Warning:
Spoilers.
Mini Review
1: Jurassic World
As someone
who loves the Jurassic Park films (or should I say first film) I was very
excited to watch Jurassic World; from the pictures I’d seen I was excited to
see Bryce Dallas Howard kicking ass, and oh does she. Yet a curious thing
seemed to happen where the film spent it’s time nit picking at her, making
jokes about her being useless, having her trying to stand up to a patronising
Pratt. It was a bit disappointing when I came to enjoy a film with dinosaurs
(!!) that got distracted by trying to force chemistry and a love story that for
me felt like it was more of a distraction. Moreover, I was rather annoyed that
they reinforced the tired ‘All Women Want Children’ cliché; Howard’s character
is clearly a very accomplished women – running a ridiculously profitable and spectacular
park – but the film felt that was still not enough: surely she wants kids?
Right?
I think we
need to accept that women can be successful without hearing their biological
clock screaming at them. For a film that was clearly written for men and boys
it felt like little girls and women had nothing really to look up to besides an
amazing moment with Howard near the end of the film. I don’t think every film
needs to be everything for everyone but considering the original Jurassic Park
film had a clear role model for young girls as well as women it’s a shame that
20 odd years later we’ve lost that. It joins the silly sexism that surrounds
this film, such as Hasbro describing the clearly female raptors – something that
is described constantly throughout – as ‘he’ in their toy descriptions.
Finally, it
was very disappointing to see a female character get very brutally murdered. I
was a bit dismayed when I saw it, as it was uncharacteristically drawn out and
sustained. It was a multi-faceted murder and it made me more anxious than
excited to show this film to my future children. Especially as when I went on
the trivia for this film I found out that this death was the franchise’s first
credited female death, which is a shame that it had to be so harsh. Disappointing
as all that was however it was a very good nostalgia trip and I did enjoy the
film as a whole.
Mini Review
2: Pitch Perfect 2
Pitch
Perfect, the first one, is a great film that combines sisterhood, the fun of
musicals with modern music and yet I feel that the second one completely forgot
all of that. It was an eagerly anticipated sequel and yet I think that the
pressure perhaps got to the writer & it tried to be everything modern films
are in the worst way. It had many racist moments that felt really out of place
and unnecessary, it reduced its lesbian character to a punchline and
stereotype, and for a film that is about women and is arguably for women it
really seemed to have a problem with women. There were many jokes about women’s
bodies made in a derogatory fashion, a slew of gendered insults, and made me
feel more insulted than wanting to join in the fun like the first film did. It
seemed like a weird direction to go after the triumph of the first film and it
makes me not that excited for the third.
As a film
it was a bit of a mess, rather muddled as it tried to juggle far too many plot
lines and subplots at once. The jokes from Fat Amy that were already quite
insulting in the first film, rather than make women feel better about their
bodies instead made me feel like women would perhaps be insulted. The songs for
the film were also pretty subpar, seems as they were there to show that the Bella’s
were having a crisis as a group; a few good songs and one great, touching
moment aside the soundtrack is rather forgettable and actually I’ve found
myself listening to Mary Lambert’s album Heart on My Sleeve over and over
instead (highly recommend it, who knew Jessie’s Girl could be a sweet, heart-breaking
song?).
Mini Review
3: Inside Out
Pixar win
out this week with having the film that didn’t make me, as a woman, feel
uncomfortable or bad about being myself. If anything Inside Out made me want to
embrace exactly who I was, taking joy in the different aspects of my
personality, and being grateful for the family and friends that made me. Inside
Out is a very touching (I did cry, yes) film about what the inside of our heads
are like – from our emotions, to our memories and even our imagination. It is a
surprisingly scientifically accurate depiction of how we experience the world
around us. It respects its female lead as a person, it doesn’t try to force
gender stereotypes on her and explores her girlhood – though it does make jokes
later about her being a stereotypical teenage girl. Even the stereotypes around
the mother and father’s emotions and thought processes were not done in a way
that was insulting or restrictive but rather embraced any differences and
highlighted similarities.
The film
overall had a beautiful message about letting sadness in because it can help;
how friends and family can be there for you, and how being true to who you are
is important. It is a great tool to show depression too, for all ages. It is
definitely a film necessary to show young children for its great characters and
important message – especially one that is important to tell little boys who
perhaps are taught that being sad and crying is not an acceptable thing to do.
Moreover it showed a marriage of mutual respect, of working together to sort
out the difficult problems adults face, and the importance of being open about
feelings and worries. It has been my favourite of the three films by far.
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