Jessica Chastain in Zero Dark Thirty
by A. Lynn. Cross-posted from Nerdy Feminist with permission.
So I started writing this piece yesterday. I came home all amped up from having enjoyed Zero Dark Thirty and I wanted to blog about how awesome I felt the female character was in it. In the process of researching what other people were saying to bolster my views, I came across some very legitimate concerns of the film’s depictions of torture (details later.)
It changed how I felt about the film in general, and I decided to go back and think about things with this new found information. Below are my reworked thoughts. (What an important reminder that your own personal interpretation of things, while valid and important, can often be incomplete without interacting with others and listening to what’s out there.)
I’ll try to keep this relatively spoiler free, but no guarantees. But, let’s be honest…this one of those pre-spoiled movies. It’s called history.
Anyway, I had the chance to see Zero Dark Thirty last night at an advanced screening. I went in interested, but skeptical. I like Kathryn Bigelow. I liked The Hurt Locker. And I was excited when she became the first woman to win an Oscar for best director. But I wasn’t surprised that the honor went to woman who had just directed a film that was so deeply male centric. So when I heard that Bigelow’s next feature was another war film, I kind of rolled my eyes. But then I saw the trailer and I became really intrigued. It had something which The Hurt Locker lacked…a prominent female character.
Ok, Bigelow, you have my attention. Read more
