The Gone Girl think pieces about misogyny, modern feminism and true-crime storytelling have come and gone. Now, as the movie’s awards campaign pushes on, we have circled back around to Ben Affleck’s "Little Batman," and its brief appearance in a shower scene in David Fincher’s Gone Girl adaptation.
The cast made plenty of jokes at Ben Affleck’s expense while attending the Hollywood Film Awards last Friday night. The televised awards ceremony positions itself as the "launch" of the annual Oscar season, and Gone Girl received the Hollywood Film Award (the equivalent of Best Picture), as well as the Hollywood Screenwriter Award for Gillian Flynn. Yet, when EW cornered the Gone Girl author, they asked her about Affleck’s "cameo," to which she replied:
It is so quick. Maybe you see it, maybe you don’t. I laughed because there were all these things being said about his full frontal and I was like, ‘That is not the definition of full frontal, my friends.’ That was a man getting into a shower. I expect to see a lot more when people call it full frontal.I was like, ‘I wrote this book and this film and I saw the dailies and I don’t remember a full frontal.’ Maybe they went off script there. But I appreciate [Ben’s] commitment to the authenticity of a man getting into a shower. Man, you committed."
Co-star Patrick Fugit confirmed that there was next to nothing in terms of planning for the now-infamous penis shot, telling EW, "No. There was no talk. There was more talk about Emily’s scene where she had to take her top off. I heard more about that than Ben’s [nudity] at the time. It was sort of a surprise. I saw the shower scene when the movie came out and I was like, ‘Oh wait. You almost saw his, well, I didn’t know they were doing that.’"
In other words, it was almost a non-issue. Until now, where it has become an issue. To be fair, Ben Affleck is doing his part to keep the conversation going. While accepting the Hollywood Film Award for Fincher’s movie, Affleck made sure to poke fun at the "controversy" over his supposed nudity. And Affleck’s a terrific sport about all of this. But let’s hope that this is the end. Let’s move on to the merits of this outstanding whodunit, and keep it in the conversation long enough for Oscar voters to acknowledge its greatness, and vote it into some major categories, of which is it deserving. Best Picture. Bets Director. Best Adapted Screenplay. And yes, Best Actor for Ben Affleck. And all of his assets.
Click on to watch Affleck’s acceptance speech at the Hollywood Film Awards. You won’t hear better penis jokes at any other awards show this season.
