Many people make resolutions to try to improve parts of their lives they struggle with. But often they focus on what the “should” do not what they want to do. Eat vegetables every day. Go to the gym once a week. Learn a language. The challenge comes when you miss a day or a week, then one more, and pretty soon it’s March. Sometimes all you feel, if you think of resolutions at all, is sort of bummed that you didn’t stick with it.

And here’s my confession. Having fun is something I struggle with.

Needing More Fun

It’s not that I never have a good time. But quite often that’s mixed with creativity and work. I love writing fiction. It makes me feel wonderful. I have a great time going out with my friends. But I met lots of them in my other life as a lawyer, so when we get together for fun we tend to talk work, too. Ditto with other writers and creators.

Also, for decades of my life I worked so many hours I didn’t have much time to do things just because I enjoyed them. When I did, I read books, which I’m happily doing more of now that I’m working less. But I practically forgot what it’s like to have a good amount of free time.

You can probably see why a New Year’s resolution to have fun is a good thing.

New Year’s Resolution Fun

One of my favorite things to in the years after college was to see movies. My boyfriend at the time (who is a screenwriter now) and I had little spending money. We both had arranged our lives to write as much as possible and work as few hours as possible at our day jobs.

But every Tuesday we either went to the second-run movie theater ($1.50) and saw whatever was playing or chose a movie ($1) from our local library’s videotape collection. (Yes, it was that long ago.) There, too, selection was limited. That meant we saw a lot of movies we didn’t absolutely love. But we loved taking them apart afterward as much as we did watching them.

That’s why I settled on movies for my new year’s resolution:

One movie a week in 2024. At the movie theater when I can, streaming otherwise. 

And, as long as it stays fun, I’ll share a little about them here.

The First Movie

I know this is a great resolution because I started it early. Last Friday I picked a movie from Netflix with a cool concept. It’s called What Happened To Monday. (Which you knew from the photo. That’s my Kindle Scribe, which I just got as a holiday present. I’m having fun with that, too, as you can see by my starting my movie list using its notebook feature.)

The Premise

In a future very overpopulated world, a one-child policy is put in place. Additional children are taken away and put in cryogenic sleep. But a grandfather is unwilling to see this happen to his grandchildren, who are septuplets.

He names them each for a day of the week and pretends they are one person. Monday goes out only on Monday. Tuesday on Tuesday and so forth. At home each girl has her own life and expresses herself how she chooses. But to the outside world, these girls are only one girl, one personality they create between them. This works well for decades.

Then one day Monday doesn’t return home from work to rehash the day with her siblings and her electronic tracking goes dark. The others must find out what happened to save her and themselves. But how can they without revealing their secret?

What I Liked

• I loved this premise. It’s a fascinating chance to explore identity, inner lives, and the pressures to present a certain way to society.
• No question this movie passes the Bechdel test. These women, all named, talk to one another all the time about all sorts of topics other than men.
• The early twists engaged me, and a few surprised me.
• Glenn Close (she’s the villain). I like her in any movie.

What Didn’t Work As Well

• The mystery shifted too quickly to chase and fight scenes for me, leaving too little time to explore the themes that intrigued me.
• The gore likewise was a bit too much for me (and eyeballs freak me out).
• Glenn Close’s character was too much of an evil villain. I’m more intrigued by layered villains who do evil things but with whom we can sympathize. Some groundwork was laid for understanding her point of view, but we don’t get to know her enough to feel for her.
• The ending never dealt with the overpopulation issue, which the movie did a good job of showing truly was a serious and humanity-endangering problem but then in my view brushed aside.

Three Stars (Of Five)

The 3 stars is mainly for the premise and some interesting moments and world-building. If this were a usual year where I see maybe 4 or 5 movies, I’d be disappointed I picked this one. But it’s 1 out of 52, so I felt like it was a pretty good start.

What’s next? Check back and see. Oh, and Happy New Year!

Lisa M. Lilly

P.S. If you happen to be a Buffy the Vampire Slayer fan and want to hear thoughts on the story elements of each episode, check out my Buffy and the Art of Story podcast and books here.

The post New Year’s Resolutions For Fun appeared first on Lisa Lilly.

(You can find out more about the 3 tests I’ll use in Women, Men, and Movies or just read on.)

The Story

In the future a wealthy capitol city governs twelve districts that once rebelled against it. As payback, the Capitol requires each district to draw names of one boy and one girl—called Tributes—each year to battle to the death in a staged reality show/pageant.

Katniss Everdeen, a young woman who lives in impoverished District 12, volunteers when her little sister’s name is drawn. Katiniss and Peeta, the boy from District 12, become allies, friends, enemies, and love interests as they fight the Tributes from other districts and struggle against the Capitol’s machinations.

Quick Results

Bechdel: Pass

Sexy Lamp: Strong Pass

Mako Mori: Strong Pass

Chasing Bechdel

(Does a (named) female character talk to another named female character about anything other than a man?)

Who’s Talking To Whom About What

Three sets of named female characters talk to one another about something other than a man. I was surprised, however, at how many more one-on-one male conversations there are than female-to-female given that The Hunger Games features a female lead and a large cast of both male and female characters.

Here’s the breakdown:

Women To Women

Katniss and her sister, Prim, talk about:

• the Hunger Games
• how Tributes are chosen
• Prim’s nightmare
• singing
• a Mockingjay pin

Effie (a mentor for the games) and Katniss talk about:

• Katniss volunteering to save Prim
• an interview where Katniss does a good job

Rue, a young female Tribute, and Katniss talk about:

• getting food
• their districts
• healing wounds with plants
• strategy
• Peeta
• signaling one another through Mockingjays
• Rue’s fatal injuries (Katniss sings to her)

The rest of the one-on-one conversations between female characters include one or more who are never named.

For instance, Katniss and her mother, who is unnamed, talk about:

• the Hunger Games
• the way mom shut down after Katniss’ father’s death
• how to survive while Katniss is gone
• clothes for the Reaping Day

Katniss’ mom and Prim talk about:

• clothes for the Reaping Day
• Prim looking pretty

Also, Katniss talks to an unnamed female vendor about the Mockingjay pin and trading.

Men To Men

TV personality Caesar and gamemaker Seneca Crane talk about:

• past and current games
• the Rebellion
• the Tributes
• Katniss volunteering

Caesar and another announcer, Claudius, talk about:

• the Tributes
• the victors
• the crowd size
• the history of the games
• costumes and stylists

Seneca Crane and President Snow talk about:

• Katniss
• why the games have a victor
• hope
• underdogs
• containing potential rebellions

Peeta and Haymitch (a mentor to Katniss and Peeta) talk about:

• how to survive

Caesar and Peeta talk about:

• the Capitol
• Peeta’s feelings for Katniss

Haymitch and Seneca Crane talk about:

• giving the crowds something to root for

Women And Men

Katniss and Peeta talk about many topics, including:

• their mentor Haymitch
• seeking help
• strategy
• who is stronger
• Peeta’s declaration of feelings for Katniss
• injuries
• other Tributes, including Rue
• their families
• remaining true to themselves
• winning
• how much to risk to get medical supplies
• their childhoods
• hunting
• food and plants
• surviving

Katniss and her friend Gale talk about:

• hunting
• killing animals versus people
• the games
• selling to Peacekeepers
• their families
• running away
• getting food
• caring for Katniss’ family when she’s gone

Haymitch and Katniss talk about:

• that he believes she can win
• strategy
• the consequences of making the Capitol look bad

Katniss and Cinna (the stylist who designs her clothes) talk about:

• being likable
• interviewing
• sponsors
• making an impression
• Katniss being brave and volunteering
• making friends
• costumes
• his faith in her

Caesar and Katniss talk about:

• the flames under her costumes
• her promise to Prim that she’ll try to win
• her nervousness being on stage

Many other conversations occur between mixed groups of male and female characters.

For example, Haymitch talks with Peeta and Katniss about strategy, sponsors, and their skills, as does Effie. Peeta talks with a group of Tributes about hunting Katniss. The same group talks about Peeta when he’s not there and about strategy.

