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Our media producer, resident book nerd and office baker; Annika! She got her bachelors in American Literature and creative writing at the University of Royal Holloway 5 years ago and is one of the creative minds behind this magazine. She loves all things film but especially enjoys picking our favourite films apart and ruining them for us before staff meetings! If you have any questions you'd love to ask her about films, creative writing, how she enjoyed uni or simply her favourite food just drop her an email at Annika@weare.com or address a question to her in our advice column where she and her long time friend and member of awesome girl band Ground Control, Carlene answer your burning questions!
Feminism in today's media has become far more vocal in recent years, with films being a focal point for this branch of representation. Many films once considered 'feminist' in the 80's and 90' for featuring one 'quirky' female character with a little more self drive than other female characters and a strange habit of some variety or maybe two or three female characters all with different personalities and dress sense have now been accused of tokenism. Many classic female characters, films and tropes have been criticised for not actually being feminist and so because of this different terms and tests have been created to determine if a film, tv series or another media text is truly feminist.
The first is one I always use when watching a film, much to the annoyance of my family. It's called the 'Bechdel Test' and it's very simple. It only has two criteria that to be honest seem to be very hard to fulfil for much of Hollywood.
1. There must be at least two named female characters
2. There must be a conversation between women that
is not about a man (sometimes this rule is split into two)
These seem simple enough right? Surely there are plenty
of films that fulfil these criteria? Well, no you would be wrong.
The large majority of recent films and older films fail this test on both or all grounds. Even franchises like Harry Potter barely pass the test (each of the films have snippets or passing comments between two female characters but not enough to class a full conversation) The test was first referenced in an 1985 comic titled 'Dykes to watch out for' written by American cartoonist, Alison Bechdel and has been used ever since. The test, however, does have some limitations. A film may pass the test but still contain sexist tropes, characters or content, or the text may fail the test but still contain a fair amount of female content and characters, there may only be very few characters, for example 'Gravity' only features two characters, one male, one female, the test may also been set in a gender limiting environment and the realms of what defines a conversation are a bit vague. Some texts allow a passing comment, other include full, character developing conversations. Because of this, other tests have been created since to better evaluate how a text represents its women.
The second test created by comic book writer, Kelly Sue DeConnick, is aptly named the 'Sexy Lamp Test' and again it is relatively simple. If your female character could be replaced with a sexy lamp and narrative can still function, then you need to rethink your character. This test is often used to deter writers from writing 2D female characters what only serve very basic purposes, usually to do with sex or the male lead's uncompelling narrative arc.
Another test I find very interesting is the 'Mako Mori Test' created by Tumblr user 'Chaila' and inspired by the character of the same name from the 2013 film 'Pacific Rim'; Mako Mori being the only significant female character in the film. The test questions whether a female character experiences a narrative arc that doesn't revolve around supporting a mans. Characters like Zoey Deschannel's Summer in '500 days of Summer', have no other arc other than supporting their male love interest, father, brother, male friend etc. (Ironically, Mako Mori is killed minutes into the Pacific Rim sequel to help further the narrative arc of her brother)
The fourth test was created by the Sphinx theatre company of London and the so called 'Sphinx Test' was originally created for theatre after it was found that in 2014, only 34% of theatre roles were written for women. It looks at many aspects of female character like how prominently they feature in the plot or action, or how proactive or reactive they are and how stereotypically they are featured in an attempt to make writers think about the roles they are creating and the women they are representing. These lists of criteria are by no means comprehensive or completely accurate about the films and media texts they are analysing, but they are a great way to start looking at how we have always seen women and female characters to try and work towards a more representative future.
Leeloo from Fifth Element is a classic example of 'Born Sexy Yesterday
There are also terms used to describe tropes within films and other media texts to determine whether they are feminist or not. The first is one I often I spot myself; 'fridging'. It refers to a time when a female character is killed, injured, raped or tortured to further the plot and particularly the narrative arc of a male character. It originated in comic books and is formally known as 'Women in refrigerators'. While there are male characters who are killed or tortured to further another man's story, it disproportionally affects female characters and especially those in male dominated genres like James Bond films and some comic book films. Two recent examples take place within the MCU, as both Deadpool 2 and Avengers: Infinity War feature an example of fridging. The very beginning of Deadpool 2 sees the main character's girlfriend, Vanessa shot and killed by an enemy of Wade Wilson, something that triggers the rest of the plot and Deadpool's narrative arc. Critics argue that this murder was a lazy attempt at story writing and that there would've been plenty of other ways for the action to start beside from femicide. The example in the penultimate Avengers movie, revolves around the villain Thanos, his daughter Gamora and her boyfriend Peter Quill. Thanos's sacrifice of his daughter to obtain the soul stone is a textbook example of fridging. Her death allows the villain to further his plot and it triggers an emotional reaction from both of the men, one of which attempts to make us sympathise with a supposedly more 3D villain while he mourns for the daughter he just murdered, the other is a reckless outburst of stereotypical male aggression in a male character we already know shows signs of toxic masculinity. Both of these shows us again the lazy story telling that occurs at the expense of strong female characters. Both Gamora and Vanessa are 'strong independent women' who take charge of their own lives, don't usually need a man and something hardly ever seen in media, Vanessa is a woman who is sure and proud of her of femininity and sex life.
