Mindy Kaling isn’t going to base her career on what white male film critics want to see

'Ocean's 8' World Premiere

It’s the thing to do these days, if you’re a white bro who finds himself reviewing films for a living. The thing to do is “marginalize female-led films,” especially if you get especially pumped for sausage-fest comic-book movies. People have noticed it more and more – if a film has been directed by a woman, or if a film has a female lead, or a film is cast with mostly women, then all of the white-dude film critics tend to give that film a bad review. Such is the case with Ocean’s Eight. It’s not that Ocean’s Eight got flat-out bad reviews, it’s just that white dudes couldn’t understand why it felt like this movie wasn’t made for them, because they’re so used to everything being for them. Male reviewers just don’t “get” why people would want to see some frothy, fun lady-heist movie taking place at the biggest fashion event of the year. The current RT score for Ocean’s Eight sits in the 60s, which is okay but not great. And the cast of Ocean’s Eight noticed it too. And they’re not here for the bullsh-t. Here’s what Mindy Kaling had to say:

“If I had to base my career on what white men wanted, I would be very unsuccessful, so there is obviously an audience out there who want to watch things like [Ocean’s 8], what I work on, what Sarah [Paulson] works on…And the thing about so much of what this movie is, I think white men, critics would enjoy it, would enjoy my work, but often I think there is a critic who will damn it in a way because they don’t understand it, because they come at it at a different point of view, and they’re so powerful, Rotten Tomatoes. I submit to you that men and women are not the same, they like different things. Sometimes they like the same thing, but sometimes their tastes diverge.’

[From The Daily Mail & The Wrap]

I agree with her, of course. I also think there’s another aspect to this that goes unexamined when we’re talking about bad reviews for films like Ocean’s Eight: women have the right to be frivolous. Women have the right to easy escapism and lighthearted fun in films. It’s important and great that women producers and women directors and actresses are making good, important films that will stand the test of time and get nominated for big awards. But it’s also important that women have the same access – as filmmakers and film-goers – to the same kind of fun, silly, dumb movies that men get. How many dumb comedies or stupid action films do men get to make every year? Tons. So let us have ONE lady-heist movie with great fashion and jewelry. It’s only fair.

Ocean's 8 premiere in London

Photos courtesy of WENN.

You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.

30 Responses to “Mindy Kaling isn’t going to base her career on what white male film critics want to see”

Comments are Closed

We close comments on older posts to fight comment spam.

  1. KatieK says:

    I don’t think this argument works at all. Fast & Furious films give male audiences dump, escapist fun – and get bad reviews. I don’t see why frothy, corporate product like Ocean’s 8 should get a free pass for being mediocre just because it is the female equivalent.

  2. Rescue Cat says:

    I’m too time poor to watch bad films ironically. I prefer to use what little spare time I have watching something that breaks new ground or moves me.

  3. CommentingBunny says:

    I saw this last week and it was a delight! I love heist movies, fashion and sparkly jewelry. And all the women were fantastic. It did what it was supposed to do – entertain the *%$# out of me!

    • Lucy2 says:

      I felt the same, it was a very entertaining film. I’m glad it’s doing well at the box office.

      I saw a number of dudes griping about it before it even came out. I don’t get the need to attack something like that- just ignore it and go see something else!

    • Lydia says:

      That’s what I expected. I don’t trust the standard reviewers anymore.

      I’m going to watch it this weekend.

      • VirgiliaCoriolanus says:

        I loved it and I’m a huge fan of the Clooney/Pitt ones. My only criticism would be that there was hardly any suspense about them getting caught. It went a little too smoothly.

  4. Sunny says:

    This is getting tiresome already. C’mon.

    “Wonder Woman” a super-hero movie directed by a woman director and with woman as main and strongest character got amazing reviews, from “white bros” as well. Why? Because it was great movie.

    “Ocean’s 8” is a mediocre generic movie, which yeah is fun to watch one time but that’s it. It’s one-time entertainment, it got reviews it perfectly deserves.

    • A says:

      True.

    • becoo says:

      Yep, and same with the hilarious and female-led Bridesmaids (sitting at 90% Fresh on RT).

    • Aoife says:

      So tiresome. She can’t expect positive reviews for everything she does and find a convenient excuse for bad or mediocre reviews in the identity of the reviewers. I also wish that these all-women reboots would end and make way for brand new original creations by women.

  5. Molly says:

    A lot movies about men, made by men, get subpar reviews and flop or do just ok at BO. I see no point in blaming white male critics when an ok movie with female cast is doing ok critics-wise and BO-wise.

