Misogyny is an ugly little word and quite fitting for the ugly practice it describes. The word is Greek in origin, can be traced back as far as 150 BC…but somehow misogyny still pervades in some areas of pop culture, the most recent example of which is a nasty little film called Sucker Punch.
Hollywood has a long and interesting relationship with misogyny but it's a complex issue and the word is often used too lightly. Alfred Hitchcock, for example, has been accused of being a misogynist perhaps more times than he's been called a genius and that's simply not fair. Sure all the women in his films are blonde, and they're always in peril but the fact of the matter is that a 'woman in peril' simply makes for the most engaging narrative, at least that's what they say. The textbook definition of misogyny is 'a hatred of women', some definitions go further and say 'a hatred of women because they're women' which is even more troubling. But let’s not get bogged down in semantics, let's talk about Sucker Punch.
Sucker Punch is about a young girl named Babydoll who is falsely imprisoned in a mental institute by her evil Stepfather. His plan is to get her lobotomised in order to prevent her from telling the authorities about her younger sister’s murder, and to stop her from claiming her dead Mothers inheritance. Once institutionalised Babydoll retreats into a fantasy world where she imagines the institute to be a brothel. She is forced to perform as a dancer in her imaginary brothel but we never get to see her dance. Instead the dances are represented by a mythical journey where she battles gigantic samurai warriors, steam powered World War I zombies, orcs and dragons; all in a bid to help herself and the other 'dancers' escape from their prison. A totally preposterous premise , but that’s the least of the films problems.
The first warning sign comes when we see that her fantasy escapist world is a brothel, especially one in which her virginity will be sold to the highest bidder. Looks like someone doesn’t quite understand what ‘escapism’ is. To say the women in Sucker Punch are always ‘in peril’ would be a gross understatement but not even an engaging narrative can save this film, that’s if it even had something approaching a narrative.
In fact the entire film plays out like a limp, tasteless and downright shocking example of a pornographic fantasy dressed up as an action film. It's been likened to video games and comic books in order to denote its childishness and exploitative nature but that’s an insult to both those mediums. I assume the makers thought the female cast, costumes and over the top fights scenes would make the film sexy and exciting but it's not - it’s boring and offensive.
Writer and director Zack Snyder's claim that his film is a ‘fable of female empowerment’ can’t have fooled anyone. Only the most facile interpretation of a woman holding a gun would claim it represented empowerment. Sadly these girls, while using a whole armoury of weapons can never be considered empowered, mostly because their mini skirts, stockings and schoolgirl pigtails belie the fact that they're anything other than titillating Manga style objects for an unenlightened male audience.
What's even worse, however, is that the film is permeated with a low-level threat of rape, seemingly used to do nothing more than give the film some ‘edge’ and with a 12A rating in the UK I cant think of anything less appropriate.
The film even looks dull, shot in what’s become Snyder’s trademark 300 style sepia tint. Even the actresses look embarrassed and with a soundtrack comprised of some of the worst cover versions I’ve ever heard I can think of literally nothing good to say about Sucker Punch. Thankfully it’s had a lukewarm reception at the box office, so we can all just pray it fades into obscurity and everyone forgets all about it.
Now, if only I could forget all about it.
Sucker Punch is on general release and at selected IMAX cinemas