Transformers Critique

The movie series "Transformers" has been popular for many years, appealing to all age groups. The movie revolves around alien machines called Autobots and their fight for saving their planet Cybertron. Sam Witwicky (Shia LaBouef), the protagonist throughout the series, helps the Autobots resist the villainous Decepticons who plan on taking over their home planet. While the premise of Transformers is reasonable enough, almost every role in the movie is taken by a man. Specifically in Transformers 3, Dark of the Moon, the only roles filled by women are the sexy, objectified girlfriend of the protagonist and the "bitchy" National Intelligence Director whose authority is always questioned. The portrayal of woman in this movie reinforces the already negative stereotypes that we place on women. This further extends the noticeable gap between men and women that is detrimental to our society.

The women in this movie are two very different characters experiencing different stereotypes. Sam's girlfriend in the movie, Carly (Rosie Huntington-Whiteley), is an attractive woman who is presented as a "sex object" and only valued for her body. At the start of the film, she is shown walking up stairs to wake up her boyfriend, having the camera angled so viewers can only see her lower half. This "gaze" is giving women the idea that their body is the only thing that men are looking for and should be a main focus when presenting themselves. At one point in the movie, Sam's boss is shown looking at her butt in a sexual manner and another time a man compares her body to a luxury car. These actions are giving men the notion that it's ok to treat woman like objects. Commenting on their on their looks is encouraged. Carly always possesses a sexy look, even in times where she should look terrible. In a scene where she conveys the "damsel in distress" stereotype, Sam saves her from the villains and shows that he is a "macho hero." After the long battle scene, Carly maintains her sex appeal and seems untouched and clean while all of the men are dirty and flustered. This further shows that men are supposed to do the hard work and that women are the reward. As Carly is characterized as the "sex object," Director Mearing (Frances McDormand), is characterized as a woman who is attempting to fill a man's role. She is very stern and does not dress in the revealing way that Carly does. Men seem to always challenge her and tend not to take her seriously despite her assertiveness. One specific scene where her authority is not taken seriously is when Sam and Carly refer to her as "mam" instead of her rightful title of Director. The idea that women are not qualified is thus heightened, along with the idea that women are only attempting to disrupt the patriarchy that men have established.

Throughout Transformers, gender is constructed in a way that will only give viewers a bad idea of what men and women should be. Women are shown as objects and of little importance other than sex. This idea is something that gives both men and women poor role models. Society already places higher value on men which has correlated to the higher positions for men. Representations of women not being able to perform in higher ranked jobs only hurts us as a whole. Movies that have negative stereotypes and ideals for women only move us away from improving equality for men and women.