This Valentine’s Day women should treat themselves to a romance or romantic comedy that has much to offer female viewers. Instead of settling for regressive narratives packaged as great love stories they should indulge in a truly enjoyable movie, preferably with a huge bowl of popcorn and a box of chocolates. The Disney channel currently has several laughable suggestions for female viewers. For instance, Pretty Woman (1990), a story about a poor, uneducated, unworldly American prostitute hired by a cultured millionaire businessman to be her escort for a week, over the course of which they fall in love (written and directed by men). Or Beauty and the Beast (2017), a story about a young woman who falls in love with the beast who sequesters her after her father steals one of his roses (screenplay written and directed by men). Come on! What century is this? Sexual exploitation and Stockholm Syndrome should not be our best options in 2022. The romance/romantic comedy and drama genres have better offerings. Some movies include a few (and sometimes all) of the following: a female gaze, several significant female characters, affection and congeniality between females (not just antagonism), exchanges between women about things besides men—not to mention an absence of violence against women and girls (VAWG) and hypersexualization of the female characters. The following movie picks do not all contain every one of these inclusions (and exclusions) but they are all enjoyable and have much to offer female viewers. Click on the underlined text to watch enjoyable clips from these movies.
Copyright © 2022 Alline Cormier
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Happy Galentine’s Day! Looking for movies that celebrate female friendships this Galentine’s Day? These movie picks include a few (and sometimes all) of the following: a female gaze, several significant female characters, affection and congeniality between females, exchanges between women about things besides men and little to no violence against women and girls (VAWG) or hypersexualization of the female characters. They may not all contain every one of these inclusions (and exclusions) but they are all enjoyable mainstream feature films, have much to offer female viewers and celebrate female friendships. Click on the underlined text to watch enjoyable clips from these movies (leave me a comment after the video—this is my YouTube channel). In no particular order:
Copyright © 2022 Alline Cormier This morning 4W published an article I wrote about the Scream franchise, namely about the inclusions of male violence against women and girls (MVAWG) in its movies. The fifth installment was released last month, and it has recently been announced that a sixth movie is in the works.
4W is a publication founded by M. K. Fain in 2019. According to its website, "4W exists to give a platform to today’s feminists who are boldly stepping outside of the mainstream narrative to unapologetically bring you stories about the issues affecting women today." 4W actually pays its female writers, which is uncommon. It also allows women who have otherwise been cancelled and deplatformed to have a voice. In a world sorely lacking in regard for women and girls 4W is a breath of fresh air. Dana Vitalosova created the brilliant artwork that accompanied my article, which you can read here. Dana is a writer/editor based in Slovakia. You can read her articles in 4W here. Copyright © 2022 Alline Cormier Last week the founder of Women Making Films, Vaishnavi Sundar, asked me to write an article for her online publication. Women Making Films is a not-for-profit community that, according to its website, "strives to connect, facilitate and showcase the work of its members through film screenings, workshops, film festivals and other interactive programmes." Vaishnavi, a filmmaker and women's rights activist from India, is dedicated to countering the inequality in the film industry and creating a global solidarity of female filmmakers. Her latest film, Dysphoric, is a four-part documentary series on the rise of gender identity ideology and its effects on women and girls, especially in developing countries. I saw it months ago and highly recommend it.
For my article I chose to write about how Hollywood filmmakers are normalising men choking women and how this needs to stop. It was published on Saturday, and you can read it here. Women have been reaching out to me to share their thoughts about inclusions of violence against women and girls (VAWG) in film, their disgust at these inclusions and excitement over a book that shines a spotlight on them. Hopefully I will be able to get this book in women's hands soon! Below are pictures of some of the support my article received online yesterday. Copyright © 2022 Alline Cormier The other day I picked up the proofs for my new Women in Film greeting cards from the print shop. The prints will be ready this week, so they should be available for purchase by the end of the week. Each card (blank inside) features an illustration by my friend Stella Perrett, a British political cartoonist and book illustrator. Stella created these lovely, uplifting illustrations to help me promote my film guide for women. From left to right you can see: Star Wars (1977), The Help (2011), Aliens (1986), Thelma & Louise (1991) and Hidden Figures (2016). They will be available individually and as a Fabulous Five pack.
Speak up, stay safe and may your film picks have much to offer female viewers! Copyright © 2022 Alline Cormier I would love to hear a good argument for why we need a new feature film about Batman in 2022. Of course, we don't actually. This franchise is a money printing machine though, so here we go again. I have watched the trailer for The Batman (2022) a few times now. It looks like it will score poorly for women’s voice. No two women speak in the trailer, which is never a good sign. Voice is one of the dozens of things I address in my upcoming film guide for women. It also looks like Zoë Kravitz will be hypersexualized and sporting whore couture throughout—another sign that this movie will have little to offer female viewers. Moreover, the trailer is full of angry, vengeful men and ultraviolence, which are hardly things we need more of at this point.
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