There has been a slight increase of women in the entertainment industry, but at what cost? In an effort to make leading female roles, the characters have either come out over-sexualized and dry or overpowered and an exaggeration of a “strong independent woman.”
Out of 858 episodes, over 293 stories, more than 38 seasons, and between thirteen doctors, they switched up the roles and made ‘the doctor’ in ‘Doctor Who’ a woman. In the show, the doctor, who is a time lord that travels through space, changes their appearance. In the current season, they made the lead a female instead of the traditional male.
Yes, there should be gender diversity in the entertainment world, but rather than re-making male roles, filmmakers should create original aspects and make women the lead. If anything, we should start fresh. Come up with new concepts and have them as female leads; not remakes like ‘Ghostbusters’ or ‘G.I. Joe.’
The ‘G.I. Joe’ doll was made for gender diversity in the first place, so boys knew they could also play with dolls instead of the stereotypical little girl. Why destroy that for the younger boys today? But on the contrary, women are also stereotyped.
In ‘Who Framed Rodger Rabbit,’ Jessica Rabbit is obviously sexualized. People can argue that it’s not a PG film, but it is a cartoon which caused confusion and children still watched. There are also the stereotypes of women staying at home to cook and clean, like Cinderella. However, even though there are flaws, the entertainment industry is doing some things right.
In ‘Zootopia,’ there is a female bunny police officer, Judy Hopps, who is constantly breaking the stereotype of the small, fragile bunny image. It is brought up repeatedly within the movie how she will never be able to accomplish her dreams because of her gender and her species. Hopps is a good representation of a strong female lead because she accomplishes her dream while ignoring everyone’s judgment. This teaches both genders to fight for what they want to be and ignore society’s expectations. Police aren’t exclusively men. Nick, the fox, has a soft masculinity that also is against stereotypes. It was a new idea that had an impact on children.
Overall, instead of recreating movies and making women be a lead, there should be fresh ideas. The stereotypes are old and unnecessary. But Disney is on the right track in bending the rules of gender stereotypes by showing a controversial world and a bunny that stands up to what she believes in. There should be gender diversity throughout show business, but there needs to be bigger steps being taken.