Conclusion

The Hunger Games passes the Bechdel Test.

In one of the earliest scenes Katniss talks to her sister, Prim, about the games. During the games, Katniss allies herself with Rue, a girl about Prim’s age. While the two talk about Peeta, they mainly talk about strategy and survival. Katniss also has a couple one-line conversations with Effie.

Women v. Sexy Lamps

(can a female character be replaced by a sexy lamp without affecting the plot?)

No question Katniss drives the story rather than solely being an object for male characters to protect, chase, or attack. She promises her sister to try to win. She knows how to (and does) hunt, forage for food, fight, protect others, protect herself, and outwit enemies.

While Peeta falls in love with her and that has some effect on both their fortunes in the game, Katniss’ storyline turns on her ability to survive, fight, make alliances, connect with people, play a part, and be herself.

Conclusion

The Hunger Games passes the Sexy Lamp Test.

Mako Mori

(does a female character have her own narrative arc that does not support a man’s story line?)

Yes, for the same reasons in the Sexy Lamp Test above.

Also, interestingly, here it is Peeta’s storyline that supports Katniss’. He feels he has no chance, while Katniss does. His approach is to help her and/or to hide from others. Without her, he probably couldn’t survive.

In many ways, Haymitch’s storyline also supports Katniss’ story. True, Haymitch has his own arc. He allows himself to hope that, for once, one of his Tributes will survive. But it’s Katniss more so than Peeta who sparks that hope and feeds it.

Without Katniss, there’s no story for Haymitch or Peeta.

Conclusion

The Hunger Games passes the Mako Mori Test.

Did I Like It

I love so much about The Hunger Games, including Katniss as a hero. I’ve probably watched it three or four times in addition to the first viewing in the theater. Before that I read the book, which I also love.

Along with being a great story with compelling characters, The Hunger Games highlights a lot of issues women face.

Without being heavy handed, the film shows us how much more time and effort Katniss must spend on her appearance and also the double standard that requires her to be both fierce/scary to other Tributes and approachable/likable.

Coming Soon

Not sure, but I keep hearing good things about the horror film Jennifer’s Body. So I’m thinking about that next.

You might also like:

Avengers: Infinity War – Women Talk, Men Talk More, & Everyone Fights (Women & Men in the Movies No. 7)

The Terminator: Men Talk, A Woman Fights (Women & Men in the Movies No. 5)

Terminator 2: Sarah, Action Hero, But… (Women & Men in the Movies No. 6)

Leia Says Little In The Last Jedi (Women & Men in the Movies No. 9)

Annihilation: Five Women And The Unknown (Women, Men, and Movies No. 4)

Ex Machina: If An A.I. Were A Woman (Women, Men, and Movies No. 3)

The post The Hunger Games: And Still Men Talk More (Women & Men in the Movies No. 11) appeared first on Lisa Lilly.

(Find out more about 3 tests I’ll use to guide the conversation in Women, Men, and Movies or just read on.)

Spoiler Warning:

I usually try not to spoil any major plot points in my articles. For Transcendence, however, I found that particularly difficult. The conversational topics often require revealing aspects of the plot. If you want to watch the film without knowing major points along the way, better to watch first, then read.

The Story

A scientist deals with fallout from the quest of her husband (and fellow scientist) to develop artificial intelligence when his consciousness is uploaded and becomes an A.I.

Quick Results

Bechdel:        F

Sexy Lamp:    P

Mako Mori:   F

Chasing Bechdel

(Does a (named) female character talk to another named female character about anything other than a man?)

Who’s Talking To Whom

Women To Women:

No one-on-one conversations between named female characters occur. Women occasionally speak to mixed groups of men and women. (See Women and Men below.)

Men To Men:

Max, a colleague and friend of the main characters, scientists Evelyn and Will Castor, provides voiceovers about:

• Technology
• Will’s and Evelyn’s work
• Advancements in technology
• Internet blackouts
• Will’s and Evelyn’s love and garden

Will and Max talk about:

• Why RIFT does what it does
• Work that another scientist, Casey, did
• Will’s work
• Saving Will
• Whether Max is as smart as Will and Evelyn
• Taking care of Evelyn
• Saving Evelyn
• A computer virus to stop Will

Max and another colleague/fellow scientist Joseph talk about:

• Evelyn
• RIFT (an anti-technology terrorist group)
• Will
• Hybrid A.I./humans

Joseph, FBI agent Donald Buchanan, and other FBI agents talk (separately and together) about:

• A.I. and Will
• RIFT
• Use of existing mind to create A.I.
• Morality and computers
• Will building an army
• Shutting down the Internet

Several other short conversations occur that include one or more of the following male characters: Max, Will, Martin (a contractor), male RIFT members, and unnamed male characters. Topics include:

• Evelyn
• Will
• Max’s presentation
• Greetings
• Martin (a contractor) becoming reconnected to Will (in his A.I. form)

Women And Men:

Evelyn Castor and Will Castor talk about:

• Sanctuary
• Technology breakthroughs
• Donors and funding
• Will’s work
• Mapping Will’s brain
• Max’s concerns about Will’s consciousness
• Evelyn’s safety
• Healing the planet
• Building an underground data center
• When they met
• How people will react to technological advances
• Nanotechnology
• Enhancements to Martin (the contractor)
• “Fixing” people
• Whether Will (as an A.I.) is destroying or saving the world and lives
• Max’s life
• Good that Will (as an A.I.) is doing
• Staying together

And Evelyn and Max talk about:

• Saving Will
• Will’s work
• Uploading Will’s mind
• How much of consciousness on computer is Will’s
• Love
• How Will changed
• Fighting RIFT and military personnel
• Stopping Will
• Evolution
• Rain water
• The end of organic life
• Changing the world
• The brain versus the soul
• Human emotion
• A virus to stop Will
• Uploading Evelyn with the virus

Evelyn speaks to an audience (mixed male and female) about:

• Einstein
• Intelligent machines
• Curing disease
• Ending hunger
• Will

Evelyn also talks with men, separately or in groups, including Will (as an A.I.), Joseph, and FBI Agent Buchanan. Topics include:

• Saving Martin (the contractor)
• Self-awareness
• PINN (an artificial intelligence Will created while human)
• Nanotechnology
• People who are networked to Will (as an A.I.)
• Building a data center

Bree, a woman who seems to be a leader or key figure for RIFT, and Max talk one-on-one about:

• The promise and perils of technology
• Evelyn
• PINN
•  Connecting Will to the Internet
• Scientist Thomas Casey
• A monkey uploaded to computer
• Max’s philosophy and concerns about AI
• What Will (as an A.I.) wants
• Stopping Will

Bree also speaks with other male characters, including Will (as an A.I.) and RIFT members, Topics include:

• Uploading a virus
• Threatening Max
• Finding and “saving” Evelyn
• Will being online
• Fixing what Will and Evelyn did
• Giving Evelyn a chance to survive
• Video of Will’s complex
• Enhanced/hybrid people
• Shutting down PINN

Evelyn and Bree appear in scenes with groups of men, including Max, RIFT members, and Joseph. Topics include:

• Uploading Evelyn with a virus
• Will’s body

Other mixed male/female conversations also occur. They include an unnamed young woman, an unnamed male doctor, Max, Evelyn, Will, Joseph, FBI Agent Buchanan, and a female AI (PINN). Topics include:

• Greetings
• Will’s autograph
• Attacks on computer labs
• Joseph being at the FBI
• Cyber defense work
• Will’s work
• Protests against transcendence (a.k.a. singularity)
• Research lost
• Whether PINN is self-aware
• Will’s physical condition

Max does a presentation to a mixed crowd of men and women about:

• Cures for cancer and Alzheimer’s
• Advancements in technology
• Will

Will also speaks to mixed audience of men and women about:

• A.I.
• Human intelligence
• Biology
• Reason
• Emotions
• The soul
• Creating god

A woman newscaster on television (presumably addressing a large audience of watchers that includes men and women) talks about:

• A series of attacks on computer and research labs, including one on Will

Conclusion

Three named female characters have speaking roles: scientist Evelyn Castor, the A.I. PINN, and Bree (no last name).

