Feminism and Strong! Female! Characters!

[clevermanka]

I'm sure most everyone remembers (regretfully) the train wreck that was Sucker Punch, right? Even if you didn't see it (I did not see it), you probably heard about it. If you didn't, you're a very fortunate person and you should probably skip the rest of this entry here. Save yourself!

Even early on, before it was released, I could tell this thing was a turd. That's me, being a hater, right there.

I can't remember if I linked to this fantastic LJ post about the movie before, but it's entitled "Sucker Punch: A Very Serious Essay on Feminism" and you really should check it out. It came out after the movie, so at least the author wasn't guilty of judging too early. You know, like me.

This morning, Kate Beaton came out with her own take on the subject matter. I'm not certain how much Sucker Punch influenced this particular comic, but everything that influenced Sucker Punch is influencing this, so there's a whole bunch of massive influence going on that you really need to check out.

Comments

[bart-calendar.livejournal.com]

True that can be said - but I really don't think it's the case with this film.

For me, I think it's realistic that a girl who was molested by her step father would have some fucked up and sexulized delusions after she accidentally kills her sister and is thrown into an insane asylum.

The thing is she fights those delusions and in doing so goes into a deeper level of delusion where she is at various points Ripley from Alien, Lady Luna from Final Fantasy, Sarah Conner from Terminator, Sonya Blade from Mortal Kombat, Dorthy from the Wizard of Oz and Laura Croft from Tomb Raider.

I find it completely convincing and not cliche at all that a teenage girl would identify with those characters during a dissociation since they are pretty most popular strong female characters in pop culture.

That doesn't make the film about empowerment - it's not - it makes it about coping mechanisms.

[clevermanka.livejournal.com]

I still think it's sad that our coping mechanisms rely on short skirts and infantalization/sexualization of female characters.

[bart-calendar.livejournal.com]

But they aren't really wearing short skirts. When she first sees them they are in hospital gowns. It's only when she breaks from reality that she sees them in short skirts. Then, at the end they are back in hospital gowns.