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Babydoll's dance. What does it mean?
In Sucker Punch Babydoll performs a dance in the brothel that is described as incredibly erotic to the point that it renders men powerless.
We never see Babydoll's dance, instead, we see what Babydoll imagines, her and her friends fighting in extravagant action scenes.
We never see Babydoll's dance, instead, we see what Babydoll imagines, her and her friends fighting in extravagant action scenes.
People have different interpretations, but mine has always been that Babydoll kicking ass in her tiny outfit IS the erotic dance.
The video game or movie action girl is essentially doing an erotic dance for the pleasure of the male audience.
The video game or movie action girl is essentially doing an erotic dance for the pleasure of the male audience.
And who is the male audience? The movie stresses exactly what kind of man is watching Babydoll dance.
Sexual predators, and they went out of their way to make them (with the exception of Oscar) look pretty ugly.
Sexual predators, and they went out of their way to make them (with the exception of Oscar) look pretty ugly.
The movie equates women on display for male pleasure in a brothel with women on display for male pleasure in video games and movies.
The men who showed up to this movie for the girls fighting in little outfits? "This is you" says the movie.
The men who showed up to this movie for the girls fighting in little outfits? "This is you" says the movie.
And that is immediately a very polarizing message for a movie to have, and it's a pretty harsh one. But I don't think the point is to say "Guys who like hot video game girls are predators" no.
I think it's just saying that this portrayal of women feeds into rape culture.
I think it's just saying that this portrayal of women feeds into rape culture.
Btw, the video game action girls I'm referring to are like the ones pictures below. Now, Sucker Punch came out in 2011, where this kind of thing was a lot more prominent. But I do think it's gotten a lot better.
It's really unsurprising that the reaction to Sucker Punch was so negative, because the movie in many ways points the finger at the audience.
It almost wants us to feel guilty, and it asks us to do better, and it leaves us on a hopeful note that we will do better.
It almost wants us to feel guilty, and it asks us to do better, and it leaves us on a hopeful note that we will do better.
We've seen some improvement on the action girl in both video games and movies, which is great. But it's certainly not across the board, and even Sucker Punch has its problems, but as they said
"We got a long way to go."
"We got a long way to go."
