I think feminist writers of today have seen those "25 offensive ads of the past" websites and think that was how everything was from 1900 to 1999. Hey woke writers, I have yet to see any big budget mainstream film match one of those rediculous Mr Leggs ads. Oh wait, 2008's Twilight featured a female lead who was quite literally physically and emotionally inferior to the male lead in every way. And helpless, useless, scatterbrained and easily manipulated. But it's ok, it was love right?
Now take 1953's War of the Worlds... while the female lead is treated as immature, that is her character. It's a female scientist who figures out the martian's biology is inferior to humans. The male characters are portrayed as overconfident in their tactical abilities. It's the male characters who brag about how easy it will be to take out the martians. It's the male characters who keep suggesting attacking the war machines head one. It's the male characters who are incinerated trying to talk to the martians. And male characters who learn the hard way martians don't talk religion. And its the male characters who degenerate into desperate animals as the power of the war machines becomes undeniable. It's male characters rioting in the streets for supplies before the war machines show up. The male lead goes from a cool confident scientist dude to a gutted emotional wreck by the end of the film. Females are shown to hang on to faith and family values longer than the defeated male characters. Prayer is no less effective than dropping A-bombs at this point, so why not right? And the male lead learns he doesn't care about fighting the martians, he just wants to be with his love before the end. Wow, they could portray men as being sensitive and emotional in a 70 year old film without showing men as incompetent weaklings or closet transsexuals. Who knew?
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