Wednesday, 1 July 2015

Mini-Reviews: Jurassic World & Others

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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