Just Say Eh! to Megan Fox
A friend of mine went to ComicCon this year and was fortunate enough to get into a “Women in Sci-Fi” panel. Sigourney Weaver was one of the guests, being really smart and funny. She really remembers a moment during the Q & A when an audience member asked Weaver how she felt about the rumors afoot that Megan Fox was being cast as Wonder Woman in an upcoming action movie.
My friend said the auditorium collectively heaved a huge groan of disgust and disappointment.
But wait! Aren’t you the same fanboys that lusted for her in the Transformers franchise? The same lonely virgins waiting for Jennifer’s Body so you can *see* Jennifer’s body?
I know, I know. Wonder Woman is sacred and they should try a little harder to find a girl less defined by her sexuality and more defined by her ass kickery. But the point here is, man – even certain male demographics act like Megan Fox is the bubonic plague of movie actresses…what gives?
Recently, Diablo Cody gave an interview to The Frisky and Megan Fox’s name was brought up and she nailed it pretty precisely: “I don’t think people know how to process her at all.” I think that’s true, because I didn’t know how to take it when I read that Megan Fox had said this:
“I think all women in Hollywood are known as sex symbols. That’s what our purpose is in this business. You’re merchandised, you’re a product. You’re sold and it’s based on sex.”
And isn’t that true? When a movie star begins to gain weight, and basically become normal, a real woman, and “not sexy”, her stock begins to plummet. If you break that mold of being a sex symbol in any way, you are castigated by the celebrity press. Very few actresses can live outside this system. Even an Oscar winner and star of prestige films like Kate Winslet is subject to discussions about her weight and beauty.
Megan Fox has also been labelled ungrateful for supposedly turning down an opportunity to be a Bond girl in an upcoming film. Fox reportedly said she would “rather be a more central part of a movie” – and the blogosphere went nut house. But how many times has an actress murmurred these words in general, not just in regards to being in a Bond film? People scoffed at her for being the star of a sci-fi franchise of dubious quality, but turning down James Bond?! C’mon. Those aren’t exactly the most serious movies either. And don’t act like she’s the first one to say ‘no’ to running after Bond in high heels and a bikini.
Let’s just sit down and be honest here. Most people don’t like her because she’s simply over-exposed.
But even that feels like a bit of a cop-out. She does the same amount of publicity and magazine covers that any other actress would have had to do for these major studio projects she’s in, it’s just that in all these interviews she says these zany things about once being in love with a stripper and having no friends and being mentally ill – and it makes for good blog posts and great gossip. She’s a bit of a loose cannon, looser than Angelie Jolie or Drew Barrymore ever was during their wackier days…and she just happens to look like someone who should be an airbrushed centerfold. And vampy girls who appear draped across cars in robot movies for teenage boys aren’t supposed to mouth off.
Ah. I say let it go, American females. She said this in Maxim (go figure) in 2007:
“I go to the set thinking I’m not going to have any female friends, because that’s the reality of the business. From what I’ve experienced, women aren’t good friends to one another. When guys want to hang out with you because your personality is badass, women immediately hate you.”
This quote made me a little sad, because I think it’s partly true. Women are weirdly conditioned to be territorial, critical, and distrustful of each other. Although she might be wrong about guys wanting to hang out with you for personality. Well, maybe they hang out with *us* for personality. Megan, guys *do* just want to look right down your shirt.
Listen, I’m not asking you to go over to Megan Fox’s mansion and give her a hug. I think a better plan of action would be to just ignore her. Less hate, more blitheful ignorance. Because let’s face it, the girl will say one extremely smart thing and then one really stupid thing and it just all cancels itself out eventually. Be zen about it. She’s not coming to your house to steal your man. She’s busy. Don’t be so angry.
(And this will be the very last thing I ever write about Megan Fox. Ever.)
Check out the trailer for her latest, “Jennifer’s Body”
Pic Courtesy of Fox Atomic
