Dear Pixar, From All The Girls With Band-Aids On Their Knees

[Dusty Ayres]

One of the reasons why people have a problem with progressive movements:

Dear Pixar,
This is not an angry letter. It is especially not an angry letter about Up, which I adored. I could have sat in the theater and watched it two more times in a row. I cried, but I also laughed so hard in places that it wore me out.
So I'm not complaining; I'm asking. I'm asking because I think so highly of you.
Please make a movie about a girl who is not a princess.
I'm counting on you, after the jump...

Dear Pixar, From All The Girls With Band-Aids On Their Knees

Pretty simple wish/demand, huh? Except for this little fact that escaped the writer's attention: there are NO princesses of any kind in Pixar movies! Pixar has had NOTHING but people who aren't princesses in their movies for quite some time now, and even longer.

What ever happened to the women who got up off of their asses and tried to set up their own companies/create their own characters/write their own narratives instead of demanding that others do it for them? Is this something that only happens in Japan (CLAMP, Naoko Takeuchi)? I'd really love to know.

 

[Hermiod]

Isn't that exactly what the guys who founded Pixar did in the first place? My memory may be failing me, but weren't they a bunch of guys who basically quit ILM, begged and borrowed enough money to start up and nearly went out of business more than a few times.

It's an unrelated thing, but I agree with Felicia Day on this - don't wait for people to give you things, go get them for yourselves.

 

[Kelso]

I love the Disney princess movies... mostly because my daughter loves the Disney princess movies.

I'd love to see more female protagonists in the Pixar movies, though. Mrs. Incredible and Violet were a good start.

 

[Locutus of Bored]

Except for this little fact that escaped the writer's attention: there are NO princesses of any kind in Pixar movies! Pixar has had NOTHING but people who aren't princesses in their movies for quite some time now, and even longer.

Okay, now try going back and reading the entire article, not just the beginning. It really helps.

 

[Christopher]

It did bug me about the finale of Up that

Spoiler: finale

even though Russell's mother was there at the badge-pinning ceremony, it was still assumed that only a male parental figure could be permitted to give him the actual badge. Sure, it was meant as a payoff for the Russell-Carl relationship, but it felt rather chauvinistic.

 

[TheBrew]

Except for this little fact that escaped the writer's attention: there are NO princesses of any kind in Pixar movies! Pixar has had NOTHING but people who aren't princesses in their movies for quite some time now, and even longer.

Okay, now try going back and reading the entire article, not just the beginning. It really helps.

Yeah, I thought that she presented her view point in a helpful and not spiteful way, which I appreciated.

 

[Sakrysta]

Pretty simple wish/demand, huh? Except for this little fact that escaped the writer's attention: there are NO princesses of any kind in Pixar movies! Pixar has had NOTHING but people who aren't princesses in their movies for quite some time now, and even longer.

What ever happened to the women who got up off of their asses and tried to set up their own companies/create their own characters/write their own narratives instead of demanding that others do it for them? Is this something that only happens in Japan (CLAMP, Naoko Takeuchi)? I'd really love to know.

After reading the article, I would strongly disagree that this was the writer's point at all.

Of the ten movies you've released so far, ten of them have central characters who are boys or men, or who are anthropomorphized animals or robots or bugs who are voiced by and imagined as boys or men. These movies feature women and girls to varying degrees — The Incredibles, in particular — but the story is never "a girl and the things that happen to her," the way it's "a boy and what happens to him."
I want so much for girls to have a movie like Up that is about someone they can dress up as for Halloween, as Anika Noni Rose said about starring as the voice in The Princess And The Frog. Not a girl who's a side dish, but a girl who's the big draw.
And I'd really, really like it not to be a princess.

The author gives the impression of being a huge fan of Pixar and believing that they would do a female lead character right, if they just WOULD. She does mention that, apparently, the next Pixar movie will have a lead female character who is a princess. However, judging from the wiki description, she might be getting her wish. The girl is a princess, but she doesn't seem to act much like one.

I do get where the author's coming from. It's true, Pixar hasn't done the princess thing, but neither have they done a female lead character. And considering what wonderful stories they do, it would be a joy to see a Pixar "girl movie." And I don't think her article asking for one logically follows that instead of doing so, she should go out and make her own. Expressing an opinion and a desire regarding entertainment is perfectly legitimate. A response of, "If you don't like it, why don't you do better" comes across as pouty and defensive.

 

[Christopher]

I would argue that Helen Parr is just as much a lead character in The Incredibles as Bob Parr is, and is pretty much the most impressive member of the family/hero team in terms of her competence and wisdom. Still, it's true that in general, while Pixar has given us some impressive female co-stars, its films overall have tended to be rather male-heavy and have yet to include a solo female lead.

