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| Image courtesy of metro.co.uk |
I feel like such an idiot for supporting this franchise, expecting something as huge as not killing off Roxy but then believing that they would never stoop as low as they did in terms of blatant sexism. I am getting ahead of myself, and for what it's worth, spoiler warning for Kingsman: The Golden Circle, and you could probably say "Spoilers? You've already just told me that Roxy dies", and to that I say, well she dies within the first 10 minutes and is treated like nothing so it's no spoiler at all.
So it isn't just killing off Roxy immediately that has got my blood boiled, and even the fact that JB the pug is killed in the explosion along with Roxy. Yes, you want the audience to root for Eggsy but it seems absolutely needless to kill off Roxy, it honestly feels like a proper punch in the gut, when she was such a great character and they could have done so much with her. Plus you could say they go after Poppy to avenge Roxy but they don't mention her at all afterwards and for the rest of the movie.
Let's transition to the overall sexism, because what better way than to kill off the sole woman Kingsman agent who we got so much of in the first movie? Ignoring Roxy (Like Matthew Vaughn did) for a moment, how about we move swiftly to the scene in this movie that has gotten everyone talking, and not in a good way. Eggsy goes to a music festival and has to seduce the ex-girlfriend of Charlie and place a tracking device in her for whatever reason, and what results is Eggsy inserting it into her vagina and you see a CGI animation of Eggsy's finger inside her and the device settling in there, using a woman's body as a means to provide comedic value.
Okay so in the first film when Eggsy was offered anal sex by the Swedish princess Tilde, I could chuckle at it since I know it was referencing Moore era Bond, but could understand why people thought it was sexist since Eggsy asked for a kiss after freeing her. Also beforehand, Roxy who had actually won the Kingsman candidate position was sent up to take out one of the villain's satellites whilst Eggsy fought on the ground and got the reward at the end.
I have defended the first film for this, because Eggsy's mum was in an abusive relationship and Eggsy still loves her despite being unable to muster the strength to leave her abusive partner, and Eggsy wants what is best for her and his little half-sister. Because Roxy was never portrayed as playing up to being a woman among a predominantly male environment and infact bonded with Eggsy due to the fact that they were a lower class and a woman among higher class men, and that they broke the trend of the upper class male only agents. Roxy was never overly sexualised, that her make-up was always at a minimum and the only time she wore anything over than trousers was a long and sleeved dress.
So now we are where we are today. Roxy dead within the first ten minutes without even five minutes of screen time after feeding exposition to Eggsy and looking up information on Tilde's parents (Since Eggsy and Tilde are now dating), before being sent to meet her fucking maker. We have an actual fingering scene which Taron Egerton has stated that he did not feel comfortable filming, and also how at the end of the film when Jeff Bridges' Agent Champagne offered the vacated role of Agent Whiskey to Eggsy and Harry, with Halle Berry's Ginger having to beg to be considered. We even had the President of the US' female chief of staff cower in his presence, like it couldn't be more obvious.
Kingsman felt like a great platform to go against stereotypes and with Eggsy being the main character, I felt there was so much potential to utilise these amazing set of characters in such a unique world. I hate how I suckered myself into this and believing with all my heart that they wouldn't stoop this low, and I know all of you are thinking "Well they brought back Harry, they'll bring back Roxy", let me put it this way.
The fact that we have to rely on that, is an absolute joke. Little known fact, Roxy never existed in the Mark Millar comic The Secret Service that Kingsman is loosely based on, and whilst none of the other characters did either, there were characters in the original comic that inspired the movie characters. Gary 'Eggsy' Unwin was Gary 'Eggsy' London, Harry Hart was Eggsy's Uncle Jack, Merlin was Rupert Greaves and Arthur was Sir Giles, but Roxy never had one so they could just not have bothered.
But they did, they created such a great character who was never exemplified, and any effort for me to be noticed here is not so Kingsman becomes the Roxy Morton show, but to treat this character with some respect and to treat the audience with some respect. I say that not only because the cult following that made Kingsman what it is, but also because in this world of Kingsman to be suckered into any sort of emotional investment with character deaths to only bring them back will lose its tension. It is a lose lose situation if they choose to bring back Roxy, JB and Merlin in the same way they brought back Harry and even Charlie for fuck sake!
But at least with Harry and Merlin, their characters have been fleshed out and I could understand why they killed Harry off in the first Kingsman, and Merlin in the second although be it to a lesser extent. Roxy is killed immediately and swept under the rug, she never had the time to develop and what is even more insulting is that if they had not killed her, she may very well have been reduced to being the one behind the computer (Like she pretty much was before she was fried) a lot like what Ginger was. Despite the fact that she won the test to become a Kingsman field agent.
Shelving Roxy so we get more Tilde too, ey? Oh if it puts things into perspective, the Twitter account @EgertonUpdates put out a poll asking who everyone's favourite Kingsman duo alongside Eggsy was, out of Harry, Merlin, Roxy and Tilde. 62% voted Harry, myself and 20% voted for Roxy and 18% voted for Merlin. Add that up in your head (or on a calculator) to work out what percentage voted for Tilde.
If it wasn't bad enough, Tilde is constantly pushed as a main character so much and whilst I was onboard with Tilde going against the Bond trope of throwaway girls to have sex with and not think about again, it becomes overbearing to think that they shelved Roxy for her. According to an article I am looking at, she apparently nags Eggsy and tries to distract him, and at the end, this was the cherry on the cake, they marry and Eggsy retires from Kingsman.
The first movie was all about making something of yourself, so for Eggsy to become a Swedish prince and retire from the Kingsman completely undoes all of that.
Fuck Kingsman: The Golden Circle and fuck Matthew Vaughn for ruining the Kingsman franchise, steering it in the worst direction, never expected to say that at the start of this year. I know I've been foaming from the mouth but this shit meant so much to me, and I feel like an absolute idiot for supporting the franchise. I know for a fact that I probably won't have any effect since the movie was released last weekend and it has already made its production budget back.
But for what it is worth, I want to see Roxy back and if I was in a perfect world, to undo all that Golden Circle did but beggars cannot be choosers. The fact that I had to do this is infuriating, but I created a petition which as of now has 120 supporters, and I will never shut up about it until I have an effect. Link to my petition here: https://www.change.org/p/matthew-vaughn-bring-back-roxy-in-kingsman
If anything, I'd really want to see Vaughn ousted from his own franchise as I believe he is irredeemable and indefensible, but it won't happen. Fuck me right? Getting so invested in these characters to only be told "Fuck you", who to trust other than myself? I guess it's better to be deluded and live in your own little world where people have basic decency.
Roxy deserved better. The Kingsman cult following deserved better. We made this franchise as beloved as it was, but I guess expecting these characters to be expanded upon and treating women with respect was too much to ask for the Kingsman franchise. I am just exhausted, I have shed too many tears because of Roxy and this movie infuriates me. I was the biggest Kingsman fan and the fact that I have condemned it as much as I have should speak volumes to you. I'll be betting all my money and all my body parts that Ginger will be killed off in Kingsman 3.
That will be all. Fuck Kingsman.
Luca.
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