MovieChat Forums > The Black Stallion (1979) Discussion > Just proves again how sexist the film in...

Just proves again how sexist the film industry is.

posted 19 years ago by Tebok73509
83 replies | jump to latest

Go ahead, laught and mock but its true.

EVERY SINGLE other movie I have seen about horses feature a young girl as the main character...

BUT when it calls for a strong character who must struggle to survive.. you guessed it, they cast a boy!

Name me one movie.. JUST ONE movie that features a young girl as a hero. I am not talking about happy go lucky movies like Matilda and The Little Princess.. but survival movies like Lord of the Flies and Black Stallion.
How many? None.

Hollywood will age a female character to get their 'chick flicks' or use boys to satisy their nambla needs. They treat young girls as victims, never heros.

I swear to god, I will sue the crap out of the film industry.

[–] pamelajoon 18 years ago

How about The sequel, The Black Stallion Returns? Hello, the girl wins the race...

[–] ajaxleftback 17 years ago

When was the last time you actually watched The Black Stallion Returns??? Alec wins and then spares his friends horse. To totally add salt to the wound of this thread, Alec rides "The Black" because the girl couldn't control "The Black". (sorryyyyyy)

[–] powersurge 18 years ago

Lots of good movies mentioned so far.

Thought I would add "Spirited Away," not to mention most of Miyazaki's films.

[–] OmegaWolf747 18 years ago

Don't forget Sarah Connor from the Terminator films! If she isn't an ass-kicking chick, I don't know who is! I also second the vote for Natty Gann!

--
http://anarchy4eva.blogspot.com

[–] NotaCow 18 years ago

>> Thought I would add "Spirited Away," not to mention most of Miyazaki's films.

Yep.

[–] apache1701 18 years ago

How about the Journey of Natty Gann?

While I'm on the subject, you might consider reading the book, which was written by a man about a young boy and his love affair with a spectacular animal... if Hollywood in its infinite political correctness had dared to substitute a female lead for this part, I would have boycotted the movie and sued the filmmakers if I'd had any right to do so, even if the movie had been identical... is there some reason why a female viewer can't identify with a male lead character? Are they deficient in the imagination? I never had that problem... I see no reason to invent female leads where the original story had none...

If Peter Jackson dares to create a version of the Hobbit, and makes any one of the thirteen dwarves female, I'll boycott that too... there's no reason to make that kind of change just because women might want to watch the movie; if they can't like a movie just because it's not about women, then who needs to cater to them anyway? They're probably emotionally bankrupt... There are plenty of stories about strong females, and a lot of them have been made into movies... like Little Women... Anne of Green Gables... Red Sonja... why pervert a perfectly good story?

[–] teri51629 18 years ago

One movie, just released, that stars "a female" is FLICKA! I just saw it the other day and it's a wonderful movie. I believe the book is about a boy but they cast a girl in the movie. I may be wrong about that, but don't think so. I didn't read the book.

[–] incoldblood13 18 years ago

The horse was also a mare and they turned it into a stallion for the movie. But I wouldn't watch that piece of crap, the film makers and the horse handlers they hired are utter retards. At least two horses died to make the movie because some idiot thought it would be cool to let the horse run with a loose rope hanging from its neck. Once I saw a news article stating they had killed a second horse, I stopped reading the article. The first accid-I mean act of stupidity- was enough to turn me off of anything to do with that movie.

[–] JensenFan 18 years ago

Am not going to comment on flicka issue's going on at the moment , il leave that for the flicka forum! But a good horse movie with female lead is Second Chances , although the kids are very young its a really good film with good soundtrack!

But their are loads of strong female heroes these days - thanks to Buffy!! x

[–] Jar1239 18 years ago

A movie that features a young girl as a hero? Well, the first one that came to mind is a movie called "Little Heroes" which stars a 12 years old girl as the main character. Also, that same girl was in a movie with a horse where she pretty much had to be heroic. I guess playing a heroic young girl was far too stressful, how it goes against the laws of nature and all, because the girl that played those parts killed herself. Girls just aren't meant to be heroes.

[–] 18 years ago

[deleted]

[–] NotaCow 18 years ago

The TV show Veronica Mars

[–] lokum1027 18 years ago

Island of the Blue Dolphin

that's about a girl who is left behind on an island when her tribe leaves and must survive on her own.
it's based on a book, the movie was made more than 10 years before the black stallion, however.

[–] albertfoster 18 years ago

As far back as I can remember they have been making movies about women/girls and their horses.
National velvet with Liz taylor ring any bells for you?
International velvet, I believe and Black Beauty if I recall correctly.
Snow fire perhaps.
Then also besides the movies mentioned by other posters.
Some of my favorites with dominating women Characters are Red Eye, Turbulance, Alien vs preditor, Cutthroat island, Serenity and just about any movie with Lucy Liu in it. These are off the top of my head. I know there are so many I have forgotten but I look for these types of movies.
I really love movies that show tough women Kickin' butt.

[–] kepswa 18 years ago

Hi Germaine Greer,

It's nice to have the chance to educate you on a few things. I hope fellow posters have been able to find a few titles for you to catch up on. But quite simply, it was based on a book.

Want to know why probably 90% of the highest paid actors in Hollywood are all men? Because it's still what people want to see. There's no real explanation, it's just life, now get over it.

For the record, 'Aliens' has been my favourite movie since I was 6.

And if you'd like to read about a heroic girl as the lead, I recommend the 'Tomorrow' series by John Marsden - you are Australian born so I think you should know it. It's about a girl who leads a group of teenagers to attack forces that invade Australia.

Mind you, I didn't like it that much, but it's still one of the best ideas for a book I've ever heard of.

[–] clancyt-2 18 years ago

there's also the financial issue..males more frequently go to movies alone..t.v.
is more of a female medium and there's where you'll find score of heroines in made-for-tv movies and series..men are also more likely to be the villian in a film then women or girls

[–] leahday 18 years ago

I don't really care whether the film is sexist or not, I mean, it's a film, not real life. Why are you so concerned about films when they are just entertainment? I'm just trying to be logical here.
Bugger, I forgot, IMDB boards don't understand logic.
I don't want to upset anyone, but I think you are overreacting. They're just entertainment.

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