 

[darthraidr]

Dear Pixar,
Don't listen to that person. Write the best stories you can about the topics you want.

- me

 

[Dusty Ayres]

Except for this little fact that escaped the writer's attention: there are NO princesses of any kind in Pixar movies! Pixar has had NOTHING but people who aren't princesses in their movies for quite some time now, and even longer.

Okay, now try going back and reading the entire article, not just the beginning. It really helps.

Yeah, I thought that she presented her view point in a helpful and not spiteful way, which I appreciated.

Sorry, her argument is still a whiny victim's screed damming a company for not creating the characters that she wants, and it's also a cop-out of her responsibilities as a parent to make her daughter confident of herself as a person and a woman (and yes, I did read the article.) Pixar is a company made of artists who create what they want, not what she wants. If she wants to see more female leads in shows, then maybe she should make that possible by herself, not by assuming that Pixar or any other production company has to do it because they make mainstream movies that her daughter(s) like.

Better yet, why doesn't the author take the plunge and write some scripts featuring the young female protagonists they want to see, and then shop them around instead of just bitching inaccurately about Pixar creating too many princesses on a NPR blog? It might be something amazing to see; a perpetually pissed off consumer actually creating something instead of complaining about it.

 

[Sakrysta]

^ She did not, once, say that Pixar was creating too many princesses. She said that Pixar has focused on male lead characters - which they have - and is planning for their first female lead to be a princess - which they are.

You seem very perturbed about an article that reads as a love letter with a request attached - "I love your stuff! Would you please do a story about girls soon? I would love it, and I know lots of others would too." To read your response, you'd think she was blaming Pixar for the oppression of women through the centuries.

 

[T'Baio]

Okay, now try going back and reading the entire article, not just the beginning. It really helps.

Yeah, I thought that she presented her view point in a helpful and not spiteful way, which I appreciated.

Sorry, her argument is still a whiny victim's screed damming a company for not creating the characters that she wants, and it's also a cop-out of her responsibilities as a parent to make her daughter confident of herself as a person and a woman (and yes, I did read the article.)

I'm gonna' stop there, because your original post indicates you didn't.

You said this in your OP;

"Except for this little fact that escaped the writer's attention: there are NO princesses of any kind in Pixar movies! Pixar has had NOTHING but people who aren't princesses in their movies for quite some time now, and even longer."

The article doesn't say anything remotely like this. The author actually points this out, to be true.

Dusty Ayres...FAIL!

 

[Locutus of Bored]

Sorry, her argument is still a whiny victim's screed damming a company for not creating the characters that she wants, and it's also a cop-out of her responsibilities as a parent to make her daughter confident of herself as a person and a woman.

I wasn't aware that she was advocating sacrificing parental responsibility to Pixar. It sounded to me like she was just asking for positive and somewhat realistic in background role models for young girls from the standpoint of being a fan of the films.

(and yes, I did read the article.)

Not the whole thing, and not until I mentioned it, because it completely contradicted the point of your OP. Either that or you grossly misinterpreted her meaning.

Pixar is a company made of artists who create what they want, not what she wants. If she wants to see more female leads in shows, then maybe she should make that possible by herself, not by assuming that Pixar or any other production company has to do it because they make mainstream movies that her daughter(s) like.

She's not protesting anything or making demands, she's just making a polite request. Why so much hostility?

Better yet, why doesn't the author take the plunge and write some scripts featuring the young female protagonists they want to see, and then shop them around instead of just bitching inaccurately about Pixar creating too many princesses on a NPR blog? It might be something amazing to see; a perpetually pissed off consumer actually creating something instead of complaining about it.

Ah, yes, that old chestnut. No one is allowed to have a critical opinion unless they can produce the same product themselves. Bullshit.

I'm still convinced that you haven't read or understood the article fully because you're now insisting that she said Pixar has "too many princesses" when she never said anything of the sort. She said there would be one princess in their next movie. The plenty of princesses elsewhere comment was in reference to Disney princess movies.

 

[TheBrew]

Okay, now try going back and reading the entire article, not just the beginning. It really helps.

Yeah, I thought that she presented her view point in a helpful and not spiteful way, which I appreciated.

Sorry, her argument is still a whiny victim's screed damming a company for not creating the characters that she wants, and it's also a cop-out of her responsibilities as a parent to make her daughter confident of herself as a person and a woman (and yes, I did read the article.) Pixar is a company made of artists who create what they want, not what she wants. If she wants to see more female leads in shows, then maybe she should make that possible by herself, not by assuming that Pixar or any other production company has to do it because they make mainstream movies that her daughter(s) like.

