Susan Wloszczyna on marketing girls’ images
Almost all the attempts to reach the female tween audience at the movies haven’t caught on of late, from The Babysitter’s Club to Traveling Pants. They just don’t speak to young girls as much as they do marketing concerns.
I’m all for realistic images of complex young girls dealing with real issues in life. But the makers of Nancy Drew missed a great opportunity to update a heroine for the ages by making her feel like she stepped out of a ’50s family sitcom. Good intentions alone don’t often equal good movies.
And don’t get me started on all the fantasy films coming out that want to empower young girls. The Golden Compass looks like it has possibilities, but those girls in Narnia — as well as the boys — left me as cold as the snow that blanketed Aslan’s kingdom. Me, if I were 12 years old, I would be dreaming of being the White Witch when I grew up!
And Bratz? Ugh. Sounds like a recruitment video for the Pussy Cat Dolls.
But if TV can give us somebody as wonderfully well-rounded as Ugly Betty, why can’t the movies? Watching all the episodes of “Freaks & Geeks” back to back in preparation for “Knocked Up” coverage reminded me how heartbreakingly real Linda Cardellini was as Lindsay, the brain who refused to be pegged. As talented as she is, she has not gotten a tenth as good of a part since in the movies.
Even the bad girl on that show was explored with depth and sympathy.
Movies used to know how to give us intriguing good girls to root for, cry over and relate to. Remember those John Hughes’ films where the females were on par if not more interesting than the males. Sure, the films had their ridiculous elements but those girls always felt real to me in how they expressed themselves and dealt with choices in life. Still, I would have ditched that that not-so-pretty in pink dress myself.
Cameron Crowe was a pro at getting girls right in Ridgemont High and Say Anything. And flat-out comedies could do better by young girls, too. Maybe we as a society are more protective of underage females than males. Where is the gender switch version of Superbad? Heck where is the gender-switch version of Wedding Crashers?
Instead we get The Devil Wears Prada, which basically says you can’t be happy if you are a successful publisher like Meryl Streep. And even though your chef boyfriend seems able to pursue his career goals without compromise, you can’t keep a job that you enjoy and are really good at if you have to give up some of your private time.
The independent film world is far from perfect. too. It often is too busy wallowing in the pain and sorrow of adolescence a la Thirteen to bother to show us a more well-rounded portrait. One of the reasons Little Miss Sunshine was such a joy is that Olive did it her way and managed to triumph with her family beside her. She didn’t win the pageant, but she was a winner. And I and many others related big time.
It will be interesting to see how the Hardy Boys fare given that Ben Stiller and Tom Cruise are in the roles. It might be foolhardy to re-envision the boy sleuths as adults. But I bet they won’t be boring.
