Rocketeers reboot?

[Irish]

Walt Disney Studios is developing a reboot of the 1991 action adventure movie, hiring Max Winkler and Matt Spicer to pen the script for the project, which is being titled The Rocketeers.

The project, in the early development stages, is being looked at as a sequel-reboot and in a modern-day twist, will be headlined by a black female character.

Brigham Taylor, who produced The Jungle Book with Jon Favreau, is producing along with Blake Griffin of the L.A. Clippers and Ryan Kalil of the Carolina Panthers.

WTH?

[Watashi]

What's so WTH about this? If any forgotten movie needs a reboot, it's this one. The Rocketeer is great, but this generation knows next to nothing about it.

[Watashi]

Unless you're referring to the Blake Griffin part of the article, because yes... that is definitely WTH.

[number8]

Calling casting a black woman as the hero a "modern-day twist" is kind of weird.

It's going to take place six years after the first movie. Cliff apparently went missing fighting Nazis, so someone else takes up the mantle so she can solve the mystery of his disappearance and stop a plot to mass-produce Cliff's rocket for the enemy.

[Irish]

What's so WTH about this?

- Big studios don't have a great track record lately rebooting material that "this generation knows next to nothing about." (John Carter, The Lone Ranger, The Legend of Tarzan, Ghostbusters, etc). Rocketeer may be more recent than those others, but in many ways it's also more obscure.

- Representation matters, but at a certain point it becomes gross pandering for "woke" dollars. (I figure that point is somewhere past the hundred million dollar budget range).

- Putting a black person at the front and center of a period piece like Rocketeer is whitewashing (the classic kind, not the modern, slangy kind) -- unless you're doing it to make a point about the period (Belle) or doing it to subvert a particular genre (Unforgiven).

- I'll sound like a dick either way, but I find this offensive. It lets white audiences off the hook, because it obscures the past and allows us to collectively pretend that miscegenation laws, segregation, and Jim Crow didn't exist. (I had a similar problem with a black aide-de-camp being part of a white platoon in Fury, which took place during WWII).

- Yes, I am making an assumption about how this will be presented. But it's also Disney and a kid's film, so it doesn't seem like a wild one to make.

Edited to add: This matters. Look how many people freaked out when Michelle Obama recently pointed out that the White House was built by slaves. America loves to willfully ignore its racist past. Mass media is a part of that, and I don't think anything that adds to that ignorance is a good thing.

[Watashi]

I don't know how to respond to any of this.

- Yes, I am making an assumption about how this will be presented.

Oh wait, yes I do. You have no idea what you're talking about. Carry on.

[Skitch]

I adore The Rocketeer. Its such a shame it got buried under the might of Terminator 2: Judgement Day one week after it was released.

[Dukefrukem]

Needs more steampunk but sure... could be fun right?

[Irish]

I don't know how to respond to any of this.

Of course you don't. You're an anthropomorphic twitter egg. A reddit comment with feet. You're a 30 year old man who wears a name tag and a fuzzy costume to work.

Oh wait, yes I do. You have no idea what you're talking about. Carry on.

Oh hey let's talk about a fraction of the culture into which this character would have been born.

Or hey let's talk about the anti-miscegenation laws that were on California's books until 1948.

Or hey why don't we consider Disney's treatment of race during the time period when this film will take place.

Then let's talk about how utterly condescending and disingenuous any film would have to be to ignore those realities, but hey fuck it they'll do it anyway because there's always a buck in pandering to white nostalgia.

That merits a "WTH" doesn't it?

Oh, wait. Maybe it doesn't. Because you can't do any of that. You're Watashi, the guy who slides out of threads with an ignorant comment over a cogent argument. Nevermind.

Why don't you sing us all a few verses of It's a Small World After All instead, Wats, and entertain the crowd.

You sure as fuck aren't good for anything else.

[number8]

Why are you insulting someone's job, dude? Have an argument about a fucking movie without shitting on his life, you unhinged dick.

[Irish]

You have no idea what you're talking about. Carry on.

I want to see what Irish's Oscars are like.

It's probably just David O. Russell masturbating on stage for 3 hours.

Irish continues to be wrong.

As for Irish's post. That shit's cray.

I think Davis was just giving his best Irish impression.

I see Irish has brought his total wrongness to this thread as well.

Lol at Daniel Bruhl as a total nobody.

Show me where I can argue about the movie, 8.

