# "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo" -- anyone seeing it? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 21, 2011, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-girl-with-the-dragon-tattoo-anyone-seeing-it/606951 "2011-12-21T15:04:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2011, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-girl-with-the-dragon-tattoo-anyone-seeing-it/606951/41 "2011-12-23T02:04:53Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > Good on you for arguing against something that no one said! Keep on fighting the good fight! Skipped [this post](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=14593984&postcount=32) I assume? ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2011, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-girl-with-the-dragon-tattoo-anyone-seeing-it/606951/42 "2011-12-23T03:06:53Z")
> [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > Skipped [this post](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=14593984&postcount=32) I assume? No, I read that post, just like I read all the others in this thread. Nothing in that post coincides with the things you are arguing against. **Equipoise** didn’t say that Lisbeth was here to show everyone what a real woman was like, that she was “original” or any of the other things you argue against. ETA: Lisbeth is not the “gimmick” here; she’s the main character. The things she goes thru are not just the plot of the book, they are the central theme that Larrson was writing about. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2011, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-girl-with-the-dragon-tattoo-anyone-seeing-it/606951/43 "2011-12-23T03:12:05Z")
I knew I was going to miss the edit window if I tried to jam this into the previous post, so here it is: [ > [@](#): > > **When Larsson was 15 years old, he witnessed the gang rape of a girl, which led to his lifelong abhorrence of violence and abuse against women. His longtime partner, Eva Gabrielsson, writes that this incident “marked him for life” in a chapter of her book that describes Larsson as a feminist. The author never forgave himself for failing to help the girl, and this inspired the themes of sexual violence against women in his books.** According to Gabrielsson, the Millennium trilogy allowed Larsson to express a worldview he was never able to elucidate as a journalist. She described, with a great deal of specificity, how the fundamental narratives of his three books were essentially fictionalized portraits of the Sweden few people knew, a place where latent white supremacy found expression in all aspects of contemporary life, and antiextremists lived in persistent fear of attack. “Everything of this nature described in the Millennium trilogy has happened at one time or another to a Swedish citizen, journalist, politician, public prosecutor, unionist or policeman,” she writes. “Nothing was made up.” ]([Stieg Larsson - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stieg_Larsson)) ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2011, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-girl-with-the-dragon-tattoo-anyone-seeing-it/606951/44 "2011-12-23T03:32:51Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > ETA: Lisbeth is not the “gimmick” here; she’s the main character. The things she goes thru are not just the plot of the book, they are the central theme that Larrson was writing about. I know all about Larsson’s desire to see rapists and killers punished, but Lisbeth is still a cartoon. She’s a superhacker with a photographic memory, ninja skills, and a killer right hook. She’s also covered in tattoos, sports a mohawk, and is bisexual. This fits right in with Blomqvist the superjournalist who prints a niche magazine that somehow pushes him into the national spotlight every few months and all women are drawn to his animal magnetism and drop their clothes quickly and often (including Lisbeth!). Like I said, the movies were great, but realistic characters they did not have. And Equipoise’s post pretty clearly shows her having been pulled in by the “Lisbeth is super special” brigade. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2011, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-girl-with-the-dragon-tattoo-anyone-seeing-it/606951/45 "2011-12-23T03:57:20Z")
> [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > This fits right in with Blomqvist the superjournalist who prints a niche magazine that somehow pushes him into the national spotlight every few months and all women are drawn to his animal magnetism and drop their clothes quickly and often (including Lisbeth!). By “all women” I suppose you mean Erika and Lisbeth, since they are the only 2 women he sleeps with in all 3 of the movies. :dubious: > [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > I know all about Larsson’s desire to see rapists and killers punished, but Lisbeth is still a cartoon. She’s a superhacker with a photographic memory, ninja skills, and a killer right hook. She’s also covered in tattoos, sports a mohawk, and is bisexual. You must have seen a different movie. I saw no “ninja skills” on display from any of the characters. Killer right hook? I don’t remember that. So we’re left with a hacker with a photographic memory with lots of tats and a mohawk who is bisexual. So what? I know at least 3 women who fit this description, although 2 of them have areas of technical expertise that don’t include hacking. Oh, and one likes to dye her hair purple, not black. By your definition, nearly every movie character ever is a “cartoon”. And I still stand by what I wrote: you argue against things no one has said: there was no post that said Lisbeth was “original” or “some special snowflake that is here to show all the other literary characters what a real woman is like”. There were posts that praised Lisbeth as a strong character, and a notable one, but that’s it. Again, tho, thanks for shaking your fist at the sky; I’m sure we all appreciate the effort you’re putting into that. ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2011, 6:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-girl-with-the-dragon-tattoo-anyone-seeing-it/606951/46 "2011-12-23T06:32:43Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > Again, tho, thanks for shaking your fist at the sky; I’m sure we all appreciate the effort you’re putting into that. I know I do. I can usually count on Justin to follow me around and tell me where I’ve gone wrong. What would I do without him? He completes me. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2011, 6:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-girl-with-the-dragon-tattoo-anyone-seeing-it/606951/47 "2011-12-23T06:39:21Z")
> [@Equipoise](#): > > I know I do. I can usually count on Justin to follow me around and tell me where I’ve gone wrong. What would I do without him? He completes me. It’s a satisfying relationship on my end too. ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2011, 10:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-girl-with-the-dragon-tattoo-anyone-seeing-it/606951/48 "2011-12-23T10:07:50Z")
My husband is starting to become suspicious though. ---
