INSTEAD OF GENDER SWAPPNG, SHOULD WE BE CREATING NEW STORIES?
When it comes to filmmaking and Hollywood, one thing they love to do is re-make TV shows or films. Some are of iconic stories, and others less so. Off and on, through the months and years I’ve been doing this, sometimes I run across conversation about roles being gender swapped but essentially making the same story but putting the opposite gender in any iconic role. Usually this plays out as a man crafting the iconic role and swapping him out for a female. Given a recent film I watched, I got to thinking about this topic again and wondering again, why do filmmakers want to gender swap iconic roles?
And this I’m asking metaphorically since the reason is because the rulebook is consistently promoting females. At least this is ninety-nine percent likelihood.
Lara Croft, Evelyn Salt, Diana Prince, Alex Munday and Rachel Stone. What do these names have in common? They are just some of the female action stars, originated by females. We either recently met these ladies or grew up knowing them in cinema. Some are iconic, while some may be a book character we grew up reading about, all while living vicariously through their adventures. Recently I watched the Netflix movie Heart of Stone, a starring role for Gal Gadot playing a spy with a secret. The film also operates as solely a female driven (despite the popular male lead) actioner with her getting all the “good” action sequences and being the hero.
INSTEAD OF GENDER SWAPPNG, SHOULD WE BE CREATING NEW STORIES? #Conversation #Culture #FemaleHeroes #FemaleHeroines #GalGadot #HeartofStone #LaraCroft #CharliesAngels #AngelinaJolie Share on XDISCUSSION | OPINION: ‘BARBIE’ ISN’T AS BAD (OR AS GOOD) AS SOCIAL MEDIA TELLS US
Watching this movie made me think about a gender swap, and wonder, why do filmmakers do this? It’s not always an action film, but there are some rumored examples. One is a rumor that the new James Bond could be a woman. There’s been gender swap roles in comedies like 2019’s The Hustle. Some are fun, and others fail. Still, I think something like Heart of Stone does better in curating and crafting a new action hero as female to begin with so that there’s less of a “comparison” game.
Gal Gadot holds her own in the role and does a fabulous job creating a character we can root on and gives us more than one exciting action sequence. If they re-make Mission: Impossible or The Bourne Identity with a woman, would I see it? Most likely, yes. I’ve read and enjoyed a female Sherlock Holmes series and I’ve seen the Netflix flick He’s All That (inspired by the 90s flick She’s all That). Still, at the end of the day, when there’s already this iconic role affixed in our minds by a gender or an actor, sometimes I wish filmmakers would leave it alone.
Be more creative than re-making something with a different gender. Use imagination and tell us a story that if not wholly unfamiliar is at least one with a new character guiding us through. Stories can be fun no matter who leads us through it. But what makes it stand apart is if we’re not comparing it to the mantle an entirely different gender made famous. It’s not that they cannot be done or aren’t still entertaining. It’s just that sometimes, no matter who leads the cast, a new story without the gender comparison being a distraction is way more impactful.
What are your thoughts on this subject? Have you thought much the gender swap iconic roles topic? Would you watch a gender bent iconic action role in a new film? Have you seen one? What is your favorite gender swap film? Comment all of your thoughts below! Let’s meet in the comments.
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