A serious interjection:

I perfectly understand the right of feminists - perhaps even the obligation - to argue that the question I am asking does not undo the level of patriarchal understanding inherent in the media, but I am hoping that those who read this would understand my right - a right I perform as an obligation to myself - to question, seek facts and share and listen to opinions, and to disagree even when I am on one’s side when it comes to social issues.

That being said, if a man designed an exact duplicate of the Bechtel Test for men and screened any of the films he enjoys through it and they failed, what would this mean? If just one film failed, what would it mean?

Would this be considered a triumph? Would media be moving in the right direction?
Would this be considered a problem? Would it mean that directors are having the same problems both ways? Would it mean that one or two directors in particular have fundamental issues actually solving the problems both ways - that there are female directors who believe that retaliating against wrong representation of females in the media is better or more important than dealing with the issues, or male directors who have or enjoy sharing poor ideas about their own sex?
Would women consider it artistically or politically powerful? Would men?
Would men consider it hurtful and crass? Would women?
If men did make a fuss, would women say, in some tone, that we as a patriarchal society ‘deserved it’?
Would we deserve it? Does it make it right to challenge bad ideas in our society by becoming on some intrinsic levels the perpetrators of it?

Or would we benefit more from judging the artistic merit behind the movie, in much the same way that The Picture of Dorian Gray is best enjoyed looking past the artistic politics of the writer or the surface ideas about the setting or characters and finding deep meaning - or sometimes merely entertainment - from it?

  1. isharalegreat reblogged this from wanderlustandfeverdreams
  2. therisingtithes reblogged this from wanderlustandfeverdreams and added:
    First off, if anyone here doesn’t know why I think Ishara is awesome, here’s it. You should check out her whole post...
  3. wanderlustandfeverdreams reblogged this from therisingtithes and added:
    It would mean, hopefully, that this man would notice how few female characters are shown in his films. Maybe he would...
  4. therisingtithes posted this