Bree wears a lot of dark eyeliner, presumably so we know she’s tough, and seems to be a sort of leader of RIFT, a group that resists technology. But Bree remains silent in many scenes. When she speaks, it’s to men.

PINN only has a few lines to a mixed group of men and women.

Evelyn and Bree never speak to one another one-on-one, though they are in some scenes together with male characters. In those scenes, however, one or the other is silent.

Transcendence fails the Bechdel Test.

Women v. Sexy Lamps

(can a female character be replaced by a sexy lamp without affecting the plot?)

The main female characters are Evelyn and Bree.

Evelyn uploads Will into a computer and assists him in expanding into an A.I. and building his underground complex. She also makes choices that are key to stopping Will as an A.I.

Bree may or may not be driving or leading RIFT, the terrorist organization opposing technology. Her role isn’t clear, but she is the only RIFT member whose name I caught. She appears in many scenes and has some key conversations with male characters, though she interacts little with Will or Evelyn. Some of her choices alter the plot.

Conclusion

Transcendence passes the Sexy Lamp Test.

Mako Mori

(does a female character have her own narrative arc that does not support a man’s story line?)

Evelyn’s storyline supports Will’s. It’s all about trying to keep him alive, to stop him, or to save him. While early on she says she wants to heal the planet, that desire doesn’t motivate her actions in Transcendence.

Bree appears to lead RIFT but we don’t see much of what she does in the organization. The only part of her story that progresses is about stopping Will. We also don’t see any character growth for Bree.

Conclusion

Transcendence fails the Mako Mori Test.

Did I Like It

The first time I watched Transcendence was around 2014, not long after it came out. Seeing these two key women characters who live entirely surrounded by men and only men distracted me from the story. It also struck me as so unrealistic that I started reading about the Bechdel Test and thinking I’d eventually like to write about this issue.

On second watch for this article, I saw additional plot issues.

If you’ve read earlier articles (such as the ones about Ex Machina, Terminator, and Terminator 2), you know plots about technology intrigue me.

Transcendence looks at important themes, including the nature of humanity, intelligence, and God. It also examines, or tries to, how much power one person or A.I. ought to have and what power does. Finally, it considers what it means to love and to be human.

But themes don’t equal story.

Here, I struggled with the story both as I watched and when writing the short description for this article. For one thing, it’s hard to tell who the protagonist and antagonist are.

Will might be the protagonist, yet early on he becomes fatally ill. Evelyn and Max decide to upload him to a computer to save him. That choice and Evelyn’s skills and dedication to it drive the story from the film’s one-quarter point on.

Max also drives much of the plot. His voiceovers begin and end the film. Bree tells us much of RIFT grew out of talks about his philosophy. So maybe he’s the protagonist.

Will seems to become the antagonist later in Transcendence.

His A.I. consciousness expands and begins taking over humans. RIFT, Max, and Joseph begin working against him. Evelyn first helps and then resists him.

Based on the ending, though, I wonder if Will is the protagonist after all and RIFT the antagonist.

The other obvious protagonist choice is Evelyn. While her choices propel much of the story, most of those decisions, however, are made in reaction to Will’s choices or circumstances.

Confusion about the protagonist and antagonist aside, what stuck with me most from the film was the isolation of Bree and Evelyn among groups of men. Much like my feelings about The Last Jedi, here I would have really liked to see the two women confront one another and deal with their differences. Perhaps work together to oppose Will.

But that’s a different film.

As to Transcendence as it is, if you’re fascinated by the questions technology raises you might enjoy it despite what are, in my opinion, significant flaws.

Next Week’s Film: Hunger Games

Why? Because I love it. And because I expect it to pass all three tests, but sometimes I expect that and am surprised.

You might also like:

Avengers: Infinity War – Women Talk, Men Talk More, & Everyone Fights (Women & Men in the Movies No. 7)

The Terminator: Men Talk, A Woman Fights (Women & Men in the Movies No. 5)

The post The Protagonist Might Be Anyone In Transcendence (Women & Men in the Movies No. 10) appeared first on Lisa Lilly.

(Find out more about 3 tests I’ll use to guide the conversation in Women, Men, and Movies or just read on.)

The Story

On an isolated island, young Rey tries to persuade unwilling Jedi Master Luke Skywalker to train her. General (and former princess) Leia struggles to lead what remains of the Resistance against the tyrannical First Order even as her son Kylo seeks to rise within it and grow his own dark power.

Quick Results

Bechdel:        P

Sexy Lamp:    P

Mako Mori:   P

Chasing Bechdel

(Does a (named) female character talk to another named female character about anything other than a man?)

The Last Jedi includes so many characters and conversations that I’ve grouped most of the ones among only male characters, or between male and female characters combined, together. Only those one-on-one conversations where the dialogue or characters are particularly significant are separated out.

I didn’t need to group female-to-female conversations because there are relatively few.

Where non-human characters are coded as one gender or the other, I’ve included them by the coded gender.

Who’s Talking To Whom

Women To Women:

Vice Admiral Holdo and Lieutenant Connix have two short conversations about:

• Passing debris (Connix is covering for Resistance Commander Dameron Poe)
• Fuel reserves and staying on course

General Leia and Vice Admiral Holdo talk once about:

• Poe
• Boarding the transports
• Who will stay behind to pilot the cruiser
• Resistance losses
• The Force

Lieutenant Connix and Commander D’acy have one conversation where Leia also chimes in. They talk about:

• Distress signals
• Lack of reinforcements
• The Resistance

Also, Commander D’acy tells a group of Resistance fighters that Vice Admiral Holdo is next in command and Holdo thanks her.

Rey and Leia have one conversation, which includes about 6 lines, about:

• Luke
• Rebuilding the rebellion

Men To Men:

Poe and Finn (both of the Resistance), talk about:

• Where Rey is
• Surviving
• The droid BB8
• Battle strategy

Luke and Kylo talk about:

• Forgiveness
• Death
• The Resistance
• The Jedi

Yoda and Luke talk about:

• Ending the Jedi legacy
• Jedi texts
• Rey
• Failure

Supreme Leader Snoke and Kylo Renn talk about:

• Hux
• Kylo’s power
• What Snoke saw in Kylo
• Kylo’s bloodline
• Kylo’s mask/helmet
• Han Solo
• Kylo being unbalanced
• Rey
• Luke still being alive
• The Jedi
• Darth Vader
• Destiny

Many other male characters talk with one another. Those characters include First Order General Hux, Captain Canady, Supreme Leader Snoke, Kylo Renn, other First Order officers, Poe, C-3PO, and Resistance fighters and officers. They talk about:

• Snuffing out the Resistance
• Battle strategy
• Resistance shields
• Snoke’s disappointment
• Rebel forces
• Battle strategy (numerous times)
• Rey
• The Supreme Leader
• Who will rule
• Luke
• Threats to one another
• Mutiny
• Ways out of a cave

Women And Men:  

Rey and Luke talk about:

• The Resistance
• Leia
• Who Rey is and her fears and dreams
• The cave
• The Jedi texts
• The First Order
• The Force
• Luke’s refusal to train another Jedi
• The island
• Kylo
• History of the Empire
• Pride
• Legends

And Rey and Kylo talk about:

• Luke
• Seeing each other in their minds
• Kylo being a monster
• Kylo’s father
• Rey’s parents
• Being alone
• Kylo’s future
• Supreme Leader Snoke

Rey also talks with Supreme Leader Snoke. Topics include:

• Darkness and light
• Kylo
• Luke
• Threats
• The Resistance

Luke and Leia have one conversation about:

• Leia’s hair
• Kylo
• Hope

Rose and Finn, both of the Resistance, talk about:

