Warning! Some of the details here may constitute spoilers for those not familiar with the story.
BASIC REPRESENTATION SCORE: -10
FEMALE AGENCY/POWER/AUTHORITY SCORE: -1
THE MALE GAZE SCORE: 0
[no issues]
GENDER/SEXUALITY SCORE: -8
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: -19
IS THE FILM’S DIRECTOR FEMALE? No (does not impact scoring)
IS THE FILM’S SCREENWRITER FEMALE? Yes (Gillian Flynn) (does not impact scoring)
BOTTOM LINE: With its faux feminist female villain who wreaks sexualized rage on men, this is a very regressive and limited view of a woman’s power in our culture, one that a smart and capable female cop cannot balance out, because even she is undercut by a fantasy of what women are “supposed” to be.
Click here for the ranking of 2014’s Oscar-nominated films for female representation.
NOTE: This is not a “review” of Gone Girl! 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 Gone Girl.
See the full rating criteria. (Criteria that do not apply to this film have been deleted in this rating for maximum readability.)
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