These posts go back a year. I found them in two minutes after a quickie search. There are more.

You'll notice that I stopped responding to him. When I did, I took him seriously and tried to answer in a substantive way. Most of the time, I ignored him. But no matter what I did, these are the type of responses I'd get. Almost every time. You'll see, if you care to look, that in most of these examples Watashi's only contribution to the discussion --- his only appearance on any given page --- is to make a dig at me. And then he disappears.

So if I break and "shit on his life," this is why. I'm sick of putting up with snide comment after snide comment.

You can't turn a blind eye to all this snarky bullshit and step in now, ace.

Edit: I do like how you edited your post to call me an "unhinged dick." Really? I respond to this asshole one time in kind and I'm unhinged? Jesus. Thanks!

[TGM]

It is true that Wats has a long history of doing this here. He used to harp on me pretty heavily as well at one time before I finally called him out on his shit. Not to start any drama, but for a guy who complains about how bullied he was in his past, he sure does come on here and do a lot of needless bullying himself. I mean, god forbid we be nice to one another and have a civil conversation without resorting to name calling and shit talking, right?

[Watashi]

I am deeply offended that you think I wear a fuzzy costume to work.

I have too much shit going on in my life to argue circles with a sad, lonely, pathetic person online who seems to state opinion as fact and can only look at cinema through a studio/marketing lens rather than enjoying movies for what they are: movies.

[Watashi]

It is true that Wats has a long history of doing this here. He used to harp on me pretty heavily as well at one time before I finally called him out on his shit. Not to start any drama, but for a guy who complains about how bullied he was in his past, he sure does come on here and do a lot of needless bullying himself. I mean, god forbid we be nice to one another and have a civil conversation without resorting to name calling and shit talking, right?

To be fair, my posts above to Irish are quick harmless flyby posts about Irish's contrarian views. I never attacked him or call him names like he has done many many times before (and not just to me).

Edit: Well, until now.

[TGM]

[QUOTE=Watashi;559030]To be fair, my posts above to Irish are quick harmless flyby posts about Irish's contrarian views. I never attacked him or call him names like he has done many many times before (and not just to me).

Edit: Well, until now.[/QUOTE
I don't want my post to infer that I'm defend Irish's personal attack against you above. Perhaps at times we can all be a bit snide or take comments the wrong way. I dunno, I post on forums where there's plenty of disagreement, yet we all remain friendly and civil about it, as we would if we were discussing things IRL. I guess I just don't see why this forum can't also be that way. And I'm not aiming this at you, I'm saying in a general sense for everyone (myself included at times admittedly), perhaps if we feel like responding in a snide or angry or antagonistic manner, maybe just step away for a second and calm down a bit before responding, so things don't get out of hand and people don't take thing the wrong way and needlessly start up a bunch of stupid drama for no reason.

[TGM]

Point being, let's all just chill out and share a McGriddle in the Ghostbusters thread. :P

[Ezee E]

I thought it was modern day, and that casting would make sense.

Six years after WWII... And I'll be interested in the approach, but it does seem like pandering to have "modern-day twist casting."

Now, with that, I can't even think of an actress to cast outside of Zoe Kramer.

[Irish]

I have too much shit going on in my life to argue circles with a sad, lonely, pathetic person online who seems to state opinion as fact and can only look at cinema through a studio/marketing lens rather than enjoying movies for what they are: movies.

- In this context, "sad" and "pathetic" are synonyms. One after the other is redundant. You were an ... English major, right?

- You're the one who engaged me in this thread, not the other way around.

- Half this forum is organized the way it is because you're incredibly anal and would bleat like a goat any time anybody posted in the "wrong" forum.

- Now you're saying there's a "right way" and a "wrong way" to talk about movies. I didn't realize you were the sole arbiter as to what passes for discussion, and as a grown man, actually expect people to talk about things only the way you want them talked about. Hey, that's totally normal. Not at all infantile.

- Roughly half of the quoted posts were in direct response to one of my reviews. So even when I talked only "about the movies," you still behaved like a little shit.

- You've been making "flybys" for literally years. Again, that's totally normal. Not at all the actions of a "sad, lonely, pathetic person online."

