After taking a look at the past and my viewing experiences
growing up and in my adult years, is there still a place for the Smurfette
Principle? Have we finally moved passed this false, backwards trope? To varying
degrees, yes. But when it comes to mainstream TV and film media and female
speaking roles – not to mention roles for women behind the camera – there is a
long way to go.
Is there any hope for the future?
There certainly appears to be; more so than a few years ago.
Superhero movies have been the number one blockbuster money grabs for over a
decade now, but it is in 2017 that the world shall finally see a Wonder Woman theatrical-released
film, the first live-action female-led superhero picture since Electra (2005). Shame that Wonder
Woman had to be in Batman v
Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016) in order for this to happen. I will
go to see Wonder Woman when
it comes out, even if it is terrible (which is sadly likely, in the wake of
DC’s line of disastrous comic book movie adaptations in 2016 – Suicide Squad and Batman: The Killing Joke), because
superhero films with female leads absolutely need to be supported. Sexist,
male-run studios and producers need a wake-up call the size of several
multiverses for them to stop seeing lady parts as a “risk”. In the past they
have weakly justified this by sighting the bombs Supergirl (1984), Catwoman (2004),
and Electra (all spinoffs
from films starring male superheroes), refusing to own up to the responsibility
that it is their own failings, not the audiences, that caused these films to
turn out so badly. No mention is made of the dozens of male-led superhero flops,
i.e. Batman and Robin (1997)
and Green Lantern (2011),
because double standards.
Gender should not be a reason not to tell a story. Girls
love action as much as boys do, but they keep being excluded from this genre
because supposedly it “isn’t for girls”, or some nonsense about women not
liking conflict. They only watch romances and chick flicks, as if those contain
no conflict, and are inferior films (never mind how much money they make at the
box office) because they are marketed to appeal to the female gender. Audiences
of all genders (and races) do want to see change; they do want to see variety.
Mostly they want to be entertained and have fun watching a superhero flick,
with character insights and development, and breaking boundaries in
storytelling in the superhero genre. Make something new!
As well as Wonder
Woman, a Captain Marvel movie
is set to be released in 2019 (hopefully no more delays, and I’m not certain
Carol Danvers won’t have already been in a previous Marvel movie with male
leads). A Harley Quinn solo
flick has been changed into a Gotham
City Sirens comic book adaptation. Cool – not one but three superwomen
leading their own movie; there is progress. However I am not holding my breath
over this, due to the not-yet-confirmed rumour that Megan Fox might be cast as
Poison Ivy, which screams desperation on the studio’s part to attract a male
audience by place holding an actress whose career comes right down to
male-titillation typecasting. Why not just get the best person for the part?
Write female characters better? Sex doesn’t sell; sexism does, though judging
by the female-led super-horrors of the past, even that is not confirmed to be
true.
And then there is Joss Whedon writing and directing a Batgirl movie. I’ve talked about my
thoughts on this news before, but I’ll reiterate: We still have an awful long
way to go to hiring more women to help make these films better, and if my
feelings on Buffy the Vampire Slayer
have not been clear enough, I don’t entirely trust Joss Whedon. His two Avengers blockbuster hits adhere to the
Smurfette Principle, with the tight-skinned leather-suited Black Widow as the
token female hero in the Avengers and in marketing (but is rarely seen there –
#WhereisBlackWidow, anyone?). She and the Scarlett Witch, powerful as we are
made to believe they are, still rely heavily on the men in their lives, which
is another common Whedon trait. He tries, but he just needs to recognize his
own privilege, double standards, and how he treats women, both on screen and
off: How he treated Charisma Carpenter when she was pregnant in the Buffy spinoff Angel is disgusting and
unforgivable.
Girls kicking butt and given a snarky edge are not enough to
make them “strong female characters”; there are nonetheless written to be
less-threatening damsels to cater to insecure male viewers. Meanwhile
strongly-written male characters are continuously spotlighted and often praised
by the same fandom for being well-rounded and relatable with no strings
attached. Personality types encouraged in men – assertiveness, orderliness,
stubbornness, pursuing whatever the hell they want, brave leadership skills –
are seen as bitchy and mean in women. Just being a woman – portrayed as weak
and helpless – is considered a flaw needing to be eradicated – by men and for
men; not for the woman herself and what she wants. You would think that Whedon
would have grown out of that 1990s “strong female character” standard by now.
