Where Are the Women? Trainwreck

The female protagonist is messed up, not very nice, and definitely not pursuing romance. Is she pursuing sex? Sure…

BASIC REPRESENTATION SCORE: +25

+25

Is there a female protagonist? [why this matters]

FEMALE AGENCY/POWER/AUTHORITY SCORE: +9

Is there a female character (either a protagonist or a supporting character with significant screen time) in a position of authority (politics, law, medicine, etc.)? [why this matters]

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

More than one? [why this matters]

THE MALE GAZE SCORE: 0

[no issues]

GENDER/SEXUALITY SCORE: -3

-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: +31

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

IS THE FILM’S SCREENWRITER FEMALE? Yes (Amy Schumer) (does not impact scoring)

BOTTOM LINE: The female protagonist is messed up, not very nice, and definitely not pursuing romance. Is she pursuing sex? Sure… and if she ends up with romance in spite of herself along the way, well, that is precisely how romantic comedies have celebrated men’s interaction with the opposite gender. Yet the female protagonist is never a man in drag, either, just a different sort of woman than the narrow depictions we are used to seeing.

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

NOTE: This is not a “review” of Trainwreck! 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 Trainwreck.

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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