The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo Series

[Yossarian]

I don't see any misandry in this film (or the books, for that matter). Yes, there are some vile male characters but the main character is male and he's unquestionably portrayed as a great man. Then there's Henrik Vanger, portrayed as a wonderful loving man, and Lisbeth's employer who recognizes and encourages her talents despite her social difficulties. And you know what, most rapists and serial killers *are* male so making those characters men is not an odd choice indicative of some feminist-nazi agenda, IMHO.

[ross]

I don't know. To a great degree every benign male character is deliberately rather passive; Henrik Vanger is explicitly decrepit and Lisbeth's employer is short and overweight. Even Mikael Blomkvist plays what is essentially the damsel in distress role. On the other hand Lisbeth and Harriet are portrayed as extremely active, physically as well as morally superior to the men around them.

Now that itself isn't neccessarily an indication of misandry but when you notice that every male character who is physically forceful is presented as a force of utterly sadistic evil things get problematic. It's very easy to take the message from the film that men as a gender cannot be trusted at all unless they embrace a physical passivity.

Then there are the incidental gender politics divorced from violence: in Blomkvist's magazine his male co-worker is whiny and self serving while his female co-worker is compassionate and virtuous. And Wennerström of course is also male.

[yournamehere]

I'm going to see "The Girl Who Played with Fire" tomorrow! I can't believe it's even playing in my area!

I dunno, I only saw the first movie a few weeks ago, and I guess I was just taken by it. It was so well made. I mean, I don't even know why I gasped when the social worker hit Lisbeth, even though logically it was impossible not to know where that scene was going, I guess I'm just as fascinated by Lisbeth the way many critics are.

[jynni]

I saw the first movie and am reading through the series right now. I'm about halfway through the third book and am not that impressed. Lisbeth is like the Mary Sue of some sick pervert's twisted fantasy (She has the body of a 12-year old boy but hey how about a boob job! She has sex with women! And men!). Blomkvist is the playboy knight in shining armor.

Didn't care for the movie either. Found it rather boring and badly acted.

[bklynred]

I thought books two and three were the best. I thought there was too much creepy violence on women in the first one. The last one is long as sh*t but nicely complex.

[Yossarian]

Yeah, it's like book number one is the hook: rape, serial killer, violence! But two and three are the real story about corruption and politics in Sweden.

I've just got my husband reading them and he professes to hate fiction ... so much so that he stayed up to 3am last night reading The Girl Who Played With Fire.

[Deleted]

Oct 1, 2010 21:07:55 GMT -4 jynni said:

I saw the first movie and am reading through the series right now. I'm about halfway through the third book and am not that impressed. Lisbeth is like the Mary Sue of some sick pervert's twisted fantasy (She has the body of a 12-year old boy but hey how about a boob job! She has sex with women! And men!). Blomkvist is the playboy knight in shining armor.

I remember reading some feminist reviewers who really hated the 1st book for that reason. They thought it was no different to the James Patterson-type thrillers that titillate their readers by graphic descriptions of violence towards women and that Lisbeth was just a male fantasy - I think they saw Lisbeth, as described in the book, as looking like a tattooed Natalie Portman, especially with all the references to her being like a child.

I haven't seen the film yet, but it seems like casting Noomi Rapace as Lisbeth has made a big difference to how the character is perceived.

[stina]

The Lisbeth character didn't bother me in the books. I did get a kick out of the fact that Michael Blomqvist got aaallll the girls. The bad-ass journalist, written by... a journalist.

I always though that he was a bit of an Gary Stu for Stieg Larsson and his fantasy of who he'd like to be. So in that sense, maybe Lisbeth is an extension of that.

I'm pretty excited about Rooney Mara. She was great in The Social Network. I'm also excited that they're shooting in Sweden.

[glitterbug]

I just saw the first film last week and I really loved it. I also saw the dire remake of Nightmare on Elm Street and I have to admit that I think Rooney Mara will probably carry off the part of Salander pretty well. I mean, it's another completely pointless remake but at least the casting will be good.

[minky]

Sept 30, 2010 5:27:15 GMT -4 Yossarian said:

I don't see any misandry in this film (or the books, for that matter).

I don't understand the whole "they make men look like shit" thing. The original title of the first book is "Men Who Hate Women." Pretty straightforward title. It's supposed to show men doing horrible things, yes?