I'm not sure why I even bother taking the kids to the pictures anymore. They inevitably serve to make unbearably cantankerous with the constant gendered stereotyping and, frequently, the erasure of female characters. However, it was pissing with rain and my house already looks like a Turner prize installation art project what with the layer of paper mache, painted shoe boxes and toilet paper tube mobiles and that's without mentioning the cat who bears more than a passing resemblance to a disco ball with the amount of glitter stuck to her. So, off to the pictures we went. And, yeah, I'm cheap so it was the kids club movie which is why I'm reviewing a film that's been out for several months already.
Ice Age 4 has, at least, a few female characters. You know, the ubiquitous ones: the crazy old bat, self-sacrificing mother, and the "evil" temptress who falls in love with a cock and then learns to be good. Plus, there's the whole rebellious teenage daughter who learns that doing exactly what Daddy tells you to do is the only way to be "good". And, yeah, a character actually does refer to the grandmother as a "crazy old bat" because there is nothing funnier that disablist comments about dementia. She's also spiteful because it wouldn't be funny if a character with dementia wasn't spiteful too.
Ice Age 4 had some funny moments but the female characters were just awful. Some of the worst written characters I've seen in a while. The evil, stubborn temptress who just needs to be rescued and fall in love with her rescuer to become a "real" woman is just so tedious and repetitive. As is the story of a teenage girl dumping her best friend to go off with the "cool dude", slags off her friend and then everyone, miraculously, becomes best mates. That's bullying. It isn't something we should be showing young children.
Yeah, there are places where the female characters "rescue" someone but it is never as important as being rescued by Daddy/ Lover. Because Daddy/ Lover knows best. Daddy/ Lover always knows best and where would we be without the Anxious Patriarch trope? I mean, kids might actually learn to engage critically with the Patriarchy. And, then kick the ever living shit out of it. And, we couldn't have that. Nope. Not at all.
Oh, and from a completely non-feminist perspective, what is it with kids movies and lame song interludes? Sure, if the movie is supposed to be a musical but one random and seriously fucking stupid song in the middle? Just, why? Are there no competent musicians in LA who could be brought in to write non-stupid songs for children? Or, better yet, just skip the musical interlude all together.
