The third wave of feminism is, I would argue, being dominated by shifts within media and the representation of female narratives and experiences. Trainwreck, starring Amy Schumer and Bill Hader, flips conventional notions of gender and the romantic comedy genre on its head. The story follows Amy, a young adult living in New York City, whom grew up thinking that monogamy was unrealistic. She carries that mantra with her as an adult and fills her life with one night stands, but never anything more. She's happy that way, and funny enough it's the men she sleeps with that crave intimacy and a relationship--a total twist on traditional notions of what women are seeking vs what men are seeking in the world of love and romance.
We're seeing a slow evolution of the romantic comedy--and it's much needed. What was once a standard, stereotypical formula ripe with rigid gender roles is being reinvisioned by fresh plots. It's about time.
Look, Spotlight is a great movie. With fantastic performances from a stellar cast and a compelling story, it's almost certain to win Best Picture at the Oscars this year. However, there was another film released in 2015 that has stuck with me more than any other movie in a long time. If you read the title of this blog post you'll know that that movie is Mad Max: Fury Road.
Fury Road summarized in one image.
Mad Max: Fury Road is the fourth film in director George Miller's post apocalyptic saga. It was released 30 years after the previous film in the series Beyond Thunderdome, came into theatres. To briefly summarize the movie for those who haven't seen it, Fury Road follows the titular Max (Tom Hardy replacing Mel Gibson) who joins a woman named Furiosa (played by Charlize Theron), in transporting the slave wives of a warlord to safety all while being pursued by the Warlord. To someone who hasn't seen the movie, the plot can sound like a somewhat generic action movie. However, Mad Max: Fury Road is anything but. The movie excels in countless ways and becomes in this writer's opinion, a perfect action movie that should, even though it will lose to Spotlight, win best picture. Let's examine a few reasons why.
1. Editing.
One of the biggest faults the modern action movie suffers from is the editing. The movies are so concerned with action that the become nearly impossible to watch or even understand what is going on.
Looking at you Michael Bay.
Just take a look at the gif above, or at this 20 minute video of all the fight scenes in Transformers. The action is all over the place and quickly becomes very hard to follow. The shaky camerawork and near constant explosions make taking in the action an overwhelming and difficult task that quickly becomes an eyesore. I'm just picking on Bay for this post but it happens with a lot of actions movies. However this is where Miller excels. Actually, I should say this is where Margaret Sixel excels, as she is the one who edited this movie. What makes the editing of Fury Road so interesting is that it isn't edited like an action movie. In fact, Sixel, who is Miller's wife, had never edited an action film before Mad Max: Fury Road. Miller, when asked why he selected Sixel to edit the film said that had it been edited by "the usual kind of guys, it would look like every other action movie we see" The result of Margaret Sixel's editing is high octane action scenes that are easy to follow.
Look at this gif to the left. Important points are kept in the center so the audience doesn't have to search for them. Shot shots, while short, are long enough that we are able to see what is occurring in each one before the next shot comes along. Also notice how while there is slight directional movement with the camera, it is still steady enough for us to be enthralled by the action but not made motion sick by the blair witch level shakiness.
While this edited works great for these action sequences, it also improves the films watching as a whole. Film being a visual medium, and actions films doubly so, it is important that you can tell your film well with minimal use of dialogue to expose what is occurring on screen. Check out this video of several action films 12 times their normal speed. As many of the other films becomes a hard to follow muddled mess, more or less you can still tell what's going on in Mad Max: Fury Road. You could easily take all the sound out of Fury Road and besides missing an awesome score by Junkie XL you would still be able to understand the story and could pretty easily explain the major plot points of the film.
2. Practical Effects
With CGI, almost anything is possible and for considerably less than it would cost to actually do it. think about it; If you were making a movie like Mad Max: Fury Road, you wouldn't spend all that time to actually build all those cars and then actually go out in the desert and film all those dangerous stunts full speed and end up destroying those cars, when you could do almost all of that with CGI right? Well George Miller did. Almost every single car in the film is a real, fully functioning vehicle.
That includes this one.
This one
This one, which you may remember having a man playing a flame-throwing guitar which was also real, on top of it.