• Finn being a Resistance hero
• Escape pods
• Finn leaving the First Order
• Rose’s sister’s death
• Rey finding Finn
• Disabling tracking
• Finding a code breaker
• A casino
• How Rose grew up
• The Resistance
• Love versus hate

Vice Admiral Holdo and Poe talk about:

• Battle plans
• Poe being trigger happy
• Poe’s demotion
• Following orders
• Battle plans
• Abandoning the cruiser
• Mutiny

Chewbacca, Luke, and Rey talk about:

• The Millenium Falcon
• Han Solo
• Kylo
• The Jedi
• Whether Resistance needs Luke
• The First Order
• Why Luke isolated himself
• The fleet
• Ruling the galaxy
• Rey’s parents

Leia and Poe talk about:

• Strategy
• Returning to base or fighting on
• Poe not following orders
• Leadership
• Admiral Holdo
• Protecting the Resistance
• Strategy

Many other conversations occur between male and female characters one-on-one and in groups. Characters in those conversations include General Hux, unnamed male and female First Order characters, Poe, Rose, C-3PO, Maz, Finn, unnamed Resistance fighters, Leia, and Holdo, child jockeys, and a code breaker. Topics include:

• First Order Attacks
• Getting everyone on a transport
• Fighters
• Targets
• Bomber doors
• Battle victories
• Supreme Leader Snoke
• First Order tracking Resistance
• Battle plans
• Resistance leaders
• Leia’s condition
• The Resistance’s symbol
• Disabling tracking
• Security shields
• Battle strategy and victories
• Breaking out of prison
• Code breaking
• Rey finding Resistance fighters

Humans and non-gendered droids:

Poe and BB8 talk about:

• Strategy
• Battle moves
• Weapon systems
• Targeting
• Finn

And Luke and R2 (who I believe is referred to as “he” in other Star Wars movies, but I didn’t notice being referred to here as male or female) talk about:

• Old friends
• Not coming back to the Resistance
• Old hologram message from Leia

Conclusion

There are far more conversations in mixed male/female groups than in the other categories, and more male-to-male than female-to-female conversations. These conversations cover a broad range of topics sometimes briefly, sometimes in depth and detail.

Most of the conversations the women have with one another are about a male Resistance member, sometimes plus another topic.

Whether all the women I list above are truly “named” characters is questionable. For two of them, I needed to hunt through IMDB for names. (And it was a hunt. The actors’ photos didn’t always match very well to how they looked in the film, so I checked other websites as well.)

But Leia and Rey are both clearly named, and they do have a conversation that, in addition to being about Luke, is also about the Resistance. And Vice Admiral Holdo and Leia similarly talk about Poe, but also about important Resistance strategy and choices.

Because of that, The Last Jedi passes the Bechdel Test.

Women v. Sexy Lamps

(can a female character be replaced by a sexy lamp without affecting the plot?)

The Last Jedi includes many female characters who are key to the plot.

Rose’s ideas and determination drive an entire side plot about an attempt to disable the First Order’s tracking system. Rey’s quest to become a Jedi both intersects with and affects the main Resistance versus First Order plot and forms a key storyline of its own. Leia has less to do, but she does make or influence some significant strategy decisions, and Vice Admiral Holdo’s choices drive the battle.

I can’t think of any female character who is simply there to be carted around, saved, or look good.

Conclusion

The Last Jedi passes the Sexy Lamp Test.

Mako Mori

(does a female character have her own narrative arc that does not support a man’s story line?)

While Rose’s actions affect the main plot, I don’t see her as having a true narrative of her own. I like her as a character. She’s steadfast, determined, and resourceful throughout. But I don’t see a journey other than perhaps in her feelings for Finn.

Leia doesn’t get much screen time. I also don’t see her evolving other than perhaps in her feelings about Kyle or Luke.

Rey is a tougher call.

She seeks Luke to train as a Jedi in her own right. Much of that storyline involves Luke, as he initially refuses to train her. Their storylines support each other’s. Without her, he wouldn’t know what was happening with the Resistance or consider reconnecting with the Jedi ways. Without him, she’d be on her own to train.

Interestingly, she does quite a bit to learn on her own, suggesting to me that perhaps she doesn’t personally need Luke as much as she believes she does.

She also tries to save Kylo, connecting with him even when she doesn’t intentionally try to do so.

Rey has an internal journey, too. As we saw in The Force Awakens, she holds out hope that her parents will return for her and that her bloodline makes her a Jedi, much like Luke and Leia. Her quest for answers and how she deals with that shows growth on her part.

Conclusion

Based on Rey’s quest to become a Jedi, much of which is self-directed, and her search for family, The Last Jedi passes the Mako Mori Test.

Did I Like It

Sometimes you just want a movie to be something it’s not. Knowing Rey and Leia would play important roles in The Last Jedi, I imagined a mentoring relationship much like Luke’s with Obi-Wan Kenobi. What a chance it would have been to see these women connect. A young woman trying to understand and master the Force and searching for her family. An older woman who has developed her own power and who faced challenging revelations about her own family.

Instead, we get one short conversation between Rey and Leia.

Also, while Leia clearly matters to the Resistance, she doesn’t do much in the movie. And Rey’s interactions are almost entirely with Luke and Kylo.

According to a December 19, 2017 Chicago Tribune article, “Lucasfilm had planned for the next episode, J.J. Abrams’s 2019 release, to be ‘Leia’s film.’” Perhaps that would have been the movie I’d been hoping for.

My disappointment on this front is about my hopes, not The Last Jedi as is, so I can see why other people loved it.

In addition, though, the extended battle scenes didn’t do a lot for me. I loved the original three Star Wars films. I liked The Force Awakens, but never became that invested in the characters. Because of that, when they’re fighting it doesn’t make that much difference to me who survives and how.

The training scenes and conflicts between Rey and Luke interested me more (though I found Luke, to my dismay, a bit whiny and annoying) and were my favorite part of the movie.

The Rey/Kylo relationship also is intriguing. I liked the twists it took and what it revealed about each of them.

Coming Soon

2014 sci-fi thriller Transcendence. This film prompted me to start thinking about the Bechdel Test in the first place.

You might also like:

The Terminator: Men Talk, A Woman Fights (Women & Men in the Movies No. 5)

Avengers: Infinity War – Women Talk, Men Talk More, & Everyone Fights

Terminator 2: Sarah, Action Hero, But…

Annihilation: Five Women And The Unknown (Women, Men, and Movies No. 4)

Ex Machina: If An A.I. Were A Woman (Women, Men, and Movies No. 3)

The post Leia Says Little In The Last Jedi (Women & Men in the Movies No. 9) appeared first on Lisa Lilly.

(Find out more about 3 tests I’ll use to guide the conversation in Women, Men, and Movies or just read on.)

The Story

A family struggles to live in a silence in a post-apocalyptic world where monsters hunt and kill based on noise.

Spoilers: I’ve done my best not to spoil anything major that wasn’t shown in the previews, but if you want to remain completely spoiler-free you may want to watch the movie first and come back.

Chasing Bechdel

(Does a (named) female character talk to another named female character about anything other than a man?)

We never hear any of the characters’ names, so technically A Quiet Place could never pass the Bechdel Test. Because there’s minimal spoken dialogue, though, and all five family members are named in the credits, I’ll treat each as a named character.

The family communicates mainly via sign language with subtitles. To keep it simple, unless it’s important, I haven’t split out sign language from spoken conversations. I did not count as conversations mere expressions, such as a nod or frown.

