Casting a feminist gaze over film and pop culture

[flippinada]

I know someone has already started a thread about Grease (wanted to acknowledge), but also would like to discuss this more generally.

What started me off thinking about this today in particular was going to see a film. I got free tickets to 50/50 which is basically a 'buddy' movie/dark comedy about a young man who gets cancer.

Now I enjoyed the film but while I was watching it, 2 things really struck me. Number 1, there is no way a film like this would ever be made with 2 female characters in the lead. Number 2, all the female characters were a)stereotypes and b)only there cos of the male characters.

This then got me on to thinking about other films/tb shows I've enjoyed. I'll pick an example - The Lion King. Now, this is a film I loved. But looking at it from a feminist perspective, the messages it gives out are just awful. For example, the men (male lions) are the ones in charge and the women (female lions). Need a man to sort them out..and again, the female characters exist only in relation the male ones.

Now this has opened a whole can of worms. I'm thinking about my favourite films and tv shows (The Simpsons and Family Guy immediately spring to mind) in a whole new light.

Anyway, I'd love to hear everybody else's ideas and thoughts about this because I find it fascinating subject to discuss.

at sal.

I get what you're saying trills - I think I was just put off by the 'her' in his head and struggled with her afterwards. I really just didn't like the bits about the six on Helena Cain's ship - I know it makes sense, is a rounded character, etc., but IMO it was uncomfortable to watch and, in such close proximity to porn-six, I found it awkward.

I read an interview about 50/50 with Seth Rogen; the women-hating was shockingly overt (although sadly not shocking in itself).

I saw a clip from 50/50 on last night's Film 2011: the bit where Seth Rogen encourages Joseph Gordon-Levitt to use his having cancer as a pulling tactic in a bar. When will Rogen tire of playing the exact same shitty character in every single shitty film he is ever in, I wonder?

www.guardian.co.uk/film/2011/nov/11/seth-rogen-50-50-will-reiser

This is the article, very telling I thought. Particularly the anecdote about the girl who had an audition.

God they sound like a couple of utter dickheads but whatever gets you through

You know I didn't love Bridesmaids and have read a few interesting articles about how it is anti-feminist but I really, really love that it is the highest grossing of all the seth rogen films.

Stick that in your pipe and smoke it you whiney little man child.

I found the bits with Gina (I think she's called Gina, that one anyway, the six who was on Pegasus) very uncomfortable too. I think in retrospect it helped me to understand some things about war, but I didn't think of it as relating to the Iraq war, for me it reminded me of things I'd been taught about the persecution of Jews in Nazi (and pre-Nazi) Germany (and of course not just Germany). The dehumanisation of the enemy, that kind of thing.