Skip to main content
  • CNSNews.com
  • MRC TV
  • Biz & Media
  • Culture & Media
  • TimesWatch
  • Take Action!

Join Us @:
Facebook
Twitter
Amazon Kindle

Tell the Truth campaign logo
NewsBusters.org logo

February 22, 2012
  • Home
  • Blogs
  • About
  • Forum
  • Contact
  • Donate
  • Search
  • Account
  • RSS
Home » Blogs » Tim Graham's blog
  • In Story On Proposed Ultrasound Mandate, WashPost's Kumar Fails to Note Va. Abortionists Already Use Them
  • Bozell Column: The Bill Press Hate Machine
  • Andrea Mitchell: Hillary Was Right--There Really Was A Vast Right Wing Conspiracy
  • Rick Santorum Says 'Phony Theology' Controversy Is 'Media Trying to Destroy Conservatives'
  • Chris Matthews Sneers: 'If You're Really Anti-Gay, You Become Catholic Now'
  • Douglas Brinkley: Bill Clinton Is a 'Folk Figure in America' Like 'Babe Ruth or Buffalo Bill'
  • CNN's Soledad O'Brien Responds to NewsBusters Catching Her 'Obama Bump'
  • WashPost's 'Conservative' Blogger Rubin Scolds Santorum to 'Grow Up" and 'Stop Whining' About Liberal Media Bias

People's Feminist Film Critic Hates 'Mars Needs Moms'

By Tim Graham | March 13, 2011 | 08:21

Change font size:  A |  A
Tim Graham's picture

People magazine film critic Alynda Wheat had a major political problem with the new Disney computer-animated movie Mars Needs Moms. It's viciously anti-feminist. But that's a much different review than the one in the other Time Inc. rag, Entertainment Weekly. Wheat unloaded with this one-star (out of four) review:

Berkeley Breathed's 2007 kids' book Mars Needs Moms had a sweet but sharp point: Love your mother-or aliens will. But between page and screen some nasty gender politics entered this story....What's offensive is that the twisted dictator behind the deadly brain-sucking plot is the Supervisor, a vicious caricature of a feminist who thinks men are stupid and raising kids is a waste of a woman's time. Between the violence and the vitriol, what Mars really needs is a spanking.

Lisa Schwarzbaum of Entertainment Weekly offered a much different take, and gave the film an A-minus:

Enhanced by nimble ad-libbing from the comedy-trained cast, the screenplay is delightful, by turns funny and emotional, as befits a Disney family fable in which, through wacky adversity, Mom and kid reaffirm their love for each other while Dad is nowhere in sight. (He's not dead, just away on business.)

 ….Certainly it's the right way to go when visiting the Mars of this cool story, a wittily conceived planet of curvy female soldiers and sidelined males, ruled by a splendidly screechy old crone called the Supervisor. (She's voiced by Austin Powers' excellent Frau Farbissina herself, Mindy Sterling.)

Schwarzbaum is no slouch when it comes to feminism in movies. NB's Colleen Raezler noted in 2007 she found Juno didn't have enough feminism in it:

The old-school feminist in me wishes "Juno" spent more time, even a tart sentence or two, acknowledging that the options taken for granted by this one attractive, articulate teen are in fact hard-won, precious rights, and need to be guarded by a new-generation army of Junos and Bleekers, spreading the word by text message as well as by hamburger phone.

She also found the idea of Brokeback Mountain winning Oscars "fantastic" and"extraordinary."

Share this

About the Author

Tim Graham is Director of Media Analysis at the Media Research Center. Click here to follow Tim Graham on Twitter.
  • Tim Graham's blog
  • Login or register to post comments
  • Printer-friendly version
Donate to NewsBusters

Comments

What's offensive is that the

Submitted by motherbelt on Sun, 03/13/2011 - 9:05am.

What's offensive is that the twisted dictator behind the deadly brain-sucking plot is the Supervisor, a vicious caricature of a feminist who thinks men are stupid and raising kids is a waste of a woman's time

You mean feminists don't really believe this?

Does this woman watch TV???  Pick a sitcom, any sitcom, and chances are the slim, fashionable, all-together mother is married to a chubby, somewhat sloppy, clueless husband.

Mom and kid reaffirm their love for each other while Dad is nowhere in sight. (He's not dead, just away on business.)

BTW, the father-nowhere-in-sight thing isn't new for Disney, either. There's no father evident in Toy Story either.

Sounds to me like they got the Hollywood-family template just right.

  • Login or register to post comments

It was also like this in the "good old days"

Submitted by mzk1 on Tue, 03/15/2011 - 8:42am.

This was true from day one of the sitcom, with certain exceptions such as "leave it to Beaver". Also in the Bernstain Bears, except that, having read the authors' biography, I do believe it was not intentional.
  • Login or register to post comments

"Curvy female soldiers"

Submitted by Kingfish17 on Sun, 03/13/2011 - 9:15am.

I can't wait to read Brent Bozell's comments about this!

