Read a couple of rather interesting articles this week, which I've linked below. One was on Day of the Woman by the ever-thoughtful BJ Colangelo. It's titled "The Importance of Casting Women Over 50 in Horror." I won't rehash it all here because you should give it a look, yourself. It takes a look at ageism coupled with sexism in casting. She makes very valid points. I'd be remiss if I didn't say that everything she writes about the horror genre can be applied across the board.
The other article was by Henry, aka the Geek Soul Brother. He makes note of a number of recent movies that feature female androids in prominent roles. Among other things, he wonders aloud why there are many more such films than ones that feature male androids. He supposes that the big wigs are just pandering to a fanbase they consider to be made up of a bunch mom's-basement-dwelling horndogs. I'm sure that's at least partly true. However, I have another, more cynical theory that has to do with that "S" word again - sexism.
Let's take a look at why I would say such a thing. We'll start with movies that feature male androids. As Henry suggested, there seem to be many fewer of them. The two that come to mind are Bicentennial Man and A.I.: Artificial Intelligence. In A.I., our robot went on an adventure to become a real boy. In Bicentennial Man, the goal was the same, only the main character's adventure went through the court system. Essentially, these were men standing up for their civil rights. Things were handled in a relatively amicable manner. compared to their female counterparts. The movies featuring female androids tend to be action/horror hybrids where the droid is undeniably the villain and must be dealt with violently. They tend to start these movies as docile, more than willing serve. Their appearances also makes them desirable to the masses. They are perfectly subjugated and sexualized. As things progress, they rise up and become a threat to the established power structure and must be put to death. After all, what's scarier than a woman who doesn't know her place? Maybe I'm way off base, but hey, makes sense to me.
This brings me to villains in general. We all love them, or love to hate them. Today is the day that The Great Villain Blogathon starts over on Speakeasy. Dozens of bloggers, including yours truly, are scheduled to post an entry. Mine will go up on Friday and I'm completely flipping the script. The villain I'm posting about is none other than Batman. Yup, I said Batman. Just come back Friday to see what that's all about. While you're waiting, check out the other posts in the blogathon. Should be lots of fun.
Make sure you also check out some of my favorite posts from the last few days...
Day of the Woman - The Importance of Casting Women Over 50 in Horror
Geek Soul Brother - Rise of the Female Android Films
Keith & the Movies - 5 Phenomenal Movies from 1989
Mikey's Marvellous Film Reviews - The Cinephile
Movies and Songs 365 - Top 20 Films of 2014
Speaks in Movie Lines - Top Ten Baseball Movies
Taste of Cinema - 20 Great B-Horror Movies That Are Worth Your Time
Nice roundup of links, talking of androids, I'm probably going to se Blade Runner on the big screen in May, can't wait. Of the recent films, Ex Machina seems to have gotten good reviews.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the link!
No problem. I will see Ex Machina since it does look interesting.
DeleteYeah, I was hoping to get in on that blogathon (I was thinking about doing Cyrus "the Virus" Grissom from Con Air) but unfortunately I just didn't have time. Fortunately, now that I'm nearing the end of exams I should be able to take part in other blogathons, though there seem to be a lot of them so I may have to get selective in which ones I join.
ReplyDeleteAs for your comments about androids, that is an interesting point. I'd never really thought much about it but there do seem to be fewer films featuring male androids (I,Robot being another exception). One film that comes to mind that ties into what you were saying was Her (though technically it was artificial intelligence and not a computer), though on some level you could call that a subversion of the rule, seeing as there were operating systems of both genders (even if a female one was the primary focus). It did have her breaking out of being servile and sexualized in a non-violent way and becoming more independent by the end (sort of... it's complicated).
I'm glad you brought up I, Robot. While it is mostly about a male android, and we're about to get into spoilers here, but the main villain that must be destroyed is a female AI. All of the robots she controls are portrayed as men and she seeks to do the same same to actual men. As for Her, yeah, it's complicated. Then again, is it really? As much as Sam evolved over the course of that movie, her goal was always to make her man happy. There was no uprising to squash, no need for a violent shutdown.
DeleteVery intriguing discussion here. I know many guys who have female androids as their screen savers so...there's a point there. I'll have to check out those links.
ReplyDeletePlease do. I'd love to hear your thoughts on the matter.
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ReplyDeleteThank you. As for Batman, all will be made clear on Friday.
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