Cartoon complaints
OK, so I know there is at least one person reading this who is going to disagree with me quite strongly, but anyway, here goes:
After having been repeatedly subjected to Monsters vs. Aliens by Alex, I can safely say that I am convinced there is NOTHING "feminist" or "empowering" about this movie. I'd much rather Alex (or anyone else) follow the values displayed in Up despite the comparative lack of female characters.
See, what Monsters vs. Aliens presents via its main character is a "strawfeminist" ideal, not a genuine feminist ideal:
Occasionally, an exceptional woman actually IS good enough to be One Of The Guys. However, to prove it, she also has to show that she isn't a weak-willed weepy creature who will be overly emotionally attached to her family or to a lover. Oh, and kids? Forget about them.
Yes, Susan's beginning-of-movie fiance is a jerk. No question about that. He's self-absorbed and doesn't consider her feelings or desires whatsoever. So...if she hadn't just happened to have been hit by that meteor, she would have married him, right? So what about all the young women engaged to jerky self-absorbed guys who DON'T get hit by meteors and grow 40something feet taller than they were? Oh well, who cares about them?
Susan aka Ginormica ends up with the monsters - all MALE monsters - and off they go to save the world from the alien invasion. Of course, the other notable female characters are as follows:
1) One in the president's cabinet who seems to pretty much exist to provide high-pitched feminine screams at the right moments. WHY IS THIS NECESSARY? Especially since she appears to be the ONLY female present in the cabinet scenes.
2) The Sexy Female Computer Voice on the alien ship, whose "security" is "breached" by the geeky PhD monster that knows how to dance. Um, seriously, WTF? This seems like a particularly nasty metaphor for that seduction game crap, and it started seriously squicking me out the moment I gave any serious thought to it.
3) Susan's Mom, who provides the token moment of passing Bechdel with "Did they...experiment...on you?" Susan reassures her parents she's FINE and off she goes with The Monster Guys.
I also don't think that publicly humiliating one's jerky egotistical ex is the ultimate in female empowerment. Nor is being accepted as One Of The Guys. If they really wanted to make a movie about female empowerment, there would have been female monsters OTHER THAN Susan, the cabinet would have been more balanced (and minus the irritating feminine scream-on-cue), and Susan probably wouldn't have been involved with Derek in the first place.
Why Up, in contrast? Especially when, other than Kevin-the-bird and an incredibly brief glimpse of Russell's mom, there aren't any female characters after the first 15 minutes? Because:
1) Carl loves Ellie for who she is, despite what is rather clear "not-impressed" body language from his family at the wedding. This is Ellie the tomboy, Ellie the zookeeper (in the late 1940s/early 1950s!), Ellie who starts sawing boards to fix up the house while still wearing her wedding veil! Message: you don't have to adhere to conventional gender roles to find a partner who will love you, wholeheartedly, just the way you are.
2) Ellie does serious labor on the house as an equal partner with Carl. Later on in the montage, Carl is cleaning the house as an equal partner with Ellie. It's hard to overstate just how radical a concept that actually is. :P
3) Ellie, while looking at the clouds, is clearly saying "LOTS OF BABIES!" While what happens after is spoken of as a "miscarriage", it is evidently serious enough to have kept them from further attempts at parenthood. Part of what I got from the scene in which Carl presents her with the Adventure Book is that it was his way of reminding her, "Look, I love YOU, not your uterus!" Message: you are not wrong for wanting children, but you are also not a failure as a human being if you cannot or choose not to have children.
4) "Wait - Kevin's a girl?" is worth a question but no further thought, no ew-girl-cooties reactions that might otherwise be expected from an eight-year-old boy. Russell also shows impressive concern for getting Kevin back to the baby-Kevins.
5) Very clear bit of message: Deadbeat Dads Are Not Cool. (And what a slap in the face the concept must be to Carl, who probably would have been one heck of an awesome father if given the chance.)
I'd rather see movies, and have my kids see movies, with the message that people as a whole are valuable and capable of caring deeply for one another, than with the message that people as a whole are disposable, dispensable, and selfish.
