Ramble: Colin Trevorrow and Episode IX

My favorite part of sexism is watching people like Colin Trevorrow being given the benefit of the doubt for no reason time and time again while say well thought out, nuanced video essays by female content creators get nuked out of orbit for saying something as mild as "this marvel movie is kind of bad, in my opinion". I thought at some point it would get better but it just never seems to

Scrum Diddely Umptious

Sorry I tried to resist commentating about this but your whole mini rant about a patron screen capping your feet to upload for public eyes. Not really calling them out and just taking an ambivalent stance on it only to immediately have your foot in frame in the next screen cut was pretty funny. “Imagine if episode 9 came out and it was bad.” I dont have to. It ruined the sequel trilogy for me. I pretend they dont exist except as conceptual characters

Robert Romero Jr

Cool how you predicted that Rey would go for Poe Dameron in Trevarro's script~

Yamon

I’m watching this in 2022 for the first time, and wow, does it hurt hearing you say “wouldn’t it be so sad if episode 9 was bad and ruined the whole franchise” because well

SimmerRose

This is hilarious watching for the first time in 2020 and more than ever I would love a general Trevorrow video. Something akin to, like, Randy Moore, using interview footage and so on. Maybe whenever his next film is.

Jason Savior

Wild how this is exactly how 9 turned out

Z

<a href="https://youtube.com/watch?v=_h9MxNn8P7w" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://youtube.com/watch?v=_h9MxNn8P7w</a>

Shred Cadmium

I love the longer rambles. Legitimately I'd watch a 2 hour video so there's that. XD

Nico Boggs

Yes, I will watch Book of Henry based on this recommendation

HeroOfTheModernAge

I like long rambles! And while I hate EA, your vidyas rock so a star wars sponsorship doesn't really effect my opinion one way or the other. Since your video was the only gameplay I'd seen it did look kind of fun, but... EA....

Tyler Tuthill

The foot thing is strange for sure. I actually checked wikifeet out of curiosity after this video and I'm pretty sure there's already caps from this exclusive vid posted there. After you said it weirded you out, even.

Cliff Kennedy

Ironically, Joss Whedon was one of the people calling Jurassic World sexist. My how things have changed...

Brian Koch

I finally finished my Book of Henry homework, so Mom said I can stay up to watch The Jenny Nicholson Show-oh.

Bill Holt

I did not think age of ultron was as good as the avengers but i did not think it was a "bad movie" also rambles should be 12minets and 17 seconds exactly any more is to much any less and your not trying ;)

Bradley D Williams

I think that Age of Ultron killed my ability to enjoy anything produced by Joss. I remember actually yelling in the theater because I was so mad about some of his choices. It didn't kill my enjoyment of Marvel but it did its best. I'm glad Star Wars dodged a similar bullet.

Stephanie Hohn

I'm going to complicate things by pointing out that while filming Zara's death scene, Katie McGrath framed it as "I'm about to die in a really cool way". So now we have one actress going against the director's vision and another actress accepting the scene as it is, and both moments contain questionable views on gender. So what I'm really asking is whether it's empowering to embrace feminine footwear and/or celebrate death via prehistoric reptile. This question has been around since the dawn of feminism, I imagine.

Lord Kristine

I personally love the long rambles. Your normal videos are nice and concise, so I feel like the meandering patreon only content is truly special. For the end credits on the sponsored content, I'd say no. Also, on a side note, I'm not a gamer but the EA hate for this game is leaking out of the gaming specific subreddits to just about everywhere on that site. I fully appreciate you having multiple revenue streams, but wanted to give you a heads up that there might be some spiteful comments/thumbs down when that video is released.

Buddy Crotty

I alluded to this briefly but didn't outright articulate it and it's important to your above point: It was the actress who argued to keep them on, because she shared your reading. Trevorrow originally had it written so she takes them off.

