Subway Tagger Zings Jack the Giant Slayer

If you don't know much about New York City - specifically, us long-time natives, as opposed to some of the transplants who just don't quite get the vibe of this town - we tend to have an openness to us. We feel invited, in general, to talk to our fellow city-dwellers, and to comment on the things that we see around us.

Contrary to popular opinion, it doesn't come from a sense of superiority, but rather from a sense that we're all equal enough to give each other a hard time or to feel free speaking to our fellow men and women. It usually comes from a positive place, although you might get called out for things you do, and in a less-than-pleasant way.

I have to appreciate the sense of humor displayed by the random person who marked up the poster for Jack the Giant Slayer. It's extremely succinct - 3 words, no curses - avoids juvenile humor, and I do agree with what it points out:

Damn, son, most people just draw breasts, mustaches, glasses or devil's horns onto a poster. Most people don't actually take the time to critique any aspect of the poster they're defacing, much less to make a point that's so freaking apt.

Now, this movie was a box-office flop, and though I don't measure success that way, it wasn't well-received critically, either. I don't know what it's failings are, but I can say this: these sorts of old folk tales are the perfect place to give out some roles to minorities, for a change.

These old stories are not like Harry Potter, wherein the characters are closely described so that you know who's Asian, or black, or Indian. There are so many female and non-white actors that audiences should be seeing far more often than they do now. For some reason, however, Hollywood barely seems to think that general audiences will be interested in anything other than a white male lead. And then the female- and minority-centric works that they do produce frequently fall way short of being satisfying.