The Fast and the Furious

At first glance the Fast and Furious film franchise seems to consist of men racing cars, kicking ass, and banging hot chicks. At least that's what I always thought. I have to admit... before the passing of Sir Paul Walker I had never seen a single one of the films, for that exact reason.

Well, I finished all six films within the month and was pleasantly surprised. I now consider it one of my favorite franchises... why you ask? 

Though the film does contain a few scantly dressed women, I don't see these women as being objectified but rather as a representation of sexuality. Lets face it ladies, the men aren't exactly fully clothed either so what's to complain about? Am I right? Okay, getting off topic. The point is, fast cars and heightened sexuality tend to go together so we can't disgrace the movie for containing those themes. 


I was not expecting to watch the first film and be immediately blown away by a strong female character. Within the first twenty minutes of the film Dom Toretto (Vin Diesel) is about to get in a fight when Letty, his girlfriend (Michelle Rodriguez) says...

"Why don't we go upstairs and you give me a massage instead" 

This caught my attention. Females are often used to diffuse situations where men can get themselves into trouble but its usually by screaming and whining for them not to fight. 

My favorite female character in these films in Bryan O'Conner (Paul Walker, Swoon)'s love interest and Dom's sister Mia (Jordana Brewster). Mia basically defines how I see feminism and being a woman. She is the caretaker and mother figure of the group. She cooks for them and cleans up after them (literally and often figuratively)... yet this doesn't mean she's not a kick ass driver and fighter. 

In the first film when she ask's Brian "Wanna go for a drive?" we are expecting a twilight drive to a beach for a love making session... instead she takes him on a adrenaline filled chase in her honda.

These films also avoid the "Damsel in Distress" Motif. It is very rarely the goal in these films for the mean to rescue the women but rather the women are another aid in accomplishing the end goal. 

The Fast and the Furious Franchise promotes family values and morals (Okay, sometimes illegal ones) without giving the female a demeaning role in the family. Instead the roles they are given are very realistic.

Now I am not by any means claiming that these films represent top notch cinema, the dialogue is often hard to bare. However, that isn't what this blog is about.

I give these films two thumbs up for feminism. 

Semi-Feminist-

I've never in my life claimed to be a feminist or associated with any feminist ideas. As a matter of fact, I used to fully reject the belief in general. As a film major the subject has been brought up quite often in my college education. Perhaps that is why I never associated with feminism, the same reason I never linked myself to any political party. I grew up in the Washington D.C. metropolitan area and it always seemed like everyone had a strong political view, almost to the point of ignorance. Due to this I've chosen to have my personal beliefs but never argue for either side of politics. Maybe my over-feminist driven education has turned me away from the whole idea all together. 

I remember discussing in one class if the movie The Social Network was anti-feminist or not. A few classmates argued that all the women in that film are either giving blow jobs or setting a man's bed on fire for not calling her back. I argued against this. For one Rashida Jones plays a female lawyer who in the end leads Mark Zuckerburg to his ultimate conclusion of the film. Even if that weren't the case is the point of this film really to point out how women are being portrayed? The film is about betrayal, friendship, and business. The last thing I would have noticed in the film is the portrayal of women.

Therefore, are we just looking for a reason to be pissed off? 

I feel as though a lot of young women in my generation feel the need to act feminist because of their processors. The women who couldn't vote or lead companies truly had something to fight for, and now that we have accomplished that it seems as though we are all just whining. Not that I think everything is completely equal I just believe we live in a society where every race, social class, and gender (other than white men of course) has its disadvantages. Nowadays those disadvantages seem so much easier to overcome. 

I guess the main reason I could never truly speak on the side of feminism is because at the end of the day all I want to do is write. And from the beginning I've said that if a man wanted to come along and support me so that I could stay home, cook, have children, and write... I wouldn't think twice. That is the absolute opposite of feminist idealism. 

With that said my struggle comes into play when I realize the absolute feminist qualities that I possess. 

For one, the films and novels that I chose to watch and to write are almost always female driven. If a female is the protagonist I am almost always interested and movies without any strong female leads (Except maybe The Social Network, I guess) I am the first to point it out. I couldn't even finish the whole series of Lost because all the women either died or screwed everything up for everyone. My favorite films include The Virgin Suicides and Girl, Interrupted. When Orange is the New Black, a show with a writing room composed of almost all women, came out... I rallied the entire show in two days.

