At the movies

Are you interested in how women and girls are portrayed in the movies? And how often they appear - or fail to appear - as significant characters?

Can't wait to see the new Harry Potter movie - I have to admit to being a HP fan, almost as keen as my kids. I wonder whether Hermione will have a strong role in this film? One of the things I found disappointing about the very first movie (Sorcerer's Stone) is that a key moment showing Hermione's intelligence and importance - when she solves the logic puzzle - was missed out.

Last week I saw "Ocean's Thirteen". Not bad, an old-fashioned heist movie. I thought the character played by Ellen Barkin was pretty interesting: good to see an older woman in a role where she is being authoritative as well as sexy (and not at all mumsy).

On the way into the movies, I took in posters for "The Comebacks" and "I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry". Neither are in the theaters here yet, so I haven't seen them, but the posters made me worried about them! "The Comebacks" showed a sexily clad woman bending over and peeping over her shoulder (oh come on you advertising geniuses, this is really lazy - and don't tell me it's some kind of humorous retro reference to Playboy) while I suspected that the Chuck/Larry film could just be cringe-worthy.... Well, we'll have to see.

The organization See Jane has produced some interesting work on how often G rated movies have female protagonists. Turns out that 75% of characters are male; and male and female characters are very likely to be portrayed in a gender-stereotyped way. Males are more likely to be aggressive, and less likely to be parents. Stereotypes about non-whites also abound, plus they are often the villains - and girls and non-whites are more likely to be comic relief or side-kicks. Take a look at the See Jane website for more info - www.seejane.org