Edge of Tomorrow has been described as a science fiction groundhog day, and while it’s no doubt hilarious to watch Tom Cruise struggle to repeat the same day over and over again I was hoping it would not repeat the same sexist mistakes.
While there were women visible in the film, only three had names and speaking parts. Neither of the women ever spoke to each other even when they were in the same room. It may seem trivial, but it is important to depict a cohesive relationship between women, especially in the military, and especially during a time of crisis in which the film takes place. What tends to happens in films is that a single token woman becomes the film’s universal representation of female kind. And while I enjoy Emily Blunt on screen, she is a British white woman who is not shown working to maintain the safety of Earth with other women. It would seem that even a world envisioned in the future, women still have no sisterhood or sister code.
Edge of Tomorrow may have the edge on a slightly creative story for its groundhog plot, but it fails in creating a tomorrow where women fully participate in saving the planet. While the film portrays Emily Blunt as the hero her legitimacy was only validated by the presence of Tom Cruise, which by the way, turns out - to no one’s surprise - to be the real hero of the film who saves the day.
The film is action packed and entertaining in the beginning, but half way through falls flat, and remains so until the end. I would give this a 0/3 on the Bechdel test, but I recommend, as always - if you are intrigued - to watch the film and have your own opinion.
No comments:
Post a Comment