The first image from Dwayne Johnson’s 2017 Jumanji reboot is frankly ridiculous. Do better, Hollywood.
Alarm bells should have blared when Dwayne Johnson announced the casting of Karen Gillan with the words, “We had to find a girl…”
And now, seeing her in costume, it should be very clear just what kind of movie the Jumanji reboot wants to be.
The picture was shared on Instagram by co-star Kevin Hart, and shows off the main cast members. From left to right: Hart, Dwayne Johnson, Karen Gillan, Karen Gillan’s midriff, Karen Gillan’s booty shorts, Karen Gillan’s exposed legs that will certainly get ripped to shreds by the underbrush, Karen Gillan’s insanely impractical boots, and Jack Black:
There is so much wrong with this picture, including the horrific stereotyping that seems to go into Black’s ‘fat professor’ and Hart’s character (who is standing behind everyone else, and looks scared for some reason). And then there’s Karen Gillan — the movie’s “girl” — who looks like she jumped straight out of a Lara Croft action game. From the ’90s.
You know, the time when women in action movies were blatant sex objects whose primary objectives were to satisfy the male gaze and comply with men’s sexual fantasies.
Because, let’s be real: Gillan is not dressed for the jungle. She even looks uncomfortable, standing there rigidly like a life-sized action figure, evidently tense against her relaxed, male co-stars who get to wear actual clothes.
Gillan is an attractive woman, no doubt about it, but (and someone best remind director Jake Kasdan of this) that attractiveness doesn’t actually come from showing as much skin as possible. She’s standing in the jungle, yet looks like she’s heading to a rave — and that’s not sexy; that’s just plain ridiculous, and offensive to boot.
“What year is it?” Robin Williams prophetically asked in the original, badass Jumanji movie. The answer: It’s 2016, and this kind of objectification of females on screen is outdated af.
Here are some very apt Twitter reactions to sum up our disappointment:
So apparently Karen Gillan is playing The Girl Who Waited for the Rest of Her Shirt to Arrive in JUMANJI via @RebeccaPahle pic.twitter.com/RTPVP9XWht
— Joanna Robinson (@jowrotethis) September 20, 2016
::waits patiently for fanart of Gillan and The Rock with their costumes swapped:: https://t.co/eCi3CTzua6
— Sarah Dollard (@snazdoll) September 20, 2016
Because when remaking a kid's film, it is vitally important to completely sexualize the female lead#TooMuchy #Jumanji pic.twitter.com/k3k56aq0o8
— Randall C Willis (@createdbyrcw) September 20, 2016
They just couldn't let Karen Gillan wear vaguely practical clothes could they? Had to dress her 'for the dads' and their Tomb Raider fetish. https://t.co/8qIGna4R00
— Mark Grainger (@MarkGrainger) September 20, 2016
First look at the new #Jumanji pic.twitter.com/TArPnvtx4I
— Chris (@GelNerd) September 20, 2016
Revealing a slightly different version of the image, Dwayne Johnson attempts to placate the Internet, writing, “Her jungle wardrobe will make sense when you know the plot. Trust me;).”
We’ll leave it up to the individual reader to decide whether to trust him;). You should probably at least wait for a teaser before you make up your mind, but for now, it does not look promising.
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