What do you do when men hog the bulk of lead roles for blockbuster flicks? If you’re GoldieBlox, you bust out your action figures and reimagine some movie history in a zippy 97 second video.
The interactive toy company, who you might know best from their legal dustup with the Beastie Boys, has knocked out a clip that features their Ruby Rails and Goldie Blox action figures tearing sh*t up in awfully familiar roles. It’s the sort of thing that inspires dipsh*tty “BUHMUH CHILDHOODZ” rants from goons that claim PTSD at the thought of a girl doll acting out a scene from Braveheart for four seconds. Er, or “Celtic Warrior Hero” as the nimble legal team in the comments lists the role.
As Bonnie Tyler’s “Holding Out For A Hero” is belted out, the video features a mix of action figures in familiar film settings (Back To The Future, Mission Impossible, Gladiator) while also splashing stats on the screen about the underrepresentation of women and in particular women of color on the big screen. Is a doll for ages 4 and up a better actor than Tom Cruise? That’s your call.
The video is accompanied by a lengthy statement explaining the reason behind its creation (beyond “we’re a company and this is our ad”) and a call for girls to be able to see themselves represented in front of the camera and behind the scenes at the movies. Take it away, relatively new toy company.
What if all the action heroes who saved the world, day in and day out… were girls?
Only 12% of protagonists in major Hollywood films are female. Even in the background, in crowded wide shots, women only make up about 17% of those shown in live action and animated movies. Among the highest grossing G-rated films of all time, female characters are outnumbered by male characters by three to one.
Move behind the camera and the numbers are sadly similar: in 2014, only 15% of films had female directors, 20% had female writers, and a mere 8% had female cinematographers.
50% of the population is female. This is a problem.
We’re not here to produce the next blockbuster; we’re here to provide a role model in play. When the girls in your life pick up Ruby Rails, we want them to know that they can be a high-flying, fashion-loving programming extraordinaire too. We want them to feel like they can be a boxer, a secret agent, a dinosaur wrangler, or a fighter pilot.
Our girls deserve action heroes with flowing hair and combat boots. Our girls deserve to see themselves on-screen and calling the shots behind the scenes. Our girls deserve more.
In case you were wondering, the YouTube comment section for his video has been a total sh*tshow.
(via Collider)
