There are a lot of things that have gotten me thinking about women in entertainment recently. For one thing, I've been reading Women & Hollywood, a great blog with a "Hollywood Feminist of the Day" feature that is truly inspiring.
But really, the thing that started me off was seeing Mamma Mia.
I expected it to be a light Summer film, no real emotional investment. I mean it's a musical based on ABBA songs fer cripes sakes! Then I found myself in tears halfway through the first big dance number.
Why was I crying to "Dancing Queen" of all songs?
The use of that song at that moment in the movie was emotionally powerful to me. It spoke to younger women's dreams and vitality, and older women who haven't given those thing up as they age, who haven't accepted society's decree that any woman over 40 isn't worth looking at and no longer has anything left of her own life and aspirations. It was about the way that society covers up women's internal emotional lives by limiting our narratives. As more women joined the dance it became for me about women's power, about the right to make decisions about our own lives and our futures. (In the midst of this I also noted that the Greek island women were treated very differently from the Caucasian protagonists, which was troubling. Was it really necessary to show them all as frumpy? But despite my misgivings about that aspect, the uplifting theme still worked for me.)
I know some people think the portrayal of older women's sexuality is over the top, and veers into parody territory, but I've seen my mom and her friends dancing, and they look exactly like that. And isn't it great that these women were shown as sexual beings in the first place? I mean, isn't it refreshing to see an older woman being actively sought after by younger men, even if it does start to play into the whole "cougar" idea?
To veer off on a tangent, is it just me, or does anyone else see the connection between the labels "cougar" and "PUMA"? Not dissing the PUMAs, mind you, I understand their frustration and we've blogged about it here, but since there is some evidence that the PUMA label was started by Republicans, I just wonder if there was someone out there thinking, "Hey, let's tie into this older women 'cougar' demographic I'm hearing about by calling it PUMA!" without thinking about the offensiveness of the "cougar" label (thanks to Tennessee Guerilla Women for that video link).
Ok, back now.
As shocked as Hollywood seems to be that women go to the movies, and as focused as they seem to be on making superhero flicks, you'd think someone would get a clue and make more movies about women kicking ass. Especially since women are becoming a bigger market share for the comics industry (although the coverage still spins the women's comic market as focussed on 'romance'). That's right, boys, WE'RE IN UR CON, READING UR COMICS!
We're a growing segment of the gaming market too, although you wouldn't know it from games like the just released "Fat Princess". One of the best roundups of info on this is here at Feminist Underground. You can tell Sony what you think of the game. (Thanks to WOC PhD for that link!)
Our power as consumers is recognized (if you haven't been watching Sarah Haskins' brilliant takedown of advertising aimed at women, you're missing out on some of the funniest and smartest social commentary out there), but seemingly not when it comes to entertainment. Maybe it's going to take a few more "surprise" hit movies, books and shows to get the point across.
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