• I would like to add that i'm not personally attacking Mandy, nor do I think she was being intentionally racist. This is just one of many articles that decide to specifically attack rap instead of looking at the broader misogyny in music. But I stand by my statements and pointing out these double standards is the only way we can learn from them and improve. - Ash
  • Lol that's right sue Bell! - Bridget
  • I think I may have been too playful on the Hoopla yesterday. Sorry for any extra and possibly exhausting editing work. I hope you at the Hoopla respond to any applications by prospective employees. It is so rude not to at least acknowledge someone has gone to the time and effort of making an application. It is disheartening and shows a lack of respect. - ro.watson
  • Agreed with everything that you said Saffi! - Bridget
  • Pseudonym , I guess you weren't concentrating, Same Sex marriage fell over because Abbott refused to allow the LNP a conscience vote, they all voted NO. Offshore processing fell over because the LNP and the Greens voted NO. The Prime Ministers hands are tied because of this stance. It is politically expedient for the LNP to have more and more boats -- what hypocrites . They should be ashamed. As for the Greens - go figure , they want onshore processing . The only way to get to Australia is by plane or boat, hence, more boats I've had this argument with Senator Hanson Youngs office but with no success, they wanted to raise the intake levels and that's been done , still more boats . Greens policy makes no sense at all. - Carole/m
  • Elder abuse is often hard to distinguish in nursing home environments.It can be called abuse not showering residents daily,however if you go against their wishes and shower after they decline- that can be called abuse. Also when you are dealing with someone with dementia and being hit,punched and spat on by that person: what do you do? can't not look after them,but i know a lot of people find it hard to listen to them screaming when being undressed. If they have soiled themselves,you have to change them! we are damned if we do and damned if we don't. - Linda Robinson
  • Very often, the oppressed (in this case, women) fall in with the oppressors (men) in order to maintain some sort of power even if it’s at the benevolence of misogynists. Good description of Julie Bishop. - Tony W
  • My usual doctor rarely touches me which is a good thing. On the down side I have to wait more than an hour to see her and with a lung disease, the coughs and cold viruses hit me in the waiting room. When I do see her, she often talks about herself. Probably because I have a "mental" signature about me. She is good though~ and writes repeat prescriptions without me having to have an actual consultation. Partners are handy for many reasons, one of which are questions like "what is that on your back" and other hard to see places. My sister who lives far away has been diagnosed with a melanoma and is using some new fangled topical cream, medically prescribed.. She loves the sun. It brings her joy and I assume relief from some of her own "mental" issues, including vanity. She is now going to have to cover up. - ro.watson
  • I've read your article twice Mandy, and I don't think you're being racist at all, latent or otherwise... I concur completely, even though I don't think censoring art is always effective and like prohibition can drive it underground. However, in the case of horrendous misogynistic violence, legislators really have to intervene. Since when was it cool to incite hatred? - Lee-Anne
  • Excellent piece Gabrielle, and sanguine...if it wasn't for the enlightened views aired through Hoopla et al, we'd all curl up and die of cynicism and despondency. The government's achievements have been great but we never hear about it in the current climate of media bias and witch-hunt frenzy. Keep it up, please! - Lee-Anne
 
10
Categories:  Entertainment, Movies, Spicer's Spotlight

PRINCESSES. SO LAST YEAR

By Tracey Spicer
July 3, 2012

It’s time to throw away the tiara. Passive princesses are so last year.

Hollywood is being Brave. This school holiday season, the hit movie from Pixar stars a girl.

She’s got a sword and she’s not afraid to use it. Merida (not to be confused with Rebekah Brooks) in Brave.

After a decade of movies like Monsters, Inc., Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, Cars, Ratatouille and Up, the old boys at the animation studio finally had the balls to cast their first heroine.

Fellas, what took you so long?

Like many women of a certain age, I grew up with Wonder Woman. And Lynda Carter was no sidekick; she kicked arse.

