Where The Ladies At? - The Lack of Women in Geek Media

"Being a geek is all about being honest about what you enjoy and not being afraid to demonstrate that affection. It means never having to play it cool about how much you like something. It's basically a license to proudly emote on a somewhat childish level rather than behave like a supposed adult. Being a geek is extremely liberating." - Simon Pegg

I am a geek. There is very little that makes me light up more than discussing The Hobbit, the latest episode of Doctor Who or Marvel's plans for any of the upcoming superhero movies with a fellow fan. Joining the geek community felt completely natural, I have met so many friends and have had so much fun at geek events. I truly can't overstate the importance of being a geek in my life, it has provided joy and comfort by helping me find a social network and by giving me stories to explore on my own.

But right now I'm going to do something that is extremely difficult for me: I am going to criticize the franchises I love. Because, as Anita Sarkeesian puts it so well in her video series Tropes vs. Women in Video Games (which everyone should watch), "It is both possible (and even necessary) to simultaneously enjoy media while also being critical of it's more problematic or pernicious aspects." The pictures at the beginning of this post are promotions for some of the most popular franchises in current geekdom: The Avengers, The Hobbit, Sherlock, Doctor Who and Star Trek: Into Darkness. What I find problematic about these movies and TV Shows is the lack of women in leading roles. According to the NPR Blog: Monkey See, last month 90% of the leading characters in movie theaters were men, and a fair chunk of that came from what are, unquestionably, geek movies (Iron Man 3, Man of Steel, etc.)

This is not to say that these franchises are devoid of strong women. In fact, I think one of the many things that draws me to Sci-Fi and Fantasy stories is that I find more strong female characters there than in other genres. Some folks might be upset at my mention of Doctor Who considering that the Doctor almost always travels with a woman, who is usually a strong and well written character. It's true that the Doctor's female companions are some of my favorite characters, they participate in the action, often committing heroic acts that are all their own, and occasionally they even get to save the Doctor. But it must be acknowledged that the Doctor is consistently the one running the show, and his companions are along for the ride. Readers may also take issue with the inclusion of The Avengers, which was written and directed by Joss Whedon, who is often praised (often by me) as the forerunner in feminist television and film. There was a lot to love about Black Widow in The Avengers (I actually wrote about it in some detail), she was a great improvement to Iron Man 2 and to past attempts at female superheroes (I'm looking at you Elektra). However the obvious must be stated, that she was the only female on the team and unlike her friends -- Thor, Captain America, the Hulk and Iron Man, she has yet to be given her own movie.

 

It is undeniable that despite the presence of strong females in some popular franchises, the vast majority of leading roles are filled by men. Some might wonder, "What's so wrong with that? So long as there are strong female characters somewhere? Does it really matter?" My simple answer is- yes. Yes, it is a problem. This year I attended my first Sci-Fi convention and I loved it, but it forced me to examine that lack of females represented in geek media and the sometimes hostile attitude toward females in the community. If you are a cosplayer, the options for female superheroes are startlingly low, even lower if you are uncomfortable in revealing or heavily sexualized clothing, and lower yet if you are a woman of color. I have found several blog posts highlighting the instances of harassment and body shaming that occurs at conventions and I don't think it's a stretch to think the lack of female driven narratives has something to do with this. Having so few females in film and television creates an illusion that geek culture is male space, and often makes women feel unwelcome. Yet there are still plenty of women and girls who identify as geeks, and I believe this is because the stories I've mentioned are good stories. You don't have to be a man to relate to the struggles and triumphs of The Doctor or Bilbo. I see reflections of myself and people I love in many of the male characters I've mentioned. But it begs the question: Shouldn't men be expected to do the same for women?

So what can be done to change this? I believe there is some progress being made, however slowly. There are steps being taken already, but I'm not sure how successful they have been...

It is becoming less common for a television show or movie to be released without at least one female character; but what we end up getting is a lot of franchises with exactly one woman meant to balance out several men. Soon, we will have the second installment of The Hobbit joining these ranks. Peter Jackson has inserted a female elf, Tauriel, into an all male story. Since I'm a huge fan of the books, I'm not sure how I will feel about Tauriel. On the one hand, I appreciate that there was some awareness that there were NO women in the original story and they felt at least one strong woman was necessary. They succeeded in inserting some girl power into The Fellowship of the Ring by expanding Arwen's role, and I enjoyed that change from the books. However, I had mixed feeling about the deviations from the book in An Unexpected Journey, I thought some slowed down the plot and weren't very well written. I fear that Tauriel is merely a bone being thrown at feminists; she'll fire a couple arrows and won't contribute to the story in an interesting or meaningful way. A major problem with there being so little female representation, is it puts a great deal of weight on the women we do see. If the lone woman is poorly written, it hits female viewers hard and often makes it more difficult to convince Hollywood to invest in strong female characters in the future. Clearly, we need more than one woman inserted into the stories dominated by men. 