Another trope term I've discovered on the internet is 'Born Sexy Yesterday'. It refers to a female character who is unaware of how to behave as though she were a young child or 'born yesterday' except she is unfortunately very attractive and destined to become the love interest of the male lead. While being clueless about how to act around other fully-grown adults she is also completely clueless about romance, men, love and sex and has to be taught how to exist in modern society by said male lead. This dynamic makes it feel like a father/daughter relationship, adding fuel to the fiery mess that is this perverse trope. Leeloo in the film Fifth Element is literally man made, so is made to be physically desirable but lacks the knowledge that she is desirable. Likewise, Madison from the 1984 film 'Splash' is a literal fish out of water as a mermaid turned human who stumbles across a young Tom Hanks. These types of characters have a habit of removing clothing while the presence of their male love interest who they don't usually replicate feelings for because they don't understand just how sexy they are! This kind of trope is detrimental to female representation. It is a fantasy created by men for men and that is it. By representing women like this reverts us to subservient, docile beings with little intelligence or purpose other than to attract a male. It also creates an idea that to be attractive women are supposed to be childlike; (something that poses many questions over who is creating these characters and what their fascination is with the character type of little girls) innocent, sweet, pretty, dependent on men and naive.
The final term is one that started out on good terms: 'Strong Female Character'. Again, like most of these tropes it originated in science fiction and again is usually because a man is writing the character. At first a girl with a gun was a rarity so seeing one in a Hollywood blockbuster like the Matrix was a big deal. However, most of the time that’s all she is; a girl with a gun, devoid of personality and character with a purpose to shot things, be a badass with cold shoulder and probably get it on with the male lead. Nowadays we don't want to see a female character be praised for being feminist just because she was a bit of a bitch in heels and an all-black outfit and had a bit of a habit that requires CGI graphics. We want strong female characters who motivate their own narrative arcs and are by no means passive. Take Princess Leia from the Star Wars universe. Yes, she uses a gun, gets it on with not one but two of the main leads (incest aside) and is a bit of a bitch at times but she refuses to let people run her life for her. When Luke and Han Solo rescue her from the Death Star, she is the one to get them out of the corridor and while she is enslaved at Jaba the Hutt's palace she is the one to kill him so she can escape, no man needed. So yes the idea of giving a pretty girl a gun may have had good intentions but if that pretty girl has the personality of a brick wall then I don't care how unlike a Disney Princess she is; give her something else to care about other than a man.
Carrie Fisher as Princess Leia in the 1977 film Star Wars: A New Hope
So why do these tropes and tests exist? Unfortunately, it's not hard to see that the vast majority of the culprits are comic book films and science fiction media texts; a genre created by and for men, so naturally there is going to be a fair amount of misrepresentation. But not just of women; there are also tests and tropes to analyse texts in terms of their LGBTQ+ and ethnic minority representation. So then do we need to ask why are men creating these stereotypes? Is it because the men who traditionally like science fiction are too geeky, nerdy, socially awkward and not conventionally attractive enough to ever receive any kind of attention from a woman that they have to create women that depend upon them and whose only purpose is to serve them? Is there an element of how society expects men to be those overly masculine womanisers we see so often in the media? Or is it simply because there aren't any women at the table to help create accurate representations of themselves. A recent comparison of a female voice and a male voice came with the release of Wonder Woman film. The film received critical acclaim for the costumes designed by Lindy Hemming. The fearsome Amazon warriors all wore armour that actually would protect them in battle (unlike much of the chain main bikinis seem in video games and the like). Yes, it was feminine but it was easy to move in, stylish and covered all the fleshy areas that are easily punctured by a weapon. However, when it came to the Justice League film and a male costume designer, the Amazons went back to skimpier versions of their previous outfits to appease the male gaze. Why does this keep happening and why is it so hard for Hollywood to write accurate female characters? Further still, why is it so hard for the film industry to comprehend that women are complex people just as much as men are and don't just exist within the domestic sphere.
So go, use these tests to pick apart your favourite films, ruin films for your friends and family, bore them or enthral them with facts about the 33.1% of all speaking and named characters were women or girls last year’s top grossing films or the 11 of last year top films that had a female woman or girl of colour as a lead(ing) role; because the industry is far more unfair if you're older or not white, but it’s not my fault if everything is ruined for you now.
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