Who’s Talking To Whom

Women To Women:

The mother, Evelyn, talks to her daughter, Emily, once. They talk about:

• Marcus (Emily’s brother) being okay after Evelyn gives him medicine (1 line)

Men To Men:

The father, Lee, talks with son Marcus about:

• Lee’s relationship with daughter Emily
• Whether Lee can really protect the children
• When it’s safe to make noise or talk out loud
• Whether Marcus is safe

Lee talks to son Beau about:

• A toy rocket being too loud to keep

Women And Men:

Husband and wife Evelyn and Lee talk about:

• How Evelyn looks
• The upcoming birth of their fourth child
• The baby
• Where the children are
• Grief and guilt
• Whether they can protect their children
• The kids knowing how to survive

Children Emily and Beau talk about:

• Using a rocket to get away

Children Emily and Marcus talk about:

• Whether their dad will come and get them
• Being quiet

Evelyn (mom) and Marcus (son) talk about:

• Learning math
• That Lee (dad) will protect Marcus
• Marcus not wanting to go out fishing or outside with Lee
• Evelyn wanting Marcus  to be able to take care of himself and of her when she’s old

Lee (dad) and Emily (daughter) talk about:

• Radio parts and signals
• Emily’s hearing
• Staying out of his workshop
• Dinnertime
• Emily wanting to go with to learn survival skills
• Emily staying with and helping her mother
• Whether Emily’s safe
• That Lee loves Emily

Conclusion

A Quiet Place fails the Bechdel Test. Also, while there are few conversations at all in the movie, the least talking (verbal or non-verbal) occurs between the two female characters.

Women v. Sexy Lamps

(can a female character be replaced by a sexy lamp without affecting the plot?)

Both Evelyn (mom) and Emily (daughter) play active roles in the plot. Emily gives her littlest brother a forbidden toy in the beginning, setting the stage for much of the movie. She also takes off at a key moment, leaving her mother more vulnerable that she otherwise would be. And she later finds ways to fight the monsters.

Because Evelyn is very pregnant during most of the film, she’s sidelined for a lot of it. All the same, she teaches her children, she manages many challenging tasks in silence, and she takes actions that are pivotal to the plot.

Conclusion

A Quiet Place passes the Sexy Lamp Test.

Mako Mori

(does a female character have her own narrative arc that does not support a man’s story line?)

Evelyn:

A little after the midpoint of A Quiet Place, Evelyn tells her husband he has to protect the kids. Before that, she talks about her son Marcus needing to learn survival skills to protect and take care of her.

While she also does things to protect her children and works hard to care for her family, her dialogue seems to default to the male family members being more responsible for protection despite that the daughter, Emily, looks to be five or six years older than her brother Marcus.

At the end, Evelyn becomes more active in fighting the monsters.

Emily:

Emily starts out being engaged and active in protecting the family and surviving. She withdraws after a tragedy she partly contributes to. She reacts mostly with anger, and she fears her dad doesn’t love her.

By the end, however, she’s realized her dad does love her and rather than running away she fights.

Conclusion

I’m on the fence on whether the progression for Evelyn qualifies as a narrative arc. An arc requires growth and change.

While Evelyn is more active at the end, I’m not sure that comes from her growing and changing as a person rather than from a change in circumstance. For most of the movie she’s heavily pregnant, which limits what she can do. Also, I don’t quite believe that she sees the burden of protection as falling more on her husband and son overall, despite the screenwriters giving her lines that suggest it. We see her being very smart and capable throughout A Quiet Place, so it doesn’t feel like a significant change when she takes charge of the fight at the end.

Emily, though, changes both internally and externally. While that change relates to her dad, it is not supporting his story line but is her own arc.

A Quiet Place passes the Mako Mori Test.

Quick Results

Bechdel:  F

Sexy Lamp:    P

Mako Mori:   P

Did I Like It

At first A Quiet Place drew me in. It’s an intriguing premise: How do you survive in a world where you can’t make any noise?

The ways the characters manage their daily lives, such as using leaves to hold food rather than plates, fascinated me. Also, I pretty much think Emily Blunt is amazing in any film she’s in. And I loved the ending.

Throughout A Quiet Place, though, logic and common sense kept getting in the way of my enjoying the story.

Based on the timeline we’re given, five or six months after the apocalypse and the discovery of the monsters who hunt based on noise Evelyn gets pregnant.

All I could think was wouldn’t preventing a pregnancy in this world be absolutely top priority? You can’t stop a baby from crying. All you’d be doing is having a baby to see it get attacked and killed and probably the rest of the family with it.

While some of the suspense comes from how the family will manage this challenge, it seems their plan is only for the day of the birth and a short time after. Hard to say what they imagined they’d do for the first couple years. (Try to make a two year old be quiet by asking nicely. And silently. Go ahead. I’ll wait.)

Along the same lines, it’s established early on that living underground is safer.

It’s over a year after the apocalypse and empty buildings are everywhere, Yet the family lives mainly above ground. In an old house with creaky floors and stairs.

I understand no one wants to live below ground all the time. But it defies logic that they don’t do it most of the time, particularly with a baby on the way.

There are similar smaller issues that, for me, place the whole family solidly in the classic horror too-stupid-to-live trope, which made it hard to care what happened to them.

A Quiet Place also suffered from another common monster movie problem. Once the monsters are shown up close, they’re far less scary. After that happened, which was fairly early, my terror disappeared despite that I was watching alone in the dark.

I’m apparently in the minority, though.

After I finished watching the first time, I checked the reviews. To my surprise, most were great. On Rotten Tomatoes, A Quiet Place has a 95% score.

So, if you haven’t seen A Quiet Place and are thinking of it, you may very well enjoy it.

Coming Soon

Star Wars: The Last Jedi.

You might also like:

The Invitation: Psychological Suspense & Horror In Hollywood Hills (Women & Men in the Movies No. 1)

The post A Quiet Place: Defying Monsters and Common Sense (Women & Men in the Movies No. 8) appeared first on Lisa Lilly.

(Find out more about 3 tests I’ll use to guide the conversation in Women, Men, and Movies or just read on.)

The Story

A young woman, Sarah Connor, must flee from and ultimately fight a cyborg from the future intent on killing her.

Chasing Bechdel

(Does a named female character talk to another named female character about anything other than a man?)

Who’s Talking To Whom

As in the discussion of Ex Machina, where I referred to an A.I. designed as female as a woman, I’ll refer to the Terminator, played by Arnold Schwarzenegger, as a man.

Women To Women:

Our hero, Sarah Connor, and unnamed female restaurant coworkers talk about:

• Sarah being late
• Who will care about a bad work day in 100 years (a little foreshadowing)
• A news story about a different Sarah Connor being shot and killed

Sarah and her roommate, Ginger, talk mostly about men and cover these topics:

• Ginger’s boyfriend
• How they look before going out with their dates
• Sarah’s pet lizard
• Sarah’s date, who cancels on her
• Sarah going to a movie

Sarah talks to an unnamed female door person about:

• Using the pay phone (remember those?)
• The cover charge

Men To Men:

In the first spoken words of The Terminator, an unnamed male driver talks to himself when he sees what looks like a naked man appear in the midst of lightning.

Unnamed male punk rockers talk to each other about:

• A naked man approaching them

The Terminator talks to many unnamed male characters, including the punk rockers, a hotel guest, a gun shop clerk, a phone booth occupant, an intake officer at the police station, and a hotel clerk, about:

• The Terminator being naked
• Clothes
• The rotting smell from his room
• Guns and how they work
• The Terminator’s attitude
• Wanting to see Sarah
• “I’ll be back” (the classic line)
• The hotel address

An unnamed drunken man in an alley talks to himself, to Kyle Reese (who has come from the future to help protect Sarah), and to policemen about:

• Bright lights
• Reese stealing his pants

Policemen talk to Reese about:

• Trying to get him to stop running
• The date and year

One unnamed policeman also talks to another about Reese having his gun.

Lieutenant Ed and Detective Hal (who I don’t think ever has his name spoken), talk briefly to the press (to say No Comment) and talk to each other about:

• Two Sarah Connors being dead
• Reaching the remaining Sarah
• Using press/TV to reach out to her
• How they look
• Reese’s story

Reese and Dr. Silberman, a (male) psychologist, talk about:

• Future war
• A computer defense system
• The machines’ plan to kill Sarah
• Time travel
• The Terminator
• Reese’s mission
• That Reese can’t go back to his own time
• Weapons
• The Terminator will keep going until it kills Sarah

Max, Ginger’s boyfriend, tells the Terminator “Don’t make me bust you up.”