And countless other ridiculously awesome post-apocalyptic vehicles. All of these were actually built, functioned, and for most of them, destroyed in one of the final car chase climaxes ever. Miller did use CGI, but only to enhance. This is how CGI should be used, to enhance scenes, not to completely replace what could be made practically.
Check out this great video which shows many of the CGI shots in the film before and after it was added. Notice how for the most part, things are done practically, when important. Scenes where shooting inside a moving vehicle would not have worked are done on green screen, but almost anything else is done with good old practical destruction.
Here are a few other pre and post CGI/VFX shots from Fury Road.
3. Story/Feminist Action
Perhaps one of the most interesting parts of Mad Max is that Max is not the protagonist of the film, in fact, the story of Fury Road is not Max's. That honor goes to Furiosa.
Hands down biggest badass of 2015.
Furiosa's journey is what drives (see what I did there) the plot. Max is simply along for the ride. (see that I did there) The entire film has a strong feminist message. Furiosa is never a damsel in distress and is never seen as inferior to Max. In fact, she saves Max's ass a few times. Her character is given depth and important backstory which the plot gives proper attention to. She is not oversexualised or just made to be an object of male gaze. She is smart, independent, and very resourceful. What works well with the film is the mutual respect she and Max have for eachother. Max never assumes she is unable to perform a task, he is simply weary of her at first. Furiosa however is not the only female character in the film. Joining her are Immortan Joe's fives wives, also referred to as breeders, used to bring Immortan healthy sons. Each of the wives in the film stands out in their own way and is unique from the others. Again giving character development to them. They too are able to hold their own in a fight. the film easily passes both the Bechdel_test and the Mako Mori test. The film does such a good job with its female characters that a group of Men's Rights Activists, which is sadly a real thing, protested the film calling in feminist propaganda. I'm not going to give the link to the article, but if you can find it pretty easily. The story as a whole improves the film. Despite these many complex characters, the overall plot is simple. This benefits the film and allows the visual aspect and action to do the rest of the storytelling. There is no need for any subplots or things that go nowhere, the film simply tells one story and focuses entirely on that.
In Conclusion
Mad Max: Fury Road excels in almost every aspect. It's beautiful to look at, has great characters who you wanna root for, and is fun as hell. The film is clearly made by someone who dearly loves film. One can even see multiple subtle references to the older Mad Max films, but we won't go into that now. Filmmaking is a craft, and the craft that went to making Mad Max is truly remarkable. Each aspect is equally important to the film working out. If it failed, the whole film would have too. From the editing to the script, to the practical effects, the utmost care was put into every detail of the movie. This is not to say that the other nominees are not deserving they are, and in Spotlight's case, they will succeed. None of the films however, accomplish what Mad Max: Fury Road did. For that Fury Road shall ride enteral, shiny and chrome.
We all know Stephen Colbert as the guy who pretended to be a Republican pundit on Comedy Central's The Colbert Report. Some of us, of the more liberal persuasion, were comforted by the warmth of the satire. But that security blanket is gone and the honest persona has entered the scene, the real Stephen Colbert as brought about by The Late Show With Stephen Colber. However I think we were lucky to find that he's still funny and personable, I know I was excited to watch this new Stephen. But, to mimic the dramatic affect of Colbert's former character, we're still being lied to.
Back in August, Glamour magazine ran an article, written by Colbert and some of his writers, promising to make his new show a place where women would have a presence. It was called "Stephen Colbert Shares Why He Thinks Women Should Be in Charge of Everything". Colbert wrote impassioned about his quest to make sure The Late Show would be a feminist creative space, one that late night television specifically was lacking. Here are some choice sections I'll share:
"While there are many talented female comedians out there, right now the world of late-night is a bit of a sausagefest."
"To be honest, sometimes I wonder whether the world would be a better
place if women were in charge. It would be pretty easy to make that
happen. Simply tell the men of the world that you're trying to start a
campfire. While we're all arguing with one another about proper kindling
placement and whether using lighter fluid is cheating,* women can just
quietly start getting stuff done."
"Point is, I'm here for you, and that means I'm going to do my best to create a Late Show that not only appeals to women but also celebrates their voices."
