Avengers: Age of Ultron director Joss Whedon regrets publicly calling out a scene from Jurassic World for being “’70s era sexist.” We wish he wouldn’t.
When the first clip from Jurassic World was released last week, the world couldn’t stop talking about how dreamy Chris Pratt’s character was. Passionately fighting for dinosaur rights while being vaguely flirtatious and primping his motorcycle (that’s not a metaphor), what was not to like?
What few people were talking about was Bryce Dallas Howard’s character, who was presented as a stereotypical, cold “science lady,” whose factual approach to life seems to impede her ability to appreciate a) Chris Pratt’s dreamboat-ness, and b) that dinosaurs are people too, gosh darn it.
Related: Chris Pratt goes after a new dinosaur in Jurassic World Super Bowl trailer
Being invited to view this female character from the perspective of the male (as is the norm in action/adventure movies), we naturally empathise with Pratt, and come to see the woman as “the other” through his eyes (and over his shoulder). Where she is cold, he is warm. Where she is logical, he is emotional. And if he is right, she must be wrong.
She’ll eventually learn her lesson and come around to see things his way — the right way — of course, but not before paying a big price for daring to be “other” than him. We’ve seen this played out a million times. It’s familiar. Safe. It doesn’t upset the status quo, which allows us to focus on what’s really important (dinosaurs, duh).
So maybe people didn’t mention this tried and tested dynamic when reacting to the clip because we’re all so used to seeing this female character archetype in action movies, and have simply become desensitized to the cliché.
But not Joss Whedon — never Joss Whedon.
The Avengers: Age of Ultron director is a vocal advocate for strong (and by strong, we mean well-written) female characters, and could not resist firing back after popular feminist entertainment website The Mary Sue made a comment about the clip (focusing on Chris Pratt):
We’re too busy fanning ourselves to talk more about Chris Pratt in this #JurassicWorld clip.
http://t.co/LZuZ45GQdw
— The Mary Sue (@TheMarySue) April 10, 2015
…and I'm too busy wishing this clip wasn't 70's era sexist. She's a stiff, he's a life-force – really? Still? https://t.co/qqts4jpSva
— Joss Whedon (@josswhedon) April 10, 2015
And let’s get this straight: yes, choosing to call out one of the most pro-feminist entertainment websites on the internet while making a point about feminism may seem somewhat counter-intuitive. But Whedon’s observation about Jurassic World is both accurate and very, very important.
(Note that The Mary Sue has a lengthy response to Whedon’s comment up on their website, which is definitely worth reading.)
Based on this clip alone, Pratt and Howard’s characters are both easily identifiable stereotypes, and the audience is — as is usually the case — asked to identify with the impassioned male as opposed to the emotionally unavailable female.
But this is only one clip from a long movie, and Whedon has since admitted he should not have publicly vented his frustration about a colleague’s work.
Related: Joss Whedon on the lack of female superhero movies: “There’s always an excuse”
Speaking to Variety while promoting Age of Ultron, Whedon says, “I shouldn’t have tweeted it. I don’t ever say things about other people’s work that are negative. That’s bad form. It’s not what a gentleman would do. [And] I forgot that I don’t do that because I was frustrated.”
That doesn’t mean he’ll take back his observation, however. “I felt like I was seeing something that was problematic,” Whedon says. “What I said is pretty clear, but I think it was the wrong venue for me to be saying that. That’s dinner party conversation.”
Of course speaking as an industry professional, Whedon is right to refrain from bashing his peers’ work. However, as an advocate for feminism, we wish he would speak out more often.
Because maybe if big-name Hollywood storytellers actually started holding each other accountable for the way they choose to reinforce negative stereotypes, we’d actually begin to see some real change.
If a female character is too cliché to even hold our attention, and if all the “good” qualities are given to the male, again, someone needs to remind the world at large that this is not okay. It’s not equality. And whether or not it fits your personal definition of “sexist,” it is, honestly, getting old. ’70s era old.
While we probably won’t ever hear Whedon’s thoughts on Jurassic World as a whole (which is a damn shame), we can all make judgments for ourselves when the movie is released on June 12, 2015.
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