The Rewrite of Female Empowerment

 

As I wrote about in my previous blog post, there is an interesting part in the movie ‘The Rewrite’ (2014) where Keith Michaels, the character played by Hugh Grant makes an interesting comment in a party while commenting on the contributions of Jane Austin. Here it goes:

“Forgive me, but I am just a little bit tired of female empowerment. Well, just, honestly, though, everything seems to be about female empowerment nowadays, you know. Any meeting I go to in Hollywood, someone says, “You know what we need? A kick-ass girl, that’d be a great twist.” Except every movie has a kick-ass girl, you know, some martial arts CGI slow motion woman who kicks the crap out of every man in her path. Can I tell you what would be truly innovative? A movie without a kick-ass girl, or better yet, a movie where a woman gets her ass kicked.”

This monologue is considered offensive by another teacher Mary Weldon who was a strict, cold, humorless and (hence, perhaps) head of the disciplinary committee. What Keith said is classified under deadpan humor. I have always been a fan of English actor Hugh Grant’s sense of humor which is also seen in most of the characters he plays on the screen.

Coming back to above comments, I think it captures a harsh truth of our times. Everyone wants to appear nice and favorable towards women. Being respectful and fair towards women is no longer desirable; people are more concerned about how they appear in front of the society. This ‘Virtue Signaling’ is taking many shapes and this is what Keith tells about. Think, what would be more feminist in true sense: showing women in movies appear all powerful super heroes, or picturizing their vulnerabilities, strengths and weaknesses and depicting their human side. 

If we respect women, it should show in our real lives. We should respect and treat women around us fairly. But this is pure hard work. People look for shortcuts and choose the 'Virtue Signaling' method to be more 'profitable' and fool proof. While on the 'Virtue Signaling' bandwagon, we all become advertisers who try to sell their products by making tall claims which may or may not have any real ground on the plain of truth. 

In this publicity crazy materialistic world, people are no longer interested in making fair assessment of things. They are often more concerned about how they appear to others. This is a big social tragedy. In this context, Keith Michaels’ statement comes as an abrupt test of tolerance and thoughtfulness for us. 

- Rahul Tiwary