Women everywhere, including myself, rejoiced! "Yes" I thought, "Stephen Colbert has follow through, this will be the first late night show that gets ahead of that criticism and we'll see a balance in late night comedy"
Lol.
The Late Show With Stephen Colbert has exactly 2 female writers. There are 17 male writers. And then an additional 0 women. Stephen Colbert has yet again feigned sincerity to bring attention to an issue. Except this time instead of playing a trick old evil Republican old white dudes he's fooling women everywhere, especially female comedians. And just like the members of the GOP, I feel let down to realize he's not actually on our side.
Genna Davis an Academy Award Winning Actor and Founder of the Genna Davis Institute on Gender in the Media. She recently visited the beautiful Ithaca College on Tuesday, March 31, where she addressed Gender Equality in the Media.
Genna Davis Institute for Gender in Media is a non-profit program which engages film and television creators to dramatically increase the percentage of female characters---and reduce danger stereotyping --in the media made for children 11 and under.
In her speech she addressed that in almost all her roles she plays is a strong women. This is true through her part of the first female President on ABCs hit show Commander in Chief. Currently, Davis plays Dr.Nicole Herman on Grey's Anatomy.
Some of her other films included Toostsie, The Fly, Beetlejuice, Earth Girls Are Easy, Angie, The Long Kiss Goodnight, Stuart Little and A League of Their Own. <----- My TWO FAVS!
Some very interesting points that I feel were valid in her speech are:
Males outnumber females 3 to 1 in family films. In contrast, females comprise just over 50% of the population in the United States. Even more staggering is the fact that this ratio, as seen in family films, is the same as it was in 1946.
Females are almost four times as likely as males to be shown in sexy attire. Further, females are nearly twice as likely as males to be shown with a diminutive waistline. Generally unrealistic figures are more likely to be seen on females than males.
Females are also underrepresented behind the camera. Across 1,565 content creators, only 7% of directors, 13% of writers, and 20% of producers are female. This translates to 4.8 males working behind-the-scenes to every one female.
From 2006 to 2009, not one female character was depicted in G-rated family films in the field of medical science, as a business leader, in law, or politics. In these films, 80.5% of all working characters are male and 19.5% are female, which is a contrast to real world statistics, where women comprise 50% of the workforce.
Okay, I have so much to say about this show. But, what I want to start with is the fact that it is so important. For those of you who don't know it, it's an abc Family TV show, focusing on the life of Callie Jacob, portrayed by Maia Mitchell, and her life in the foster system in the past, and the founding of her and her brother, Jude's (Hayden Byerly), forever family. So What?
I knew when I started watching it that it was already striking major political sensitivities, seeing as the parents of the foster family were two females. I was so up for that, a lesbian couple being shown from a normal family stand point, showing that it was no different whether someone's parents were straight or gay. I was hooked on that, I had no idea that it was going to end up being so much more.
But let me tell you, the lesbian parents was just the base of the complicated, progressive show that has become The Fosters. It points out faults in the foster system, deals with rape, it portrays criminal teens in a new light, sheds light on relationships having ups and downs and not being completely perfect to be good, showed a transgender teen trying to go through a change and struggling, it stands the hell up for feminism, and gives a shout out to the young LGBT community for people who think they're "too young" to know who they do and don't like, and shows how the coming out process can be difficult for these teens. There are those and so much more, I could probably go on for days. This show is so ground breaking, it's so important in a world that's trying to be more progressive. I really hope younger viewers are paying attention. Because this show has everything that I want in the world. The most recent episodes are really hitting the nail on the head. They've raised controversy over having two thirteen year old boys kiss and somewhat pursue a relationship, slashed sexist views with a knife, and nicely wrapped up a story line that had been going on since the beginning of the series.
The relationship of Jude and Connor, portrayed by Gavin MacIntosh, has been a long time coming. They started out as friends and just progressed beautifully as the two of them discovered feelings stirring within each other. There were some downs, some fights and arguments, and Connor's father telling him they can't be friends, but it still made it to this point.
I think that this could have a powerful impact on young people in the LGBT community. It shows they aren't alone, and they it's okay to be who they are. It could also show people who don't necessarily understand, how much these teens struggle because of people like them who refuse to accept them for who they are. Whether the relationship lives on, or the two remain friends, I still think the fact that they are both at terms with who they are is a really important thing for the show to have.