“At least he isn’t Zack Snyder” is not a comfort or an
excuse, period. As I have said throughout this piece, we can always do better,
if we try.
And by try, I mean really, seriously try. Making the effort
to enact change, for diverse representation, is everything. I am happy that at
least someone is making a Batgirl feature
film happen, and the future is uncertain; Joss Whedon could turn out to impress
me yet. Nowadays my standards are high, however: We cannot afford to make baby
steps anymore – the baby has to grow up eventually.
In conclusion, I think that medium executives and head
writers, producers and directors simply need to be aware of their influence and
privilege, and of sexist tropes such as the Smurfette Principle in order to
take conscious steps to avoid/subvert them. Entertainment should be a top
priority, of course, but why can’t a woman leading a story and a fight be
entertaining? Who says otherwise, and why? Keep asking yourselves why we still
fall back on the same old, default-white-male status quo, and realize the difference
between reasons and excuses. Film and TV are all about taking risks, and in the
2010s more and more people are demanding diversity than ever before. Times and
tastes change, and a lot of fans are tired of seeing the hetero white male
hero’s journey over and over again. They are aware of racist Hollywood and
whitewashing, as well. Talks of privilege are making headway into the
mainstream public consciousness.
Most of all, what I am asking from the storytellers in
charge of our entertainment is this: Listen. Pay attention to who you are
catering to, and to what kind of a society we are all living in. Listen to your
fans, who are the reason for your success, and listen to women, and to everyone
who isn’t white or male or cisgender.
I will leave with a message of hope for any woman and girl
who might be reading this. I know we are living in a scary world right now – a
world that hates you so much that it would rather have an anti-intellectual,
compulsively-lying, narcissistic, sociopathic, misogynistic, white supremacist,
and KKK-and-Nazi-endorsed sex offender to be the President of the United States
instead of a competent and experienced woman. But if the past couple of years
have taught us one thing, it is that we cannot afford to take anything for
granted anymore. Progress means nothing if we are not committed to it, and as
we have seen it can regress faster than we could have anticipated, at a
terrifying rate.
But every single woman on earth, I say to you: Don’t give
up. Don’t let the demons of toxic misogyny win; our lives depend on it. And I
am a firm believer in representation matters – in the films and shows we see
and the books we read, enjoyed not just as entertainment but as a mirror to see
ourselves in, and how the world at large sees us, and wish to see us. If
fiction didn’t have an effect on real life, then policies such as book banning
wouldn’t exist. If we can see ourselves represented in the stories and
characters we love – represented as we are: people, human beings – it can make a
difference, even a cultural one. Look at the success of the recent Ms. Marvel comic series, starring a
Muslim Pakistani-American teenage girl as its lead superhero, for proof of
this.
So a happy hope and activism to you. Girl Power is a power,
not to be underestimated or overlooked, as long as it is used to help others,
not hurt them. Sailor Moon, The Powerpuff Girls, Bob’s Burgers, The Legend of Korra, Steven
Universe, Supergirl, and
series like them, they inspire hope for a societal change for the better,
debatably more so than the eighties and nineties reboot titles popping up
everywhere (do we really need another Scooby
Doo revival?). Being “different” is a strength, not a hindrance, not
an inconvenience. Femininity is a strength, and so is compassion, which
are not weaknesses. They are not diseases.
Keep up, never give up, and maybe, one day, we can put the
final nail in the coffin of the Smurfette Principle and other common sexist
tropes once and for all. I am not exaggerating when I say that fiction could be
the key to global progress.
Because remember: You matter. You have always mattered, no
matter what anyone or anything you see leads you to think about the world.
“It’s just how it is” is an excuse, not a reason.
Remember: You are a hero.
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