The 70s were red-letter days for female superheroes, like Jaime Sommers in The Bionic Woman. Of course, this was a spinoff from The Six Million Dollar Man – spare parts, you could say.

DC comics created Supergirl and Batwoman as oestrogen supplements to the manly men.

And Charlie’s Angels (left) still had to answer to a bloke.

But bolshie birds burst back on the screen with Sigourney Weaver in Aliens, Linda Hamilton in Terminator 2, and Angelina Jolie as Lara Croft in Tombraider.

Suddenly, studio bosses were scared.

This did not fit the formula of strong male lead + female love interest + conflict + resolution = box office gold. But their assumptions are flawed.

Research by the University of Southern California, commissioned by the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media, provides an insight into the decision-making process.

In 2010, Stacy L. Smith found females were “grossly underrepresented across 122 G, PG and PG-13 films… with 2.42 times the number of male-speaking characters”.

So, she asked content creators why.

Almost half said it was because of “positive male market forces”; 32 percent blamed the “male dominated industry”; 20.4 percent the “male target audience”.

The second reason is valid: only seven percent of the films were directed by women.

But the first and third are based on a fallacy: that young men are the main market.

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10 Responses to this article

  1. Kaz July 3, 2012 Reply
     
     

    Tracey, I’m a mum of 3 young girl-averse boys and I too would love to see more female heroines in kids movies so they could see that girls are as tough (or tougher!) than boys. I think the industry reaffirms so many gender stereotypes through tv/film watching, it’s sad!

     
  2. Kelly July 3, 2012 Reply
     
     

    Name a film since Thelma & Louise that showcases strong women standing up for themselves? I can’t! It’s not just young girls who have bad role models! We’re being inundated with rom-coms!

     
  3. Siggy July 3, 2012 Reply
     
     

    I loved Brave. I think I’ll vote with my dollars and go again. While Pixar are at it perhaps Jessie the Cowgirl can have her own movie!

     
  4. Siggy July 3, 2012 Reply
     
     

    PS All my family loved Brave – girls, boys, bears. Sometimes I worry that the notion thar people only want to watch movies about their own gender a self-fulfilling prophecy.

     
  5. Anna July 3, 2012 Reply
     
     

    I really enjoyed Brave and so did my daughters, aged 13 and 7. The animation was spectacular, but I REALLY enjoyed the plot. Right now, the 13yo and I are locked in constant battle. Nothing extreme, just an adolescent girl pushing against the female most important in her life. I know she is trying to find a way to define herself in the world, and I am the shadow she fights. And that was the plot of Brave. It actually spoke to the lives we are living. It has given image and language to some of our battles, and that is always helpful. I give it 5 stars.

     
  6. The Huntress July 3, 2012 Reply
     
     

    I did always love The Paperbag Princess – she was my kind of princesss :)

     
  7. Melanie July 3, 2012 Reply
     
     

    Get ye into Ghibli animation: My Neighbour Totoro, Kiki’s Delivery Service, Laputa, Nausicaa Valley of the Winds, Spirited Away in particular.
    Lots of strong young girls facing fears and moving through scary adventures.

    That being said, Brave, we loved. My daughter is a feisty red head who I battle regularly. I would’ve liked more of the Mum’s tale – that’s a really under represented section…

     
  8. Tracey July 9, 2012 Reply
     
     

    Yes Melanie – I would have liked to see more of the Mum’s story as well! Thanks for those other tips – will hunt them out right now.

     
  9. Mumabulous July 22, 2012 Reply
     
     

    I really enjoyed Brave. I found it so refreshing that Pixar gave us a Princess movie that didn’t portrait finding luuurve and romance as the defining achievement of a woman’s existence. Moreover I found the resolution of the mother/daughter conflict quite poignant. I should probably show this film to my daughters again when they reach the teenage years. For a full review see;
    http://mum-abulous.com/2012/07/03/brave-teen-tantrums-and-bears-never-looked-so-good/

     

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  • Ash: I would like to add that i'm not personally attacking Mandy, nor do I think she was being intentionally racist. This is ...

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