What keeps a simple baseball movie culturally relevant over 25 years after its release? When most sports movies follow a similar pattern of the inspirational underdog, what sets A League of Their Own apart?
Melissa McCarthy’s newest comedy is about many things – second chances, resilience, the value of age and experience, but its most prominent theme is sisterhood.
Avengers: Infinity War star Benedict Cumberbatch is making headlines this week by announcing that he refuses to take a role if his female costars are paid less than their male counterparts, a move more heroic than anything Doctor Strange has done in the cinematic universe so far. The british superstar summarized his stance, stating “Equal pay and a place at the table are the central tenets of feminism. Look at your quotas. Ask what women are being paid and say ‘if she’s not paid the same as the men, I’m not doing it.'” Lets take a look at some other male celebrities who have stood up for their female costars in the fight for equal pay.
I was a little concerned going in to see Blockers. Though it looked really funny and I wanted to see it, the concept was a little outdated, and from the trailer, it was hard to discern whether the film would be self-aware of its more problematic elements.
When we think of strong female characters, so often these women appear strong by embodying traditionally masculine roles. Often they’re warriors, successful careerwomen, or superheroes. These are all great things, we need women in these roles, and as feminists we want the lines of gender expectations to be so blurred that women occupying traditionally male roles eventually becomes no big deal and vice versa. However, it is important that in doing this, we do not devalue traditionally feminine roles. After all, it is entirely possible for a strong female character to be traditionally feminine in every way. Girl power does not begin and end with women who challenge gender norms.
Still haven’t seen the Cinderella remake? Come on, guys, it’s been out for a few years now, and yet no one I talk to seems to have seen it, nor have much interest in seeing it, and I have to say, I think you should reevaluate. Quite in opposition to the feminist magazines, I found that many of the inherently problematic tropes of the iconic story were mended in the remake and that, if anything, it’s an honest representation of the truest form of a feminist society – one where gender is, in most ways, irrelevant. Read more
While it had its problems, 2012’s Snow White and the Huntsman was a fresh take on a fairy-tale we all know and love and criticize heavily. By its very nature, Snow White is a troublesome story because, although the prince (or in this iteration, the huntsman) must perform the kiss on the unconscious girl, the story itself seems like a creepy fantasy of a situation where non-consensual sex acts are justified and unproblematic, but there are other arguments that could be made, and I’m not here to talk about the first film too much. Still, the fact that the first film took a story of a hallmark damsel-in-distress and turned her into a powerful warrior sets a positive feminist tone for the series. Read more
TT's Movie Stuff 