Mainstream Catfights... What happened?

[jaybee]

But let me pose this question to the younger members of this forum:  Do you find today's movie catfights, or as I call them "slugfests" arousing?   This is your paradigm, your reality, where do you stand? 

I don't think they are intended to be arousing anymore.  They are expressions of female power to show women can do everything as well as a man.  This is not to say that nobody nowhere is turned on by them.  Just that is no longer their intention which is why it is no longer sexy.  It isn't that I am bothered by this in movies at all.  I am bothered when a 115 lbs  woman kicks the but of 6 equally skilled and experienced 225 lbs soldiers in 30 seconds.  But it is a definite shift that I don't think we are ever coming back from.

The fact that we can't have both is what sucks. We should be able to have female "slugfests" , and martial arts brawls as well as the sexy roll around Catfights, it's the all or nothing thing that pisses me off.

[maine516]

Hey Bear, you should give Brussel Sprouts another shot.  I strongly disliked them when I was younger but then years ago I had them in a soup in restaurant and they were surprisingly pretty good.  You have to serve them up steamed with a little butter and some garlic salt.  Try it.  Our tastes, just like the times, evolve.

[Bry-]

It's not just catfights. You can no longer see normal fights on TV, period. Now everybody's gotta be a jacked martial artist with 10 cuts per second fights with punches that can kill a cow. I've kind of grown bored the fights in all the new movies.

[clark85]

It's not just catfights. You can no longer see normal fights on TV, period. Now everybody's gotta be a jacked martial artist with 10 cuts per second fights with punches that can kill a cow. I've kind of grown bored the fights in all the new movies.

Ironically, on Cobra Kai, even though Tory and Sam actually know martial arts, their fights end up being psychological and physical catfights.

Even on the Acolyte the fight between Jecki and Mae degenerated into a roll around.  It was short but interesting

[Tangocash1234]

A fantastic and insightful thread.

For those of us who enjoy the traditional sexy choreographed film catfights we are in limbo. Mainstream film fights between women are mostly hyper kinetic slug fests rather than sexy feminine grappling. Whilst those from existing specialist producers don't generally have the budget, performers or film craft to recreate the old fashioned catfight look.

I would pay good money for a company to produce say 10 minute short films, featuring a short story line, good acting culminating in sexy, well choreographed catfight. Historically California Wildcats came closest but not to commercial film standard.

I think the future will be AI generated realistic animations - I seen some interesting experiments online using LUMA which hint at amazing possibilities.

[JT Edson]

A fantastic and insightful thread.

For those of us who enjoy the traditional sexy choreographed film catfights we are in limbo. Mainstream film fights between women are mostly hyper kinetic slug fests rather than sexy feminine grappling. Whilst those from existing specialist producers don't generally have the budget, performers or film craft to recreate the old fashioned catfight look.

I would pay good money for a company to produce say 10 minute short films, featuring a short story line, good acting culminating in sexy, well choreographed catfight. Historically California Wildcats came closest but not to commercial film standard.

I think the future will be AI generated realistic animations - I seen some interesting experiments online using LUMA which hint at amazing possibilities.

Tangocash1234,

I agree with you on all points.

[Tangocash1234]

Examples of what the future might hold using LUMA and similar software...


https://x.com/nabuhero/status/1806973213554937931

https://x.com/nabuhero/status/1807279411995328958

[Mr. Cavalier]

I was just coming here to post something similar. I just got Tubi and went to look for catfight movies. 2 popped up. "Lady Bloodfist" and "Fight Valley". Lady Bloodfist is an American girl goes to Hong Kong and gets involved in the fights foe money circuit. Most of the movie is these women getting the crap beaten out of them by men, or beating the crap out of men. Nothing I want to see. Many beautiful girls, but wasted.

[clark85]

Examples of what the future might hold using LUMA and similar software...


https://x.com/nabuhero/status/1806973213554937931

https://x.com/nabuhero/status/1807279411995328958

Very interesting

[animecfights]

It's a combination of the implementation of the Bechdel Test as well as the shaming of "the male gaze" that has reduced catfights in modern entertainment into martial arts snoozefest.

I think it is a combination of 3 things:

1)  Catfights are no longer sexy enough to get our attention.  In the 80's and 90's, catfights were just about the sexiest thing you could possibly see on TV or in a movie.  Now porn is so pervasive it is practically everywhere.  And not just Playboy kind of Porn.  Everything under the sun is just a google search away.
2)  Women are running much of Hollywood.  Either directly or indirectly they have the power to kill a movie if it doesn't reflect the themes they insist on.  Either they think all women are like them who would never fight over anything or they feel women need to be elevated to positions of power in every film just like they should be in Hollywood.  I think they are a bit confused though.  They keep trying to make movies and shows that were intended for Guys appealing to women and they think by adding powerful female characters who can fight as well or better than the men that women will like the movies.  For example, the near death experience of the Star Wars Franchise under Kathleen Kennedy.  Or the Chick Power scene in Avengers Endgame.  It is about as dumb as adding gunfights to Romantic Comedies thinking that will bring in a bigger male audience.
3)  Men have been trained to be uncomfortable by anything that might turn us on.  Even something mildly tittlating as a catfight during our movie or TV show makes us nervous that we are going to be accussed of being sexists pigs... again.  And women are in the strange position of being in charge of making sure we aren't turned on by anything... which means if there is a Program that has a catfight and they hear about it... they are obligated by society to make sure it never finds our TV set.  Society demands it or they are not women.

As far as the future, I think this niche will slowly be relegated to history.  Something they laugh about when they watch soap operas from the 90's.  I don't see it springing back anytime soon anyway.