Comments on: GENDER IN PIXAR FILMS

By: Gender in Pixar films « Vuoi una mela?

Gender in Pixar films « Vuoi una mela? — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 12:02:24 +0000

[...] in Pixar films Ho casualmente trovato questo articolo di sociologia a riguardo della caratterizzazione dei personaggi all’interno dei cartoni animati Pixar. Il [...]

By: Sarah

Sarah — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 00:04:10 +0000

I feel like part of this “women will be able to relate to men but men won’t be able to relate to women” issue has to do with women’s liberation. Back in the day, women weren’t expected to be able to relate to male characters – the gritty detectives in film noir, for instance, were at times considered too “rough” for women to relate to and enjoy. Now that women are expected to be able to more easily step into roles that are traditionally considered male, we are also expected to be able to relate to them more. On the other hand, it’s still not societally accepted for men to be comfortable in traditionally female roles. Thus, filmmakers can reach a higher demographic by appealing to the “male” side of society – a side which is being more and more widely embraced by both genders.

By: Squoo

Squoo — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 23:36:37 +0000

Hurrah for Labyrinth!
Although that did have a romantic theme; the whole plot came about because the ‘Goblin King’ falls in love with the lead girl and tries to win her over. However (and I don’t know why this has never occurred to me before) on reflection it seems in many ways to be an inversion of the classic romantic fairytail: instead of the girl looking for her powerful male with the story culminating in her finally getting him, in Labyrinth the powerful male is seeking the girl and the story culminates in her rejecting him and taking back the power he held over her for herself. Interesting.

By: Squoo

Squoo — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 23:20:39 +0000

Isn’t that the one where the female characters can’t escape from danger because they can’t fly, so they employ the services of a male character who, it turns out, can’t fly either but still saves all the females by getting them organised and working together in ways they never managed without him? Hm.

By: Nick

Nick — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 17:28:35 +0000

Something i twigged to lately was that Clown fish exhibit sequential hermaphroditism (all born males, when the dominant female dies, a male changes his sex to become the dominant female).

Nemo’s father would have become his mother when nemo’s mother was killed.

Not something that would have altered the plot significantly, but it’s always nice to teach people that a fixed male/female binary is not a biological ‘given’ by any means.

By: Race and Gender in “The Princess and the Frog” » Sociological Images

Fri, 28 Aug 2009 07:53:38 +0000

[...] wouldn’t be popular because it had an Asian lead character as well as our post on gender in Pixar films, gender roles in “Bee Movie,” 21 Comments Tags: gender, race/ethnicity, [...]

By: Hollywood Discomfort with Asian Lead Characters » Sociological Images

Hollywood Discomfort with Asian Lead Characters » Sociological Images — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 18:33:50 +0000

[...] see our post on gender in Pixar films. 9 Comments Tags: media, race/ethnicity, race/ethnicity: Asians/Pacific Islanders, [...]

By: Kali

Kali — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 16:17:10 +0000

The focus here was mostly on the gender issues apparent in Pixar films in particular. Of course there are many other films produced by different studios that DO offer prominent female characters that boys will also enjoy watching. However, with Pixar in particular, there are evdidently no female protagonists. Of course there are some important characters that are female, such as Dory in Finding Nemo, or Jesse in Toy Story, but essentially the film is about male character’s and their issues and all the females do is help them along their way, with not much significance to the movie at all. There are many roles such as Remy in Ratatouille, which could quite easily have been a female character, but was not. Why is this? Why would boys not relate to this character as much if it were a girl, it still produces the same message, and the same action.
Of course we are not asking Pixar to make films about the problems of females, but there are unisex problems and perhaps one of the films that Pixar has made could have been female dominated. In relation to what was said in the article about a male character being neutral and appealing to a wider audience, it is obvious that all what is important is the profit that can be made.
In no way am I saying that I do not enjoy Pixar films, and as a female myself, I have not been put off by the fact that all the main character’s are male, however it would be nice to see the females not portrayed as stereotypes, and have more of an individual and important role in the films, and perhaps once in a while be the main character.

