Just watched "Spartan" on HBO and decided that I basically like the movie (although it is not David Mamet's best-written work, that still makes it superior to most other film scripts, see previous blog rant on film vs. theater) except can we please please PLEASE call a moratorium on, criminalize, or otherwise cancel for all time this cliche:
Something scary happens, and a girl starts screaming, paralyzed, while other bad things happens...usually until someone rescues her.
It's just toooo stupid to watch. The president's daugher, who at this point in the movie is no stranger to sudden ordeals, sees someone get shot and starts shrieking, and stands Stock Still until someone grabs her. Of course her paralysis puts other lives in danger. Of course this makes me hate her as a person. Of course it is always the girl who does this, even though I'm sure that there are plenty of guys who would also, in such circumstances, suddenly become useless sitting ducks with no fight nor flight instinct. Not that I want to see any of these people in movies. I see enough slow-witted passivity in the course of my daily life. In movies I like to see people taking action under pressure.
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