Hit or Miss: Quick Movie Reviews 10 – FEMINISM!

Terminator: Stigmata

Watching Terminator: Genisys this weekend, I was perplexed at what was on the screen. I haven't really seen the first Terminator films (I saw Terminator Salvation for HBC reasons), but Sarah Connor is supposed to be one of the strongest female characters in film history. Yet, throughout the movie, her only purpose is to be the eventual mother of John Connor. Then, from there on out, he does the heavy lifting as the leader of the war against the machines. Is she the savior or merely the vessel for the savior? Is she completely defined by her ability to give birth, or can she be the master of her own fate?

Now, this problem of predestination is something that plagues time travel movies regardless of the gender of the lead, but the plight of Sarah Connor made me think more about female representation in film more generally. Not just the number of women on screen, but also how their presence shapes the narrative.

So, for this edition of Hit or Miss, I thought it best to look at the current top-grossing, female-starring movies at the box office (not counting Mad Max: Fury Road, which I loved and already reviewed). Forthwith are my reviews of the movies, paying special attention to the ladies therein:

Film Review: 50/50

When I first saw the trailer for 50/50, the new comedic drama starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Seth Rogen, I instantly thought of another great cancer memoir: Cancer Made Me a Shallower Person, by Miriam Engelberg. In it, Engelberg talks about the awkwardness of cancer, the humiliating situations, and the anger that she felt. Of course, it’s all very funny, but it’s also strange that people rarely talk about cancer in so harsh a light. For every Laura Linney on The Big C, there are countless people becoming better people and rising above the illness on television and in film. It’s a powerful redemption/conquering adversity story, so understandably it’s told all the time.

Male cancer is even less often portrayed (by my count, there is Brian’s Song and, um, that’s pretty much it). That is why 50/50, a by-the-numbers yet refreshingly honest film, is so

Film Review: The Help

Hilly, Skeeter, Minny (with pie), and Aibileen

The Help is about a girl named Skeeter (adorable nickname!) who is really, really miffed about losing the maid who raised her (adorable lost youth!) and who wants a job with a big, fancy publishing house (adorable goals!). When she notices that the maids who work for her childhood friends are being mistreated, she decides to write (and I am using that term