BASIC REPRESENTATION SCORE: -10
FEMALE AGENCY/POWER/AUTHORITY SCORE: 0
[no significant representation of women in authority]
THE MALE GAZE SCORE: 0
[no issues]
GENDER/SEXUALITY SCORE: -5
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: -15
IS THE FILM’S DIRECTOR FEMALE? No (does not impact scoring)
IS THE FILM’S SCREENWRITER FEMALE? No (does not impact scoring)
BOTTOM LINE: Apart from a blink-and-you-miss-her appearance by the male protagonist’s mother in one brief scene (she has one short line), the only woman in the ensemble that surrounds him is his girlfriend, who has little to do but tell him how clever he is and reassure him that he must follow his dream, culminating in her literally standing around watching him be amazing.
Click here for the ongoing ranking of 2015’s films for female representation.
NOTE: This is not a “review” of The Walk! 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 Walk.
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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That’s the basic problem: a story that only has men in it is less interesting to me than a story that has both men and women, so needs to be better in some other way to compensate.
This one does, at least, compensate.
I poked around and found an article I read years ago when Man On Wire came out and there was a brief quotation from Annie Allix:
At this link. Bolding is mine.
The very end of the film has Annie telling Philippe that it’s time for her to go off and find her dream. Of course, we don’t get to see her do that: that’s her exit.
Yeah. This is why we just need more women’s stories. I mean, The Walk *is* going to be mostly about Petit and, well, it seemed from what little I know about him (one interview many many years ago and Man on Wire) that other people don’t figure much in his passions except as assistants to help him accomplish what he wants. But, there are other people who’ve done amazing things, too, and I’m certain their stories would be great.
Yes, like these women:
http://www.flickfilosopher.com/2010/03/question-of-the-day-what-untold-stories-about-women-deserve-to-be-made-as-a-movie.html
Exactly. The problem isn’t that this movie is about Petit — of course it is. The problem is that it’s mostly stories about men that get greenlit in the first place.