The next thing I was cheering for was Mariana's, portrayed by Cierra Ramirez, slam on sexist views. When Emma, a member of her dance team, decided she had to quit because she didn't want to be treated differently for acting sexy, Mariana didn't let it go. She says "I know you say that's how things are supposed to be, but no, I don't accept that. If things aren't the way they're supposed to be, then you have to change them," when confronted with the idea that girls can only be one way or another. She just shuts it down, not for a second letting her friend believe the way boys are leading her to believe. This is great because it's time to show girls that they can be whatever they want to be, that they should do what makes them happy instead of what they're "supposed" to do or how they're "supposed" to act. I'd really like to see more of this happening.
Finally, the recent episodes finally let Callie deal with her demons. She finally got justice and was able to put her rapist behind bars. No, not for rape, but still so he couldn't hurt her or any other girls ever again. It was a long time coming and it finally happened, I can almost taste the beautiful justice.
This show is very important to society right now. Everyone, even if they don't watch it, should get behind it's views. They're so kick ass, and could really make the world a better place. It really is amazing and it's already impacted me so much, I can't wait for future episodes and seasons. This show is so important.
We currently live in a period of time where feminism is a strong theme in everyday life, body shaming is no where near okay, and self love is very important among everyone. I'm not sure how these trends started, but I'm so glad they did. But, as happy as I am that I can't go to any social media site without seeing something about one of these themes, I'm also a bit off put by some of the media surrounding these subjects. One of the bigger portions of media that has stirred up controversy among these subjects is pop singer Meghan Trainor's song, "All About That Bass."
The song has become an anthem for many women who are said to be more "curvy" than others, which I honestly find great. Being bigger shouldn't be a shameful thing, and I'm really glad that that's out there. However, as much as the song has it's high points, it's also got a lot of lows. As much as I love to hear that every inch of me is perfect from the bottom to the top, I'm not so sure that I like to hear that the reason I should be okay with having a little more "booty" is because that's the way guys like it. This idea comes from the line "my mama, she told me, don't worry about your size. She said that boys like a little more booty to hold at night." I don't think that in a world where feminism is rising that girls should love their bodies because boys do.
I'm not the only one who thinks so, either, This Instagram video by the user "mobrienorwhatever," was posted on the subject, The new lyrics say "fuck what boys think, it's your body so do as you like." And, however crude or funny you might find this short video to be, it's very true. No girl should ever feel empowered by her body just because a guy likes her that way. It's 2015, and we've got to start loving ourselves because IT'S WHO WE ARE, IT'S HOW WE WERE BORN, AND IT ISN'T GOING TO CHANGE, and that should be okay.
This isn't the only problem encountering the song and it's video. While the song promotes women who have curves, it very much shames people who do not. It refers to girls without curves as "skinny bitches" and "stick figure silicone barbie dolls." The smaller girls in the video seemed more ditzy, more rude and just overall not nice people. This is the WRONG message to be sending out. Smaller girls should love their bodies too, they don't need to spend their time figuring out how to gain weight so they can "shake it like they're supposed to do," just as much as curvy girls shouldn't be worrying about losing weight to be like smaller girls. There's no reason to be shaming girls who are smaller, don't hate them for their metabolisms, they can't help it. This is also something that I think many people can agree on, and YouTube user Natty Valencia expanded on it and made her own rendition of the song, that includes all woman, skinny, curvy, black white, and encourages them to forget about guys who don't accept them the way they are.
I think this is a really great way to approach the matter, because the tune is catchy, and it's something people catch onto. I hope all women get to see this version of the song, because it's really important that we stop body shaming, and we start loving ourselves for who we are.
Board City is back! Created by Abbi Jacobson and Ilana Glazer, and produced by Amy Poehler, broad city is a comedy between two best friends steering their way through the New York City life.
Abbi and IIana are two eccentric, crazy girls. They next stray away from situations that my lead them to trouble in the streets of NYC. They are two bad ass b****es! Not matter the trouble they always find a way out.
This is an amazing show to get in tact with. Abbi and Ilana are the girls you want to hang with. They're what us city gals call our kind of people. They remind us of horrors and joys the city life provides us with.