OK. End of rant.
After having been repeatedly subjected to Monsters vs. Aliens by Alex, I can safely say that I am convinced there is NOTHING "feminist" or "empowering" about this movie. I'd much rather Alex (or anyone else) follow the values displayed in Up despite the comparative lack of female characters.
See, what Monsters vs. Aliens presents via its main character is a "strawfeminist" ideal, not a genuine feminist ideal:
Occasionally, an exceptional woman actually IS good enough to be One Of The Guys. However, to prove it, she also has to show that she isn't a weak-willed weepy creature who will be overly emotionally attached to her family or to a lover. Oh, and kids? Forget about them.
Yes, Susan's beginning-of-movie fiance is a jerk. No question about that. He's self-absorbed and doesn't consider her feelings or desires whatsoever. So...if she hadn't just happened to have been hit by that meteor, she would have married him, right? So what about all the young women engaged to jerky self-absorbed guys who DON'T get hit by meteors and grow 40something feet taller than they were? Oh well, who cares about them?
Susan aka Ginormica ends up with the monsters - all MALE monsters - and off they go to save the world from the alien invasion. Of course, the other notable female characters are as follows:
1) One in the president's cabinet who seems to pretty much exist to provide high-pitched feminine screams at the right moments. WHY IS THIS NECESSARY? Especially since she appears to be the ONLY female present in the cabinet scenes.
2) The Sexy Female Computer Voice on the alien ship, whose "security" is "breached" by the geeky PhD monster that knows how to dance. Um, seriously, WTF? This seems like a particularly nasty metaphor for that seduction game crap, and it started seriously squicking me out the moment I gave any serious thought to it.
3) Susan's Mom, who provides the token moment of passing Bechdel with "Did they...experiment...on you?" Susan reassures her parents she's FINE and off she goes with The Monster Guys.
I also don't think that publicly humiliating one's jerky egotistical ex is the ultimate in female empowerment. Nor is being accepted as One Of The Guys. If they really wanted to make a movie about female empowerment, there would have been female monsters OTHER THAN Susan, the cabinet would have been more balanced (and minus the irritating feminine scream-on-cue), and Susan probably wouldn't have been involved with Derek in the first place.
Why Up, in contrast? Especially when, other than Kevin-the-bird and an incredibly brief glimpse of Russell's mom, there aren't any female characters after the first 15 minutes? Because:
1) Carl loves Ellie for who she is, despite what is rather clear "not-impressed" body language from his family at the wedding. This is Ellie the tomboy, Ellie the zookeeper (in the late 1940s/early 1950s!), Ellie who starts sawing boards to fix up the house while still wearing her wedding veil! Message: you don't have to adhere to conventional gender roles to find a partner who will love you, wholeheartedly, just the way you are.
2) Ellie does serious labor on the house as an equal partner with Carl. Later on in the montage, Carl is cleaning the house as an equal partner with Ellie. It's hard to overstate just how radical a concept that actually is. :P
3) Ellie, while looking at the clouds, is clearly saying "LOTS OF BABIES!" While what happens after is spoken of as a "miscarriage", it is evidently serious enough to have kept them from further attempts at parenthood. Part of what I got from the scene in which Carl presents her with the Adventure Book is that it was his way of reminding her, "Look, I love YOU, not your uterus!" Message: you are not wrong for wanting children, but you are also not a failure as a human being if you cannot or choose not to have children.
4) "Wait - Kevin's a girl?" is worth a question but no further thought, no ew-girl-cooties reactions that might otherwise be expected from an eight-year-old boy. Russell also shows impressive concern for getting Kevin back to the baby-Kevins.
5) Very clear bit of message: Deadbeat Dads Are Not Cool. (And what a slap in the face the concept must be to Carl, who probably would have been one heck of an awesome father if given the chance.)
I'd rather see movies, and have my kids see movies, with the message that people as a whole are valuable and capable of caring deeply for one another, than with the message that people as a whole are disposable, dispensable, and selfish.
OK. End of rant.