The Heat

The Heat

            I chose to watch the movie The Heat, the two main characters are Melissa McCarthy and Sandra Bullock.  The movie is both a comedy and an action film so it is viewed by man and women.  The plot of the movie is Sandra Bullock an FBI agent and Melissa McCarthy team up to take down a drug kingpin in Boston.  Also Sandra Bullock is offered a promotion but only if she can solve the case.

            The Heat passed the first part of the test with a pretty high score, almost every box was checked off.  I wasn’t surprised though because two of the main characters are women. I also checked off that the film does represent women as more than “objects for the male gaze”.  For example, the two main characters have jobs that in movies or tv shows men usually have.  Sandra Bullock is an FBI agent and is considered the best in her field, and Melissa McCarthy is a police officer.  Another reason the movie did so well in this first section was it represented women with diverse body types, Sandra Bullock being your typical tall and thin actress, and Melissa McCarthy representing women who have a larger body type.  Along with representing diverse body types Sandra Bullock is over the age of forty-five, even though she doesn’t look like it.  The Heat also passed the Bechdel test, the two female protagonists didn’t talk about men the whole time, the mainly argued and when they did talk about men it was about taking them down because well that was what their job required them to do.  The movie also did pretty good in the second section as well.  The film definitely avoids glorifying violent men, considering the whole plot of the movie is two highly trained and professional women taking down a very dangerous man.  Also it does avoid perpetuating an extreme and unhealthy body ideal for men, because the two main characters both have very different body styles representing a lot of women.  Another thing that I was able to check off the list was that the writer was a female, Katie Dippold.

            Overall I think it is a fair method of grading, because it hits basically every area of concern in the movie industry.  But, I do think there should be a section for men, not to be confused with the one already on the test.  Although it is easier for men to get roles in movies than it is for women, there should still be a section for them on the test backing them up.  Also, I think The Heat did a very good job representing every area. They had a diverse body types, not just stereotypical body types for men’s enjoyment.  Also the two main characters played dangerous roles, usually in movies men are seen playing the FBI agents or police officers.  I also found it interesting that these two women’s main job was to take down a powerful and dangerous man.  I was very impressed with how The Heat did on the this test.