**Author:** ![Floater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/dc4da7/32.png) [@Floater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Floater)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2011, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-girl-with-the-dragon-tattoo-anyone-seeing-it/606951/49 "2011-12-23T13:00:21Z")
> [@Odesio](#): > > I saw the Dutch film … Dutch? > [@BlankSlate](#): > > Will this be three films like the Swedish trilogy or just the one? > [@Equipoise](#): > > Three. Fincher will film 2&3 at the same time. Maybe it’s decided now, but from the beginning it depended on the outcome of the first one. Anyroad,. I haven’t read the books and I rarely go to the cinema. In which order should I read and watch? ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2011, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-girl-with-the-dragon-tattoo-anyone-seeing-it/606951/50 "2011-12-23T16:13:14Z")
> [@Floater](#): > > Anyroad,. I haven’t read the books and I rarely go to the cinema. In which order should I read and watch? Well, since it’s really one story arc, you should probably read/watch them in order: _The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo_ _The Girl Who Played With Fire_ _The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet’s Nest_ ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2011, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-girl-with-the-dragon-tattoo-anyone-seeing-it/606951/51 "2011-12-23T16:23:13Z")
> [@Odesio](#): > > I saw the Dutch film and don’t see any compelling reason to watch the new version. I enjoyed the first movie, but it’s a very plot driven mystery and I already know the plot and the mystery. There was a Dutch version? 😕 Do you mean Swedish? ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Rieux](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@Dr.Rieux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Rieux)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2011, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-girl-with-the-dragon-tattoo-anyone-seeing-it/606951/52 "2011-12-23T20:09:01Z")
Saw it yesterday. Loved it. Strangely, the only part I found gratuitous and over the top was what happened to Cat. The books are now at the top of reading list for January. ---
**Author:** ![chiroptera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@chiroptera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chiroptera)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2011, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-girl-with-the-dragon-tattoo-anyone-seeing-it/606951/53 "2011-12-23T23:20:30Z")
I’m seeing this on Christmas day with a friend who has not read the books (I have). She asked if she should speed-read the trilogy before seeing the movie - but I read an interview with the director, and apparently he’s deviating from, or omitting, several of the book’s major plot points. I told my friend not to bother reading first, and I’m thoroughly looking forward to the movie. ---
**Author:** ![Taomist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/53a042/32.png) [@Taomist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Taomist)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2011, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-girl-with-the-dragon-tattoo-anyone-seeing-it/606951/54 "2011-12-24T03:07:02Z")
> [@Floater](#): > > Dutch? > > Maybe it’s decided now, but from the beginning it depended on the outcome of the first one. Well that’s disappointing, considering 1. It’s a violent film being released near Christmas: not exactly great timing, and 2. It’s barely been advertised. I bet it closes out of every theater it opens in within 3 weeks. Maybe it’s just this area \ but I don’t see the support supposedly needed for 2 and 3 coming from sales on this opening. I do hope I’m wrong, though 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![slm2955](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c6cbf5/32.png) [@slm2955](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slm2955)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2011, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-girl-with-the-dragon-tattoo-anyone-seeing-it/606951/55 "2011-12-24T03:28:19Z")
Although I never read the book, I heard it was really good. So I might go see it! ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2011, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-girl-with-the-dragon-tattoo-anyone-seeing-it/606951/56 "2011-12-24T05:32:35Z")
Barely been advertised? You kidding? There are trailers for it on TV all the time and there were many big promos during popular shows. There are ads for it all over New York City and H&M even released a whole clothing line based on the film! ---
**Author:** ![Taomist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/53a042/32.png) [@Taomist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Taomist)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2011, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-girl-with-the-dragon-tattoo-anyone-seeing-it/606951/57 "2011-12-24T05:38:29Z")
> [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](#): > > Barely been advertised? You kidding? There are trailers for it on TV all the time and there were many big promos during popular shows. There are ads for it all over New York City and H&M even released a whole clothing line based on the film! Really? I have seen an ad on tv a couple of times, and a trailer in the theater once. Maybe I just don’t watch the right tv! Regardless, I am happy to be wrong 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Declan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecae2f/32.png) [@Declan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Declan)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2011, 6:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-girl-with-the-dragon-tattoo-anyone-seeing-it/606951/58 "2011-12-24T06:57:13Z")
> [@chiroptera](#): > > I’m seeing this on Christmas day with a friend who has not read the books (I have). She asked if she should speed-read the trilogy before seeing the movie - but I read an interview with the director, and apparently he’s deviating from, or omitting, several of the book’s major plot points. Its not that the swedish movies omitted anything, but in saying that they stayed truthful to the books is a bit of an understatement. Of the multiple story arcs in Dragon Tattoo, they stayed faithful the the lisbeth Salander story, with a lesser sideline story of the missing girl. Every other story aspect got a cameo appearance, but nothing much more than that. So if the American version deviates from the books somewhat, they are only doing what the swedes did first. Declan ---
**Author:** ![voguevixen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5ac83/32.png) [@voguevixen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voguevixen)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2011, 9:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-girl-with-the-dragon-tattoo-anyone-seeing-it/606951/59 "2011-12-24T09:29:52Z")
I found the book disgusting, so, no. But I admit the trailer is masterful. ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2011, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-girl-with-the-dragon-tattoo-anyone-seeing-it/606951/60 "2011-12-24T16:45:05Z")
How many times are you going to reply in this thread to say you found books disgusting? You said the same thing just a few posts back. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-girl-with-the-dragon-tattoo-anyone-seeing-it/606951.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-girl-with-the-dragon-tattoo-anyone-seeing-it/606951.md?page=4)