When Kylo Ren killed Han Solo in The Force Awakens, I was convinced we would never forgive him. After all, audiences have adored Han for decades. His words have been printed on coffee mugs worldwide and his face plastered on Star Wars merchandise in every Wal-Mart in America.
First off, a trigger warning: Promising Young Woman has a heavy focus on sexual assault. If that subject matter is too disturbing or triggering to you in any way, this may not be the movie for you. I’ll be discussing sexual assault in this review as well, though I will not be spoiling any major plot points for the film. Please proceed in a way that keeps you feeling safe and honors your needs.
As a filmmaker and aspiring screenwriter, I already hate the remaking of movies. In my opinion, a film of any kind should not be remade. Ever. Yet now there is a trend of remaking movies that once had male-dominated casts and gender-bending them so that women are at the forefront.
Representation is so important that instead of having original thoughts and stories that are unique to how women experience the world, filmmakers have decided to fake female representation by coasting off the success of men.
The main examples that come to mind are the all-female Ghostbusters, and the all-female Oceans 8.
Now, one of my biggest problems with these films and with films like them is that they are marketed as “all-female casts.” Yeah, we get it. Representation is important. But if that’s your main selling point then I’m going to assume that you, as the production team and studio, already know that the story sucks.
My other major issue with the genderbending casts of existing films is that, if representation is so important, why are we not telling original stories?
Women are not just men with boobs. We have our own thoughts, ideas, stories, and experiences. To simply gender-bend existing movies suggests that women can only find success if men have found it first.
Men and women do not experience the world in the same way and therefore should not be telling the same stories. There is a very big difference between the hero’s journey and the heroine’s journey, and the longer we ignore that, the slower fruitful representation will be.
Now, the other side of this argument is that the current state of Hollywood and the powers that be are simply uninterested in the stories of women.
The powers that be are men, for the most part, and therefore this may just be a female filmmaker’s way of getting their foot in the door. Perhaps this is the only way we’re being allowed to tell stories at all.
I think it’s important to note that the state of the industry might be driving this and backing women into a corner. Offering up ultimatums like, “If you want to make films, this is how you’re going to do it.”
And women, who have been grinding away and just want and need their name on something, say yes.
On the other hand, we are starting to get truly female-led films. Not just in who is on screen but who is behind the camera and in the writer’s room.
Some more recent movies that have been released have focused on being more female-led. One can not claim a strong female movie if nearly everyone behind its making is male. It’s simply counterproductive and makes absolutely no sense.
Little Women and Wonder Woman are excellent and successful examples of truly female-led films. Suckerpunch is an excellent example of men telling stories that aren’t theirs to tell.
If you’re whiter than winter snow, you wouldn’t try to tell the experience or story of a Black man, and you definitely wouldn’t do it without an actual Black man’s input. So why the hell are we allowing Hollywood to do it to women?
Why, while amidst Hollywood’s very slow shift in power, are we still using men’s success to define women?
Are you a bored Doctor Who fan who craves new content during this strange time? Have you been eyeing up Big Finish’s website but never known where to start?
This is the guide for you about where to start in Big Finish’s content from a feminist fan’s perspective.
Ok, guys. I have a confession to make. I cheated a lil’ bit this month. Just a bit. I promised that I would read a book by an immigrant woman of color for every month in 2019 and I sort of did that, but I also sort of didn’t. This month’s book Dear Ijeawele, or A Feminist Manifesto in Fifteen Suggestions by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is all of those things, but it’s also not new to me. I first read Adichie’s Fifteen Suggestions last year after realizing that the constant damaging news cycle was often leaving me speechless when actually confronting people who were parroting “fake news.” I first read Adichie in an effort to help consolidate my own thoughts on feminism and as a sort of devotional text in the fight for equality.
Avengers: Infinity War is an absolute riot. Watching all of your favourite superheroes joke, and bicker, and kick ass together is like being a kid and getting all your A-list toys into one big game all at once. What’s not to love about that?
Directors Joe and Anthony Russo had a mammoth task ahead of them, cramming every major player from the MCU into a single movie. And it still had to feature all the action and pizazz of a summer blockbuster. But honestly, I think they pulled it off.
Who doesn’t love a good Disney movie? Most of us have fond childhood memories of the Disney-universe. This list is an ode to all the animated lady bosses who show young girls what it means to be a badass. Here are my top 10 badass Disney women.
NOTE: This list is from original Disney animations. It does not include the more recent additions of Fox, Marvel, and etc. Otherwise we all know who would top the list…
I remember sitting on a panel at a Doctor Who convention in 2013 when the question was asked: “How would you feel about the 13th Doctor being a woman?” At the time, I hadn’t given it much thought. I answered something to the effect of, “I’d prefer the Doctor to be a man. But, I would be fine with it if it happened.”