There are also the attempts to gender-swap characters that are already beloved by fans. For example, there was Elementary, America's answer to BBC's Sherlock. But CBS decided to do something a little different - they turned John Watson into Joan Watson and cast Lucy Lui in the role. It was a courageous move to give such an iconic role to a woman (and a woman of color) but, if my anecdotal evidence has any truth, fans of the BBC's series and fans of original books had a hard time adjusting to the change. Although, I sorely desire more successful female characters, I don't think a smart solution is replacing the male characters who are already popular. I have similar concerns with the growing demands for a woman to play the Doctor on Doctor Who. For those of you who don't watch the show, The Doctor is an alien who doesn't die but regenerates, thus allowing for eleven (soon to be twelve) different actors to play the same character over the past fifty years. Peter Capaldi was just announced as the 12th Doctor and some have expressed anger that yet another white male was chosen. I certainly understand the disappointment and feel some of it myself. However, I don't think the show is ready for a female Doctor, because I don't trust the all male writing staff to be able to do it right. Since the show got its reboot in 2005 there have only been two serials written by a woman, none since Steven Moffat took charge. I believe part of why franchises with female leads are unsuccessful is that most are written by men, and most men aren't that great at writing women. If they were to cast a female as The Doctor, the unfortunate reality is that she would have to be better than the past Doctors (again, the lack of female characters puts them under a higher degree of scrutiny, by both feminists and misogynists.) And until we have more women behind the scenes, I think it will be hard to have exceptional characters on-screen.

I propose that changing popular male characters into women sets those female characters up for failure and when the people behind the scenes are not excited about a female lead it ends up showing in the final product. Including a woman or two in compelling supporting roles is a good start, but falls short of what we want and need. Often the female characters feel pandering, a small gesture to placate the people who desire more diversity. We need NEW STORIES, new characters, written by women and about women. There are stories out there, there are female superheroes that haven't had a movie made about them, there are new books and comics being written everyday and it's about damn time we start seeing them on the screen.

To end on a somewhat positive note, here are a couple geek projects on the horizon that I am looking forward to: 

Joss Whedon is producing a television show spinoff of The Avengers, called Agents of Shield. From the promotions, it appears that half of the main characters are women. Whedon is one of those rare men that can write women well, and there is at least one woman on the writing team, Maurissa Tancharoen, who has worked with Whedon in the past. It has also been confirmed that Maria Hill (a character who we met in Avengers, but didn't have nearly enough screen time) will appear in the pilot. If the popularity of the Avengers can introduce the geek world to some new and exciting female characters, I will be very pleased.

Not long ago, Rob Thomas and crew made Kickstarter history by asking fans of the TV Show Veronica Mars to fund a movie. This is one of several examples of a female centric show that was ended before it's time. For those of you who haven't watched the show, the title character is a PI who also happens to be a teenage girl struggling through high school. Veronica used her brains and determination to outsmart others, the show dealt with many important issues (most notably, she solves the mystery of her own sexual assault). Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be much of a female presence in terms of writing and directing, but it's incredibly exciting that the character of Veronica Mars is returning. For years the cast, crew and fans have been trying to find a studio to produce this movie, but no studio was willing to bet on a female hero from a cancelled TV Show. I hope the success of the Kickstarter Project (raising over $5 million with over 90,000 backers), will demonstrate to Hollywood that these types of projects have an audience and will make money.

There is a market for female heroines. If a TV Show or movie is well-made and the character is compelling, the geeks will show their support. It is important that females are represented not just so girls and women have someone to look up to, but so that men and boys are taught the strength and humanity of women. We geeks need to be more vocal about what we want in future franchises, as Hollywood starts to plan more superhero movies and tries to start new geek fandoms. There is nothing new about female geeks, we've been around since the beginning of geek culture. It is only the misogyny of some within the community and misrepresentations in the media that have given rise to the myth that all geeks are men. We must continue to be involved and vocal about what we want and support projects that provide it for us. I have no doubt that the culture will continue to change and improve because geek women are creative, articulate and vigilant. Basically, we're awesome.

Witches Be Crazy: "Oz: The Great and Powerful"

Hey guys, it's been a while! I'm starting to get back in the habit of blogging, so there will be more soon. I'm going to get this party re-started by letting you know how disgusting Oz: The Great and Powerful is. I had heard rumblings in the feminist circle that this movie was problematic... Boy, was that an understatement. Watching this movie felt like falling into Director Sam Raimi's misogynist fantasy world. 

A prequel to the beloved Wizard of Oz (a favorite of mine from infancy), this movie follows Oscar (played by James Franco): a lying con man, who makes a living as a magician and gets his kicks by duping impossibly gullible women into worshiping him. While fleeing in his hot air balloon from the outraged boyfriend of a woman he'd philandered, he gets sucked into a tornado and winds up in Oz. As soon as he arrives he meets a gorgeous witch named Theodora (played by Mila Kunis), who informs him that he is the Wizard from their prophecies and he gets to rule the kingdom. Score! Everything seems to be going great for him until Theodora falls in love. Oscar iss totally on board with moonlight make-out sessions and her unconditional adoration, but when she starts talking about marriage... clearly, the witch be crazy.

