Does anyone know who he is? Apparently the film critic for Premier. While trying to see if the thing I wrote on Ratatouille was anywhere on the internet still I found this on his blog:
Lest you think that all the wackiness comes from the neoconservative side of the cultural/political spectrum, allow me to introduce one Margot Magowan. Given the ecstatic reviews and stellar box office returns ofRatatouille, the new Pixar picture, you might be under the impression that nobody doesn’t like it. You would be wrong. “Phooey on Ratatouille,” Magowan titles her San Jose Mercury News op-ed on the picture. Why “Phooey?” Because the rat is a boy! And so’s the chef he trains! The woman in the movie has a speech about sexism in French restaurant kitchens, but that’s not enough! Magowan is “depressed” by this.
Now, just as Roy E. at alicublog observed that Muslim villains don’t sell tickets, market wisdom also applies to the creation of animated films, and in America, girls and women aren’t considered major target “demos” for works such as Ratatouille. Things are a bit different in Japan, where manga and anime are big with both sexes, and many Japanese animated films boast strong heroines and/or female characters who are the equals to their male counterparts. The “problem” of sexism in films in general is perhaps worthy of intelligent discussion, but Magowan isn’t interested in intelligent discussion, she’s interested in puling and sniping: “When can we get more representation in our movies? How long do we have to wait?” she moans, before dismissing the supremely talented folks over at Pixar as a “bunch of guy geeks.” She ends her yammering by wishing that “Princess Charming rescues Sleeping Hunk,” said “Hunk” strongly suggesting that she ought not contemplate a career in writing children’s books. I suggest that Ms. Magowan take her 4-year-old daughter and bivouac somewhere with a DVD of Free to Be You and Me they can watch over and over until Pixar hires Ti-Grace Atkinson as a creative consultant
OK (this is Margot again) calling them guy geeks was a little harsh, but they are geeks. I wish I was more of a geek and could figure out how to do a poll on ths damn blog. I do not know what a biovac is. And yeah, I admit to loving Free to be You and Me. I know this reply is about two years too late, but I’m only learning now. By the way, Nora Ephron has since made the amazing movie (I thought) Julie and Julia, about a girl chef, Julia Child– GGG
Wow! What a diatribe! When people who are not being personally attacked get so defensive, I always think you must have touched on something that they are so invested in that they can’t even see. Looks like you messed with his reality.
His whole article boils down to this: “We make movies for boys because boys go to more movies – and now you are saying boys go to more movies because we make movies for boys? How dare you ask us to consider girls! We like things the way they are! If you don’t leave us alone, we’re taking the ball and going home!”
Try it, seriously!(I have no idea why this comment came up under Glen Kenny or why Glen Kenny is its own topic next to what the blog is about– the guy doesn’t even like me.)
My 3 year old son is a very picky eater and we have struggled with getting him to try new foods since he was 1 1/2. He is so willful and stubborn but I will try to do some of the things Margot mentions in her blog since it totally makes sense.