Where Are the Women? The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies

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Peter Jackson would have been better off, if he was worried about how women are represented on film, just leaving his Hobbit female-free.

BASIC REPRESENTATION SCORE: 0

[no significant representation of girls/women]

FEMALE AGENCY/POWER/AUTHORITY SCORE: +1

Is there a female character with insignificant screen time in a position of authority? [why this matters]

THE MALE GAZE SCORE: 0

[no issues]

GENDER/SEXUALITY SCORE: -13

-5

Is there a female character whose primary goal is romantic (to get married, enter into a longterm relationship with a man, etc)? [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]

-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: -12

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

IS THE FILM’S SCREENWRITER FEMALE? Yes, two of four credited (Fran Walsh and
Philippa Boyens) (does not impact scoring)

BOTTOM LINE: Peter Jackson would have been better off, if he was worried about how women are represented on film, just leaving his Hobbit female-free. It doesn’t help things when — apart from a minimal appearance by Galadriel in her position of authority as an elven ruler and wielder of magical power — all his invented women (Tauriel and Bard’s daughters) exist in the story only to be rescued by a boy or a man, torn romantically between two men, or, in Tauriel’s case, both. These aren’t the sort of favors women need from filmmakers.

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

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

NOTE: This is not a “review” of The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies! 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 The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies.

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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