This post originally appeared in Depth of Field Magazine.
Warning: this post contains spoilers for the movies “Oz the Great and Powerful” and “Jack the Giant Slayer.”
The Bechdel Test was named for artist Alison Bechdel, who popularized a simple rule in her comic strip Dykes to Watch Out For. The test consists of three simple questions: 1) Does any given movie contain more than one woman? 2) Do those women talk to each other? 3) Do they talk about anything other than a man? You may be surprised at how many movies can not pass this simple test. And when it comes to all-ages movies, the results are particularly staggering. Last year alone we had: The Avengers? No! Frankenweenie? No! The Hobbit? No! Hotel Transylvania? No! The Lorax? No! Madagascar 3? No! Paranorman? No! Pirates: Band of Misfits? No! Rise of the Guardians? No! Wreck-It Ralph and Brave were the only two heavily marketed movies aimed at younger audiences that pass the test.
I sat down to watch two of the first movies of 2013 to be targeting kids and families: Jack the Giant Slayer, and Oz the Great and Powerful. I had already read an article pointing out how Oz ignores all of the strong and likable female characters from the beloved books by L. Frank Baum, but since this movie is some kind of prequel, only very loosely based on the world created by Baum in his books, I walked in with an open mind. While I would love to see more movies based on Baum’s female characters, I can’t judge this movie based on books it’s not claiming to represent. (The article further states that Baum was a suffragist in his personal life. He was also outspoken in favor of the genocide of Native Americans, so I’m not going to praise the man here.) Sometimes you get caught up in a movie and don’t even realize until much later — oh hey, there weren’t actually any women in that movie, were there? This movie started out that way. There was some mistreatment of women by the not-Wizard, but it was truly more his flaw than theirs. But when he starts saving damsels in distress (including an actual witch with actual magic powers) I started rolling my eyes. When the next female character he saves is an actual porcelain doll, who is broken before he glues her back together, I started groaning. Eventually we meet the Quadlings: a group of skilled laborers who include men who are farmers, carpenters, and iron workers, and women who can cook and sew. Then there are the Tinkers, who can make all kinds of wondrous things — and are all men. There aren’t any female Munchkins, either. The land of Oz was governed by three women, but it took a man —and a con man, at that — to step in and save the day. Glinda falls in love with the Wizard, and hands over to him the throne which is rightfully hers. So while this movie passes the Bechdel Test: a couple of witches talk and battle and talk more about evil itself than men and romance — this movie also teaches us something else: The Wicked Witch of the West turned green and ugly and evil because a man broke her heart.
Jack the Giant Slayer started off with great promise. In the second scene we see a mother reading a book about giants to her daughter. We learn that the little girl is a princess, and when she yearns for adventure, her mother tells her that having adventures is a very good plan indeed, as it will prepare her to rule wisely when she inherits the throne. This is a very auspicious beginning, indeed! The next time we see the Princess Isabel, she is an adult, and apparently the only woman left in the kingdom. I have to say that Jack was a more enjoyable movie than Oz on many levels, and the adventure-seeking, strong and brave female lead certainly contributed to that. Even Jack, the male lead, isn’t honored so much for his strength and power but his cleverness and loyalty. I will admit that I did wish for a slightly different ending: I found myself clutching the arms of my seat hoping that in the end Isabel would come out wearing the crown that ruled the giants. I understand that choice that they made, because it had been established that she couldn’t marry a commoner, so we needed Jack to wear the crown so that they could get married and live happily ever after. But it’s her crown, really. It belonged to her ancestor. And I wanted her to come out wearing it and then she could change the law so she could marry whomever she chose. Alas.
It was a pretty good movie, anyway. A princess is usually fragile and distressed and the endgame is to marry the handsome prince. Sometimes, we have a rebellious princess, and she gets to marry for love. And, well, ok. So that happened here. But it felt different. Because the endgame wasn’t just about finding her prince. Sure, she was offered up to marry Roderick, some guy she didn’t love, but it was she who would hold the power, as Queen. Her father also seemed genuinely distressed when he heard that Roderick was evil. This princess is about more than just her good looks (in fact, the first time Jack compliments her appearance it’s after she’s gone to put on her armor). Isabel is a likable and interesting female lead character with hobbies and interests. A princesses who was not coddled to the point of incapacitation, one who seemed respected by her father rather than ruled by him. It could have been a fairly feminist version of a stereotypically sexist fairy tale. And then they had to go and leave out the rest of the women.
Feminist Advisory 
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