From
the polarizing “Ghostbusters” remake to the controversy over female versions of
James Bond and Doctor Who, Hollywood’s proclivity for gender-swapped retreads
is among its most enduring and contentious.
The
trend — seen as empowering or annoying, depending on who you ask — is getting
fresh attention with “Ocean’s 8” due for release on Friday, “Overboard” still
in theaters and “What Men Want” coming out in January.
The
new “Overboard” swapped Goldie Hawn from the 1987 comedy for Eugenio Derbez and
Kurt Russell for Anna Faris, and has grossed a healthy $70 million worldwide on
an estimated $12 million budget.
But
it was disliked by the vast majority of critics, according to online reviews
collator Rotten Tomatoes, which dismissed it as a “remake that fails to clear
the fairly low bar set by the original.”
There’s
nothing new in Hollywood, and gender-swapping has been popular since Howard
Hawks cast Rosalind Russell for “His Girl Friday” (1940) in a part played by a
man in the source movie, “The Front Page” (1931).
A
slew of female-led remakes followed — from “The Incredible Shrinking Woman”
(1981) and “The Next Karate Kid” (1994) to “American Psycho II: All American
Girl” (2002) but were largely seen as pale imitations.
“Ghostbusters”
(2016) could well be studied in future film history classes for the bizarre
backlash it received from the legion of “ghostbros” who swore lifelong loyalty
to the 1984 original.
Much
of the criticism was grounded in straightforward misogyny — with a certain kind
of male moviegoer scandalized both by the presumption of a remake and by the
very idea of women trying to be funny.
–
‘Sex, eating and farting’ –
With two months to go until its release, its trailer had become the ninth most-disliked YouTube video in history, with over one million users down-voting it into oblivion.
Various
entertainment media estimated the eventual losses for Sony and its partners at
somewhere in the $55-75 million region, despite the film garnering mainly
positive reviews.
The
fact that these movies keep coming out despite the missteps is a sign of
progress and a “minor miracle,” according to Kelly Konda, of the We Minored in
Film entertainment blog.
“This
used to be a one-and-done ordeal… However, with ‘Ghostbusters,’ Hollywood took
a big swing on a female-led project, and didn’t overreact to its failure,” he
wrote.
The
premise of “What Women Want” (2000) — Mel Gibson as a marketing executive who
is suddenly able to hear women’s thoughts — lends itself more obviously to a
gender-flipped remake than most.
Taraji
P. Henson, who does the honors in “What Men Want” (2019), told AFP at the
recent CinemaCon industry gathering in Las Vegas her role was an empowering
statement for women, but also a learning experience.
“You
kind of just brush it off as ‘men like sex, eating and farting.’ I was like,
‘How are they going to make this interesting?'” said the “Empire” and “Hidden
Figures” star.
“But
then I read the script and I’m like, ‘Wow, men are really insecure about their
looks, just like women!’ I think that’s going to be great, for women to see
that.”
–
‘Kickass ensemble of women’ –
Some Hollywood watchers have argued that while female-flipping may seem progressive, in reality it militates against those really fighting pay inequality, harassment and other forms of sexism.
“Even
though I can get excited for a movie like ‘Ocean’s 8’… at the end of the day it
still seems to signify that women’s movies still need some sort of male appeal
to get made,” said Hazel Cills of female-focused pop culture website Jezebel.
“A
gender-swapped movie implies that women aren’t important enough to get their
own, original stories, and thus must piggy-back on franchises helmed by men
that have already proven to be successful.”
It
was an issue that came up when Sandra Bullock, Cate Blanchett and the rest of
the “Ocean’s 8” cast hosted a news conference at New York’s Metropolitan Museum
of Art earlier this month.
Bullock
admitted that initially she “honestly didn’t think it would work, or get made”
while Blanchett agreed that, a few short years ago, such a project would have
been out of the question.
Gary
Ross (“Seabiscuit,” “The Hunger Games”) directed while Steven Soderbergh, who
made the male versions starring George Clooney, Brad Pitt and Matt Damon,
serves as a producer.
“The
thing that stuck with me about ‘Hunger Games’ was the impact it had on girls
seeing a protagonist like that, that they could relate to,” Ross said.
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