Jenny Nicholson

Great video. As to the questions: 1) I would think it's best not to add Patreon credits to sponsored videos - after all they are (I assume) being fully funded by the sponsor and hence the two revenue streams shouldn't be crossed; and 2) I prefer longer ramble videos.... as you implied, that's what 'ramble' means

Guy Wilson

i really like longer rambles, like the 20-30 minute range. idk

Summer Eldridge

You're doing great with the ramble videos! Don't worry!

moviehag

I wonder what Colin would have chosen as Episode IX's title?

Blue Corn

I feel like one of the biggest problems with most symbols associated with gender norms and other stereotypes is that it forces people to either reject or embrace them in a way that's inherently and unavoidably political. And yes, heels used to be a man-thing, but in the context of modern society, if a woman chooses to wear heels or not, it's framed as less of a personal choice and more of a "is it more empowering to earn respect by acting like a man or reclaiming your womanhood" kind of thing. I don't think women should have to act like men to earn respect, nor accept all gender signifiers, because either way, they're limiting themselves based on what society expects of them. I disagree with the Cixous-type argument that suggests women taking part in oppressive norms by choice is still inherently empowering because they're given agency, but I do see where it's coming from. What's missing from that idea is the notion that we ARE aware of how we're being viewed by society, so our choices are influenced by that awareness. The question now is whether we should be respecting people for reclaiming oppressive footwear or for rejecting these signifiers and becoming more like the people who have historically been responsible for oppression. Basically, everything sucks and heels are complicated.

Lord Kristine

Also, 1) this ramble met my expectations, 2) I do not care about embargoes of anything as silly as a video game, 3) I love that you call them "video games", and 4) it's your video, and whether you want Patreon credits or not is up to you (although I admit it tickled me when I saw my name for the first time).

Brandon Blackmoor

The foot story makes no sense. Did a friend of yours come to you and say : "Hey Jenny! I was casually browsing feet online and came across this picture. Isn't it your foot?" and after slowly walking backwards towards the door you ran to patreon saying someone posted your foot online? Or did you dance with a face blind prince and forgot to drop a slipper?

Abel Cassius

If "The Phantom Menace" did not kill Star Wars, nothing can. I had no idea that the same person directed "Safety Not Guaranteed" and "Jurassic World". "Jurassic World" was very silly, but I enjoyed it anyway. I remember almost nothing from "Safety Not Guaranteed" other than it featured Aubrey Plaza, but I recall liking it. I haven't seen "Book Of Henry", but I'm thinking I probably won't, now. Oh, and "Star Wars 8: Rouge One" *is* bad. Not "Phantom Menace" bad, but still, bad. The foot thing is unsettling. But I expect that you've made your peace with that sort of thing. I guess it's an occupational hazard.

Brandon Blackmoor

I feel as through the whole high heels thing may have been a sexist thing, but I didn't see it that way. I don't like the whole trope of the women kicking off her heels to suddenly become a big hero. I feel as though it symbolises that women should have to sacrifice her femininity to be strong and powerful women. That isn't true at all. Even though it very well couldve been meant to symbolize women's place as feminine creatures and damsels in distress, I feel like the rest of the movie disproves that. She runs from a t rex in heels. I read it as women not needing to give up being feminine to be strong. Although it was extremely impractical and I don't know anyone who could run from a t rex (clocked at 32 mph) let alone running from it in heels.

Rickard Baratheon

When i watch the movie I don't feel like the assistant deserved it. I feel like it was just a way to show the audience that these aren't just extras that are getting PG off screen deaths. I think it was a way to show the audience the brutality of what's happening to a character who we know(but don't love because her only personality traits was negligence) honestly I don't think it was sexism in this case, but rather a way of not shying away from the brutality these deaths. What made jurassic park scary is that they didn't do all of the deaths off screen. You watch people get mauled, and the assistant was more like a way to one up the first movie imo. As for BDH, I never felt that it was about leaving work to start a family. Now I could have completely missed something, but it felt like more of a "don't let work get in the way of knowing and loving your family" which is usually played out as a hard working dad missing his kids baseball game trope. To me having it be her nephews made it really good. It's the same message but it doesn't have the implication that women belong as stay at home moms. It felt more like more of a lesson to just be there for your family (sisters, brothers, nephews and nieces) and don't ignore them for work. It felt more like a subversion if an old trope.

