Big Bang Theory star calls Frozen sexist

[LaoJim]

Oh, the internet...

What we have is a moderately famous actress writing a blog on conservative Jewish parenting website in which she says that she happened to watch a DVD of Frozen and she and her boys happened not to like it. MSN then spins this into clickbait as a 'rant', that she is 'stepping up her campaign against Hollywood sexism' and now 'has set her sights' on Frozen. The Escapist, where we all apparently hate the Big Bang Theory (actually I quite like it), then finds a way to link it with GamerGate.

If you read her actual article she doesn't use the word 'sexism' at all. She wonders whether "Finding a man" is the appropriate basis for a movie aimed at young girls (i.e. 5-16 year olds) and especially since the sisters in the movie are already quite young (Elsa is 18?) and maybe have better things to be doing than finding a life partner. The trope is subverted because the prince is the 'wrong' man, but it is implied that the main character has found the 'right' man at the end. Maybe she has a point with this as nearly all boy-focused cartoons (for example most of the Pixar movies) don't have "Finding a girl" as the driving force behind their plots (Wall-E being a possible exception). I don't think she's right, in the sense that I think girls tend to like romance stories more than young boys do and don't think this is entirely a result of social conditioning, but I don't think its a terrible position to take for a conservative parenting website. Her man-bashing point is a little more bizarre, and I don't really know what to say about it.

(Incidently I learned today that Bailik has a PhD in Neuroscience and has written books on parenting, though whether they are any good or not remains a matter of argument.)

At the end of the day, its a manufactured conspiracy. Somebody didn't like a movie that other people liked. That someone is in a TV show you might have seen. Its hardly a rant, in fact she says she's taking it too seriously.

 

[Ranorak]

Sorry, but take a look at your own show first.
You, and your other female co-workers are only there as Girlfriend for the main cast.
You're not playing a character, you're playing a walking joke.
But hey, it's at least not as bad as Two and a Half Men, right?
Thank god you're in no way connected to that....

 

[San Martin]

even WITH the subversion

its a Disney movie....you gotta take what ya gotta take

Completely off topic, but could I ask why you never start sentences with capitals?

I know, I know. It's yo' biznez and all that, but it's an interesting quirk and I can't help but be a curious George.

 

[giles]

Haha, Big Bang Theory star complains about stereotyping and there's a "Woman Crush Wednesday" video under the article. Fucking rich.

Oh, and despite having a PhD in neuroscience and being an author of a book about children's education she also doesn't vaccinate her kids.
Nobody is immune to stupid.

 

[F.Dubois]

On the topic... eh, she didn't say anything I haven't heard before, and I still don't agree, but good for her for voicing an opinion, I guess.

But, whatever... It's just your opinion after all... For me, the subversion was fine, although I did feel like it could have been better if it wasn't for the movie filled to the gills with songs both great and "seriously?"...

I vehemently disagree. As a person in the public eye she has a heightened influence in cultural discourse and as such her opinion, even if she is obviously mistaken like here, does matter sadly.
Likewise a Justin Bieber can't be said to be "just a kid with a stupid opinion" or Kanye West as "just a little uninformed and slightly full of himself". As people with a large socio-cultural sphere of influence it is naturally understood that likewise criticism against them and their opinion is amplified.

She obviously enjoys having a large audience to voice her concerns to and as such a critique of her is neither uncalled for nor unnecessary.

 

[Trunkage]

Also, the story was about the sisters finally reconciling, not about trying to find a man/love.

It's about both. I'd say it's more about "the witch" accepting who she is going against their parents conditioning. There was a very pervasive love interest storyline. Although they turned it on its head with the initial love interest, she was still roped into another which was clearly set up from his first introduction. Was that really necessary, couldn't he just be a guy whose helpful? Not the "achieve enough points to earn the relationship" situation the created. No - it's a Disney movie. Have to tie in that love interest somehow.

 

[Crazzy349]

Everything is sexist.
Also everything is racist.
Therefor, ban everything.
See guys, you can make everyone happy.
Obviously this is the best choice when anyone makes a unfounded and stup- Uh, wait, I mean well informed and smart claim.

 

[Verlander]

I don't completely disagree with her sentiments, although I disagree with her on most other things.

 

[newfoundsky]

Everything is sexist.
Also everything is racist.
Therefor, ban everything.
See guys, you can make everyone happy.
Obviously this is the best choice when anyone makes a unfounded and stup- Uh, wait, I mean well informed and smart claim.

Nobody wants to ban anything. Not that I agree with what the BBT person is saying about Frozen, but if someone, somewhere, thinks that something is sexist, we should be capable of having a discussion about it without people sexism doesn't affect groaning about how everything they do is sexist.

 

[F.Dubois]

Everything is sexist...

Nobody wants to ban anything. Not that I agree with what the BBT person is saying about Frozen, but if someone, somewhere, thinks that something is sexist, we should be capable of having a discussion about it without people sexism doesn't affect groaning about how everything they do is sexist.

