High heels and summer's strong women
A velociraptor wearing a laser scope is only the second most provocative fashion choice at the movies this summer.
The year's biggest movie, "Jurassic World," has plenty of nonsense for people to argue about online. One of the loudest arguments though is about Bryce Dallas Howard's high heels. Her character, Claire, wears them in every scene, even while eluding multiple species of vicious carnivores.
Depending on the argument, the footwear is either a physical representation of female empowerment or just totally sexist.
Other aspects of Claire's characterization have rubbed people the wrong way too, including her seemingly subordinate sexual interplay with Chris Pratt, her "shrillish" workplace demeanor and her attitude against having children.
It's a broad characterization - one that seems pretty sexist if the character is being purposefully set up as an antagonist. Technically, Claire is the hero of the movie and the only character with an actual story arc. The characterization sometimes reads as sexist because the screenplay is more interested in dinosaur mayhem than developing her character beyond the broad stereotypes.
The second biggest movie of the summer, "The Avengers: Age of Ultron," is also generating criticism for its depiction of Scarlett Johansson's Black Widow. After several films establishing the character as a tough, witty counterpart to the franchise's more notable male heroes, "Age of Ultron" shows a more vulnerable side to Black Widow. Basically this amounts to her waiting around for a man/Hulk to commit to her and being bummed about her infertility.
While I think those conflicts can make for thoughtful drama, the movie only spends about five minutes on them. Robots must be smashed, after all. For a character given great development in previous movies, a few scenes aren't enough to believably tackle those conflicts without it feeling stereotypical. Again, it's more an issue of laziness than sexism.
I can't say either "Jurassic World" or "Avengers: Age of Ultron" has a specific woman problem. I liked both as empty-headed entertainment, but there isn't enough meat in either movie to pinpoint deliberate sexism. "Avengers" director Joss Whedon has an excellent track record of writing strong, nuanced female characters. As has been widely reported, Whedon's preferred cut of the movie was trimmed significantly by Marvel executives. Some of Black Widow's story could be sitting on the cutting room floor alongside whatever Thor was doing in that magic whirlpool.
Even though I can't quite agree with the criticism, the conversation is important. For all the talk about the success of "female-skewing" movies like "Pitch Perfect" or "Magic Mike XXL," people seem to forget just how many women rush out to the latest blockbuster with the equal excitement as men. "Jurassic World" couldn't have made $630 million at the box office without a significant female audience. Keeping that in mind, filmmakers should be more mindful of how they depict female characters.
Better yet, Hollywood could use more female filmmakers calling the shots on these big budget adventures.
The summer of 2015 is definitely a turning point. We've seen so many excellent female characters to simply let the shortcomings of "Jurassic World" and "The Avengers" dominate the conversation. Consider the evidence:
* "Inside Out" takes place in the mind of a pre-teen girl and centers on the relationship between two strong female perspectives.
* Despite having a man's name in the title, "Mad Max: Fury Road" is a brilliant, feminist-thinking extravaganza headlined by a soulful Charlize Theron performance.
* In "Spy" Melissa McCarthy plays a convincing secret agent who is only hindered by the sexist, oafish actions of her male counterparts.
* In "Trainwreck," Amy Schumer blows apart romantic comedy gender stereotypes without undermining the inherent appeal of the genre.
* Even an underwhelming movie like "Tomorrowland" works best when the movie forgets about George Clooney's robot issues and focuses on the resourceful central character played by Britt Robertson.
Unfortunately, other examples prove the lingering problem. There's no reason for "Ant-Man" to sideline the character's female counterpart (Wasp). "Entourage" is still an ugly representation of boorish male behavior. And even though I love the ridiculous action of the "Fast & Furious" franchise, the latest film is still littered with gratuitous shots of female butts in bikinis. Bryce Dallas Howard's high heels seems pretty harmless in comparison.
Tyler Wilson can be reached at twilson@cdapress.com.