Rickard Baratheon

Okay, I decided not to get too much into this last night because when I watched your video, it was almost midnight for me. After sleeping on it, I decided to give my take on what the hell Trevorrow was thinking. One struggle I had in interpreting BoH was that half of the time, it seemed to be very clearly aligned with the typical mystical spectrum boy narrative, while other times it subverted the tropes found in this genre, most notably during the climax. As a person on the spectrum myself, I may have just been hyper aware of these elements, but sometimes I wonder about Trevorrow. I’m still hesitant to accept BoH as a parody of the mystical spectrum boy genre, since I believe it would have been more obvious were this the case, but I’m willing to entertain the possibility that Trevorrow might have added an ironic tone to the original script. Again, though, this isn’t obvious enough to be the case for certain, and I definitely have a bias in interpreting such stories. As for Zara’s death in Jurassic World, there’s a lot to unpack. I agree that Trevorrow probably has some questionable views about women. Zara’s death, however, could have been presented the way it was for a variety of reasons (not saying it had nothing to do with his views, but rather that his views are only part of the reason). It was the first female death in the film canon of Jurassic Park, not including dinosaurs, which was actually a big deal in the fandom. It’s usually weird to see women die in action and horror movies because it’s so rare that purposefully including it creates a different tone than if the same death scene included a man. And yes, the original character in that scene was some random ACU soldier, and Trevorrow supposedly threw Zara in because the audience would care more about her death than some randy. I can’t say for certain that this is his true motivation, however one thing people forget is that Zara not paying attention to the kids is framed somewhat like Claire’s same actions, but for different reasons. Both women believe their job is more important than supervising someone else’s child, which is obviously true, but while Claire is exclusively focused on work, Zara is shown to be distracted because she is planning her wedding. So there’s kind of a message that neither tradition nor progress is entirely ideal when real human beings are involved, which more or less aligns with the thesis of JW. There’s also kind of a parallel between Claire and Zara in Zara’s line about her fiancé’s friends being “animals”, which is the same issue Claire seems to have with Owen, though literally. There are a lot of details in JW that either indicate some deeper meaning coincidentally, or because Trevorrow thought to include them. It’s hard to say how much of it was intentional. In conclusion, I can kind of see where Trevorrow may have been coming from, but I also took my meds late this morning, so that could be a contributing factor.

Lord Kristine

Two Points/Two Cents: 1. I would say that if it is a sponsored video then it would not count as one provided by your patrons. 2. It's called a 'Ramble Video' for a reason. Let the stream of consciousness flow. It's what makes them special.

Dan McComb

I am glad to not be on the credits for a sponsored video, thank you for being thoughtful about that. Also - I watch all the way to the end of all your videos. If I don't have time I come back later.

Fuck Off Patreon

I felt the same way about the assistant's death at the time. And then you see all of his work and it starts forming such a damningly specific pattern. Iirc he also gave a quote in one interview about her death being "satisfying" or something or that "she needed to die," before backpedaling later Also have very mixed feelings on the recurring theme of pressuring Bryce Dallas Howard to have a family instead of her career. On one hand, it's just mirroring the Alan Grant story. On the other, there are inherently different implications when it's a woman you're telling to get out of the work force and be a mom. The posh assistant was murdered for, seemingly, being disdainful of the kids. Again mostly feels like a dumb tone-deaf oversight, but when you look at the total package...

Jenny Nicholson

the whole movie is buckwild and im glad he's not touching star wars anymore. good video

iamalivenow

I was a bit meh about Jurassic World in general. Thought it was alright, but a bit disappointing. But the death of the assistant really didn't sit well with me. Her death felt so cruel and unjustified. Unpleasant to watch because it's dragged out so long. Like, she only died because she was trying to find those two annoying kids and they kept running off and doing stupid stuff. When I think of Jurassic World, that death is the first thing that comes to mind, and it makes me have a negative view of the movie overall. What jenny was saying about the writer and how he writes women adds an interesting new dimension to this. Maybe he feels that her character not being a lot of fun and too wrapped up in her work is somehow justification for her being killed in a really cruel way.