The number one reason I could possibly be a feminist... I sometimes really hate men so very much. Before I go on this rant I must point out this isn't ALL men.

My screenwriting professor Alexis Krasilovski, an extreme feminist who has made documentaries on the issue, made me realize something extremely useful about feminism in films and in life. I had written a script about a girl who had grown up with nothing but negative male figures then in college found a supportive boyfriend. Krasilovski read my script and said it was so refreshing to see a supportive man in a script. She said that not only are women often portrayed as weak but that stereotype is only made worse by men being shown as masochistic and unsupportive. She said that she herself has had both men that didn't want her to succeed as well as ones that were fully supportive and beneficial to her career. 

I am lucky enough to have found someone who not only supports me in everything I do but believes in me more than I believe in myself. 

With that said, I really REALLY hate some men. I hate the fact that my mother was right in that, yes, most of them only want one thing. This whole rant was motivated by an interaction I had the other night... (Yes, sorry, that was just the intro)

I have been in the bar tending/service industry pretty much all through college. Living and working in LA it is safe to say 75% of people at least claim to be in the industry. For as long as I can remember men have used my career goals as a conversation starter/ way of hitting on me. With no ACTUAL interest in my career goals.

This first occurred me at the showing of the first short I ever wrote. My film the film festival and after the show a man came up to me saying he wanted to show a copy of the script to Focus Features where he worked, he then saw I was wearing a cross and asked me to come to church with him. I found this strange and didn't go but found that the mixing of religion and pleasure with business really freaked me out. Maybe his goal was just to bring me to the church, but either way I don't think the same events would have taken place if a man had written the script that won the festival.

The other night I was working at the restaurant and two random customers, not even my own, asked me if I was an actress. When I said no and that I was a writer they applauded me and said that was rare. A screenwriter working in a restaurant in L.A was rare? 

They asked me a little about my experience and said that they were producers who were actually out to work on a few projects. They were older and seemed nice enough so I, still so naive, figured they were legitimate enough. I learned from a fellow writer to never give out my phone number only my E-mail. You should never deny someone in the industry a change to read/send you their work or to help you out. And with in E-mail if that isn't the case you always have the right to ignore them or give them a piece of your mind... well that is exactly what I had to do. 

The next day I got an E-mail from one of the men pretty much saying... "It's nice you're a writer and I'd love to read your script but I was really interested in getting drinks or coffee... but more likely drinks. " In other words... it's cute that you write but I only really want to bang you. I think this was the final straw for me. My writing and my career is not something I take lightly at all. For someone to belittle that and trick me into thinking that they are someone who could further this career is cruel and unprofessional. Not that I actually thought this guy was my ticket in, again this wasn't my first interaction of this nature, but none the less I find the belittling of another writers ability and goals to be extremely offensive. 

Okay, so to wrap this back into feminism. It will always be harder for women to make it in any career. I have learned that from my own experience and not from some biography about burning bras in the late 1960's. 

See what I did there?

Hey Everyone!

Welcome to my new blog. As the catchy title suggest... I am writing feminist reviews of action films. 

What you need to know first is that MY recipe for feminism isn't quite the traditional blueprint we all know about. I will very rarely be referring to the Bechdel test (Two named women in a film must have a conversation about something other than a man). 

Not that I belittle what the test says, I just know there's a lot more that goes into it. I also believe that modern feminist has changed very much since the 1960's and that we got a little over our heads for a bit there.

For example, just because a woman in a film is motherly and doesn't have a job... doesn't void the entire film of pro-feminist qualities. 

In other words, I'm not as hard on films as most feminist writers. Sue me. 

I'm simply here to discuss what I see as positive and negative in portraying women in film. 

The first blog I am posting is NOT a review but rather a rant I went on a while ago (It isn't a professional paper on feminism it is simply... a rant... so don't judge it). I believe it gives a good idea of where my background is concerning feminism. 

Thanks, and enjoy :)

-Dana
The Fast and the Feminist