sausage party disaster

[benjipwns]

http://www.autostraddle.com/we-messed-up-348709/

We heard from readers who were upset that we labeled the taco a lesbian when it seems more likely that she was bisexual.

We heard from readers who questioned the consent of the sexual encounter between the taco and the hot dog bun.

heather: Salma Hayek Is a Surprisingly Endearing Lesbian Taco in “Sausage Party”
how’s that [headline]?
i can’t see how a latina woman voicing a lesbian taco in a seth rogen movie could ever be a good thing, but this review says it is nuanced and sweet
riese: is the reviewer white
heather: i don’t know
a lot of reviewers are talking about how this is a really nuanced allegory about theology and faith? that feels so impossible.
will someone else read the sausage party post? i have made the few edits it needed for readability, but i feel uneasy because i haven’t seen it and it is a latina lesbian taco falling in love with a hot dog bun
Yvonne: lol i can read it
heather: thank you
[….]
Yvonne: i think it’s fine heather! i think i wouldn’t watch the movie because it’s in the category of movies i hate and i hope our readers can make that distinction for themselves. and it’s not like we’re endorsing this movie, just pointing out there’s a lesbian taco
heather: okay!
Yvonne: maybe we should include the trailer in there?
i had to go find it
and judge for myself
and was like oh eww
heather: i hope it’s not transmisogynistic. i went through ten pages of google results and tumblr and didn’t see anything about transphobia or transmisogyny
Yvonne: true
like if i think about it, of course i hate that they resorted to a stereotype, like making salma hayek use her accent for the voice of a taco but like this is seth rogan so my feelings are like :face_with_rolling_eyes:
heather: yeah, that makes sense!
Yvonne: do you think think the last paragraph is like an exaggeration? or does this fall into the thing of someone has an opinion different from yours type of deal?
Heather: i think the second thing. i mean, i don’t think it’s going to actually encourage queer rep in movies aimed at younger people; i don’t think that’s a thing that will happen at all. but i do think she’s right that having an animated lesbian character to sympathize with in a summer blockbuster aimed at the people who will pay money to see this is a big deal.
Yvonne: ok!
heather: also i wonder if the taco is bisexual
i can’t believe i am having this much of a crisis about this!
Yvonne: i get it though!
because sausage party is crass
heather: yes
Yvonne: like people in our community can critique the hell out of it
and pick it apart
heather: yes
Yvonne: because it’s meant for stupid fucking men
heather: yes!
thank you, yes
that is my feelings exactly
Yvonne: and it’s not meant for us
and we don’t need more media like it in this world
because that is the world
Heather: no!
we do not!
i have lost my mind, thanks a lot taco movie
Yvonne: hahahahaha
i had no idea this was a movie!
heather: i wish i didn’t
Yvonne: a summer blockbuster even
heather: i’ll bet it’s so gross
Yvonne: for sure
so lewd

First and most damning: we allowed a non-Latina writer to cover a story about a caricature of a Latina

I want to personally apologize to every reader who was hurt by the Sausage Party review. I failed you as a senior editor of this website and I failed you as an ally. I am wholly sorry for the pain and anger I caused you. I offer you no justification. I was blinded by my own whiteness existing inside a system of white supremacy. I must do better. I will do better.

I was wrong for not stopping this immediately, especially when it deeply effects my own people. I’m a Latina and I’m also susceptible to the racist, oppressive system we live in. I know how incredibly challenging it is to find genuine Latinx representations in media and I’m sorry I was a disservice to Latinxs by not demanding better. These aren’t our stories and we deserve better. I’m deeply shamed by this deplorable mistake and I will definitely learn from this and make sure I can provide the best representation for people of color going forward.

http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2016/08/15/sausage_party_is_about_if_our_food_had_feelings_uh_i_have_bad_news_about.html

But you know what else is a little messed up? The fact that some of our food actually has feelings, because it was once alive, and that Sausage Party doesn’t acknowledge this. The movie makes no distinction between foods that come from animals—creatures with brains and a capacity for pain—and foods that come from plants.

The ethnic stereotypes are a lot more blaring than the fact that the movie has a gaping plot hole where the hot dogs’ backstory should be.

this is the best movie since ghostbusters

[Tasty]

I enjoyed the movie

[benjipwns]

I enjoyed the movie

enough with the over the top gay shtick andy

[Joe Molotov]

so lewd

[toku]

I enjoyed the movie

And you have the audacity to question the cinematic work of Zack Snyder?

 

[zomgee]

I wonder if half the reason the movie got made was so the producers could laugh at the reviews.

[Tasty]

I enjoyed the movie

And you have the audacity to question the cinematic work of Zack Snyder?

 

I was more entertained by the food orgy at the end than for any single second of Man of Steel or BvS.

[toku]

You will always be on the wrong side.

[Tasty]

You will always be on the wrong side.

For bashing Snyder?

[I'm a Puppy!]

Toku, going in with defending Snyder is not a position that is ultimately tenable

[Am_I_Anonymous]

I thought this thread was about the bore Vegas meet up

[toku]

Toku, going in with defending Snyder is not a position that is ultimately tenable

When I die on this hill, remember me for my anime gifs.

[VomKriege]

*Reading the OP*

Don't want to live on this planet anymore.

[benjipwns]

And you have the audacity to question the cinematic work of Zack Snyder?

 

are those reviewers white

[Great Rumbler]

what

[Am_I_Anonymous]

what

I have to concur. Benji normally is an interesting read but that shit above is

Walrus jack his account?

[Tasty]

I thought this thread was about the bore Vegas meet up

That's next week brah, and it'll be anything but a disaster.

