It demonstrates a distinct lack of self-awareness and dare I say it, a hint of an entitlement streak.
Here’s her statement, which it must be noted, was made prior to the eventual bombing of Charlie’s Angels:
If this movie doesn’t make money it reinforces a stereotype in Hollywood that men don’t go see women do action movies. They’ll go and see a comic book movie with Wonder Woman and Captain Marvel because that’s a male genre.
So even though those are movies about women, they put them in the context of feeding the larger comic book world, so it’s all about, yes, you’re watching a Wonder Woman movie but we’re setting up three other characters or we’re setting up Justice League.
For starters, Banks was a part of a female-led action franchise that grossed $2.9 billion at the global box office – The Hunger Games.
More significantly, her somewhat problematic take does a great disservice to the likes of Patty Jenkins, Anna Boden and Chloe Zhao, who are blazing a trail by helming large scale comic-book movies.
There is some merit to Banks’ comments about Captain Marvel and Wonder Woman receiving a boost of sorts because they are a part of esteemed IP. But that brings with it greater pressure and higher expectations.
If Charlie’s Angels had made $300 million, it would have been considered an outrageous success. If Wonder Woman had made that amount, it would have been seen as an outright travesty.
Such is the nature of the beast.
By my estimation, Charlie’s Angels bombed due to three principal reasons:
- It wasn’t very good.
- It was desperately lacking in star power.
- It was poorly marketed.
The simplest answer is often the correct one.
And it is certainly so in this case – Banks made a bland and mediocre movie that wasn’t propped up by star power, and Sony dropped the ball on marketing.
That’s it. That’s what happened.
That being said, her statement isn’t as ridiculous as some are making it seem.
I suspect part of it has been misunderstood.
Banks isn’t saying that men don’t watch female-led action movies; she’s saying that that is a stereotype that exists in Hollywood, i.e in the minds of studio executives.
And that is historically true. There’s a reason Black Widow is only getting her solo movie now. It’s changing sure, but change is a slow and gradual process.
And you know who is one of the figureheads powering that change? Patty Jenkins.
Jenkins is making a difference through her work, not her words, and that is something that Banks and other upcoming filmmakers should aspire to.
So Banks would do well not to disrespect Jenkins’ efforts.
Instead, she should go back to the drawing board and ponder at the blandness of the script, characters and action in Charlie’s Angels.
If anything, the question she needs to be introspecting on is – “Why didn’t my target demographic turn up”?
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