Where Are the Women? Paddington

by MaryAnn Johanson
5 comments

WATWpaddington

The state of women onscreen these days is so bad that a neutral score of zero is actually a positive!

BASIC REPRESENTATION SCORE: -10

-10
Is there a manic pixie dream girl? [why this matters]

FEMALE AGENCY/POWER/AUTHORITY SCORE: +17

+5
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]
+10
Is there a female villain or antagonist? [why this matters]
+2
Is there a woman whose role could easily have been played by a man? [why this matters]

THE MALE GAZE SCORE: 0

[no issues]

GENDER/SEXUALITY SCORE: -15

-5
Is femininity used as a joke (ie, a man crossdressing for humorous intent) in passing? [why this matters]
-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]
-5
Is there a female character who is primarily defined by her emotional or biological relationship with a child or children? [why this matters]
-3
Is a dead mother mentioned? [why this matters]
+3
Is a dead father also mentioned? [why this matters]

WILDCARD SCORE: +8

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

Sally Hawkins’ kooky mom character is the manic pixie dream girl, and she exists in the story mainly to support her curmudgeonly husband (Hugh Bonneville) in expanding his horizons and accepting Paddington into their family. (After Paddington, Dad takes the biggest personal journey in the film.) But mom does have her own career (as a writer and artist), which is a running motif, and the elderly relative who lives with them (Julie Walters) gets to have a small adventure that takes advantage of the fact that no one expects much from little old ladies.

TOTAL SCORE: 0

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 female villain who holds a position of authority and isn’t defined by her gender nicely balances out other female characters in this ensemble who primarily conform to traditional women’s family roles.

Click here for the ongoing ranking of 2015’s films for female representation.

NOTE: This is not a “review” of Paddington! 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 Paddington.

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

share and enjoy
               
If you haven’t commented here before, your first comment will be held for MaryAnn’s approval. This is an anti-spam, anti-troll, anti-abuse measure. If your comment is not spam, trollish, or abusive, it will be approved, and all your future comments will post immediately. (Further comments may still be deleted if spammy, trollish, or abusive, and continued such behavior will get your account deleted and banned.)
If you’re logged in here to comment via Facebook and you’re having problems, please see this post.
PLEASE NOTE: The many many Disqus comments that were missing have mostly been restored! I continue to work with Disqus to resolve the lingering issues and will update you asap.
subscribe
notify of
5 Comments
oldest
newest most voted
Inline Feedbacks
view all comments
Danielm80
Danielm80
Fri, Jan 16, 2015 5:09pm

I like the last couple of paragraphs of the New York Times review:

At the same time, what tykes will make of Nicole Kidman, playing an evil taxidermist loaded for bear, is anyone’s guess. Squished into a white outfit and stacked on towering heels like a nurse in a bondage video, Ms. Kidman seems more a bone thrown to teenage boys than the antagonist in a children’s movie. The little girl sitting next to me at a preview screening was baffled.

“Why is she wearing those stupid shoes to climb on the roof?” she wondered. I could have hugged her.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/16/movies/paddington-an-adaptation-of-michael-bonds-books.html?ref=movies

0
MaryAnn Johanson
MaryAnn Johanson
reply to  Danielm80
Fri, Jan 16, 2015 9:55pm

What do kids make of male villains with ridiculous outfits?

0
Dr. Rocketscience
Dr. Rocketscience
reply to  MaryAnn Johanson
Sat, Jan 17, 2015 7:59pm

Likely depends on what you mean by “ridiculous outfit”.

I assume the Times review was referring to this. Very tropey, combining the “Mad Scientist” on top with the “Skirt and Fabulous Heels” on the bottom. I also found this outfit, which looks like an Edwardian (?) hunting getup (though I can’t quite tell if those are pants or a skirt, nor what shoes she’s wearing), and this variant which also combines a men’s top with skirt and heeled boots.

All of them look like the costume designers were trying to create “women’s versions” of English men’s dress tropes.

0
MaryAnn Johanson
MaryAnn Johanson
reply to  Dr. Rocketscience
Sat, Jan 17, 2015 10:16pm

Looks pretty standard-villain to me.

The heels may be ridiculous, but it’s also ridiculous to liken her outfits to bondage gear.

0
Dr. Rocketscience
Dr. Rocketscience
reply to  MaryAnn Johanson
Sat, Jan 17, 2015 10:39pm

That’s pretty much what I’m thinking.

0
wpdiscuz   wpDiscuz