"It's MY ball, and if you don't play by MY rules, I'm taking my ball and going home!" (pout)
This is an exaggerated phrase I have heard in my childhood a few times, usually uttered by a kid who brought the ball that the neighborhood kids used to play a sport. It was heard mostly when the kid with the ball was on a team that was losing and doesn't know how to deal with that feeling of momentary failure except to grab his ball and go home angry.
I mention this because I have seen a variation of this childish mentality among a certain segment of movie nerd culture. Namely, from some very vocal men.
The most recent spate of male irritation began with "Mad Max: Fury Road," where some decried the movie for being a "feminist" bastardization of the Mad Max franchise. The notion comes from the story, which pits Imperator Furiosa, a strong female warrior of the wastelands played by Charlize Theron, against an armada of apocalyptic baddies in the desert all trying to re-capture the concubines Furiosa freed from an evil despot. Max, it is argued by the anti-feminists, has been reduced to a minor character in the film and even (GASP) takes orders from Furiosa. Max has almost no lines, whereas Furiosa has the lion's share of dialogue. They claim that Max has been neutered in the script to be a pawn to a "feminist" agenda.
(sigh)
Next, some men accused "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" to be another movie with a "feminist" agenda. Why? Apparently, some men are uncomfortable with anyone but a male in the lead actor's position.
Rey, the film's capable protagonist, may or may not be a Mary Sue, (a character written without any flaws who is mostly wish-fulfillment for the author than a fully formed character,) but there are tons of Mary Sue characters as men, often called Gary Stu. (Pre-Daniel Craig "James Bond," anyone? Captain freaking America, anyone?)
Also, the fact that there are men who bristled at following a capable female as the lead character in a Star Wars films says more about the men criticizing it than it does about the character. Doesn't it? Who didn't adore watching Rey and Finn escape Jakku and giddily recount their amazement at doing so? It was what all of us would have felt in that moment. But for some, it's illegitimate because a female is the hero, not the male, and for them, only MEN can lead. Those who care about the gender politics of a space fantasy film must have been angry beyond words.
Now, we have the new Star Wars stand-alone film, "Rogue One," which has just released a teaser trailer. In the teaser, we are introduced to a young woman named Jyn Erso, played by Felicity Jones (above photo.) She is under arrest, we presume, as the Rebel Leader, Mon Mothma reads off the detained prisoner's crimes. The woman responds by saying, "This is the Rebellion, isn't it?... I rebel." Badass, right? Well, apparently not for some men who have already tagged the film as another movie with a "feminist" agenda, mockingly using the SJW tag which stands for "social justice warrior," and decrying the fact that YET ANOTHER movie is giving us a female lead.
Katniss of "Hunger Games," Tris from "Divergent," Furiosa from "Mad Max: Fury Road," a female Thor in the comics... All part of the "feminist" agenda, according to some men on the Twittersphere.
Watch the "Rogue One" teaser to see the feminist agenda at work... You might have to squint your eyes during the trailer as it's a"blink-or-you'll-miss-it" moment. See the video below, and watch for the outrageous "feminist agenda" of "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story."
Did you see the "feminist" agenda anywhere? No? That's because there is no agenda.
Okay. Enough tip-toeing around the topic. It's time for me to offer my take on this. I find the allegation that the above-mentioned films are part of some kind of Hollywood effort to eliminate men as the main characters of films as patently preposterous. (Yes, this is an opinion cited occasionally by anti-feminists.)
First off, what the hell is wrong with a female protagonist? Nothing. What was wrong with Ripley in the Alien films? Who would have a problem with Sarah Connor in T2? You wouldn't, unless you have gender issues with women, that is. Female moviegoers have been dealing with male heroes in movies since movies began. It's about time we get some strong, kick-ass, intelligent women in our genre movies. Why should gender have anything to do with heroism? Secondly, fans of all political opinions flocked to watch The Force Awakens film, and critics almost universally accepted Rey as an intriguing part of the Star Wars universe. Where is the agenda?
I believe that this spate of female protagonists is a good thing. No... It's a great thing. For many, many years, sci-fi and fantasy was a males-only club, and the men liked it that way. Male writers wrote for boys and female writers wrote for girls, and never the twain shall meet. Both readers and the writers were men, and women were encouraged to read romances, or nothing at all. Read the accounts of female sci-fi authors of the 1950s and 1960s, and you will see that there was an active effort to discourage women writers from having careers along-side the sci-fi writing luminaries of the day. This mimicked the discouragement women faced in all areas of employment in the 20th Century.
However, women like DC Fontana, Ursula K. Le Guin, Madeleine L'Engle, C.J. Cherryh, Anne McCaffrey, Mercedes Lackey, and others, fought the notion that sci-fi and fantasy is a "males-only" club. They busted down the myth that women can't write a good sci-fi/fantasy story. But despite their fight to be heard amid the flood of male-oriented stories, some males still think to this very day that women don't belong.
Women and young girls face condescending stares, harassment, and inappropriate assumptions to this day at computer gaming events, board gaming events, comic book stores, etc. Do a search for "girls aren't gamers," and the results will depress you. Young girls are constantly doubted, questioned, marginalized, and ordered to prove themselves to men that they are truly fans of the things they love.
As a male, I have never had to prove myself to anyone, and neither should any girl have to prove to me or anyone else that she loves anime, Batman, boardgaming, Walking Dead comics, DOTA 2, or anything else.
Bottom line is if you are the type of person who feels that women deserve an equal opportunity as moviegoers, heros, actors, writers, directors, producers, CEOs, and human beings, then you are on the right side of this debate.
It is time to stop the anti-feminists rhetoric and call people out for their gender biases. Women deserve to be fans. Women deserve to be leaders. Women deserve everything a man deserves for their hard work.
Why is this so hard for some people to understand?