But isn't it? To understand our self as moral people is it wrong to say that sexist discrimination is bad ergo from this going forward structures that have been identified as sexist mustn't be used? Or so it has been presented by an abundance of people and it does sound appealingly consistent almost Kantean.
Thus "Calling something out" for its sexism always carries with it the implicit demand to not reproduce something similar in the future.
The problem as it presents itself in this case and others is that the actress, and people like her, disagree on what is sexist with many people and if you for example find the "problematic subtext" to be trivial, falsely alleged or not to be present at all then the question changes.
Is Frozen as a product of our times charged with imagery and the general clunkiness of our current zeitgeist, certainly, but is it tainted by pervasive undertones causing body image problems and detrimental stereotypical views on strytelling? hardly!

I will be open, I liked Frozen and watched it to death. I do want to experience something similar in the future and I wouldn't want any creative person to think there is something inherently wrong with it.

 

[Casual Shinji]

I agree on the character designs for both leading ladies. It had 'Buy me as a Barbie doll' written all over it. But this is more of a problem with merchandise steering artistic vision than sexism. And yeah, apparently we can't have a story about the relationship between two sisters without the aid of a man.

Had the story just been about them without the interference of those two red herrings, we might've actually gotten a sense of their relationship apart from 'They're sisters so they love eachother'.

 

[Piorn]

Literally everything is racist, sexist, or other politically incorrect things nowadays.

Bananas are sexist because they promote male oral sex fantasies.
Inertia is fat shaming because more mass makes things lazier.
Gravity is thin shaming because more mass makes things more attractive.
Darkness is racist because it's black and makes crimes easier.
Visible light and rainbows are racist because there is no black.
Genetics are Cis Scum because they require a combination of male and female genes and don't accept alternative lifestyles.
Magnets are homophobic.

I could go on like this forever.

 

[PainInTheAssInternet]

A thread mentioning sexism and The Big Bang Theory? Two of the Escapist's big trigger points, how is this not 500 pages?

Worse, she seems to have largely missed the point of the movie, meaning this would be a great argument to pounce on. I mean, where are all the critics of feminism? Tired from making up things about Sarkeesian?

Well, Zira. Looks like you have a popular supporter.

Wait, what? Are you serious?

Yeah. Maybe you didn't participate in this thread, but Zira started a thread shortly after the movie came out with the same premise. (S)he was very ardent about it.

EDIT: Tried to find and link it but it has been wiped from the Escapist's servers.

 

[Atmos Duality]

Oh please. Frozen was about as sexist as fucking Ferngully.

Is this going become the new norm across media now?
"Project sexism onto something popular to promote personal political agenda, hide behind 'opinion' when called out"

 

[C. Cain]

I hope you are being facetious. Or are you Crazzy349 in disguise?

Literally everything is racist, sexist, or other politically incorrect things nowadays. (...)

No. Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar. That said, things that actually are sexist and racist have always been sexist and racist. Just because it was (or in many cases still is) tacitly condoned by society or even enshrined in law doesn't mean it's not there.

 

[faefrost]

Well, Zira. Looks like you have a popular supporter.

It still doesn't make much sense when she's looking at it from the angle of "looking for a man." The explicit message of the movie was it was a bad attitude to have. She seems to think the presence of something automatically means the support of it, so her head must explode when she watches satire.

I will concede it is a bit creepy and irritating how attractive every Disney lead is.

Hunchback of Notre Dam did kind of tank at the box office though...

Serriously the movie had a few throwaway male characters as more or less background and supporting cast. I mean sexist? The main story is about a family dealing with Mental Illness. 2 Sisters. And the characters are not exactly drawn to be any stereotype. Heck Anna is more or less generic. An audience projection character designed to have elements of how every girl in the audience more or less sees herself. Elsa gets a bit of the sexy beauty thing going on, but that is more an allegory for her coming to terms with adulthood, and also a contrast to the schizophrenia. (which yeah is really what the story is about.)

I think these people can find sexism in root vegetables. They are honestly b@tshit insane.

 

[Timpossible]

Well. She has a point about anna and elsas body and look. It pretty doll-like while the men look diverse and normalish. The only clishe looking man is hinself superficial...I wouldn't call the whole movie sexist...but i see her point.

 

[Piorn]

I hope you are being facetious. Or are you Crazzy349 in disguise?

Literally everything is racist, sexist, or other politically incorrect things nowadays. (...)

No. Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar. That said, things that actually are sexist and racist have always been sexist and racist. Just because it was (or in many cases still is) tacitly condoned by society or even enshrined in law doesn't mean it's not there.

I'm not denying there are actually racist and sexist things.
It's just that by now, everything can or has been interpreted as sexist or racist in both directions. Trivialities like this thread's OP significantly hurt the discussion, as the points are driven into absurdity.
The reaction to a new revelation of real sexism or racism should be a straight "oh no, how horrible", but by now it's "oh boy what's it this time?" followed by a sarcastic shrug and rolling eyes.

 

[Shanahanapp]

"Dear Mr Kettle, I'd like it to be known to you that you are black. Sincerely, Pot."

Seriously though has she actually watched the Big Bang Theory?