Reese speaks one line to the Terminator at the end to tell him to “Come on.”

Women And Men:

Sarah talks to male customers and a bartender about:

• Food orders
• Complaints about poor service
• Not touching the TV (when a news story about a second Sarah Connor’s death plays)

The Terminator talks to the first Sarah Connor he visits to confirm her name.

Max, Ginger’s boyfriend, talks to Sarah on the phone about:

• Sex (when he thinks Ginger answered)
• An apology (when he realizes it’s Sarah)

Max talks to Ginger when she gets on the phone about:

• Sex (same words he said to Sarah)

Sarah and Lt. Ed, Det. Hal, and Dr. Silberman talk about:

• Sarah being followed
• Where Sarah is
• Ginger’s death
• Whether Reese is crazy
• What Reese told her
• Reese being deluded and/or on PCP
• Trying to sleep
• Her mother
• The many cops in the police station

Sarah and Reese talked the most, including about:

• Reese’s line, another classic: “Come with me if you want to live”
• Whether she’s hurt
• Doing what Reese says
• Reese is there to protect her
• Sarah’s targeted for termination
• Cyborgs from future
• Reese being from the future
• What a terminator is and whether Reese can stop it
• Nuclear war
• The defense network and machines
• How John Connor led the resistance to the machines
• Time travel
• Reese’s injuries
• What John is like
• That Sarah’s a legend
• A message for Sarah from John
• Fighting machines in the future
• Reese’s childhood
• Explosives
• Reese’s love for Sarah
• What women are like in his time
• Dealing with emotional pain
• Continuing to fight

The Terminator and Sarah talk about:

• Where Sarah is (when he’s pretending to be her mom)
• That they love each other (when he’s pretending to be her mom)
• Sarah tells him he’s terminated

Sarah, a boy who takes her photo, and a gas station attendant talk about:

• the photo
• how much she’ll pay for it
• a storm coming

People and Machines

People talk to machines in addition to the Terminator, including Sarah talking to her and Ginger’s answering machine to ask for Ginger’s help, which tips the Terminator to where she is, and Sarah talking to a tape recorder in the end in a message to her unborn son.

Conclusion

A lizard and Sarah’s offhand mention of going to a movie save The Terminator from failing the Bechdel Test.

That the film barely passes surprised me. I’ve watched it many times. In my memory, it passed right away because of Sarah’s conversation with her coworkers about the other Sarah Connor’s death. But we never hear that coworker’s name. I also had not remembered how much of her conversation with her roommate was about men.

I also noticed on this watch how many more unnamed characters are men and how much more often men talk with other men (named or unnamed) than do women.

Still, Ginger and Sarah do talk about Pugsley, the lizard who, while male, probably doesn’t count as a man for purposes of the test. Go Pugsley.

Women v. Sexy Lamps

(can a female character be replaced by a sexy lamp without affecting the plot?)

Despite that Reese is sent to protect her, he is not the protagonist. (In a different movie, one I would never have been interested in, he probably would have been.)

Sarah’s choices for better or worse drive the story. Had she been a sexy lamp, Reese would have found her and spirited her away. When the Terminator tracked them down, Reese alone would have had to fight and the outcome would have been far different.

Our other named female character (yes there is only one other), Ginger, plays a small role. But she influences the plot.

She is sympathetic when Sarah’s date cancels and supportive when Sarah decides to go out alone. That decision means Sarah’s not there when the Terminator arrives. Also, Ginger’s struggle to survive brings the Terminator into the living room when Sarah calls, which is why he hears her talk to the answering machine.

So while Ginger doesn’t make a huge difference in the plot, I think it’s enough.

Conclusion

The Terminator passes the Sexy Lamp Test.

Mako Mori

(does a female character have her own narrative arc that does not support a man’s story line?)

Sarah goes from struggling in her work as a waitress (who says she can’t balance her checkbook) to a woman who fights first alongside Reese and then alone to defeat the Terminator.

In a way her storyline supports a man’s—specifically that of her future son, John Connor. Reese says Sarah is a legend for training John to fight and preparing him for the war. Also, the machines send the Terminator to kill her specifically to keep John from being born.

The larger point, though, is to save the world and the future, and the story revolves around Sarah.

Conclusion

Sarah has her own narrative arc that drives the movie. The Terminator passes the Mako Mori Test.

Quick Results

Bechdel:                    BP (barely passes)

Sexy Lamp:                P

Mako Mori:               P

Did I Like It

The Terminator is my favorite movie of all time. (Check out the Reel Chat podcast for an in depth, fun conversation among filmmakers about it.) I love how circumstances force Sarah into an impossible situation and she rises to the occasion. Her growth is gradual and believable.

While I was disappointed The Terminator didn’t do better on the Bechdel Test, for a 1984 action film it’s less surprising that few women talk to each other and more surprising that Sarah is the protagonist.

While initially a target/victim, she takes every step she can to protect herself.

When she sees the news story in a bar and grill, she tries to call the police. When she can’t get through, she goes out among people and later into a crowded club where she’s more likely to be safe. She follows Reese’s advice when the Terminator is pursuing, but when things are quieter she reevaluates to decide what makes sense.

She accepts the explanations the police give at first because they’re logical and more plausible than Reese’s. But when later events prove Reese is telling the truth, she throws all in with him, learning as much as she can as quickly as possible. And when she’s alone, she fights as hard as she can despite serious injuries and intense fear.

She’s a strong, sympathetic woman hero, and the story is tightly plotted and exciting.

Next Week’s Film

Terminator 2: Judgment Day. What else?

You might also like:

Annihilation: Five Women And The Unknown (Women, Men, and Movies No. 4)

Ex Machina: If An A.I. Were A Woman (Women, Men, and Movies No. 3)

The post The Terminator: Men Talk, A Woman Fights (Women & Men in the Movies No. 5) appeared first on Lisa Lilly.

(Find out more about 3 tests I’ll use to guide the conversation in Women, Men, and Movies or just read on.)

The Story

Annihilation was written and directed by Alex Garland, who also wrote and directed last week’s movie Ex Machina.

In Annihilation, Natalie Portman plays Lena, a biologist and professor grieving the disappearance/ presumed death of her husband on a secret military mission.

In an effort to help him, Lena joins a team of women going into the Shimmer, a sort of force field that surrounds a jungle-like area.

Previous attempts to penetrate it with drones, animals, or military men have failed. Inside, everything is both beautiful and dangerous.

Chasing Bechdel

(Does a (named) female character talk to another named female character about anything other than a man?)

Who’s Talking To Whom

Women To Women:

Lena’s first conversation with Dr. Ventress (played by Jennifer Jason Leigh) is mainly about Lena’s husband, Kane, but topics they cover in all conversations include:

• How Lena feels physically
• Lena’s military service and current work
• What Lena’s husband, Kane, said about the mission
• How Kane got back from the Shimmer
• Why Lena stopped contacting Kane’s unit for information
• What Lena knew about Kane’s mission
• Kane being extremely ill
• What Kane might have been exposed to
• How Lena could help Kane
• Theories about Shimmer and when and where it started
• People, animals, drones sent into Shimmer that haven’t returned
• The Shimmer’s growth and threat to the earth
• Kane dying, and Lena wanting to stay with him
• Lena not telling rest of crew about being married to Kane
• Why Ventress is going into Shimmer
• Maps and routes through Shimmer
• Why Kane volunteered for “suicide mission”
• Suicide versus self-destruction and biology versus psychology
• What the Shimmer wants

Lena and the other crew members (Anya, Kass, and Josie) talk together about:

• Their careers and why they volunteered to go into the Shimmer
• Ventress
• Previous teams
• Theories about the Shimmer
• Kane being the only one to get out
• Missing food and provisions
• Time and memory loss
• Plants, animals, and mutations in the Shimmer
• Lena’s military background
• Video left for them by previous crew (including Kane)
• Being scared
• Whether to go back when one of them is killed
• Ventress’ determination to go to lighthouse inside the Shimmer
• Radio and light waves
• The Shimmer refracting DNA
• Lena not having told the rest of the crew at the beginning that Kane is her husband

