Why All The Megan Fox Hate?
It's barely three months since "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" crapped itself onto movie screens all over America, and already people want to declare the end of the Megan Fox fad. They talk about how she wasn't funny on Saturday Night Live. They talk about disappointing box office numbers for Jennifer's Body." They talk about how she doesn't say very smart things when she talks.
Most of all, they talk about how it's getting exhausting to hear about her every day. Google "Megan Fox afraid of the dark" and you get more than 59,000 results. Do the same with "Megan Fox doesn't like paper" and you get 394,000,000. 394 MILLION! And these aren't random quotes from extended interviews, either. The headlines actually read "Megan Fox is Afraid of the Dark" and "Megan Fox Hates the Touch of Paper."
It's easy to see how this might get a little annoying, but here's the thing: It isn't Megan Fox's fault. Reporters are going to approach her. If she were to blow them off, she'd be crucified for it. So she talks to them. She tells them inane, meaningless details that no one should care about, much less report. Somehow, these things still get reported, and the next day everyone's walking around wondering why Megan Fox can't stay off the news.
She can't stay off the news because the media insists on putting her there. It's not hard to see why - she might be the single hottest woman on this planet, and if there's one thing society's obsessed with, it's physical beauty. The flip-side of that coin, however, is that we envy the beautiful as much as we idolize them. We don't want them to be as perfect as they seem. That's why no one complains about Megan Fox's pictures, even though everyone's quick to point out how stupid/arrogant/immature she sounds in her interviews. It's a way to bring her back down to an acceptable level.
The sad thing about it is that Megan Fox doesn't say any more stupid things than the average person. In fact, most of what she says either a) makes sense or b) is sarcasm that cannot be adequately captured in print.
Running through some of her quotes, what has she said that's actually so dumb? She said that Transformers wasn't a movie about acting. Damn right. She said that being a sex symbol can be powerful if it's harnessed correctly. Again, right. She said that she's psychotic, bordering on insane, and that if she could tap into it she'd probably give an amazing performance. That's part sarcasm, part probably right.
Of course, when everything that she says gets reported, some less-than-stellar moments are going to come out. Her whole bit on bisexuality is confusing at best, and her weird call-out of Scarlett Johansson was petty and immature. That doesn't mean that she's chronically stupid, just that some things she says don't make a whole lot of sense. That's true of everybody, except that most people don't have all their ramblings broadcast to the rest of the world.
Whether or not the criticism is justified, the fact remains that it's out there, and so the pressing issue for Megan Fox now has to be changing minds. This means evolving from mere eye candy to being an actual actress, and showing her critics that she's more than a body and face. Though it might be true that she doesn't have the talent to pull it off, she at least deserves a chance to try, because what evidence is there so far either way? You can't judge her acting based on "Transformers," because her only responsibility in that role was to look hot. The same goes for 'Jennifer's Body.' She hasn't done any movies that have required her to act, so how can anyone say she can't do it?
Case in point: Did anyone imagine that Marlon Wayans could act before "Requiem For A Dream? " Did anyone take Jake Gyllenhaal that seriously before "Brokeback Mountain?" Who was Jamie Foxx before Ray?
What Megan Fox really needs to do is make better choices about the movies she stars in. Transformers was a good choice. "Transformers 2," not so much, but let's consider that an honest mistake since no one could have imagined it would be as bad as it was. "Jennifer's Body" was totally inexcusable, and that's the kind of decision that Megan Fox needs to stop making immediately.
Actors who give good performances in good movies can be as weird as they want, say whatever they want, and damn near do whatever they want. Russell Crowe attacked someone with a telephone - that story went away pretty fast. Christian Bale lost his mind on the set of "Terminator Salvation" - no one makes much of that anymore. Jude Law constantly acts like a selfish, immature man-whore, but he doesn't get even half the hate that Megan Fox does. That's because he is a good actor, and he stars in good movies.
If Megan Fox can do the same thing, the current criticism will stop. If she can't, the cries will get louder. Either way, she deserves the chance to prove herself in an actual role before being dismissed. Until then, all the hate is just a petty, knee-jerk reaction based on nothing but envy and low self-esteem.
Source: Starpulse
