fandomsecrets | [ SECRET POST #2393 ]

⌈ Secret Post #2393 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

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Notes:

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'cause I was going to see it tomorrow (because everyone seems to like it on my facebook feed) but I'm seeing some posts about how there's only one main girl floating around and that they put her through usual tropes like fainting.

Which has me sadeyeing and not sure I would want to contribute to cinema sales if something like that is up?

Can anyone confirm/deny?

read it fyi here: http://log.johnconway.co/post/56139220841/no-pacific-rim-really-is-sexist-and-silly

There's only one female character but I would say she's pretty unambiguously bad-ass and well-done and not pander-y or compromised or anything like that.

So it's not the best thing (because there's only one real female character) but I don't think its depiction of that female character is sexist or anything other than pretty good.

This. I don't really have anything to add.

AYRT

But it's not as bad as the link was making it out? 'cause if this girl is badass awesome and gets at least some decent screen time I think I will be happy (provided they're not uber sexualising her but it looks like they wear robot suits all the time?)

I was getting really excited and now I'm kinda nervous/concerned

I actually just read that link and wrote a big long thing a few threads down, haha. So, uh, yeah. That's what I think about that.

But no, I don't think it's as bad as the link was making out. And she's definitely not uber-sexualized or anything like that.

It's not as bad as that tumblr post says, no. Yes, she's really the only female character. Yes, she's very important to the plot. No, she's not sexualized (at all really). There isn't really a love story. She faints for a legit, plot related reason.

See the movie for yourself. It's awesome and completely ridiculous and cheesy (and not "dudebro" at all).

AYRT

I will be seeing it in 9 hours! I'm kinda expecting ridculousness and cheesiness as that's what it's being marketed as, as a bit of fun. But aside from the appalling lack of female characters (just a little bit over the men), it looks like loads of fun with robots and water alien monsters

Yeah, it's a dudebro film if ever there was one. Oh sorry, dudebros and weeaboo manchildren.

I wouldn't pay to see it.

Hahahaha.

ayrt

I wouldn't really know what you're referring to, but I'm basically hoping for some light hearted explosions and ....ocean aliens and robots and what looks like a badass girl but I've only seen caps here and there (and fanart)

I don't agree with that review. Yes, there's a point at which the main female character faints (it's not actually fainting, it's more like a general breakdown than anything else, but still). I don't think the character or her depiction is sexist, though, and here's why. (There will be some spoilers here, especially in the third section)

First, Mako is portrayed as unambiguously competent, effective, and badass. She's not especially vulnerable, even in the scene in question which is about traumatic experiences in her past. That's not really how she's portrayed.

Second, the moment in question is not portrayed as being caused by her gender or being a failure on her part. It's not even portrayed as a sympathetic failure - it's just portrayed matter-of-factly. She went through some traumatic shit, it has consequences, she gets over it and moves on. That's it. It's not even really a moment of weakness that she needs to overcome, with or without the help of the male protagonist. It's just a thing that happens. It's not about frailty or weakness or vulnerability. Not in connection with her gender, not at all.

Third, and probably most importantly - the main female character's experience exactly parallels that of the main male character. In what happens, in the details, in the way it's portrayed. It's the same situation and it's judged the same way in each case. Something traumatic happens, you get back on the horse and you deal with it and you move on. There's no more judgment or connection with gender in the one case than the other; shit happens, get back to it. Whether it's the male character losing his brother and being unable to continue with the Jaeger program, or the female character losing her family and being unable to undergo the neural link to fight in a Jaeger, the treatment is identical - and it's linked to the general theme of the movie, which is, again, get back on that horse, keep on going no matter what happens. It's what happens in the movie. It's not about her needing the help of her male rescuer or w/e. That's just not the dynamic that's present in the movie, at least as far as I see it.

AYRT

Ooooh that's all reassuring (and thanks for the write up/explanation too!) Thats a huge relief and it sounds like something I can enjoy (instead of being surprised disappointed)

I was worried maybe fandom was talking her up or something. Sweet, movie tomorrow here I come!

Minor spoiler: The strong, macho male protagonist also fainted at one point. For a good reason. As was what happened to the female character. Seriously, it's not like some Victorian swooning act went down here. I disagree with that article because it seems to imply, as do a lot of people, that the right way to write a strong female character is to literally make them "strong" - as in flawless, can-do-no-wrong - instead of writing them as realistically burdened individuals who work through their shit to become strong.

For how two-dimensional the characters in Pacific Rim generally are, they did a good job with Mako Mori: her major issues aren't gender-specific and you could genderswap the character with very minor adjustments and still have the same basic movie. At the same time, she still has feminine traits, and those traits aren't portrayed as somehow being bad or affecting her job performance in some way. Could the movie have used more female characters? Sure, but then again I repeat most of them are pretty two dimensional anyway (it's that kind of movie). Of the cast only the main three really stand out as more than broad strokes, and one of them is Mako... and she's even a woman of color. That's pretty good for a film like this.

These are good to know! My concerns are pretty much unwarranted, so I'll go enjoy myself XD Just wanted to make sure I wasn't going to contribute *antiwomen* culture or something. (would've rented later anyway)

" Of the cast only the main three really stand out as more than broad strokes"

Exactly that. Just imagine if they'd made one of the scientists female - people would have complained that the comic relief characters are female. Everyone else is either a plot device character or canon fodder.

With three distinguishable main characters - two of which are people of colour and all of them being pretty badass - the movie is actually one of the more diverse action movies.

Simple answer to the question:

Everything is sexist to varying degrees. The question is whether it's so offensive that it's not worth paying money for.

ayrt/op

Yeah that's kinda what my question probably should have been XD well, i'm going to see it in a few hours! If it truly is horribly sexist I'll make an outraged secret for FS

[ SECRET POST #2393 ]

Is Pacific Rim sexist

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