By: jj gorsky

jj gorsky — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 17:32:50 +0000

> male privilege is being able to not think about gender.

Bullshit.

By: Matthew

Matthew — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 15:21:23 +0000

My boys watch Hannah Montanna and iCarly all the time. They aren’t thrilled to watch Princess as protagonist, but girl as protagonist isn’t an issue.

By: The Boys Club | dv8-designs

The Boys Club | dv8-designs — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 07:41:17 +0000

[...] has released ten feature films thus far, and none of them have had a female main character. This has not gone unnoticed. In fact, it has been the subject of commentary for years. But when [...]

By: Dear Pixar: Girls Like Movies Too… « The Fifth Column

Dear Pixar: Girls Like Movies Too… « The Fifth Column — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 11:16:00 +0000

[...] a movie about little girls and things that happen to them, just like they’ve made movies (a lot of them– 10) about little boys and the things that happen to them. I thought this was interesting, even if [...]

By: Eneya

Eneya — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 23:10:27 +0000

Heh… two days ago I was really pissed off because of Pixar animation.
I’m talking about Coraline and the idiot with the bicycle.
The original story is about 10-years-old Coraline.
A brave, witty and smart little girl who defeated a witch all by herself with no help (ok, almost no help, there was a cat).
Nice book, really.

Then, the movie came out and all the bravery of Coraline was flushed away with this exact idiot who saved the day by accident. There was no boy in the original story. I can’t imagine why he was added to the plot. But it was really annoying.

By: R

Fri, 10 Apr 2009 18:05:03 +0000

In “Wall-E”, the heroes of the film are one male and one female. Eve is a striking heroine, and she and Wall-E end up working together as a team–not to mention that *she* repairs *him* at the conclusion of the film.

By: Sabriel

Sabriel — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 01:49:53 +0000

I just saw “Monsters v. Aliens.” It is having mixed critical reviews, but I loved it. It’s a dreamworks movie, and the main character is a very strong female.

By: Fat Angie

Fat Angie — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 19:39:21 +0000

One comment about gendered ants in “A Bug’s Life”- the worker ants were split 50/50 with gender, probably because drone ants would look too scary on the screen. Antz (not Pixar) did the same thing with gendered ants. I’ve studied entomology, I know this is crap. But I don’t expect a movie where a lepidopteran has a mantid for a spouse to be exactly great on the biology of things.

I think the reason for using an “everyman” instead of an “everywoman” is because women, being women, have specific experiences as women. A female character is aware of her gender. An everyman character can have both male and female experiences, and become somewhat androgynous (ie. Nemo).

It’s privilege, I admit. White privilege is being able to not think about race, and male privilege is being able to not think about gender.

By: Elena

Elena — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 08:39:36 +0000

@Kathryn: Yeah… adaptations. Miyazaki’s son was the one responsible for the animated Earthsea adaptation that turned everyone’s skin a few shades lighter than LeGuin intended, too.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 00:52:40 +0000

Barnyard was impressive for its transsexual cow/bull creature.

By: Kathryn

Kathryn — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 14:31:20 +0000

@Elena

I love studio gibhli partially because it features demale characters that are concerned with so many other things instead of just romance. However, if you’ve read the book of Howl’s Moving Castle you see a much stronger, more determined Sophie who is certainly guilty of bullying people at times with two sisters who are also strong, individual characters, plus Howl’s sister, Mrs Pentsimmon and the witch of the waste half of whom are left out, the other half have their characters re-written in the film. All of which made me wonder if there is a limit to how studio gibhli heroines are allowed to behave and be represented.

By: Marianne

Marianne — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 04:44:15 +0000

I’ve often noticed the same thing, and I’m glad that you’re talking about it. Although there ARE examples to the contrary, for the vast majority, a lot of films for kids or otherwise have a male protagonist that everyone is supposed to identify with. And usually when the lead is female she’s a sexy uberwoman. I feel like this tendency is also true in cases of race, where the Caucasian characters are the default, and that is pretty frustrating as well.