Where Are the Women? Interstellar

WATWinterstellar

A couple of awesome women in traditionally male-dominated STEM roles make up for a male protagonist (even if he does get to have most of the fun).

BASIC REPRESENTATION SCORE: 0

-10

Could the protagonist have been female without significantly impacting the film as a whole? (for a film with a male protagonist) [why this matters]

+10

Is there a female character with significant screen time who grows, changes, and/or learns something over the course of the story? (for an ensemble cast, or a film with a male protagonist) [why this matters]

FEMALE AGENCY/POWER/AUTHORITY SCORE: +14

Is there a female character (either a protagonist or a supporting character with significant screen time) in a position of authority (politics, law, medicine, etc.)? [why this matters]

More than one (of any race)? [why this matters]

Is there a woman whose role could easily have been played by a man? [why this matters]

More than one? [why this matters]

THE MALE GAZE SCORE: 0

[no issues]

GENDER/SEXUALITY SCORE: -8

-5

Is there a female character who is primarily defined by her emotional and/or sexual relationship with a man or men? [why this matters]

-3

Is a dead mother mentioned? [why this matters]

WILDCARD SCORE: 0

Is there anything either positive or negative in the film’s representation of women not already accounted for here? (points will vary)

No.

TOTAL SCORE: +6

IS THE FILM’S DIRECTOR FEMALE? No (does not impact scoring)

IS THE FILM’S SCREENWRITER FEMALE? No (does not impact scoring)

BOTTOM LINE: A slightly positive representation of women, thanks to strong supporting characters played by Anne Hathaway and Jessica Chastain, one of whom is entirely defined by her intelligence, resilience, and professional expertise in a traditionally male-dominated STEM field, and the other partly so.

Click here for the ranking of 2014’s Oscar-nominated films for female representation.

NOTE: This is not a “review” of Interstellar! It is simply an examination of how well or how poorly it represents women. (A movie that represents women well can still be a terrible film; a movie that represents women poorly can still be a great film.) Read my review of Interstellar.

See the full rating criteria. (Criteria that do not apply to this film have been deleted in this rating for maximum readability.)

This rating is brought to you without paywall restrictions by my generous Kickstarter supporters. If you missed out on the Kickstarter and would like to support this project, you may:

• become a monthly or yearly subscriber of FlickFilospher.com
• make a pledge at Patreon
• make a donation via Paypal

8 Comments

oldest

newest most voted

Inline Feedbacks

view all comments

Bob

Sat, Jan 17, 2015 11:07pm

SPOILERS! [added by maj]

Where are the women? You mean like the 3 actresses who play Murphy, who saves mankind, and the woman who ends up in the other galaxy to continue the species?

Bluejay

reply to Bob

Sat, Jan 17, 2015 11:47pm

MaryAnn mentions (and celebrates) both those characters, and gives the film an overall positive score. (And “Where Are the Women” is the name of her film-rating project.) What’s your point?