It’s summer, and there have been several kid-friendly movies that Voldemort has wanted to see. Which is cool – i like movies, popcorn is yummy, and of course I’m going to go see Finding Dory.
But I noticed something disturbing before Finding Dory started. I noticed the number of trailers for future movies that featured only or primarily male characters. I didn’t notice until halfway through the previews, but it bothered me enough to remember to pull out a small notebook last week when we went to see The Secret Life of Pets.
Just for my own information, I kept track of the name of the movie, the protagonist’s assumed gender*, and the number of assumed male and assumed female characters who spoke in the trailer.
This is ONLY for the movies previewed in front of The Secret Life of Pets. We’re hitting Ghostbusters on Tuesday, so that will an upcoming Feminism Friday
Like so:
The Secret Life of Pets
Main character: Male
Male speakers: 9
Female speakers: 3
I didn’t count the snakes, because they went by too fast.
Makes sense? Let’s go!
Monster Trucks
Main character: Male
Male speakers: 7 (counting the monster itself, which is referred to as “him”)
Female speakers: 3 (counting the radio announcer)
Nine Lives
Main character: Male
Male speakers: 3
Female speakers: 4
Ghostbusters
Main character: 4 badass ladies
Male speakers: 2 in the trailer I saw in the theater, 0 in this one
Female speakers: 4
Trolls
Main character: Male
Male speakers: 3
Female speakers: 1
Storks
Main character: Male
Male speakers: 12
Female speakers: 3
What even is going on here. 3 female speakers to 12 male. Wow.
Kubo and the Two Strings
Main character: Male
Male speakers: 3
Female speakers: 4
Sing
Main character: Male
Male speakers: 12
Female speakers: 7
Whew. My numbers might be off by one or two, but I got pretty close. I didn’t count any character who didn’t speak, except in the case of Sing, where I counted the characters who..sang.
Out of eight movie trailers, seven of those had main characters who were male. Only one had female main characters.
Out of eight movie trailers, a total of forty-nine male characters spoke, compared to only twenty-nine female characters.
Out of eight movie trailers, only three had close to equal the number of male and female speakers.
I don’t think I would’ve done more than roll my eyes if I had been in a different movie – a non-kid-friendly movie. But this is what our children are seeing. This is what is being advertised to MY CHILD as being what is normal – and sure, we’re talking about monsters in trucks and animated trolls, but kids pick this stuff up. They absorb it. And as they get older, it’s what they expect to see in their lives as well.
And this is just looking at gender. Tell me, where there any people of color in those trailers? I can think of two off the top of my head – possibly four if I’m counting correctly in Sing.
It’s time to do better, Hollywood. Seriously.
*as all characters in these movies are presented only as male or female, so assumptions have been made
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