What do Abbi and Ilana do a daily basis?
Talk about a lot of sex
Wear flea market vintage clothing along with some American Appeal and H&M
SMOKE A LOT OF WEED
This show portrays two strong Feminist Women ---- in which they refer to each other as "dude". They are the true representation of women in their 20's with their minimum wage jobs, mediocre roommates, but enjoy their friendship.
Broad City is the true representation of the imperfect female. Broad City recognizes that no one is perfect. The ideal of perfect women on TV is getting old its time we live in the real and embrace our inner imperfections and never be ashamed of who we are.
One movie that perhaps flew a little under the radar in 2014
was an independent film entitled “Obvious Child.” This film, which premiered at
the Sundance Film Festival, was labeled as a first of it’s kind, categorized as
an “abortion comedy.”There has been
some uproar about treating the subject of abortion as a laughing matter; however
the way that the film approached the issue is more of a lighthearted, non-threatening commentary on one woman’s path of choice than an outward
political statement. Approaching this topic in a positive light, using a
relatable and quirky main character as the driving force, the movie works to
empower women to make the choice that’s right for them, even with much opposing
societal pressure.
Every so often it is important for filmmakers to use film as a way of communicating an effective message to an audience, no matter how subtle. Film is a great medium in which to do that because the takeaway message will ultimately sneak into the audiences brains without them necessarily noticing. Thus, it becomes a great art form to convey awareness or support for a certain subject.
This movie would not be what it is without the flawless performance from Jenny Slate. Slate is a comedian previously known for her one year stint on Saturday Night Live, and her successful series of web videos entitled “Marcel the Shell.” Her performance in “Obvious Child” was her breakout role in the film industry.Slate plays a Brooklyn stand-up comedian named Donna, who is still searching for purpose in life.When her boyfriend later breaks up with her in the bathroom, of a comedy club Slate realistically and effectively conveys Donna’s unexpected heartbreak in a way that causes the audience to feel sympathetic and connected. Donna goes through the typical downward spiral after her breakup, like drinking wine constantly and stalking her ex-boyfriend. Her built-up angst causes her to do the unthinkable- have a one-night stand with a random guy she just met. This subsequently results in an unplanned pregnancy that she chooses to terminate, yet struggles with the thought of whether or not to tell the guy. In the wrong hands, the character of Donna could be intolerable, yet Slate channels all of her insecurities into something familiar and even charming. In every sense, this was a relatable and entertaining movie about overcoming obstacles in an event to keep moving forward.
The 2015 Sundance Film Festival has officially released the lineup of films to be screened! [You can sneak a peek for yourself here.] A plethora of uniquely intriguing synapses scrolled down my screen before I caught myself exploring deeper into the depths of the Sundance website. In particular, the "Womens Initiative" caught my attention. Full Disclaimer:
In essence, the Womens Initiative is a group of organizers that promote gender equality in the film industry by supporting female filmmakers in developing their stories into projects as well as assisting them sustain a career. My first reaction was pleasant. I thought, "Well that's nice. While we may have progressed significantly since the first wave of feminism we certainly are far from the cusp of equality." Shortly thereafter another monsoon of thoughts emerged. Just how much of a "banana republic" was the film world? The results of my research were surprisingly unsurprising. Surely, males make up more of the workforce than females do. But just how much men dominated wasn't clear to me... until today that is.
As if that chart isn't horrifying enough... these numbers are rapidly declining in all but one or two categories (which have increased 1% or remained stagnant) between 1998-2014.
Why oh why?
There are many things one can attribute to the lovely ladies that are interested in this wonderful art form closeting themselves from the industry. One in specific I'd like to focus on is how women are often written out of film history. For example, even in our hallowed halls of Ithaca College, we face male dominated tales of cinematic genius. Though, there are some pretty influential ladies who are responsible for shaping the art of filmmaking as well.
In conclusion the odds of me finding film employment after college is slim and even if I make waves with anything I create, I'll most likely be ignored historically.
Comforting.