Theodora takes Oscar to the Emerald city to meet her sister, Evanora (played by Rachel Weiz). She immediately flatters Oscar and gives him a glimpse of all the power and riches that will soon be his... as soon he defeats the Wicked Witch, that is. Although he is somewhat uncomfortable killing a woman he's never met, he decides the power and fame is worth it. So off he goes to find and destroy the Wicked Witch. But once he meets her he discovers she is actually Glinda the Good (played by Michelle Williams) and he'd been tricked by Evanora (the actual Wicked Witch). Glinda leads Oscar to Munchkinland where he meets the people of Oz, all of whom are convinced he is the Wizard that will save them. But Glinda puts two and two together and realizes that Oscar has no powers and is actually kind of an asshole. However, being the wonderful woman she is, she falls for him anyway and puts the fate of her kingdom in his hands.

Meanwhile, Evanora reveals her evil side by showing Theodora that Oscar doesn't really give a flying monkey about her and is way more interested Glinda. Well, Theodora basically goes bananas and takes a potion from her sister to freeze her heart and take away her pain. The potion does a little more than that, it literally turns her green with envy and thus she becomes the Wicked Witch of the West we all remember from the original Wizard of Oz.

The rest of the story plays out as you would expect: Oscar uses his magician tricks and cons to develop a plan (that a two-year-old could have come up with). He leads Glinda and the people of Oz against the Wicked Witches and after twenty minutes of tri-witch cat fighting, the crazy ladies flee. The movie ends with Oscar taking up his title as the Great and Powerful Wizard of Oz and making out with Glinda behind the famed curtain.

The problems with this movie are endless, especially with regards to gender dynamics. The women embody nearly every horrible stereotype thrown at women in present day America. 

First we have Theodora, who cannot move without the guidance of a man; soon after she meets Oscar they are pursued by one of the Wicked Witch's flying monkeys. While hiding from it, she can't even be trusted not to scream and reveal their location without Oscar's hand covering her mouth. Oscar encourages her affection in the beginning, he lies to her in order to seduce her, and when she mentions becoming his queen he affirms her hopes. Yet after all this she is still portrayed as the villain and he, the hero. Her character becomes the overused story of the woman who falls for a man way too fast (often due to manipulation on his part) and once rejected stops at nothing to ruin his life. This trope is seen far too much in popular culture, usually in romantic comedies and sitcoms. It paints an unfair depiction of women as emotional wrecks and relieves the men of any responsibility for their manipulation and cruelty.

While watching the film, I could not see past the glaring plot hole that a man was needed to fill the seat of power in Oz, despite there being three very powerful women just hanging around. Before Oscar shows up, the thrown has been empty since the death of Glinda's father. Evanora is the only woman who decides to take advantage of this power vacuum. Unlike every other female character in the film, she has ambition, and is therefore evil. Her character is nothing new to film and television, often women in power are portrayed as cold, manipulative and utterly selfish. To add insult to injury, Evanora's loathing for Glinda seems to stem from Glinda's being prettier than her. After all, that is all women really care about, right?

Lastly, we have Glinda, the blonde-haired, blue-eyed, pure-as-snow woman who loves Oscar despite all his flaws. She's the shining light in a sea of crazy, idiotic women. Her character seems to exist solely to stroke Oscar's ego. No matter how badly he behaves, or how many mistakes he makes, she continues to stare at him with those doe eyes and tell him that he is capable of wonderful things. Her character also appears in Kansas before he makes his way to Oz. She is an old love who shows up at Oscar's door to break the news that another man has asked her to marry him. However, she makes it quite clear that one word from Oscar will put a stop to this engagement. Oscar refuses her advances, in what is supposed to be a noble gesture. He tells her she should marry a good man and he ain't one of those. She insists that he could be, to which he responds, "I don't want to be a good man, I want to be a great one." 

That quote sums up the core problem with the protagonist. He's not a good man. Throughout the film he lies, cheats and just generally treats everyone poorly. His motivation is entirely selfish and he does not seem to care whom he hurts, so long as it leads to notoriety. I suppose his choice to stay and use his skills as a trickster is meant as character development, but he never shows any remorse for the damage he'd caused prior. Yet the audience is meant to cheer for him, be glad when he succeeds and rejoice that he gets the glory and the girl. In the end, that is all Glinda was: a prize for Oscar.

Sometimes I think this movie could be harmless, one of those films that is just so awful no one should take anything about it seriously. In the past, that's often been the charm of Sam Raimi's work (The Evil Dead, Drag Me To Hell). But what makes this film more problematic than his past work is that it is marketed to children. It is distressing when adult films have unfair portrayals of women, but when a movie intended for kids is so lacking in morals it is all the more upsetting.

I'll end by simply saying there is nothing redeeming about this movie. In addition to the sexism that oozes from every scene, the characters are two dimensional, the story makes little sense, the acting is poor and any aesthetic enjoyment you might gather from the special effects you've seen in the previews. So if you're having a movie night and think Oz will be a good fantastical adventure, choose something else, you will be spared two hours of James Franco's shit-eating grin.  You're welcome.