Where Are the Women? Hot Tub Time Machine 2

Love ’em or hate ’em, this movie is pretty sure that women aren’t really people but merely playthings or punishers of men.

BASIC REPRESENTATION SCORE: 0

[no significant representation of girls/women]

FEMALE AGENCY/POWER/AUTHORITY SCORE: +4

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

More than one? [why this matters]

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

THE MALE GAZE SCORE: -35

-5

Is a woman or women used as decorative objects/set dressing? [why this matters]

-20

Is this a major recurring visual motif? [why this matters]

-5

Does this include breasts bouncing in slo-mo? [why this matters]

-5

Are the breasts bare? [why this matters]

GENDER/SEXUALITY SCORE: -18

-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 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: -49

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 exist in this movie to let their bare breasts bounce in slo-mo at the camera and to stick needles in men’s dicks, among other things designed to scare men silly. Love ’em or hate ’em, this movie is pretty sure that women aren’t really people but merely playthings or punishers of men.

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

NOTE: This is not a “review” of Hot Tub Time Machine 2! 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 Hot Tub Time Machine 2.

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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