Better yet, why doesn't the author take the plunge and write some scripts featuring the young female protagonists they want to see, and then shop them around instead of just bitching inaccurately about Pixar creating too many princesses on a NPR blog? It might be something amazing to see; a perpetually pissed off consumer actually creating something instead of complaining about it.

Reading comprehension isn't your strong suit, is it? You just proved again that you didn't actually read the article, but instead made a "reading" of it.

 

[Dac]

Heh, as a huge (male) Pixar fan, I think the writer of that article has a fair point. She wasnt whining about it to the extent of being bitchy, but she was correct. There have not been any female leads in a Pixar film that havent been a toy or a robot, although theres only been 3 Pixar movies with actual humans as main characters - 4 if you include Linguini from Ratatouille as a main.

Its funny how she hasnt mentioned Boo from Monsters Inc though. Yeah, she was a non "speaking" baby, but was portrayed as a powerful young girl within the confines of the story. For fairness sake, i'll assume she simply forgot.

 

[CaptainCanada]

I would argue that Helen Parr is just as much a lead character in The Incredibles as Bob Parr is

Not really. Bob's choices and dreams drive the entire film, and the emotional climax is all about his personal growth.

Regarding the OP, I don't see how this could possibly be characterized as a "screed". She notes correctly that Pixar has yet to do a film with a female lead, and asks that they do so, and further that she not be a princess (which is what most female leads in animated films are, particularly by Disney). It's very polite, and it's an entirely legitimate wish.

And at the idea that she should go out and start her own company rather than make a request of the people who already do that; that's absurd.

 

[sidious618]

Except for this little fact that escaped the writer's attention: there are NO princesses of any kind in Pixar movies! Pixar has had NOTHING but people who aren't princesses in their movies for quite some time now, and even longer.

Okay, now try going back and reading the entire article, not just the beginning. It really helps.

Just be glad Dusty actually posted something instead of just a random link which is what we usually get.

 

[Gaith]

I would argue that Helen Parr is just as much a lead character in The Incredibles as Bob Parr is

Not really. Bob's choices and dreams drive the entire film, and the emotional climax is all about his personal growth.

QFT. That's an absurd claim, imho.

I'm gonna go so far as to theorize (not having read the article) that the author doesn't go nearly far or hard enough. To make ten children's movies without a single a primary female protagonist just plain stinks. And given Disney's history of princess movies, along with its ownership of Pixar, asking Pixar not to do make their first female protagonist a princess is both sensible and justified in the extreme.

I've had my problems with Pixar over the years. Given the state of the global environment and the First World's addiction to petro-dictator-supplied oil, I thought that the automobile-worshiping Cars was grossly inappropriate for impressionable young audiences, and hate the idea of a sequel. I similarly object to the glorification of child endangerment with which The Incredibles ended. Haven't seen much of their other recent stuff, so I can't comment on it, but it doesn't sound too objectionable.

And while I'm all for artistic freedom, when you're making products designed to be seen by kids the world over, you incur certain social responsibilities. It's high time Pixar presents a female protagonist, and she definitely shouldn't be a princess.

Crikey.

 

[Christopher]

I would argue that Helen Parr is just as much a lead character in The Incredibles as Bob Parr is

Not really. Bob's choices and dreams drive the entire film, and the emotional climax is all about his personal growth.

QFT. That's an absurd claim, imho.

That's a little harsh. It's not always true that a lead character has to be the one driving the story. Look at Abrams' Star Trek -- the events of the film are more driven by Spock (both of him) than by Kirk, and the emotional climax is more about (young) Spock's personal growth, while Kirk's story is more about proving the value of who he already is than going through any great change of character. And The Dark Knight is more about the rise and fall of Harvey Dent than it is about Bruce Wayne/Batman's choices and changes.

Helen is no mere supporting character in The Incredibles. She's just as much a viewpoint character as Bob, with about the same amount of screen time, and she's certainly just as effective a hero as he is. And she's the real linchpin of the family. Technical nitpicks about how to define lead characters notwithstanding, it can't be denied that Helen is a strong leadership figure, an equal in the family and the team, rather than merely a sidekick or background player.

I similarly object to the glorification of child endangerment with which The Incredibles ended.

Okay, that's taking fantasy a little too literally. If anything, The Incredibles was far more honest about the issue of danger to children than most such movies would be. But these children went on to prove that, in partnership with their parents, they can effectively take care of themselves and one another.

 

[Locutus of Bored]

Given the state of the global environment and the First World's addiction to petro-dictator-supplied oil, I thought that the automobile-worshiping Cars was grossly inappropriate for impressionable young audiences, and hate the idea of a sequel. I similarly object to the glorification of child endangerment with which The Incredibles ended.

Going to the movies with you sounds like a blast.