Where Are the Women? The Wedding Ringer

by MaryAnn Johanson
2 comments

WATWweddingringer

Women? Easily manipulated dupes. Men can tell the most outrageous lies, and women will buy it if you distract them with fairy-tale wedding fantasies.

BASIC REPRESENTATION SCORE: -10

-10
Is there a woman who is mostly pretty awesome and perfect who is present to support a man improving himself? [why this matters]

FEMALE AGENCY/POWER/AUTHORITY SCORE: 0

[no significant representation of women in authority]

THE MALE GAZE SCORE: -15

-5
Is a woman introduced by the camera crawling up her body (either front or back) from her feet to her head? [why this matters]
-5
Is a woman or women used as decorative objects/set dressing? [why this matters]
-5
Does this include gratuitous “booty” shots? [why this matters]

GENDER/SEXUALITY SCORE: -45

-5
Is femininity used as a joke (ie, a man crossdressing for humorous intent) in passing? [why this matters]
-20
In a way essential to the movie? [why this matters]
-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]
+3
Is a dead father also mentioned? [why this matters]
-10
Is there a hooker with a heart of gold? [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: -70

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

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

BOTTOM LINE: Women are depicted — as an entire gender — as easily manipulated dupes. Men can feed them the most outrageous and most easily falsifiable lies, and women will buy it, especially if you distract them with fairy-tale white-wedding fantasies.

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

NOTE: This is not a “review” of The Wedding Ringer! 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 Wedding Ringer.

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:

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bronxbee
bronxbee
Fri, Feb 20, 2015 6:51pm

there should also be a category for “Does an unappealing, slob or schlub manage to get the gorgeous/smart/talented girl in the end?” with at least a -10.

0
MaryAnn Johanson
MaryAnn Johanson
reply to  bronxbee
Fri, Feb 20, 2015 10:01pm

That kind of falls under “Is there a woman who is mostly pretty awesome and perfect who is present to support a man improving himself?” (Though in this instance, that refers to Kevin Hart’s assistant.) It doesn’t apply here because — SPOILER — he doesn’t get her in the end, and she’s kind of horrible anyway.

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