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Where Are the Women? A War (Krigen)

Thu Feb 04 2016, 06:28pm | 0 comments

Where Are the Women? A War Krigen

A wife character with a bit more to do than the usual female support for a male protagonist keeps this male-centered story from scoring worse than it does.

BASIC REPRESENTATION SCORE: +10

+10

Is there a female character with significant screen time who grows, changes, and/or learns something over the course of the story? (for an ensemble cast, or a film with a male protagonist) [why this matters]

FEMALE AGENCY/POWER/AUTHORITY SCORE: -9

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]

More than one? [why this matters]

-5

Is there a woman who dies (either onscreen or off) whose death motivates a male protagonist? [why this matters]

-10

Is there more than one woman who is kidnapped and/or raped and/or killed in order to motivate a male protagonist? [why this matters]

THE MALE GAZE SCORE: 0

[no issues]

GENDER/SEXUALITY SCORE: -5

-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]

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: -4

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

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

BOTTOM LINE: A wife character who has a bit more to do than the usual female support for a male protagonist — she is faces challenges as she copes on her own with three small children while her soldier husband is deployed overseas — is what keeps this primarily male-centered story from scoring worse than it does.

Click here for the ranking of 2015’s Oscar-nominated films for female representation.

NOTE: This is not a “review” of A War (Krigen)! 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 A War (Krigen).

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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