  6. BaronSamedi says:

    Honestly, how would a remake of a story that has had three movies already get better reviews just because it is starring an all-woman cast?

    I am all for frothy lady-fun movies but can we be honest and admit that there just not much substance to that and that simple “OK” review is perfectly acceptable for something that really didn’t take much effort in the first place?

    I see no bullshit in reviewing what is essentiall part 4 in the Ocean’s Franchise as just alright.

  7. mtam says:

    She literally has a new show starting two white dude bros. And any poc i’ve seen on it so far are super light-skinned. The only women on it are either fetishised (the light-skinned indian women) or they’re dumn/vain and model skinny, or they’re bigger women and only there for comedy, or they’re smart but that apparently = a sad, push-over, annoying, dork.

    It’s not all bad. There are some good things that the show handles well, but she’s def not one to talk about not pandering or (creating content palatable enough) for certain (white) audiences, and yes male (given how one-dimensional all the women on it are) audiences.

    I’m so tired of people viewing her as a role model. I really am.

    • Caroline says:

      Mindy is Mindy’s biggest fan. Just ask her.

    • becoo says:

      100% agree. She didn’t do much for representation on TMP, either. Other than her, the only POC I recall being on the main cast of that show was Xosha, who wasn’t even in the first season and was subsequently never given much opportunity to show any aspect of Tamra other than her sassiness, imo. I never viewed MK as an ally wrt diversity.

      • mtam says:

        @Becoo
        Totally. She does about as much for women as someone like Taylor Swift does. Just there for the feminist soundbyte and that’s about it.

        Yet Taylor gets (rightfully) criticized for it, but Mindy gets a pass.

    • Anika says:

      She certainly DOES want to attract the white male gaze, judging from her show. This woman gives me the distinct impression that she herself would prefer to be white, and that she is FAR from an ally of WoC. …Her silly show alone seems evidence of this.

      • mtam says:

        @Anika
        I’ve suspected that for a long time as well. Lightening her skin has done nothing to dissuade me from that assumption either. It’s sad really, she was beautiful just as she was.

  8. Brittany says:

    I can’t figure out what she has done to her face… lip fillers only or something else?

    • Kitten says:

      Lip fillers and I think fillers in her chin.

      • mtam says:

        @Kitten, yeah her chin doesn’t move. it looks hard and droopy.

      • Rita says:

        Coming to the party late and had to look up pics of her in The Office. If she’s happier or more successful socially or career-wise, great. But to me she went from uniquely Bambi-ish to wicked witch of the west.

      • mtam says:

        @Rita
        Lol yeah, it’s the worst chin job i’ve ever seen. It’s such a shame, she was actually pretty. But i’m with you, people can do w.e. plastic/cosmetic procedures they want, if they think it’ll make them happy, and it does, then great.

        I criticize hers though because 1) it’s bad. Like, really bad. It doesn’t look natural at all (at least not when she tries to move her face)

        2) she’s going around saying how confident and happy she is with the way she looks, yet she lightens her skin and gets all that work done, and doesn’t acknowledge it.

        It also bothers me that if it was anyone else, like say Olivia Munn for example, they would be nitpicked about it on a site like this, but Mindy gets a pass and even praise for how she looks now. Which is verging on unrecognizeable and frozen, IMO.

  9. Contessa says:

    Umm ok Mindy. She actually cares very much about what white men want and think considering her show’s writers room was made up of mostly white men and all of her love interests.

    • mtam says:

      @Contessa,
      Exactly, very much so. She’s always catered to white audiences and wants to be seen desirable to the white male gaze.

      If white guys is all she wants to date, w.e that’s her preference. But it’s hypocritical for her to say she doesn’t care about their opinion or that she’s not catering to them, because when it comes to her creating content, it’s a huge part of it.

      I honestly think she’s sad that demographic is criticising this project, her reaction to it sounds defensive to me. She even basically says “hey white guys, watch my shows! trust me you’ll like them”—i mean, she does seek their approval, so i don’t doubt they would. At the very least they will find themselves very well represented on her shows. Cannot say the same about women, especially not ”WOC” (—sidenote: hate the term poc or woc, anyone else bothered by it?)

  10. Shelley says:

    Saw it because of the female leads, it was kinda boring. I couldn’t figure out if it was the script, acting or franchise itself. However, the larger argument is correct, I rely mostly on friends and independent theaters rather than critics to decide which movie to see. Most critics usually can’t relate to international and non-majority films.