Revised Standards for a Feminist Comedy

A few days ago, I posted my personal standards for a feminist comedy , and walked away feeling incredibly clever and progressive.  I thought I had all of my bases covered.

But I have never claimed to be a perfect feminist, and one purpose of this blog is to explore and revise my own thoughts about feminism and comedy.  A friend of mine made a very interesting comment about the Bechdel test:

“I’m fascinated by this Bechdel test, because while it’s interesting to consider and think about, I can’t use those criterion as a litmus test on feminist media. I think it ignores a valid, crucial, and to me, an equally important aspect to feminism, which is critique of male power…Sisters should always do it for themselves, but one of the things they should do is demand male power *change*. The Bechdel test…seems to advocate men are irrelevant to feminism.”

She makes an excellent point, and one that I can’t ignore.  The Bechdel test is always in the back of my mind when I evaluate texts, and a story that has no female characters is immediately less interesting to me than one that has many female characters.  But the Bechdel test isn’t the be-all and end-all of what makes a feminist text.  No Country for Old Men has only one female character of note, but she has a very powerful scene near the end of the film that I think is very feminist.  (That’s not the type of movie I will be reviewing here, as it isn’t a comedy, unless serial killers murdering people in cold blood is your idea of a laugh riot – in which case, I’m going to back away slowly and pretend not to know you).  Conversely, how many romantic comedies have I seen where the female characters dominated the story, but were complete ninnies or girly-girl stereotypes, whose contributions to the comedy were giggling loudly and falling down a lot?  Too many to count.

Therefore, I have to add a few more criteria to my standards of what makes a feminist comedy:

– It has to lampoon stereotypes.  The movie or show can be chock full of female characters who talk to each other all the time, but if they embrace every negative stereotype of women or portrays them as gold-digging airheads (or “turnips,” as my aunt would say), that ain’t feminist.  Unless, of course, the text is trying to critique those stereotypes to make a point.  Which brings me to the next standard:

– It has to be funny.  I can’t believe I forgot to mention this before, but in order for a text to be both feminist and comedic, it needs to make me laugh.

– A text that is not feminist is not necessarily anti-feminist.  Some writers like to create comedy without any political agenda in mind.  They don’t set out to change the world with their humor; they just want to make people laugh. Monty Python and the Holy Grail is one of my favorite examples of a comedy that is wholly absurd and ridiculous.  There are little to no prominent roles for women, but that doesn’t make the film anti-feminist.  It’s too silly to be considered a commentary on anything. I can enjoy films that aren’t feminist as long as they’re not blatantly anti-feminist. 

– A woman character is not a feminist just because she Has A Job.  It used to  be that women were stuck in the “girlfriend” or “wife” roles in comedies.  Nowadays, the women are still stuck in the “girlfriend” or “wife” roles, but now they’re doctor girlfriends or lawyer wives – “OMG, that’s so progressive, we’ve come a long way, baby!”  Not quite.

Together, I have a list of seven standards for what makes a feminist comedy, but the list is still open for revision.  I’m also not going to be that picky.  I won’t watch a movie and think, “Well, it’s funny and there are plenty of female characters, but they don’t interact with each other and it doesn’t critique male power, so BACK TO THE FIERY PITS OF HELL WITH YE!”  These standards aren’t the Ten Commandments.  But I will be thinking about all of them when I review a text.