As a film lover and a film enthusiast, I have watched many films throughout my whole life, from when I was just a child, through my adolescent years and till now as a young adult. However, there were films that I incredibly enjoyed watching when I was quite young and it is only recently that I realised from watching them again now as a young adult, that some of these films that I watched that contained themes of feminism, sexism and self independence.
When I was a child, travelling back to the mid 2000’s, my older sister and I would watch many films together, particularly the romantic comedies and Disney films such as Mulan, Beauty and the Beast, Pocahontas, 10 Things I Hate About You and Princess Diaries 2: The Royal Engagement: These are some of the films we were absolutely obsessed with in our childhood.
During my sister and I’s film marathon of reminiscing our childhood, watching them all had not only made me feel nostalgic of the past but it had opened my eyes to something I was completely oblivious of when I was younger: These female characters in these great films are females role models that I should look up to because they are feminists. We had come to the conclusion that we would watch Mulan first and it is still the same humorous yet courageous film that I remember it being, furthermore, what I personally adore about Mulan is that this female character is not like any other traditional girl where they are being trained at a young age to become the “perfect daughter” or the “perfect wife” to their future husbands but she rebels against this expectation from society and she’s a female badass that goes to war for no other reason but to save her sickly father from going to war and to prove that she is not a dishonour to her family. Mulan cannot meet these high expectations that everyone is expecting from her because that is not who she is and she stays true to herself although it may not please her family and whether it “dishonours” them and having this kind of mentality is what young girls should consume and look up to hence why she is one of the greatest role models in feminist films. No one can tell me that she is not a great female badass protagonist that isn’t afraid of taking chances and she is also a risk taker whom doesn’t need magic or a man to save her because she’s independent and doesn’t rely on anyone else to do her work.
Moreover, I could say the same thing for Pocahontas because she’s not like the Disney Princesses that is a damsel in distress such as Snow White or Sleeping Beauty: Spoiler alert ahead but in fact, this woman is the one that builds enough courage to stand for what she believes in and saves John Smith from meeting death himself in the end. With Pocahontas, she consistently and constantly questions her father and his wishes for her in the future such as leading their people along with marrying a trusted warrior to become her husband to aid in leading their people yet Pocahontas refuses to believe that what is expected of her is her true path and ventures on finding her own path. Although there are themes of rebellion being portrayed, the real message is claiming one’s feminist identity and being independent enough to explore for one’s self and having the freedom to make decisions for one’s self.
I admired that about Mulan and Pocahontas because they completely go against the traditional expectations of women that society wishes women to behave hence why they are both a great example to young girls and these female characters should act as role models to condition girls from a young age to follow what they believe is right although it is not something that is envisioned from them by others.
Although Beauty and the Beast’s Belle is not a fighter or a warrior compared to Mulan and Pocahontas, Belle is a lover of reading and learning, utterly rejects traditional gender roles such as staying at home and becoming a housewife and lastly, she does not think of just herself but she thinks of what is best for those whom she cares deeply about such as her father, Maurice. In the world of Beauty and the Beast, it is based back in 18th century France and during this time period, there were ideal and distinctive characteristics that women needed to possess: Women are presumed to be house wives, uneducated and passive compared to men whom are supposed to be courageous and stronger than women.
These traditional gender roles and expectations apply to the Beauty and the Beast film but not entirely, Gaston is a perfect example of a male character that possesses these traits of a traditional male however, Belle is an exception completely as she is not a female character that meets these expectations of a traditional female but she is very articulate and literate due to her passion of reading and also, Belle is a stubborn young woman that will too, stand for what she believes is right, no matter how difficult it is to stand for. I personally think that these three Disney “princesses” are really underrated and most of those who watch these Disney films focus on the themes of love but not everything is about love towards the opposite sex and having a happy ending with them but there are more realistic themes within these films that issue problems within feminism that do occur in the world.
Mulan was made in 1998, Pocahontas in 1995 and Beauty and the Beast in 1991, I say these facts as I wanted to address the interesting fact that these films were made during the Third Wave of Feminism where they focused on diverting more woman of colour to join feminist movements and to promote gender equality and beat expectations of traditional gender roles and coincidentally enough, Mulan and Pocahontas were one of the first Disney “princesses” to be of colour and not have a Caucasian appearance which I admire because now young girls whom are of colour can relate to these characters and this would decrease the chances of young girls being self conscious of not being Caucasian. Furthermore, I immensely wish that Mulan and Pocahontas are given more significant attention they truly need because I do not see any cosplays of them in Disneyland and I have always wondered why when I was much younger but I honestly would rather see these three Disney characters due to their different yet distinctive personalities.
90’s films were and always will be my favourite films to watch because I adore olden film aesthetics and the sentimental atmosphere they make me feel, it’s almost nostalgic for me but recalling from my memory, 10 Things I Hate About You was one of my ultimate favourites, not because the setting of a typical 90’s high school I have always wanted to attend and not because I could totally relate to the involvement of over protective parents that restrict me from doing anything at all but because of one character: Kat Stratford. I had always related to Kat because she’s a strong young woman who doesn’t want to follow and meet the expectations of others in her school and I have those very same views because I don’t want to be like everyone else. I was so interested in this film back then in which resulted in some in depth research and this film was produced during the same time feminist movements from the Third Wave of Feminism were active such as the Riot Grrrl movement that were stating the issue of shallow girls are loved by society whilst girls whom are independent and refuse to follow the “norms” of society are crazy and obstructive.
Another 90’s feminist film that is a favourite of mine is the iconic and infamous, Clueless. Besides its legendary school outfits that I had always wanted to wear myself, I look up to this film because it’s not just about being the most fashionable female or following the same linguistics as others in school but it’s about female empowerment and female friendship and Clueless is a perfect example of an A-Rate film where female characters within a film do not always need to talk about a male but anything at all that do not relate to men which I admire.
Ever since I had watched Princess Diaries 2, I was immensely infatuated with Mia’s lifestyle, as any 9-year-old young girl would be considering that they were wearing diamond tiaras, pretty feminine dresses and surfing on mattresses with other members of royalty and I still watch these scenes in envy as an 18 year old young woman in hopes that I will fulfil the same desire I had 9 years ago. However, the ending was the most captivating for me, especially as a woman that is still growing and someone who takes an interest in feminism. What’s so great and iconic about this film is that throughout the whole film, the aim is finding Mia a suitable and of royal blood candidate to marry as her husband so that she may finally become Queen.
However, the ending of Princess Diaries 2 is spoiler alert yet again and a complete plot twist: Main character, Mia was crowned Queen BUT, she does not marry a prince or the man she truly loves although he is not of royal blood but she becomes queen without a king by her side therefore, young girls can relate to this film in a more realistic way as the subtle and subliminal message of this film is aiming towards young women and stating that they do not need a man to feel successful or content in life and this is one of the most heart warming hidden messages that I had noticed in a film because we have always been conditioned to think that to be happy, we need love from a man or a woman however, that is not the case and it will never be the case as we must not rely on other people for happiness but within ourselves.
I think that the film industry should continue making these A-Rate and Bechdel Test films as they promote female characters that have a long running time on the screen and they have a normal conversation in which they discuss other topics other than speaking about the topic of men as there are many films in film industries that only cast actresses to play female roles where they only discuss about another male character and this portrays gender inequality if anything as they represent women’s conversation as nothing more than just talking about stereotypical female problems especially with males and I adore how Bechdel Test films change this expectation of stereotypical female characters and mould them into more independent women.
WRITTEN BY: NATALIE KIM QUITOS