The radical notion that women like good movies
This piece by Fannie previously appeared at Bitch Flicks on October 27, 2010. No So, there is this. View the slideshow (warning: might not be safe for some workplaces). I love Glee. I sometimes am annoyed by it, but generally, I appreciate its ode to geekiness. I also do sometimes like looking at photos of … Continue reading “Women and Gender in Musicals Week: That Glee Photo Shoot”
This review by Megan Kearns previously appeared at Bitch Flicks as part of our series on Animated Children’s Films. An intelligent, strong-willed, female protagonist. Who reads books. And seeks adventure. With a heroine like Belle, Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, must be a feminist-minded film. Right?? At first, I thought so too. But appearances can … Continue reading “Women and Gender in Musicals Week: Despite an Intelligent Heroine, Sexism Taints Disney’s ‘Beauty and the Beast’”
This review by Cali Loria previously appeared at Bitch Flicks as part of our Emmy Week 2011 series. Not since E! has any one thing on television been so damn exclamatory. Glee! celebrated its everyman song-and-dance style before its slushy flying face-offs ever aired. After a Journey-style breakthrough and myriad episodes featuring pop music gone … Continue reading “Women and Gender in Musicals Week: ‘Glee!’”
This review by Cali Loria previously appeared at Bitch Flicks as part of our Emmy Week 2011 series. Not since E! has any one thing on television been so damn exclamatory. Glee! celebrated its everyman song-and-dance style before its slushy flying face-offs ever aired. After a Journey-style breakthrough and myriad episodes featuring pop music gone … Continue reading “Women and Gender in Musicals Week: Glee!”
This review previously appeared at Bitch Flicks as part of our series on Animated Children’s Films. This movie is about a princess and a “street rat” who fall in love and must overcome the evil Jafar to get married. This movie is also about generalizing non-Western cultures (mainly Middle Eastern cultures) and perpetuating cartoonish stereotypes … Continue reading “Women and Gender in Musicals Week: Aladdin”
This review by Whitney Mollenhauer previously appeared at Bitch Flicks as part of our series on Animated Children’s Films. Last Friday, I saw Disney’s Tangled with my husband. I thought it was a pretty good feminist-y movie, especially considering that it was a Disney princess-type movie. Because I am lazy, I have written my review … Continue reading “Women and Gender in Musicals Week: Tangled”
“Why should a woman who is healthy and strong/blubber like a baby if her man goes away/weepin’ and a-wailin’ how he’s done her wrong/that’s one thing you’ll never hear me say.” These are strong words from Laurey Williams in Oklahoma!, a young woman who’s just overheard that her romantic sparring partner, Curly McLain, is attending … Continue reading “Women and Gender in Musicals Week: "I Am Woman, Hear Me Roar…ish"”
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes Movie Poster It’s always difficult to review older movies from a feminist outlook, especially ones that predate not only second-wave feminism, but the civil rights movement as well. On the surface, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes is kinda anti-feminist – we have the stereotypical dumb blonde and the smart brunette, the dumb blonde is … Continue reading “Women and Gender In Musicals Week: The Surprising Feminism of ‘Gentlemen Prefer Blondes’”
This review by Myrna Waldron previously appeared at Bitch Flicks on September 6, 2012. Phantom of the Opera Movie Poster (Source: Wikipedia.org) The Phantom of the Opera was my first musical; I saw it for the first time when I was 4 years old during its now legendary decade-long run in Toronto. I remember very … Continue reading “Women and Gender in Musicals Week: ‘Phantom of the Opera’: Great Music, Terrible Feminism”
This review by Olivia Bernal previously appeared at Bitch Flicks as part of our series on Animated Children’s Films. Cinderella (1950) I would guess that in its long years of making animated features, Disney has made a mint on the princess formula. There is always a brooding prince, handsome, but distracted by his more worldly … Continue reading “Women and Gender in Musicals Week: Cinderella”
This review by Libby White previously appeared at Bitch Flicks as part of our series on Animated Children’s Films. Based on the book by Roald Dahl, James and the Giant Peach has been a favorite movie of mine since childhood. After all, what kid wouldn’t love a cast of singing and dancing insects? (Before I … Continue reading “Women and Gender in Musicals Week: James and the Giant Peach”
This review by Ana Mardoll previously appeared at Bitch Flicks on May 9, 2012. Disney. The word is so synonymous in my mind with “animated feature films” that it’s like using “Kleenex” for “tissue.” When children come to my house, as they sometimes do, they’re invariably drawn to my huge selection of “Disney movies,” … Continue reading “Women and Gender in Musicals Week: The Little Mermaid”