[Am_I_Anonymous]

I thought this thread was about the bore Vegas meet up

That's next week brah, and it'll be anything but a disaster.

Says the one pickle aficionado in a room full of donut lovers 

[Tasty]

I thought this thread was about the bore Vegas meet up

That's next week brah, and it'll be anything but a disaster.

Says the one pickle aficionado in a room full of donut lovers 

Given enough alcohol anyone can dig the pickle breh.

[thisismyusername]

I thought this thread was about the bore Vegas meet up

That's next week brah, and it'll be anything but a disaster.

Says the one pickle aficionado in a room full of donut lovers 

  Don't even equate the glory that is donuts to vagina. You'd be better with comparing that to Arby's.

[seagrams hotsauce]

I've come to realize that I don't understand and probably won't ever really understand how, why and what when it comes to critiquing social issues in dumb entertainment anymore.

When Transformers had those robots as black caricatures? Yep, clear as day. Everything in I Now Pronounce you Chuck and Larry? Yeah, it was pretty bad even though the movie is horrible regardless. Debating a Taco's sexuality in a Seth Rogen movie about food and wondering if it was transmisogyistic? I'm tapping out.

To be fair, the linked site has no presence and from the comments it caters to the competitively tolerant. There's no larger outcry outside of sites who's editors 'look through ten pages of tumblr' to see people are taking issue with the topic at hand, or if it's safe to write about.

Their 'we only let people write about people that look like them' policy is hilarious though, and also a maddening affront to art in general

[chronovore]

I assume those reviewers /also/ have tumblrs, but they're in a nonexclusive relationship.

[thisismyusername]

I was watching an 18+ Adam Sandler movie than it was watching Seth Rogen movie.

...So you were watching a Seth Rogen movie, then?

[brob]

only thing i've heard about this film is that they stiffed a bunch of animators on pay and/or credit, and lots of people are clowning on the gay taco on twitter. Gonna go out on a limb and say the Aqua Teen Hunger Force Movie skit about concession food is way better than anything in this film.

[Vertigo]

I've come to realize that I don't understand and probably won't ever really understand how, why and what when it comes to critiquing social issues in dumb entertainment anymore.

When Transformers had those robots as black caricatures? Yep, clear as day. Everything in I Now Pronounce you Chuck and Larry? Yeah, it was pretty bad even though the movie is horrible regardless. Debating a Taco's sexuality in a Seth Rogen movie about food and wondering if it was transmisogyistic? I'm tapping out.

I actually read the entire article and thought it was parody.

[Olivia Wilde Homo]

Eventually people will come to the conclusion that just because something is posted on the internet doesn't mean it is worth discussing.

[Rufus]

They do. But they're instantly replaced by the next generation who come with their own set of conditioned responses.

[benjipwns]

Their 'we only let people write about people that look like them' policy is hilarious though, and also a maddening affront to art in general

The conversation they posted as an inside look of their editorial process is amazing.

Also:

We passed around a sign-up sheet and offered our staff writers and editors the chance to review individual episodes of [Orange is the New Black].

My main priorities in our OITNB coverage were: 1) Making sure the majority of our reviews were written by women of color. And 2) Making sure any writer who shared an identity with an episode’s feature character had first dibs on writing about that episode.

...

I personally edited every review so I could make sure the opinions voiced by our white writers were in line with the voices of Black writers I was seeking out every day for their opinions on every episode. I am really proud of the diversity of voices we showcased in our 13-episode review schedule.

[Sausage]

Can't wait to see this one

[Positive Touch]

Benji quit playing in the trash

[zomgee]

The conversation they posted as an inside look of their editorial process is amazing.

That was my take away as well.

[PlayDat]

Weeks later, I finally came across this article (Not the Slate one.  Ever since they put up their paywall I've been a lot more careful about opening their links.  Not gonna spend one of my clicks on this topic.) elsewhere and remembered this thread.  It's hard to discuss properly without having the original review up for context.  I've gained a lot of respect for people who leave their blunders up for all to see.  We live in an era where people who used to like you will throw you in the bushes over four year old tweets.  Instead of just deleting it, I'd appreciate if they added a disclaimer like Warner Brothers did for the racist shit in Tom & Jerry when they started streaming it on various services.  Leaving a record more clearly represent the ways you've grown over time than an apology could by itself.  The apology is nice though and I've definitely deleted old stuff I posted online as a teen because of how wrongheaded I was. 

Aside from Autostraddle's retraction, all I know of Sausage Party was some YouTube pre-roll ads.  It looked like trash, so I declined when some acquaintances where gathering folks to see it.  I get why the matter may seem trivial to most, but I don't view it that way at all.  Yes, the premise of the movie was supposed to be silly, but that doesn't excuse it from social critique.  I’m glad the site took their reader’s complaints seriously.  For obvious(ly awful) reasons there aren’t many depictions of queer women of color in popular media.  Of the few we get, only a small subset of them aren’t negative.  In the real word gender, sexuality, and race intersect more often than not.  I won’t fault the editors for giving such attention to these implications.  Are they handling things perfectly? Of course not.  The post is titled “We Messed Up” for a reason.  I chuckled through that Slack exchange about as much as the participants did.  They’re still figuring things out.  Maybe you don’t have to share the identity of the characters in the movie to review it, but I think Heather and Riese are taking the right step by acknowledging how being cis and white impacts their perspectives.

tl;dr Even “dumb” entertainment plays a role in how people view the underprivileged.  If those depictions are harmful then it’s only right to inform creators and audiences.