Regarding the reception of Ilsa's death, what personally upsets me about it is that by refusing to interact with it on a story level (ie blaming McQ's misogyny, saying that it's just fridging), people completely miss out on the thematic richness of the movie, and how much that death influences that.
It's a pity that people aren't giving them any credit for the story because they focus on that part of it, so thank you for talking about it!
(Sorry, not really a question!)
(heads up this is gonna be a bitchy post!)
Yeah I am to a point that I'm becoming actively annoyed at the discussion around DR1 because I walked out of that movie both times like "I cannot BELIEVE what they're doing here with the IMF, with the ethos of the movies, I can't wait for ppl to get over their shock over Ilsa's death and actually think about the point"
and that has just not happened and it's so boring. To watch DR1 and go "i hate this movie bc Ilsa's death was pointless" and to keep thinking that even after you've cooled off is imo a media literacy failure. like, DID WE FUCKING WATCH THE SAME MOVIE?
did anyone else see Ethan's introduction to the movie, where he gets to play an elder member of this organization basically inducting and welcoming someone into the fold with a distant kindness?
did anyone else see how the Entity affects the entire western intelligence community and cements them as the villain while the IMF are fighting to maintain basic free will?
did anyone notice the purposeful contrasts, how everyone swayed by the Entity's potential power exist in flashy ultra modern sets while Ethan's team live in the warm shadows of old abandoned buildings?
how about the return of Kittridge, the spectre of history and obligation cast over everyone?
HOW ABOUT REFASHIONING THE MYTHOS OF THE IMF INTO A "CHOICE" EXPLICITLY MAKING ALL OF THESE PEOPLE SELF-SELECTING AGENTS OF OUTRAGEOUS ALTRUISM. I'm sorry but how the fuck are people not losing their fucking minds over the fact Christopher fucking McQuarrie has been building on this IDEA since Ghost Protocol, that Ethan Hunt doesn't believe in the trolley problem, that if you present him with a trolley problem he will try to kill himself pushing the trolley off the tracks, there are no acceptable losses even in the face of nuclear armageddon, and they made it fucking CANON
and then they made Luther and Benji go "well yeah that's the IMF, we all chose to be this kind of batshit fanatical to the preservation of life"
Ilsa died OPTING INTO THAT. she was never IMF, she was a loner who occasionally fell into the orbit of Ethan and co, and rather than leaving it up to Ethan to make a choice, she walks open-eyed to save a woman she doesn't even know because why would that matter do you get it yet, we're talking about themes here
I'm just. I get it. Or I got it. For the first few weeks after DR1 came out, ppl were sad that Ilsa died
but now that we are this far out from it and people are still saying "her death was pointless", my patience is done. you failed to read the movie. which pisses me off because i am super into what this movie, this franchise, is trying to say!
anyway yeah my name is arcturus, i love ilsa faust, and i love that she died because her death fucking meant something /jazzhands