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Original poster

Why is Big Hero Six being marketed as a boy's film?

34 replies

Lovecat · 23/02/2015 14:11

Yes, this is petty, yes there are more important things to get worked up about, but this has really annoyed me!

Took DD and her BFF to see this film in half-term, they both loved it and came out talking excitedly about what they would call their superhero duo team and what their powers would be/what they would invent to fight crime. There are 3 strong female characters in the film doing 'science stuff' (Honey Lemon, GoGo and Abigail the test pilot) and the auntie who looks after Hiro and Tadashi is a sympathetic (if ditsy) character.

So why, when we went to the Disney store the next day to spend some birthday money, were we greeted by a display of BH6 toys and clothing on a stand that was labelled "Oh Boy!", on the "Boy" side of the shop (don't get me started on the sexual apartheid practised in the Disney Store with princesses vs. superheroes) and NONE of the t-shirts featured the female members of the team? Not one of them! There wasn't even a separate "girls" shirt with just Honey Lemon and Gogo.

I asked (nicely) and a very apologetic assistant said that this was what they'd been sent and how Disney had decided to market the film merchandising. He suggested I look elsewhere as they 'might' have licensed the characters to other stores and made clothing with the entire team on them. He also said that he agreed it was silly and they'd done the same thing with Guardians of the Galaxy (ie removed the women).

But really? Do they think boys will be contaminated by having female characters on their shirts, even though those female characters are part of the team - the film's not called Big Hero Four, is it? Why not all of them? And do they think girls don't want a t-shirt with the characters on it at all?

I've found a grand total of 3 t-shirts on Amazon with all the team on them, the vast majority of most of them are of the four men.

Raaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!

OP posts:
scallopsrgreat · 23/02/2015 14:33

Removed the women? Fucking hell. There is an argument on another thread about how women have been erased throughout history. And here are Disney doing it. today.

And yes I am perfectly aware that Disney characters are not 'history' but it is still replacing erasing women (and possibly the royalties those female actors will get for not having merchandised sold with their characters?).

Swingball · 23/02/2015 14:38

Yes I completely agree.

reddaisy · 23/02/2015 14:40

I don't know anything about this film but my DD loved Power Rangers and all of the bloody merchandise only had the male Power Rangers on it - there are two female power rangers. I couldn't buy a female figurine or lunch bag or anything it gave me the rage.

DaddyThunder · 23/02/2015 14:43

Because people are horrible and little boys and girls are there so that you can force them into whichever gender role you want. obviously they should only be allowed to watch films or play with toys based on their genitals... everybody knows this

BuffytheThunderLizard · 23/02/2015 14:47

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

TaurielTest · 23/02/2015 14:53

I have never been prouder than when my DS inspected some Avengers stuff and rejected it - loudly - on the basis that "Black Widow is missing". As you say, happened with Gamora too. Ridiculous and depressing.

Bluestone42 · 23/02/2015 14:56

My two girls, 4 and 6, loved it. Shame there isn't more unisex merchandise available but I suppose they are trying to tap the boy market because Frozen Elsa/Anna has the girl market all sewn up.

katienana · 23/02/2015 14:57

my 2yo ds always asks where penny is when we look at fireman sam merchandise.

AugustRose · 23/02/2015 15:19

I'm not surprised really, I don't go in the Disney shop because of stuff like this.

On the film however, I took my DD2 (a very girly girl) and 3 of her female friends to see this as a birthday treat and none of them came out saying it was for boys. I think if my DD was going to have a t-shirt with any of them it would be the robot anyway.

ChunkyPickle · 23/02/2015 15:22

And there was me praising it as a fairly balanced film!

I confess the only t-shirt I wanted was the grey one with baymax on, so I hadn't noticed the lack of female characters on the others.

Bastards. It's lost its gloss a bit now.

Notso · 23/02/2015 15:44

Same reason I can't get DS3 a 'boys' top with Peppa pig on. He doesn't like cry baby George, he likes Peppa.
Apparently girls can't like boys and boys can't like girls.
When we watched a programme about the making of Frozen that was on over Christmas. Big Hero 6 was spoken about by people from Disney as being Frozen for boys.

enderwoman · 23/02/2015 15:48

I totally agree that they are trying to make money from the siblings of Frozen fans (often boys)
I was impressed about the female superheroes' human alter egos as scientists but quite disappointed that the female characters were cliched - use of pink and never having the funny lines.

PuffinsAreFictitious · 23/02/2015 16:02

The thing is though, that there was a fair amount of Olaf merchandise about in blues, which we all know girls can't wear because their vaginas heal up.

