Much fuss has been made today about photos of Shailene Woodley filming The Amazing Spider-Man 2 and her alleged lack of allure. And, as always on message boards and comment sections of any film website, people were vicious. Comments made were crude, obnoxious and, frankly, sexist. But what I found most amusing about this controversy regarding Shailene Woodley being 'miscast' in TASM2 is that it makes virtually no sense!
For one thing, Shailene Woodley is an extremely talented actress. I had many problems with the previous Amazing Spider-Man film, partially due to my love of the first two Maguire/Raimi films, but one of the best things about it was how well cast it was. Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone had terrific chemistry, Sally Field and Martin Sheen were perfect fits for Aunt May and Uncle Parker, Rhys Ifan managed to put in a great performance as the Lizard despite being horribly underdeveloped and Dennis Leary stole the show in a supporting role. And this sequel seems exceedingly well cast as well- when I see that Oscar winner Jamie Foxx, Oscar nominee Paul Giammati and Oscar winner Chris Cooper have joined the same film, how can I not get excited? In my opinion, Woodley is one of the best young actresses of her generation. She went toe-to-toe with a legend like George Clooney in The Descendants and, in my opinion, actually gave the better performance. And, while I haven't seen it, I've heard nothing but good things about her performance in The Spectacular Now, which premiered at Sundance in January and is due for release in August. She's very talented and, I think, will play a great Mary Jane. Any true fan of this series, and of the Spider-Man franchise itself, would be proud to have her be a part of it.
You disagree? That's fine, too each their own. But to insult Woodley's own physical appearance is just ridiculous. For one thing, it's just plain mean and comes off as immature. It's also not a truly legitimate way to criticize a performance. When was the last time you saw a professional critic write in a review "the actress gave an extremely over the top performance.... and she was ugly too." It's not different from when Rex Reed ripped apart Identify Theif, not because of the film itself but because of it's star's weight. Not to mention the fact that this is not a role with any physical requirements. Woodley doesn't have to gain or lose any weight to play the part and she won't have to speak with an accent. The one thing she has to have is red hair, and to get that all you need is some hair dye. Everybody can relax about that: the pictures prove that she does, in fact, have red hair. Finally, consider this: Andrew Garfield has virtually nothing in common with the drawn version of Peter Parker. Garfield, while not necessarily the most muscular actor working today, is a good looking guy. There are no nerdy features about him, while Peter Parker has plenty. Not to mention, the character was modified drastically from his drawn counterpart- Parker now rides on a skateboard, wears hipster glasses, and stands up to his tormentors with snappy comebacks. Why aren't the message boards exploding with raise over that?
It's because the character of Mary Jane, for whatever reason, is a sex symbol. An illustrated sex symbol that no real live woman could ever live up to. Personally, I find that notion to be absolutely disgusting, but it seems to be the mindset of those attacking Woodley. So, to those people, I ask: who would you rather cast? Who is the one actress out their that can possibly live up to the sexiness of a fictional, hand drawn woman. I have an idea: why don't we just print out a life-size cut out of Mary Jane from the comics and have her stand in for Woodley? Or we can use a body pillow? Maybe then people will shut up and stop attacking a 22 year old actress for being "too ugly." (But they probably won't. After all, this is the Internet. The bitching never ends...)
Do I find Woodley attractive? I'm not going to say- I shouldn't have to. It shouldn't matter. I'm not going to judge her performance, the people that cast her, the filmmakers, or the film itself based on whether or not I find her to be pretty. To attack Woodley over her looks does not make you a critic, or a fan of Spider-Man trying to ensure that the series remains true to the source material. All it does is make you an asshole.
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