[number8]

All right, I owe it to everyone to be clear. Irish, I said unhinged because you responded to a dismissive comment with a specifically personal insult about the way Watashi makes a living. I found that deeply weird and out of line and, whaddayacallit, a disproportionate response. I'm well aware that Watashi has a habit of being rudely flippant, though I never found it any more hostile than the teases other posters also throw from time to time (myself included). I realize that's a personal and biased judgment, but the rest of your response I actually liked, and had no problem how unfriendly you meant it because I don't want to police arguments just because they get heated—but attacks that intimate I think is offensive and I'm gonna call that out.

I have too much shit going on in my life to argue circles with a sad, lonely, pathetic person online who seems to state opinion as fact and can only look at cinema through a studio/marketing lens rather than enjoying movies for what they are: movies.

This certainly does not help the case, however.

In general: Knock it off. Anything like this.

[Irish]

I'm well aware that Watashi has a habit of being rudely flippant, though I never found it any more hostile than the teases other posters also throw from time to time (myself included). I realize that's a personal and biased judgment, but the rest of your response I actually liked, and had no problem how unfriendly you meant it because I don't want to police arguments just because they get heated—but attacks that intimate I think is offensive and I'm gonna call that out.

Dude, what? The difference is that Watashi isn't joking. He said as much in his follow up post. He thinks this crap is his goddamn duty. He thinks it's harmless. This 4-Channer style troll bullshit. I've had enough.

My post was rude as hell. It was meant to be. It was intentionally personal. The same way Watashi meant to be personal by repeatedly making snide fucking comments for over a year. You're seriously gonna sit there and tell me that a "name tag" insult is worse than that?

You better start thinking of what you're gonna do when this happens again, and I react the same way. Because it will.

You just gave him permission to keep behaving like the passive aggressive man boy that he is.

[Irish]

To add:

I wish I had an ounce of your temperment, 8. Honestly. You're really good at being -- and this isn't a dig -- political. You're like the Super 8 oil of social interaction. I do not have that grace.

Especially now. Because I'm fucking livid you're passively backing this total fucking weasel. I held my tongue for a long goddamn time and the second I say anything it's, "Whoa, Irish! Waaaay out of line!"

Riiiiiight.

Tbh, I've never understood this board's culture. You can say anything to anyone, no matter how completely obnoxious, keep doing it forever, and as long as it's not "personal" then it's fine.

But I can't imagine anything more personal that carrying that sort of grudge and acting on it for years.

[Watashi]

I don't care if Irish attacks where I work, just at least get my role in resort right (I'm not a fuzzy).

Anyway, I don't want this Rocketeer thread to turn into another Baywatch thread.

I also did a quickie search of all my posts from last year and only a fraction are dismissive Irish posts (all harmless and no name-calling) and some are attached to meaningful contribution to the greater thread.

My snide remark was because Irish was making assumptions of a film that doesn't even have a script yet. We have no idea how Disney will introduce this heroine and I'm sure there's a reason she's made black and female other than progressive pandering. I am as critical of the Mouse as they come despite me working for them, but I will wait to judge them when I see a finished product in front of me. I honestly don't care if Disney's track-record isn't hot for these type of properties. Directors, writers, and actors grew up with these stories and it's cool that Disney is allowing them to make the movies they want to make. They still have Star Wars and Marvel to rake in the revenue to afford a risky project like this. I didn't know how to respond to his post because I didn't know how to respond to it. It flabbergasts me that someone could be offended by trying something different and subverting race in a period superhero film.

But if Irish wants to continue bullet-pointing attacks of me, my work, my education, and my life he only knows of my online post history, then please do. I'll just do what he did to me, and ignore him. I rarely contribute to this forum as much as I used to be really effected by this.

[Watashi]

Why don't you sing us all a few verses of It's a Small World After All instead, Wats, and entertain the crowd.

You sure as fuck aren't good for anything else.

This is far way snider than anything I have posted about you. The posts you quoted are dismissive, but ultimately in jest. This is a personal attack.

[Watashi]

But I can't imagine anything more personal that carrying that sort of grudge and acting on it for years.

The fact that this is some sort of tipping point for you and had to unleash some emotional outburst says a lot how you perceive our online relationship. Just going through our post history, only some of it is stupid dismissive posts (generally when you trash a film that I love), but a lot of we are talking to each other like normal human beings and even compliment each other (you praised me for my unfinished Disney rewatch thread). You are making this "grudge" like I follow you into every thread and bully you. This is completely false.

[Watashi]

I was doing the whole "you are wrong" drive-by posts to Sven and D_Davis all the time. It's not just you dude. I just enjoy hassling our board's noted contrarians.