  • Login or register to post comments

Typical Liberal Genius thinking. Give her a job writing it down

Submitted by acaiguana on Mon, 03/14/2011 - 5:50am.

"Between the violence and the vitriol, what Mars really needs is a spanking."

Ummmmmmmmm

Check.

ACA

...

Quoted from: 'Acaiguana notes from the Underground' (Soon to be at theaters near you)

  • Login or register to post comments

Vicious caricature, eh?

Submitted by HockeyKid on Mon, 03/14/2011 - 7:57am.

Speaking as someone who's seen far too many "A woman needs a man like a fish needs a bicycle" t-shirts on relatives, I can state categorically that you'd have to go a LONG, LONG way to caricature lib feminists.

"Beauty is only skin deep, but liberal's to the bone." - me

  • Login or register to post comments

Who cares

Submitted by griv on Mon, 03/14/2011 - 8:32am.

what the femanazis think? They become unglued over anything and everything and there is no satisfying their irrational demands.
  • Login or register to post comments

everything except women under

Submitted by ozarkian on Mon, 03/14/2011 - 6:21pm.

everything except women under islam
  • Login or register to post comments

I wonder.....

Submitted by All American on Mon, 03/14/2011 - 12:11pm.

what that PC Lib thought of that enviro-drivel "Ferngully" ...
  • Login or register to post comments

What? No mention of the

Submitted by ant on Mon, 03/14/2011 - 2:31pm.

What? No mention of the success of the Egyptian Women's Freedom March? American men baaaaaaaddd!
  • Login or register to post comments

This is clearly.....

Submitted by almostacowboy77 on Mon, 03/14/2011 - 3:11pm.

Bush's fault.
  • Login or register to post comments

It is amazing....

Submitted by mzk1 on Tue, 03/15/2011 - 8:44am.

That she likes Juno for exactly the wrong reasons....
  • Login or register to post comments

Comment viewing options

Select your preferred way to display the comments and click "Save settings" to activate your changes.

Donate to NewsBusters Today!

This form needs Javascript to display, which your browser doesn't support. Sign up here instead

User Shortcuts

Log in

  • My account
  • My buddylist
  • Log in to check messages
  • RSS feed
  • About NB
  • Contact us
  • Jobs
  • Advertise on NB

 

 

Join our campaign to get the media to Tell the Truth!

 

  • Catholic candidate debates and ashes (Daily Caller)
  • The (liberal media) debate mistake (NRO)
  • Obama's dividend tax increase will hurt more than just 'the rich' (WSJ)
  • Bush outpolls Obama in survey of presidents (Surber)
  • The debate on gas prices GOP needs to push on Obama (Ed Rollins)
  • Ultrasounds already part of Va. Planned Parenthood abortion procedures (Commentary)

RSS FeedAmazon KindleFacebookTwitter

Recent comments

  • If by media
    2 min 29 sec ago
  • Imagine the uproar if ANY
    3 min 34 sec ago
  • Big bead party!
    4 min 3 sec ago
  • Why are we worried?
    5 min 54 sec ago
  • Isn't there an anti-monopolistic rule about media ownership?
    6 min 50 sec ago
More >

Obama's Writing Checks the Nation Can't Cash
more cartoons
  • Sarah Palin: 'Lamestream Media' Are 'All Wee-Weed Up' About Santorum's Satan Remark
  • UPDATED |WashPost Runs Cartoon Depicting Drunken Bishop, Refused to Run Strip by Same Artist Mocking Muhammad
  • Chris Matthews Concedes: 'Liberals Don't Want to Pay More Taxes'; 'It's All a Game'
  • Al-Jazeera English Wins Prizes, Leftists Want More Access to American TV
  • Film ‘There’s No Tomorrow’ Spreads Eco-Hysteria About Economic Collapse
More >
NewsBusters

Executive Editor
Matthew Sheffield

Editor at Large
Brent Baker

Senior Editors
Tim Graham
Rich Noyes

Managing Editor
Ken Shepherd

Associate Editor
Noel Sheppard

Contributing Editors
Tom Blumer
Geoffrey Dickens
Dan Gainor
David Limbaugh
Lachlan Markay
Mithridate Ombud
Clay Waters
Scott Whitlock

Senior Contributor
Mark Finkelstein

Editorial Associate
Aubrey Vaughan

Contributing Writers
Matthew Balan
Michael M. Bates
Erin R. Brown
Jack Coleman
Kyle Drennen
Douglas Ernst
P. J. Gladnick
Stephen Gutowski
Matt Hadro
D. S. Hube
Kathleen McKinley
Dave Pierre
Amy Ridenour
Julia A. Seymour
Terry Trippany
Rusty Weiss
Brad Wilmouth

Publisher
Brent Bozell

Site Design
Dialog New Media

 

  • Home
  • Blogs
  • About
  • Forum
  • Contact
  • Donate
  • Search
  • Account
  • rss
  • CNSNews
  • MRC TV
  • Biz & Media
  • Culture & Media
  • Take Action!
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Amazon Kindle
  • Advertise
  • Jobs

Copyright © 2005-2012 NewsBusters. Terms of Use.