Yet... I haven't filled out any paperwork to transfer schools or majors. While the odds of me making it are repulsively slim... I'm going to continue creating and pushing forward. Film-making is underestimated and difficult stuff, but the outcome is one that cannot be explained into words. Maybe the film didn't turn out as grand or funny or shocking as you had hoped, but I bet something worthwhile blossomed from the experience that wouldn't have blossomed if we said, "naaah it'd never work."
Our deadlines are quickly approaching and I encourage everyone, both ladies and gentlemen, to stick with this. The road ahead is demanding and holds minimal time for sleeping and perhaps the road further ahead holds an eleven percent chance for employment but... keep at it? I know I will whether my budget is four million dollars or just four hundred.
Colin Stokes brings up some vital messages films are sending to children, specifically boys. Most importantly, he raises the issue that there are many wonderful heroines smashing the patriarchy for little girls to idolize, but no male characters for boys to look upto that are defying the patriarchy. This is crucial. Currently, the heroism is synonymous with "becoming a man" and scooping up a nice lady prize in the end. Stokes mentions a specific test he has movies undergo before sharing them with his children. This test was first coined by Allison Bechdel in 1985. There are three points of criteria all movies must meet,
This test is incredibly interesting to me and I feel that it raises important attention to female characters and their true role in the films they're in. Specifically, Stokes mentions Princess Lea in "Starwars" who "waits around the whole movie to give our hero a medal and a wink." I agree with Colin, for the most part. I do however believe that there are some flaws with The Bechdel Test. One is simply the shaming aspect of the test itself towards enjoying a film that drops the ball in one of the three criteria (over 80%). The test fails to take into account the complexity of conversation. Regardless, it's important for us as the viewers to be aware of the one dimensional purpose Hollywood places on women so we are able to talk to our children to prevent them from being put under the wrong impression.
Bechdel's test isn't the core of what Colin is trying to get at, he's mostly emphasizing the importance of what we learn alongside the characters in the films; the purpose of characters and how they go about "saving the day." He encourages collaboration with friends sharing common goals (Tangled) as opposed to violent conflict and female prizes (The Lion King). He pushes for application of skills towards the greater good (Kiki's Delivery Service) versus moving up a male hierarchy through mastery of a skill (Ratatouille). This is something I am on board for. These are the movies I'd also love to see more of.
Everyone's seen TheWolf of Wall Street. And if you haven't, you need to get on that. Seriously, watch it. It's a miracle you've been able to hold any sort of conversation with people since its release. Just kidding, I saw it about a week ago. But I mean, look at this face:
Leonardo DiCaprio in "The Wolf of Wall Street"
Anyway, if you have heard of it, you're aware of the certain misogynistic themes that run rampant throughout the entire 180 minutes of the film. But Meghan, it's a biographical film! It's supposed to be funny! They have to stay true to the characters! And yes, I do admit that there's something outrageous and alluring that sets The Wolf of Wall Street apart from the other hundreds of thousands of "Men-Are-Powerful, Women-Are-Sex-Objects" films, but it's interesting to think about how the movie would've actually went if the roles were reversed.
And that's where Los Angeles writer, Nicole Donadio, comes in. A couple of weeks ago, she released a video called "The Women of Wall Street", a parody of the original The Wolf of Wall Street trailer. Line for line, and almost exactly shot for shot, she recreated the trailer, but with a twist. All of the roles switched genders. The concept is more impressive than the actual production of the video, but in my opinion, it was very well executed and edited. First, here's the original trailer:
And here's Donadio's version:
At it's worst, it's a silly parody of a blockbuster film. At it's best, it's a nod to the inequality of women in not only the film industry, but the corporate world as well. What I found extremely interesting were the surprisingly negative comments on the Youtube page. Commenters treated the word and the concept of "feminism" in a very critical light. Although "feminism" has always been viewed as a dirty word (known to many as "the F-word"), I found it alarming how many people took the time to express their hatred for not just the video, but the feminist ideals behind it. Regardless, I'm all for these kinds of videos starting discussions and bringing to the surface some of the issues of gender that are mostly shoved under the rug. Props to Donadio, and I'm excited to see if this sparks any more critical parodies.
And in case any of you are interested, here's a link to a well-written critique on The Wolf of Wall Street from a feminist stand point. Because you know, feminism.
