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How has Baywatch been updated for the millennial generation?

May. 25, 2017
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Start practicing your slow-mo run, kids: Baywatch is back! In this 2017 Baywatch revamp, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Zac Efron are taking over as they work together to “restore the Baywatch brand”--and from the looks of it, it’s pretty much what you would get if the Fast & Furious ditched the cars for a set of waterskis. The film tells the story of cocky lead lifeguard Mitch Buchannon (Johnson) and his new recruit, Matt Brody (Efron), as they struggle to put their differences aside and stop a criminal drug ring.   

So is this new revamp an actual upgrade, or does it fall flat on the progressive scale? Well, in this R-rated comedy, the explosions are bigger, the language is more colorful, and those bodacious babes… well, they’re back, and definitely bringing the bodies.

Although the film pokes fun at the show’s original episodes (which David Hasselhoff himself referred to as sexist in his 2007 memoir Don’t Hassel the Hoff), this new installment doesn’t appear to stray too far from the not-so-beloved Baywatch brand. With its countless jokes about bouncing boobs and revealing outfits… let’s just say the film has a pretty high body count.   

After viewing the film’s trailer, many promptly took to Twitter to express their concerns and frustrations over objectification and body-shaming.  

via: Twitter

— mari (@darlinsharman) ]

— screamlord (@AliceWCastle) ] 

— Joe Cunningham (@JoeCunningham14)] 

Although the film gets high marks for diversity--the cast strikes a nice ratio of male-to-female and white-to-POC actors--perhaps it’s not necessarily in a setting that benefits our minds or our society. This new chapter of Baywatch (which opens in theaters on May 25) might be good for a few cheap laughs, but personally? I think I’ll pass.