Bucklebob

Yikes...

Peter Marez

Your thoughts on Trevorrow and women are really making me re-think the assistant’s death in Jurassic World. I remember there was some minor controversy because of the sheer brutality of it and people were wondering if the audience was supposed to enjoy it and feel like it was deserved for some reason. I personally just chalked it up to Tev & Co. wanting an elaborate death scene and just decided to have it done to a character we were supposed to be somewhat annoyed by (I didn’t think she was that bad but whatevs) which lead to a weird tone in the whole thing. However, now I’m wondering if he really did expect us to cheer for her death and deep down feels like women like her deserve to die in brutal ways. I know that sounds a little bonkers but Book of Henry is also a little bonkers so I’m not ruling anything out.

Peter Marez

"'cause women, that me, I women" - Jenny Nicholson, A Women

Joe Bloe

I'm a fan of Jurassic World. I actually really enjoyed most of Book of Henry just for how bold and surreal it was. I remember thinking Safety Not Guaranteed was okay, but not great. I forget where I was going with this. I guess that's just my opinion about three Trevorrow films. Fun.

Lord Kristine

It's possible I'm being unfair to foot fetishists. I think a lot of them just see a picture where the feet are visible and are like "That's what I'm talking about! Woohoo! Hot damn!" Or whatever kick they're getting out of feet, haha. Once my friends and I found a youtube channel where a guy went to his school library and balanced a camera in his lap under the table, and would film girls' legs/feet without their awareness. And be like "look how this one plays with her shoes under the table!" For that guy and his commenters voyeurism/non-consent was definitely an element to it. But I think that might be a subset and not all foot fetishists.

Jenny Nicholson

Makes sense to leave patrons off sponsored videos. I like the long ramble videos. Rambles by their nature should be kinda long and tangent-y.

Derek Horkel

Longer rambles preferred

Blue Corn

Excited to see the Battlefront video since I'm such a gaming nerd. I understand about not putting the credits on a sponsored video and I don't have any issue. People are mad at EA right now for two main issues, they shut down Visceral games who was working on a single player Star Wars game being made by the person who wrote the Uncharted games. The second issue is with BF2. Its very hard to advance in the game's multiplayer without paying for loot.

Since you asked, I think 20 minutes is a good length for a ramble for a decent topic. I also appreciate the mini ramble before the main one, it was like an appetizer before a meal.

Daniel Fahringer

These ramble videos always cheer me up...thanks Jenny! Count me as one that perfers the longer rambles. I wasn't sure how you could make a whole ramble video on this topic but you did a great job and kept it interesting. As for the sponsored video, I think you make great points about not including the credits on that one. Can't wait to see it.

Eric MacMillan

Funny enough, I think I just saw your Rey vs Rose scenario, in the Fifty Shades Freed trailer.

Blue Corn

Have you seen 'Home Base'? It's Trevorrow at his... um... finest?: <a href="https://youtu.be/PS5CJOwyh9s" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://youtu.be/PS5CJOwyh9s</a>

matt

I like the rambling rambles. On the subject of credits, it would seem weird to have patreon sponsor names on a video that is already sponsored by another entity.

The BabaDuck

The sun will come out Trevorrow.

Bill Holt

As for the patreon credits on the sponsored video. Yes, it's best to leave them off. Also make it clear that it is sponsored. The FTC may begin cracking down on vids that are in the grey area.

To comment on your initial feet ramble, I don't think it has to do with the fact that girls don't realize theyre providing sexual images. I think its just that, by the nature of the fetish, they can see feet almost anywhere. I think most people would be happy to take images if their own personal 'perversions' were available in such large quantity.

Rickard Baratheon