SADY DOYLE
5
'Strong Women' Do Like Movies—Good Movies
Female protagonist is a poor argument for stodgy Amelia
By Harry Kimball
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Posted Oct 26, 09 1:56 PM CDT
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(Newser)
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This weekend's battle at the multiplex, where sci-fi trounced Amelia Earhart, has carried over into the world of virtual opinion. Washington Post critic Ann Hornaday fired the first shot, and Sady Doyle fires back, explaining that she senses a “note of condescension.” See Amelia, Hornaday implores. “No Manolo Blahniks! No Abba! No vampires!” “Yes,” Doyle responds. But “no good reviews, either!” And why should women be forced to see “movies with ‘strong female protagonists,’ whether or not they want to?”
Amelia has tanked because it “isn't interesting,” Doyle writes on Salon. “I'm reluctant to see any movie that looks this predictable and obvious out of some kind of womanly obligation.” If Hollywood is producing fewer ponderous, “strong” female roles, it’s because “women are buying movie tickets and shaping the marketplace,” and they prefer “escapism,” just like everyone else. “And we've earned the right to make up our own minds.”