BASIC REPRESENTATION SCORE: 0
FEMALE AGENCY/POWER/AUTHORITY SCORE: 0
[no significant representation of women in authority]
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: -8
IS THE FILM’S DIRECTOR FEMALE? No (does not impact scoring)
IS THE FILM’S SCREENWRITER FEMALE? No (does not impact scoring)
BOTTOM LINE: While there are allusions to the work the two main female characters do here — Naomi Watts is a documentary film producer; Amanda Seyfried makes artisanal ice cream — we never actually see them working, and their work bears only the slenderest impact on the story. They are primarily defined as emotional and sexual adjuncts of the men at the center of the story, and what little journeys they take are about the relationships (though the men’s stories are primarily about their work).
Click here for the ongoing ranking of 2015’s films for female representation.
NOTE: This is not a “review” of While We’re Young! 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 While We’re Young.
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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