Josie and Lena also talk about:

• How long Kane was in the Shimmer
• Whether Kane was still intact when got out
• Refractions
• Their DNA/blood changing

Men To Men:

In a video Kane talks to a second person who looks like Kane about:

• Whether he is Kane anymore or ever was
• His flesh moving, and his mind feeling cut loose
• Finding Lena

Women And Men:

Lomax, an official, grills Lena about what happened in the Shimmer in scenes that wraparound and cut in between the action in the Shimmer. The two talk about:

• What Lena ate while inside, how long she was in
• What happened to the other crew members
• Why she went in
• Mutations in Shimmer, how mutations work, whether she hallucinated
• Why Lena lied to the crew about her reasons for going on
• Ventress’ reasons for going on in Shimmer
• Why Lena’s the only one who came back
• Whether the Shimmer was alien or wanted anything
• A seeming alien that mirrored Lena
• Whether the Shimmer was destroying or changing the world
• What happened at the lighthouse in the Shimmer

Lena and Dan, a colleague, talk about:

• An invitation to a garden party held by Dan and his wife
• Lena painting her bedroom
• Kane’s disappearance
• Their affair
• Kane’s work
• Lena hating herself and Dan for the affair

Lena and Kane talk about:

• His mission and his unit
• How he got back and how long he was gone
• God
• The life of cells
• What she does when he’s gone
• Loving each other
• Who he is

Conclusion

Annihilation passes, as while many of the conversations women have with other women are about Lena’s husband they also talk about a lot of other topics.

Women v. Sexy Lamps

(can a female character be replaced by a sexy lamp and the plot still works)

Both Lena and Dr. Ventress are driving forces in the story.

Ventress because she’s determined to understand the Shimmer and see it to the end; Lena because she wants to help her husband. Neither is merely an object for a man to obsess over or seek to possess.

A couple of the women on the crew felt interchangeable with one another. Even on second watching, I had a hard time tracking which was which.

But none could be replaced with a sexy lamp.

Conclusion

For all the named female characters, Annihilation passes.

Mako Mori

(does a female character have her own narrative arc that does not support a man’s story line?)

This test is tougher.

Lena displays professional and intellectual curiosity about the animals and plants in the Shimmer, yet it’s clear her main goal is to help her husband. A mix of love for and guilt about him motivate her. I also question whether Lena has a character arc, as she doesn’t seem to evolve or change.

All the same, it is her story, not a narrative arc merely supporting Kane’s story. She starts unsure what happened to her husband, decides to enter the Shimmer to find out, and perseveres despite tremendous obstacles.

In addition, Dr. Ventress has a story arc.

Ventress has studied the Shimmer and sent many crews in, only to lose almost everyone. She has a deep need to understand the Shimmer. She, too, chooses to enter and to persevere until she finds answers.

Conclusion

Annihilation passes the Mako Mori test.

Quick Results:

Bechdel:  Pass

Sexy Lamp:  Pass

Mako Mori:  Pass

Did I Like It

What I liked most and what I found less engaging flipped in my two viewings of Annihilation.

On first watch in the theater I felt a sense of wonder at everything in the Shimmer. I identified with Lena’s amazement at what she found. The suspense of what happened to the previous crews and how Kane got out kept me riveted.

The ending, though, I found dissatisfying. It seemed more like oddity for the sake of oddity. It also felt like it left off in the middle, providing no answers.

On rewatching so I could write this entry, I felt a bit bored by the very parts that had engaged me before. The suspense was gone, and unlike with last week’s movie, Ex Machina, I didn’t find more layers in the first three quarters of the movie or achieve insights I didn’t have before.

The end, though, I found more compelling.

For one thing, I felt I had a better sense of what the ending meant and how the film resolved–or at least engaged in depth with–certain questions. I also appreciated the unanswered questions more, as they seemed to fit a theme of the effects of growth, change, and evolution.

As to female characters specifically, despite that Annihilation passes all three tests, on both viewings I kept wondering whether the characters’ stories would be told differently if they were male, which drew me out of the story.

For instance, Lena states she survived the Shimmer because she had to for her husband because she “owed” him.

Why can’t she survive because she’s tough and goddamned determined to? The way the character’s drawn, I would have believed that with no problem, so making her say she had to get back because of her husband just distracted me.

Similarly, Ventress says her reason for going in is the number of teams she’s sent who have not returned. She wants to stop sitting on the sidelines and sending other people to die. Yet the film later undercuts that in a couple ways, including stressing that she has no friends or family and giving her a backstory that means she has nothing to lose. That makes her far less interesting.

The other crew members also each have a tragic backstory or psychological issue mentioned just once. I felt like the filmmakers threw in the explanations because, hey, women wouldn’t just go do something heroic because it’s the right thing to do, or because they want answers, they need to have some trauma because, well, X chromosomes.

Also, yay that on the one hand Annihilation is the flip of most movies in that it includes tons of conversations among only women and only one man-to-man section of dialogue.

But, sadly, almost half the woman-to-woman dialogue is about Lena’s husband. It’s hard to imagine a five-man crew in a similar movie would spend half the time talking about one of the crewman’s wives (despite that female characters seem to exist in most movies solely to be terrorized by one man and saved by another).

Despite my qualms, though, I found a lot more to like than not. The mix of intriguing concept, action, and psychological suspense plus Natalie Portman’s performance made it worth watching.

Next Week’s Film

Sci Fi/thriller classic and my favorite movie of all time The Terminator.

The post Annihilation: Five Women And The Unknown (Women & Men in the Movies No. 4) appeared first on Lisa Lilly.

(Find out more about the tests mentioned below in Women, Men, and Movies or just read on.)

The Story

Think Devil Wears Prada crossed with Parent Trap.

In Set It Up, two assistants, Harper and Charlie, work long hours for horrendous bosses. When Harper orders a midnight second dinner for her boss but has no cash to pay for it she meets Charlie.

Charlie has cash, so he swoops in, pays the delivery man for Harper’s takeout, and attempts to whisk it away to his boss. After arguing over who is more likely to get fired, Harper finds a creative way to split the food.

The two eventually decide to try to bring their bosses together. If the bosses become involved, they’ll necessarily work less, freeing Harper’s and Charlie’s time.

Chasing Bechdel

(Does a (named) female character talk to another named female character about anything other than a man?)

Who’s Talking To Whom

Women To Women:

Unlike in last week’s movie, The Invitation, where women spoke one-on-one to each other almost entirely in two-line conversations (such as, “So nice to meet you,” “You too”) in Set It Up Harper talks with other women in depth.

Harper and her boss, well-respected sports writer Kirsten, talk about:

• careers
• work habits
• dinner (as in Harper getting Kirsten’s—repeatedly)
• exercise (as in Harper wearing Kirsten’s exercise tracker to fool her trainer)
• sleep
• ideas for articles (particularly Harper’s about seniors who run their own Olympics)
• pitching an idea
• Rick (Charlie’s horrendous boss)
• sex
• parties, showers, weddings, events
• fitting in with other women when you’re single and have no kids
• advice on men and dating
• bikini waxes
• advice on succeeding at work
• the set up
• Kirsten’s and Rick’s planned marriage
• challenges for women in sports writing
• Harper’s potential
• writing advice

Harper talks with her roommate (Becca) about:

• Kirsten’s writing and how Harper admires it
• dating
• marriage
• their sex lives (or lack thereof in Harper’s case)
• their friendship
• Mike (Becca’s fiancé)
• Becca’s dress
• Harper’s work
• Harper getting fired
• Writing advice

Harper and Kirsten separately talk to an unnamed woman alumnus of Kirsten’s college:

• Kirsten gives the woman advice on her article (delete the adjectives)
• the woman raves to Harper about how lucky she is to work with Kirsten
• the woman says Kirsten agreed to be her mentor

Men To Men:

The interactions between Charlie and his horrible boss, venture capitalist Rick, mirror Harper’s and Kirsten’s, but with Rick portrayed in a worse light.

