a pot dealer myself. watching movies that contain questionable criminal or violent acts DO NOT make me a criminal or violent person. watching them does not mean i condone the things they are portraying (the reader, blow, requiem for a dream, gummo). they do not cloud my judgment on what is right or what is wrong. movies like rogen's are meant to provide an escape hatch to the seriousness of everyday life. i say this respectfully ladies, get over it.

    Posted by poetlost at 04/14/2009 @ 1:27pm

52. I think Feministing and Courtney nailed it. This movie looks unwatchable anyway so I don't have to boycott it. Raping a passed out woman, no matter how drunk you might be, is a despicable act. She's passed out! It's not funny. They should have had the character screwing a "pocket pussy." That actually would have demeaned him and showed what a looser he was and it might have been funny. I watched Seth Rogen on Jon Stewart, and he seems like an idiot. I think we have made some progress on the issue of understanding the difference between consentual and non consentual sex. But there are still a lot of knuckelheads out there. This movie is not helpful. It's another trash bag thrown on the garbage heap that is so much of pop culture. We could do without the movie and Rogen

    I also like that fact that these Feministing.com women curse. I love to curse.

    Posted by wbblack at 04/14/2009 @ 2:18pm

53. Just from viewing the trailer l learned more than l want to know about this flick. l'm at a loss to figure what possible demographic aged over 18 this is directed at, or if there could possibly be enough of them to make cover even the production costs let alone all other costs. This level of bathroom humour wore me out by the time the trailer ended, let alone enduring it for well over an hour. Gordon, Vancouver, B.C.

    Posted by hobnobx at 04/14/2009 @ 4:26pm

54. I didn't see the movie but I did see the trailer on one of the blogs. The impression I got was that he thought he and the Faris character were having consensual sex, that he suddenly became aware that she was not acting responsive and paused in alarm. At that point Randi opened her eyes and castigated him for stopping.

    Seems to me we have the age old question, was she into it or wasn't she. Unless the trailer scene is completely out of context, there isn't enough evidence to convict the Rogen character of date rape.

    Attorney for the defense would certainly maintain that his client seems taken aback and stops moving when Randi doesn't respond to his impassioned (?) repetition of her name and only resumes when she expresses anger at his having stopped.

    Faris, despite her self-serving after-the-fact disclaimer, obviously failed to object when the scene was being shot. She says she thought, "We'll shoot it but it won't be in the movie." If that's what she thought, she'd even believe the three greatest lies: the check is in the mail;I gave at the office; and I won't come in your mouth.

    The NYTimes review gave the film a giant thumbs down. All it takes now to make this a blockbuster success is some halfass boycott.

    Posted by mortsel at 04/14/2009 @ 4:43pm

55. OBSERVE AND REPORT is not a very good movie, but it does seem to attempt satire in tone; and the director would have done well to recall the rule that in satire subtlety of any sort is not a virtue. And for some Seth Rogen fans, the film might be a tad too subtle. It needs an ANIMAL HOUSE-style afterword telling us something like, Seth Rogen's character "was convicted of assault with a deadly weapon, taser assault, excessive force, and six other felony charges. On a plea of 'obvious diminished capacity,' he was sentenced to 1000 hours of community service and ten years probation; he is required to take his meds and forbidden from ever, EVER handling firearms."

    There are a number of ways the Ferris/Rogen sex scene could have been made less problematic and actually funny, and on esthetic grounds as much as political the director should be chided for not doing so.

    Posted by ErlichRD at 04/14/2009 @ 5:06pm

56. I'm not one to tolerate non-consensual sex on any level. but the question here is what are you going to believe, the description of the sex scene given by the feministing commentator or what you are seeing with your own eyes?

    Sister commentator says it is date rape; the Faris character asks why Rogen, the motherfucker, stopped. The intended joke is this, Rogen thinks he is having consensual sex, but he stops in mode stroke when for an instant he thinks he has committed an offense, screwing a woman who has passed out. But lo! and behold! it turns out that she is offended, but not because he's screwing her. She is offended because he has stopped. Not very funny, perhaps, but definitely not date rape.

    Posted by mortsel at 04/14/2009 @ 5:26pm

57. A couple decades back, one of the "Todd" film students at Miami University promulgated some general observations that we came to call "the Law of Todd." They went like this: generally speaking, violence against children in film is rare and handled seriously, never casually; violence against women is fairly frequent, but rarely casual; violence against men is quite frequent and quite frequently casual: a young male extra with a gun can be pretty well blown away with little notice by the camera.

    The camera luxuriating in the suffering of and/or violence against women is a bad thing; but so is the casualness with which violence against males is often handled.

    And audiences react accordingly.

    I tested some of these observations with my students when we watched A CLOCKWORK ORANGE. According to my timings, most of the violence in the film is against men, mostly against horrible young Alex. That was not how my students remembered things. A number recalled the rape of Mrs. Alexander quite vividly, but barely recalled that in the same scene Mr. Alexander is crippled. Some of the students allowed that Alex was tortured -- it's explicit in the novel and in the film's dialog that Alex reports being tortured -- but didn't see that as violence since Alex had it coming.

    We need some talk about violence in film, talk informed by some naïve but careful empiricists with charts and stopwatches, tracking who does what to whom, with what and for how much screen-time.

    Posted by ErlichRD at 04/14/2009 @ 6:58pm

58. Let's recap. We have here a feminist with no sense of humor taking out of context a scene in a dark comedy involving a character who is clearly not being put forth as a role model slamming an actor instead of the filmmakers (director, writers, studio) but leaving the equally-culpable actress off the hook.

    So in what way is this new feminist so different from her equally humorless forebears???

    Posted by mheister at 04/14/2009 @ 8:51pm

59. mheister, you're spot on except for one thing; neither party is culpable. The guy is obviously into the scene and the gal is, too. She rips him for stopping. So, where's the date rape?

    Posted by mortsel at 04/14/2009 @ 11:57pm

60. Who cares who Seth Rogan is or his crude humor? It's his to create, and if you don't like it don't watch it, but we'd probably all be better off by simply regarding him and productions like this as fairly small potatoes in the general scheme things.

    Posted by william.harry13 at 04/15/2009 @ 10:59am

61. The movie is lame, the actors are lame, the whole project is a flop - 'nuf said.

    Posted by LarryB at 04/15/2009 @ 1:10pm

62. Hey, more rape to protest: http://tinyurl.com/d6ux9r

    Posted by hsuBfools at 04/15/2009 @ 1:42pm

63. For real!

    Posted by hsuBfools at 04/15/2009 @ 1:43pm

64. It's art. We are supposed to appreciate it, kinda like a crucifix in a jar o pee.

    Posted by apoorspic at 04/15/2009 @ 10:48pm