Saying that pushing for better representation and speaking out against sexism in movies is “the worst thing [he] can do” reads as Whedon throwing his hands in the air and saying “I’m happy to pay lip service to ‘feminism’ but you can forget about me rolling up my sleeves and encouraging my colleagues to do better, and also it’s too hard for me to make the gender politics of my own pictures better”. It suggests that he thinks it’s all just too much trouble.
It doesn’t have to be this way. Look at James Cameron, who has insisted upon featuring a prominent, strong and complex female lead in nearly every single one of his films (and TV series), as this piece by L.A Times film critic Betsy Sharkey should remind you: “It’s not merely that his films are populated by strong women – they’ve been saving mankind since his first, 1978’s 12-minute sci-fi short Xenogenesis. What makes him a potent feminist force is the way he rides the mood swings and internal debates of the movement’s second and third waves, exploring what women want, how they define themselves and how society values their worth.”
With this in mind it’s worth noting that Cameron has never dined out on his films’ gender politics, nor expressly identified as feminist. He instead just focuses on doing the work. There are other male filmmakers, like Hayao Miyazaki, Pedro Almodóvar, and Alfonso Cuarón, who are doing this, but they are, inevitably, not the ones who get widespread media kudos for being “proud male feminists”.
In 2006, at his Equality Now tribute address, Whedon famously offered an imaginary interview, where the ‘journalist’ pressed him on the gender politics of his work. Continually badgered with the question “Why do you write these strong women characters?”, he responded in a number of ways before concluding, “Because you’re still asking me that question”.
A better response might have been, “Because as a powerful white male screenwriter and director, I am the dominant paradigm in Hollywood, and it’s up to me to ensure on-screen diversity until I can help create opportunities for female filmmakers.”
It’s not enough to simply throw around a few feminist buzzwords on social media; as the man at the helm of a movie that will make billions of dollars, Whedon is in a position to insist upon real change.
Whedon is just one example, but the important take-away is this: if they’re going to insist on continuing to refer to themselves as feminists, it’s time for these powerful men to step up.
We Need to Talk about Joss Whedon’s “Feminism” (x)