Review of Incredibles 2 (2018) by Theronjustron — 18 Jul 2018

I find it funny that most people are calling this most a feminist movie. I am neither a card carrying feminist, nor an activist in any way, but I thought is was the opposite of feminism. The bad guy was a the Fox News version of what a feminist is. She was single, sexually ambiguous, crafty, conniving, despised men, and despite being possibly the most brilliant mind on Earth, she was overshadowed by her idiot brother and hated the world...so, obviously, the successful, brilliant, gazillionaire woman couldn't be a hero. SHE was the enemy, facing off against the socially acceptable, Disney-version of proper feminism. Elasta-girl was the strong woman that needed to break out of the shadow of masculine heroes, while maintaining her role the traditional family. It felt like Disney was shoving its feminist message down my throat. Feminism is OK as long as it's safe and its practitioners stay within socially acceptable, Disney-approved boundaries. If there is a woman that rejects the trappings of the nuclear family and dare to be brilliant, not only outshining the men around her, but rising up to break through that glass ceiling to reject having to have a man in charge, then that person is inherently evil...and needs the proper feminist to put her in her place.

Looking closer at elasta-girl, I agree that she is in her own rights a nod in the right direction for feminism. It's just the fact that her character was used as a direct contrast the bad feminist that I have issue with. Disney makes a brilliant feint by showing feminism, while really trying to undermine it. The writers could have had a pro-feminist message where the two women actually worked together to make a super-awesome team that could hold their own against any threat...the strong and competent housewife and mother, teaming up with the corporate technical genius that would make Tony Stark envious. They could have developed a better bad guy for the two to face. They did not. They pit the two against each other.

What we got instead was a villain with overly nonsensical motivations. We got the well meaning, but bumbling dad tropes. We got the hyper-competent family matriarch tropes. The best villain in the movie was the raccoon. The best scenes were the Baby Jack Jack and raccoon scenes. All this to say, it was an enjoyable in not an entirely memorable movie. I just wish they would STOP calling it a feminist triumph.