"BUT AMONG THE BUSYNESS GEEKY GIRL CAT FOUND TIME TO PUT HER SKILLS TO GOOD USE FOR GEEK SYNDICATE, AND PENNED THIS FEMINIST RANT - *AHEM* - INSIGHTFUL, THOUGHT-PROVOKING AND NOT-AT-ALL ANGRY PIECE FOR ISSUE #8 OF THEIR FABULOUS DIGITAL MAGAZINE. "
"WE THOUGHT YOU MIGHT ENJOY IT..."
So there's this thing everyone's been talking about lately. Feminism. You've probably heard of it. It's possible that you even care a bit. Sadly, Hollywood still has a way to go before it ticks all the gender equality boxes that, as far as I'm concerned, simply shouldn't be a thing in this day and age.
Before you roll your eyes, I'm not getting my Wonder Woman knickers in a twist in an epic rant over the treatment of women in comic books and movies. Instead, I want to apply a bit of theory to the issue of gender bias in film.
THE TEST
For those who haven't heard of it, the Bechdel Test was first introduced in Alison Bechdel's comic strip 'Dykes to Watch Out For' in 1985 and asks whether a film can satisfy the following three requirements:
1. It has to have at least two named women in it...
2. Who talk to each other...
3. About something besides a man.
Simple enough, you might think, loads of movies meet that criteria. But you'd be wrong. Most, in fact, don't. In 2009, Entertainment Weekly's Mark Harris stated that if passing the test were mandatory, it would have jeopardised half of that year's Best Picture nominees at the Oscars and would cut the length of San Diego Comic-Con from five days to 45 minutes.
Shocking, isn't it?
Of course, the test isn't perfect. A film can tick all the boxes and remain sexist, while others fail simply because the premise doesn't allow for the parameters. And that's fine. But you'd be surprised at how many movies ought to pass but don't. Unfortunately, superhero movies are among the worst culprits.
Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy, for example, fails. Sam Raimi's Spider-Man trilogy fails. With the exception of Zack Snyder's Man of Steel, every Superman movie ever fails. I'm not saying these films are sexist. Far from it. And while I could go off on a tangent about how we need to see a super heroine in the lead on the big screen, it would be beside my point. (We do, though). Every one of these movies has a strong, feisty, even kick-ass leading lady. But in each one of them, that leading lady's purpose is all about the man. And fellas, as much as we love you, we really do have other things to be getting on with.
It would be impossible to trawl through every superhero movie ever made looking for examples to prove my point, so for the purposes of this piece I'm turning to the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
THE IRON MAN SERIES
Since the release of Iron Man in 2008, Marvel Studios has dominated the box office, bringing many of our favourite superhero stories to life in spectacular fashion. While I love Tony Stark as much as the next geek, I'm not so keen on his position on gender equality. There are two named women in the first Iron Man film and they talk to each other. But their entire conversation is some kind of clich'ed pissing contest over which of them has a claim of ownership over Mr Stark. Right on, sisters.
Thankfully, Iron Man 2 and Iron Man 3 both get a pass - just.
Those Other Marvel Heroes
Both Thor and Thor: The Dark World can wear their Bechdel badges with pride, meeting all three criteria of the test.
2008's The Incredible Hulk fails miserably (in more ways than one, but I'm not going there), as does Captain America: The First Avenger. One might argue that the latter is simply channelling the spirit of the time in which it was set, but it's an argument that I'd politely suggest is utter boohockey. This is a film that makes a point of its strong, accomplished heroine. Agent Peggy Carter's appeal is both in her brains and metaphorical balls. Yes she's a woman in a man's world but there are others there too... granted, they don't have names, but they exist.
For instance, there's that blonde one what snogs Steve (Private Lorraine, according to IMDB), prompting a bit of burgeoning jealousy in Ms Carter. Would an entirely justifiable stern word from senior officer to subordinate have been so difficult to squeeze into the script? I admit, it would've been a man-centric conversation, but at least it would've been something. And it would have made sense.
Avengers Assemble! (Or not)
For me, the biggest disappointment comes from Joss Whedon's Avengers Assemble. Whether Whedon enjoys being hailed as geekdom's greatest feminist I have no idea, but it is a burden of his own creation, so frankly I don't care.
This movie features three named females - one lead in Scarlett Johansson's Natasha Romanov and two secondary characters; Agent Maria Hill and the ubiquitous Pepper Potts. Not once do any of these women speak to each other. At points, Hill and Romanov are in the same room and they don't even look at one another. Seriously, there's time for Stark and Coulson to chat about a cellist but S.H.I.E.L.D colleagues Hill and Romanov don't so much as acknowledge each other? It's ridiculous. I'm not after a deep and meaningful conversation about extraterrestrial terrorism or anything but how hard would it have been to pop in a water cooler moment for the sake of equality? Or, you know, a brief strategical natter - is that really too much to expect?
Like I said, this test isn't perfect. Gender bias is just one issue on a long list of complaints about Hollywood's output. But this is 2013. We're way beyond suffrage and it'd be nice to come out of the cinema with gripes about direction and dialogue instead of bitching about the blatant misrepresentation of my gender. As Marvel heads into Phase 2, with four films mostly directed and penned by men, I'm hoping each of them has the rules above written on a Post-It somewhere to serve as a reminder - little girls need heroes to look up to, too.
Read the rest of Geek Syndicate issue #8 and give the boys some love while you're at it - they deserve it.
Origin: pualib.blogspot.com
0 comments:
Post a Comment