That's shit about the Peppa Pig stuff though, I would have thought some unisex stuff with Peppa on would have been a great idea.

Why can't clothes be bloody clothes anymore? Sad

almondcakes · 23/02/2015 16:13

You might like this OP, on absence of female characters from kids' tv, and the bias that creates.

PilchardPrincess · 23/02/2015 18:37

Same as reddaisy

the kids were into power rangers and I wanted to get them some night-clothes. Scoured amazon etc. Only pajamas available with power rangers on, OK fine that's alright they can wear "boys" pajamas. And I was really pissed off because basically none had any of the female ones on. There were none with all of them, some with single male ones, and many with groupings with just the male ones.

I was really genuinely gobsmacked I remember ranting about it to DH! There are however many power rangers it is, some are girls, there is only "boys" merchandise (hmmm but well what do you expect) but for them to have REMOVED the female ones and not put them on anything??? WTAF.

Anyway yes I ranted.

OP yes it's fucking outrageous.

So even when something has a female character you can't put them on a boys thing because obviously won't like them (how outrageous is that?!) and it might make their dicks drop off or something fuck only knows.

noblegiraffe · 23/02/2015 18:43

Given the obsession with princesses, where the fuck is Princess Leia?

Dotheyfloat · 23/02/2015 18:44

In principle I have no problem with characters being sold exclusively to a group on the basis of sex, e.g. female character T shirts being sold to girls; in this case the absence of a female equivalent is a bad marketing decision.

"...sexual apartheid..."

I wonder how some black people may feel when white, typically middle class, people apply the term apartheid to the colour schemes in their local toy shop.

scallopsrgreat · 23/02/2015 22:54

"in this case the absence of a female equivalent is a bad marketing decision." Oh yes that's what this is about. Bad marketing decision. No pattern here. Nothing to see Hmm.

scallopsrgreat · 23/02/2015 22:56

Definition of apartheid:

Definition of apartheid in English:
NOUN

[MASS NOUN] historical
1 (In South Africa) a policy or system of segregation or discrimination on grounds of race.

1.1 Segregation on grounds other than race:
sexual apartheid

slightlyglitterstained · 24/02/2015 00:16

Bollocks, lost longer post.

So basically, read this:

boingboing.net/2013/12/16/paul-dini-explains-why-execs-d.html

Then this:
howtonotsuckatgamedesign.com/2013/12/marketers-fear-female-geek-2/

Original poster
Lovecat · 24/02/2015 15:35

Dotheyfloat - I'm wondering on what basis you assume that I'm white?

PMSL @ being considered middle class, as well. My parents would be so proud... :o

OP posts:
slightlyglitterstained · 24/02/2015 19:29

Basically I suspect that boy fans of Frozen are not seen by marketers as devaluing the franchise for girls in the same way that girl fans are for "boy" films, even to the point of cancelling popular shows with a big audience of The Wrong Sort of People, as described by Paul Dino in the link above.

Dotheyfloat · 26/02/2015 12:25

Lovecat
"Dotheyfloat - I'm wondering on what basis you assume that I'm white?"

I doubt a black person would be so crass on this matter. It'd be similar to a Jew referring to girls' toys overwhelmingly pink colouring as the 'Barbie Holocaust'. It's by no means impossible, but it would be bizarrely self-offensive.

Lovecat
"PMSL @ being considered middle class, as well. My parents would be so proud... grin"

I said typically middle class, not that you are middle class.

scallopsrgreat

Definition of apartheid:

Definition of apartheid in English:
NOUN

[MASS NOUN] historical
1 (In South Africa) a policy or system of segregation or discrimination on grounds of race.

1.1 Segregation on grounds other than race:
sexual apartheid

Example of 1 (Original Apartheid):
Getting a state-sanctioned beating by white policeman because you're black and you just used the white man's public toilet as you needed to take a quick pee. If you're very lucky there might be a blanket in your concrete cell that you can lie down and quietly bleed on, after they've finished kicking the shit out of you.

Example of 1.1 (Feminist Apartheid)
Not being able to find the T-Shirt you want from your local Disney store. The till assistant can't fix the problem. They girl's toys are mostly pink.

Seriously, pick another word.

scallopsrgreat · 26/02/2015 12:45

Well that last post really shows how much you don't know DotheyFloat.

But we all like to have our language policed by a bloke. So feel free to carry on making a fool of yourself.

Original poster
Lovecat · 26/02/2015 14:12

I'm actually half-South African, I'm well aware of the meaning of the word apartheid.

Please stop before you embarrass yourself any more.

OP posts: