Posted on January 28, 2016 at 11:22 am
This is progress. Barbie dolls will now come in diverse shapes, skin colors, and sizes, including petite and curvy. And LEGO is introducing disabled characters, including one in a wheelchair.
It is wonderful that children will be able to play with toys that reflect and validate their own lives and the world around them.
Posted on January 5, 2016 at 11:02 am
Jenna Busch asked Hasbro to explain why the main character of “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” is not represented in their Star Wars Monopoly game. Even though one of the four figures in the game is Luke Skywalker, who does not appear until the film’s last moment.
Their answer: they didn’t want her inclusion to be a spoiler.
Update on January 5, 2016: Hasbro has agreed to add Rey to the Monopoly game. The Force wins again.
Posted on December 29, 2015 at 11:21 am
Jen Yamato writes on The Daily Beast about the infuriating and inexplicable omission of Rey toys from “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” sets.
The #WheresRey hashtag first trended over a month ago when Star Wars fans noticed a shocking lack of Daisy Ridley in Disney’s onslaught of The Force Awakens merchandising. The hashtag took aim at the glaring lack of Ridley’s Jakku scavenger heroine Rey from a Target exclusive toy six-pack that included her three new male co-stars John Boyega (as Finn), Oscar Isaac (as Poe Dameron), and Adam Driver (as the Sith junior lord Kylo Ren) alongside Chewbacca, an unnamed Storm Trooper, and an unnamed First Order pilot….As disappointing as it was to see Rey left out of the Target six-pack of The Force Awakens figures, it came as an even bigger shock when fans discovered Hasbro’s popular Star Wars: The Force Awakens Battle Action Millennium Falcon set (retail: $139.95) comes with a light-up Millennium Falcon, a BB-8, a Finn, a Chewbacca…and no Rey.
So, a character who does not even have a name rates a toy but the lead character who (spoiler alert) HAS THE FORCE and actually FLIES the Millennium Falcon does not?
Rey is a sensational hero for boys and girls and should be a part of any Star Wars play. Memo to Disney: these are the toys we’ve been looking for.
Posted on December 29, 2015 at 8:00 am
Chaz Ebert of rogerebert.com writes in The Daily Beast about the importance of more diverse voices in movie criticism — and in those who make movies, too.
Meryl Streep’s use of the word “infuriating” to describe the disproportionate ratio of male to female reviewers on the Rotten Tomatoes is apt.
But the need for diverse voices in film criticism does not suffice with gender. A wide spectrum of voices is critical in challenging the mainstream white male-dominated narrative that drives much of Hollywood and the popular media. Being introduced to diverse critical voices and opinions in the arts not only affects how we see the world but also has a profound influence on how we begin to heal it.
Chaz has been a leader in this effort, and has made particular progress in bringing great women writers to rogerebert.com, including my friends Sheila O’Malley, ReBecca Theodore-Vachon, Jana Monji, Susan Wloszczyna, Olivia Collette, Christy Lemire, and Anath White.
The Atlantic Monthly has an article on the falling percentage of women film critics. The discussion of how women were originally advantaged and then materially disadvantaged in this field is fascinating. Thelma Adams also writes about the problem of too few female movie critics for Variety.
According to the Gender at the Movies study of top critics on Rotten Tomatoes, men account for 91% of those writing for movie/entertainment magazines and websites such as Entertainment Weekly; 90% of those writing for trade publications and websites; 80% of critics writing for general interest magazines and sites such as Time and Salon; 72% of those writing for newspaper sites; and 70% of critics writing for radio outlets and sites such as NPR.
Posted on November 5, 2015 at 8:00 am
From Goldieblox:
What if all the action heroes who saved the world, day in and day out… were girls?
Only 12% of protagonists in major Hollywood films are female. Even in the background, in crowded wide shots, women only make up about 17% of those shown in live action and animated movies. Among the highest grossing G-rated films of all time, female characters are outnumbered by male characters by three to one.
Move behind the camera and the numbers are sadly similar: in 2014, only 15% of films had female directors, 20% had female writers, and a mere 8% had female cinematographers.
50% of the population is female.
This is a problem.
We’re not here to produce the next blockbuster; we’re here to provide a role model in play. When the girls in your life pick up Ruby Rails, we want them to know that they can be a high-flying, fashion-loving programming extraordinaire too. We want them to feel like they can be a boxer, a secret agent, a dinosaur wrangler, or a fighter pilot.
Our girls deserve action heroes with flowing hair and combat boots. Our girls deserve to see themselves on-screen and calling the shots behind the scenes. Our girls deserve more.
