Episode 25: Zero Dark Thirty
Justin:
The films that Kathryn Bigelow is best known for outside of the one we’ve discussed at great length here today are probably POINT BREAK and THE HURT LOCKER. I thought for awhile about those movies in addition to ZERO DARK THIRTY and how I could write about the magic of her career-defining films is that they’re all in such “macho” territory. Surfing bank robbers, bomb squads, and hunting down the world’s #1 terrorist just doesn't seem like the most lady-like material ever, does it?
And as I started to unravel that thought a bit more, it became quite clear just how archaic and ridiculous that mentality is. What is lady-like material? The Nancy Meyerses and Nora Ephrons of the world thrived in the romantic-comedy genre, sure, but that doesn’t mean women should be relegated to a buffet of lovey-dovey tales of will-they/won’t-they. And think about this: men have certainly spent their fair share of time in the RomCom pool and do they ever get flack for it? You won’t hear anywhere near the same amount of scorn when that happens as when it’s announced that a woman is helming the next big super hero adventure (think back to when Patty Jenkins got attached to THOR 2 or WONDER WOMAN). When that happens, the uproar is almost immediate!
Shocker: there’s hypocrisy and misogyny in Hollywood!
But this is all what makes Bigelow so important in film history and why her Oscar win for Best Director in 2009 was ceiling-shattering. It gave credence to the idea that it 1000% doesn’t matter what you look like or identify as - if you know, love, and feel a story, you should get the chance to tell it. Period. And her conquering of Oscar Mountain (not to mention her blowhard ex-husband and his billion-dollar 3D/CGI opus) added that note into the history books for future reference.
The tie-in of this concept to today’s film, beyond Bigelow’s direction, is of course the role of “Maya,” this apparent conglomeration of multiple women heroes who took part in the hunt for Usama bin Laden. Highlighting the historic accomplishments of these women through the gritty performance by Jessica Chastain showcases the importance of women in power. I love how in the movie, Joel Edgerton’s Seal Team 6 member suggests that it’s Maya’s confidence that convinces him they’re gonna find UBL when they breach the fortress walls. I imagine that same type of confidence has gotten other women called some pretty bad names in the real world.
Shocker: there’s hypocrisy and misogyny in the world!
But this is why it’s so important to herald the success of someone like Kathryn Bigelow and push those who follow in her footsteps into the spotlight even more. However slow it might be, we are getting closer to equality in Hollywood and whenever we get there, I’m positive that we’ll look back on her as one of the biggest reasons why. A confident, trailblazing norm-changer... Doesn’t get much more lady-like than that.
