Feminism is Not a Dirty Word - "Man of Steel"

Rating: 4/10 (18 August 2013)

I'm writing about something that was on my mind while watching Man of Steel tonight. When my sister and I were kids we used to have Superman and Batman capes. Our mom and dad would say to us "oh! you're batgirl" and I would throw a fit. I was "BATMAN!!" I never wanted to be the female characters because they suck. It always shocks me that there are ideas and generalizations that have become ingrained in our culture and we accept them as normal or right. Something that has bothered me since I was a little kid is the way women are portrayed in the media. I'm talking about movies, books, pop culture, music, etc. because it reaches such a large audience and has an enormous impact on the general public.
We assume certain themes that have been around forever are correct, but I think there needs to be a change.
In Man of Steel and many many other movies, books, cartoons, comics, etc. the female characters are not role models; or they are not good role models.
Lois Lane is a love interest character. She is there to be the damsel in distress. She always needs saving and she always looks weak. Every time she has a strong moment (like facing the cold to get a good news story) she ends up getting herself into bad positions (like attacked by the security droid). Her weakness is there to make superman look strong and she is continually punished for trying to be strong.
There is a female Captain in the movie. She must be educated to be a Captain, yet she is the one who looks like an idiot not knowing what Terra-forming is while all the male characters obviously have a strong understanding. She also is the general's aid and is seen driving him around and then being ditsy at the end of the movie confessing that she thinks Superman is hot (well OK I saw him too and yes that man is gorgeous so I won't pick on her too much). Why couldn't she have been the general? Why did all the leaders have to be men?
Superman's biological mom doesn't seem to grasp the concept of the "greater good" until the flat bad guy character seems threatening. She is supposed to look like a caring mother who is having trouble letting go of her child but I thought she just looked weak because she is contrast to the father who is making the decision to send the kid out to Earth. He is able to let go of his child, he is strong because he understands the greater good. He looks smart and strong; she looks weak and emotional.
The only character who can hold her own is evil. Great just what I want to look up to. If I am a strong individual I will never be at the top (it wasn't like she was the general either) and I will be the bad guy.
I could keep going but I think I made my point. This movie reached millions of people. It was a really good movie! It was fun, the acting was good, the effects were good, the character development was pretty good, etc. I liked the movie a lot, but I think the movie had potential to provide good female role models and it failed in that aspect.
I want to see a change; I want to see women as something more than damsels in distress, love interests, or emotional people. I want to see women who have thoughts, actions, feelings, etc that make them look strong with men. I want to see a female character that little girls can look up to.
I want to make myself clear - I didn't think there was anything wrong with the male characters - they were strong, and good, and caring. I just want women who are on the same level. I want people to think about what are these roles teaching us about women? what are these roles telling women? what are these roles telling men about women? I want to see change.