(Films discussed in this post: A Dangerous Method, 50/50, Cedar Rapids, Margin Call, The Perfect Host, The Guard, The Ides Of March, Horrible Bosses, Warrior.)
In my post on “The Chicks,” I reflected on the ups and downs for females in film last year, from the ribald shenanigans of Bridesmaids to the slightly-less-ribald racial politics of The Help.
Ladies first. Now here come the guys.
Ah, bad kids. Where would the movies be without them?
From ghostly dead youngsters in The Ring and The Shining to the bloodthirsty (but still breathing) tykes of The Bad Seed and The Good Son, there’s a long-standing storytelling tradition in Hollywood to use sinister children as the Ultimate Evildoers — the juxtaposition between innocent faces and malicious intent gets us cinematically wet, I guess.
Recently (“ripped from the headlines” in Law & Order fashion), the movies have added a subgenre to this category with school shootings, like the current release We Need To Talk About Kevin. That’s not a horror movie, per se, but it does deal with a mother’s horrified reaction to the bad, bad thing her baby did.
(Films discussed in this post: Hugo, Hesher, Terri, and Win Win.)
It’s a hard-knock life for kids in the movies.
Whereas actual kids these days have it comparably easy, their on-screen counterparts tend to get tricked instead of treated, kicked instead of kissed. Unlike most kids you’ll meet in real life, the majority of youths you’ll encounter in movies not only come from broken homes; but chances are, one or both of their parents are dead.
Morbid much, Hollywood? Jeez.
Yes, being orphaned allows our young heroes to be their own bosses. Masters of their own fates. And that tends to get them in trouble…