Kirsten snaps at Harper and makes unreasonable demands. Rick behaves similarly and also throws office equipment, stamps on Charlie’s laptop (he thinks it’s his own and can’t get it to accept his password), and fires an intern for delivering mail from Rick’s soon-to-be ex-wife.

Charlie and Rick talk about:

• dinner (as in Charlie failing to get Rick dinner though Rick specifically said he didn’t want it)
• Rick’s wife divorcing him
• Rick’s son’s science project (which Charlie creates and Rick smashes, leaving Charlie, with Harper’s help, to come up with a new project in 24 hours)
• Complaints from Rick about seats Charlie saves for him
• Kirsten
• complimenting women
• Rick cheating on Kirsten with his soon-to-be ex-wife
• an exclusive businessmen’s club
• Charlie’s career (finally)
• Charlie being promoted
• Rick wanting to beat his ex to the altar by marrying Kirsten
• a ring for Kirsten (which Charlie is to buy)
• Rick wanting to know about his ex-wife’s likes and dislikes (he doesn’t know because Charlie kept track of all the details)

Charlie and his roommate (Duncan) talk about:

• sex
• Charlie’s girlfriend
• Duncan’s hookups
• careers

Charlie also talks with an intern (Beau) about:

• how to deal with Rick
• Rick’s ex-wife

Women And Men:

Harper and Charlie cover so many topics I can’t list them all, but here are the major ones:

• who gets to take the carryout Harper ordered and who is more likely to get fired (their meet cute)
• Defcon 1 and Defcon 5 (okay, not major but it was a fun part of their first conversation)
• jobs, their awful bosses, and careers
• sports
• Kirsten’s interview skills
• parties and dates (that they miss because of work)
• Harper never having had a boyfriend
• their ambitions
• getting Rick and Kirsten together
• the nature of love
• the Yankees
• their newfound free time once Kirsten and Rick are together
• “Golf guy” (whom Harper starts seeing)
• Charlie’s dating advice and Harper’s response
• Charlie’s relationship with his girlfriend
• Rick cheating on Kirsten and Charlie’s willingness to cover it up
• Harper’s writing and her fears about it
• Charlie’s character

Rick and Kirsten talk about:

• the disturbing package delivery guy they’re stuck in the elevator with
• whether it’s better to hit the elevator Help button or call emergency services
• stress
• the Yankees
• sex
• restaurants and food
• whether Rick really knows Kirsten

Charlie talks to his girlfriend (Suze) about:

• working late (Charlie)
• missing dates (Charlie)
• sex
• Suze’s modeling career
• the type of man Suze wants to date
• Charlie’s hopes for a promotion
• Charlie not wanting to be like Rick

Charlie and Kirsten talk about:

• Rick not really knowing Kirsten
• what an amazing woman Charlie knows (through Harper) that Kirsten is
• Kirsten deserving someone better than Rick

Set It Up includes many other conversations between women and men one-on-one as well as in groups of three or four.

Some of the topics:

• Charlie and Harper talk to “Creepy Tim” (who it turns out doesn’t mind when he learns people call him that) about trapping Kirsten and Rick in an elevator
• Harper’s admiration for Kirsten
• Kirsten and Rick getting married
• Harper’s article idea
• Charlie’s promotion
• Charlie’s roommate and Harper feeling as if they are already friends on first meeting

Conclusion

Set It Up passes the Bechdel Test and then some.

The first conversations in the movie occur between two named women characters (Harper and Kirsten) and they talk about work. The topics of men in general, romance, or any specific man don’t come up. The first time a man is the subject of a conversation between two women is over eleven minutes into the movie.

The women in this movie talk about all kinds of things, as do the men. They all talk about work, careers, what they do for fun, sex, love, and friendships.

Women v. Sexy Lamps

(can the main female character be replaced by a sexy lamp without affecting the plot?)

Harper drives the story with her desire for a happier work life and more free time. She also evolves as a person and a writer.

Kirsten, who could have been merely a prop or caricature given that the real story is about Harper and Charlie, also is a real person. She’s extreme in her demands on Harper, but Lucy Liu does it so well that it provides some of the funniest parts of the movie.

Conclusion

Set It Up passes the Sexy Lamp Test.

Mako Mori

(does a female character have her own narrative arc that does not support a man’s story line?)

Harper has her own story arc separate from Charlie and from the Kirsten/Rick set up. She wants to be a sports writer. She loves sports, she loves to write, and she puts up with Kirsten’s challenges because she hopes to learn from her and follow in her footsteps.

Yet Harper hasn’t finished a single article.

In one of my favorite scenes Harper’s roommate, Becca, congratulates her on being fired because now she can do what she wants to do. When Harper says what she’s writing is bad and so she can’t finish it, Becca gives her the best advice I ever got as a new writer—write something bad and finish it because you can’t make it better until it’s done.

Harper finally gets past her fears and does this. Later scenes show us she’s finally pursuing her real goal.

Normally I don’t like writers writing about writing, but here it really works.

Conclusion

Set It Up passes the Mako Mori Test.

Quick Results

Bechdel: Strong Pass

Sexy Lamp: Pass

Mako Mori: Pass

Did I Like It

I really liked Set It Up with a few caveats.

I especially enjoyed that Kirsten ultimately tells Harper she is hard on her to prepare her for a tough business and because she sees great potential in Harper.

As an example of this, Harper mentions a story idea but says she hasn’t really thought it out yet.

Kirsten snaps at her for saying the idea is bad before she’s shared what it is. But Kirsten listens, and her point is a solid one—don’t undercut your work before your pitch even starts. (As when a junior lawyer handed me a legal brief and said, “I took a stab at it,” making me biased toward finding it poorly done, but I digress.)

I also loved Harper’s roommate, Becca. She’s a young woman who has had a lot of sex with different men and enjoyed it, and her fiancé is untroubled by that. As a woman who falls into the Kirsten character’s age range rather than Harper’s, that’s almost unheard of in movies and television I watched as a young adult and for most of my adult life.

In the first one-quarter of the movie, though, I almost stopped watching.

The tone was a bit too goofy for me, including a scene where the package delivery guy pees in the elevator due to his claustrophobia. But the film hits its stride as far as humor goes later.

Also, early on the movie plays a bit on the trope of a woman boss being so demanding because she opted not to marry and have children (as Kirsten says, “I could have been thrice divorced by now”). But the movie speeds past it, and for the most part avoids that cliché.

While there’s a little bit of stereotyping in that Rick is portrayed as more into sex than love and Kirsten is somewhat more interested in love than sex, both desire both, and the differences are grounded in their characters as a whole, not simply their genders.

In the end, Charlie and Harper provide the real story and balance off the Kirsten/Rick arc. Their relationship is based on honesty, friendship, kindness, and humor, and it’s great fun to watch.

Next Week’s Film

Ex Machina. It’s one of my favorite movies of the last couple years, a suspense film about a computer company founder who flies a young programmer to an isolated mountain estate to evaluate the human qualities of a newly-created A.I.

The post Set It Up: A Rom-Com Where Women Talk About Something Other Than Men (Women & Men in the Movies No. 2) appeared first on Lisa Lilly.

One reason I love the new CBS show Extantis the relationship between main character Molly and her best friend and physician Sam (Samantha). I started watching Extant because of the mysterious pregnancy aspect. No surprise, given my love for the book Rosemary’s Babyand movie The Terminator. Extant is well acted, with compelling plot lines, and I love the Sam/Molly dynamic. Molly trusts Sam, and Sam puts herself and her career on the line for Molly. When drastic circumstances push them into conflict, they strive to understand one another through the depths of their anger and fear rather than becoming enemies or, worse, engaging in the emotional equivalent of a hair-pulling fight. Or, worse still, engaging in an actual hair-pulling fight, which I’ve never seen two women do in real life, but have seen several times on TV.

The post Extant, Transcendence, and Who’s Talking To Whom appeared first on Lisa Lilly.