ssppetralli
Joined Aug 2021
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Reviews32
ssppetralli's rating
The 355 is a bold, thrilling spy film that finally gives women the lead roles -without compromise. Jessica Chastain jumps out a window in heels, Diane Kruger takes down armed men in hand-to-hand combat, and Lupita Nyong'o hacks global systems in seconds-all without waiting for a man to save the day. Penélope Cruz adds heart, and Fan Bingbing flips the script with stealth and steel. Stylish, fast-paced, and packed with globe-trotting action, it's girl power at its best: fearless, smart, and fiercely united. A true feminist action triumph. I wish I had known about this to have watched in in the theaters.
Oh, no. Just more discrimination. Building on the stereotype, that women are not worthy of anything without men. Please, when does it stop.
While The Final Reckoning delivers the franchise's signature action and stunts, it continues a troubling pattern of underrepresenting and underdeveloping its female characters. Despite the presence of talented actresses like Hayley Atwell and Rebecca Ferguson, their characters often serve as mere accessories to Ethan Hunt's narrative, lacking depth and agency.
This pattern reflects broader issues in Hollywood, where age disparities between male leads and their female co-stars are common, and women are often cast in roles that emphasize their appearance over their capabilities. Such portrayals reinforce outdated gender norms, suggesting that women's value diminishes with age and that their primary role is to support the male protagonist.
The consequences of this persistent underrepresentation are significant. They perpetuate stereotypes, limit the scope of stories told, and deny audiences the opportunity to see women as fully realized characters with their own narratives.
While The Final Reckoning delivers the franchise's signature action and stunts, it continues a troubling pattern of underrepresenting and underdeveloping its female characters. Despite the presence of talented actresses like Hayley Atwell and Rebecca Ferguson, their characters often serve as mere accessories to Ethan Hunt's narrative, lacking depth and agency.
This pattern reflects broader issues in Hollywood, where age disparities between male leads and their female co-stars are common, and women are often cast in roles that emphasize their appearance over their capabilities. Such portrayals reinforce outdated gender norms, suggesting that women's value diminishes with age and that their primary role is to support the male protagonist.
The consequences of this persistent underrepresentation are significant. They perpetuate stereotypes, limit the scope of stories told, and deny audiences the opportunity to see women as fully realized characters with their own narratives.
There is no doubt that Dr. No is considered a "classic." But classic to whom, and at what cost?
As a film, it is slick, stylish, and influential. But as a cultural artifact, it is dangerous-because beneath its charm lies a brutal message that women are not, and should not be, free. Watching it with eyes open to gender and power, Dr. No becomes not a spy thriller, but a manual for female submission.
Women in this film are not equals. They are not allowed to be clever, capable, or powerful. When they try, they are punished. They are seduced and discarded, grabbed and humiliated, drugged and silenced, tied up and left to die-saved only if they are beautiful and obedient. If they show independence, they are mocked. If they show intelligence, they are outwitted. If they show resistance, they are neutralized.
But perhaps most chilling is how normal all of this feels. This is the world the film assumes. It does not question it. It reaffirms it. And this is where the real violence lies-not in a single punch or threat, but in the quiet, elegant certainty that a woman's place is to be conquered.
The tragedy is that the film is not an outlier. It is a reflection of the world we built and maintain-one where women's bodies are visible, but their voices are not heard. Where women can be sexy, but not serious. Where survival is granted, not claimed-and only to those who remain pleasing to men.
To be clear: there are women who enjoy traditional roles, and that can be beautiful, but it is not chosen freely, it is just following the norm. And that is also what this film offers. Dr. No does not show freedom. It shows control. And worse-it trains us to see that control as entertainment.
This review is not written out of anger, but out of hope. Hope that future generations-of both women and men-will question the stories we inherit. That they will ask: Why do we still tell stories where women must be rescued to matter? Where power must belong to a man? Where beauty and obedience is the only currency, and resistance is punished?
We deserve better stories. And more than that-we deserve freedom. Not the illusion of it, but the real, sometimes uncomfortable, exhilarating kind: the kind that allows women to be strong, flawed, smart, angry, brilliant, quiet, sexual, asexual, soft, hard, whatever they choose-without being reduced, erased, or marked.
Dr. No may be iconic. But for anyone dreaming of a freer world, it is a reminder of how far we still have to go.
As a film, it is slick, stylish, and influential. But as a cultural artifact, it is dangerous-because beneath its charm lies a brutal message that women are not, and should not be, free. Watching it with eyes open to gender and power, Dr. No becomes not a spy thriller, but a manual for female submission.
Women in this film are not equals. They are not allowed to be clever, capable, or powerful. When they try, they are punished. They are seduced and discarded, grabbed and humiliated, drugged and silenced, tied up and left to die-saved only if they are beautiful and obedient. If they show independence, they are mocked. If they show intelligence, they are outwitted. If they show resistance, they are neutralized.
But perhaps most chilling is how normal all of this feels. This is the world the film assumes. It does not question it. It reaffirms it. And this is where the real violence lies-not in a single punch or threat, but in the quiet, elegant certainty that a woman's place is to be conquered.
The tragedy is that the film is not an outlier. It is a reflection of the world we built and maintain-one where women's bodies are visible, but their voices are not heard. Where women can be sexy, but not serious. Where survival is granted, not claimed-and only to those who remain pleasing to men.
To be clear: there are women who enjoy traditional roles, and that can be beautiful, but it is not chosen freely, it is just following the norm. And that is also what this film offers. Dr. No does not show freedom. It shows control. And worse-it trains us to see that control as entertainment.
This review is not written out of anger, but out of hope. Hope that future generations-of both women and men-will question the stories we inherit. That they will ask: Why do we still tell stories where women must be rescued to matter? Where power must belong to a man? Where beauty and obedience is the only currency, and resistance is punished?
We deserve better stories. And more than that-we deserve freedom. Not the illusion of it, but the real, sometimes uncomfortable, exhilarating kind: the kind that allows women to be strong, flawed, smart, angry, brilliant, quiet, sexual, asexual, soft, hard, whatever they choose-without being reduced, erased, or marked.
Dr. No may be iconic. But for anyone dreaming of a freer world, it is a reminder of how far we still have to go.