G.I.Joe and the Case of Realistic Misogyny

I went to see G.I.Joe: Retaliation, and it was a pretty fun watch! It was basically like watching a two-hour-long commercial. Things happen because WE SAY SO and now the characters are over here because of REASONS and they know things because BOOM! EXPLOSIONS! EXPLOSIONS EVERYWHERE!

So yeah, if you were willing to accept that this movie was, in fact, the equivalent of taking little army dolls and moving them from room to room in a house and making them spout catchphrases at each other, it was good times.

One thing in particular that I noticed about this movie was its portrayal of women. There are two women in the movie, and they speak to each other, not about a man. Bechdel, check! And while there were hints of a romantic subplot, it was only a hint and only in one scene, and actually only used to further the characterization of the main female character Jaye.

I really liked Jaye. She made smart choices, didn't once get kidnapped or rescued, and didn't take any crap.

Roll call! From left to right - Jaye, Joe, and that guy
played by The Rock.

Which is where we come to the point of this blog post.

G.I.Joe: Retaliation has one of the most realistic portrayals of misogyny that I've seen in a movie, ever. It's subtle and pervasive, and that's what makes it so true to life.

Bruce Willis plays Joe, the former head of the G.I.Joes. When he first meets Jaye, he calls her Brenda, and then insists on calling her Brenda throughout the rest of the movie. Does he do anything similar to her two male companions? No, of course not. And when he needs someone to get him something, he asks her. Here's the dialogue exchange that really hit home for me:

Joe: Pass me that pen, would you Brenda?
Jaye: First a Girl Scout, and now I'm a secretary. My name's Jaye.
Joe: It's just a pen.

This is what misogyny looks like, people. It's almost never the blatant "When I want to create a female character, I think of a man and I take away the reason and the accountability," of Jack Nicholson in As Good As It Gets. Usually it's small, subtle jibes that pile up over time, and women are laughed at and called oversensitive when they try to point them out - just like what happens to Jaye.

What I liked about this movie was that Jaye never just accepted it. She let it go - as women are often forced to do in the face of larger issues, like nuclear missiles with less security than a 711 lockbox - but she keeps pushing back and forcing Joe to acknowledge her as an equal. From later in the movie, after a fight...

Joe: You alright?
Jaye: Yeah. Are you alright?
Joe: ...Fine. Cholesterol's a little high.
Jaye: *extravagant eye roll*

And to give this movie its due, I do think that we're meant to find Joe's persistent sexism grating. By the end of the movie he swallows his pride and calls Jaye by her name in a scene that, while a little overdone, has its heart in the right place.

She actually has LESS cleavage in the movie
than in a kiddie cartoon.

That's all I ask for. So thanks, G.I.Joe. You served admirably. HOOAH!

A defense of GIRLS, by someone who has never actually seen it

I notice that GIRLS - written, directed and acted by women - is taking an awful lot of flak for its supposed narrow, self indulgent, and inconsequential content.

Know what's also airing on television right now? BIG BANG THEORY, HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER, and RULES OF ENGAGEMENT. Given the dubious depth of these sitcoms, I find it really freaking suspect that a show which attempts to take the lives of twenty-something girls somewhat seriously rather than outright mocking and dismissing them is being torn apart like this.

The frenzied arm-flailing and outright venom I see directed toward this show, and particularly its creator, is astonishing. You're complaining about racism? Sorry, I must have missed all the racial diversity on HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER. You're complaining about nepotism? Sorry, you must have missed the last trillion Jake Gyllenhaal and Chris Pine movies.

The truth is that this show is being held to the classic "have to work twice as hard to be half as good" minority principle. Because GIRLS is a show made by women for women, it is expected to transcend the norm of pop culture. And it apparently doesn't. Did you hold SCRUBS to the same standards? Or TWO AND A HALF MEN?

You might not like GIRLS, and that's fine. It doesn't sound like my cup of tea personally, so I haven't bothered to watch it. But if you're frothing at the mouth over the hollow mockery of a human being (believe it or not those are all separate links, and it took me basically five minutes to find them. Seriously) that is Lena Dunham... either admit that you're being a misogynistic jerk, or sit down and shut up.