MovieChat Forums > It (2017) Discussion > Something I noticed about the 'feminism'...

Something I noticed about the 'feminism' debate in regards to Beverly...

posted 7 years ago by Grim420 (1)
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So I kinda took issue with the way Beverley was portrayed in the movie. I didn't really like how she was the one to start throwing rocks at the bullies *and* she was the one who suddenly, out of nowhere, spiked IT in the face with the pole... basically always saving the boys. It's not really a big deal, but I kinda roll my eyes at that stuff because I only really see it as the author/writer/director/producer/someone-in-charge having a some kind of "progressive" "girl power" agenda to push about how strong women are, and it takes me out of the story; I don't think women are weak or anything, I just want a good story that has as little as possible to do with modern day politics.

It was the same kind of eye-rolling I did when Missandei tells Danaerys that the prophecy is non-gendered, so she can be the Princess-who-was-promised. Like, "Oh yeah, feminism 2017".

It was the same kind of eye-rolling I did when the new Ghostbusters movie was announced as a "women-centric reboot, not a sequel, so that the women can invent the technology themselves instead of inheriting it from men..." (paraphrasing Paul Feig, who was completely oblivious to the fact that the women were inheriting the *franchise* from men...).

It was the same kind of eye-rolling I did when they announced that Thor would now be a woman... then Wolverine... then Iron Man... just so that girls could relate to (and buy) comic books.

BUT THEN, I was googling around for other people who might be able to more eloquently say what I was feeling, and I didn't. At all. Instead, I found the opposite; a lot of feminists complaining that Bev had been relegated to the love-triangle, the damsel-in-distress, and the (non-consensual (::eye-roll::)) Snow-White-love's-first-kiss tropes, not a single mention of Bev being heroic and strong. And it hit me. They don't see what I saw, and I didn't see what they saw... and it was just a reminder to not respond to those kind of gut feelings too intensely, and that other people have points of view that may be missing some of your perspective, and vice versa.

I still think the Hollywood feminism machine is trash, I still think ScarJo shouldn't be paid anywhere near as much as RDJ, and I still don't think J-Law should have been the central figure in the X-men movie... but I can let IT slide.

[–] Wint3rFir3 (7164) 7 years ago

You're not wrong. But also, neither are the feminists complaining.

She is both of these things. She is both the damsel who everyone wants to bang [spoiler](even the local chemist and, oh yeah, her dad)[/spoiler] AND she is the Strong Female Character Sophia McDougall complains about in her article https://www.newstatesman.com/culture/2013/08/i-hate-strong-female-characters.

When her hand gets cut at the end, she is the only one to barely feel it. She is the only one who wants to help Mike against Henry and bullies - yes, if you've forgotten there was a character named Mike lol. She is the lone character not scared of IT or anyone else AND she is also the only one to be kidnapped by the clown and needs to be rescued by True Love's Kiss, but isn't a slut, but also kisses two boys, but also...

You see what I mean? She's a problematic character because she's basically the only developed character in the entire movie, yet a lot of that development centres around how much every male wants to sleep with her and her combatance of that.

BTW, look at how most of Hollywood's feminism comes from clueless fking dudes. Read the book, The Duff, then watch the movie. You'll see what I mean. It's mens' perspectives of what feminism is without ever cracking a book or reading a paragraph on the topic. It's a veil, a thin, pathetic veil.

[–] jk90us (7192) 7 years ago

You must get a headache from all that eye rolling. lol