Yankee Doodle Dandy 👍

Come on. Yankee Doodle Dandy was made 1942. Coal Miner's Daughter was made 1980. And Beguiled 2017. Yankee Doodle Dandy is about a man. And it is more feminist than the other two.
I mean... what?

Of course, there is the adjustment made for the era, but in Yankee Doodle Dandy we have a family with a father, a mother, a son and a daughter, and these four are basically equal partners of their family group. In a movie made in 1942 about something that happened around 1900. It was obvious that the parents made all the decisions together.
The most precious talent and resource as an entertainer is a woman, Fay Templeton, and to get her to join their show, they have to sell the show to her, on her terms, because she has all the power. Her approval is a definitive approval of George Cohan's talent, she is adept to judge and her judgment means the world.
Then we have the main character's relationship with his wife. Sure, she is a "good", traditional wife, but it's also obvious that it's she who is more levelheaded of the two. She is equal to her husband, and he treats her like his father treated his wife. The roles are traditional, but the relationship is equal. I didn't get that from Coal Miner's Daughter or Beguiled. And it wasn't because of the men, it was because of the women! Had they had Mary's character or Mrs. Cohan's, the relationship dynamics would have been very different. I mean, one can be very feminine, traditionally so, yet still have the authority and strength to be an equal partner. It's the same thing with Black Narcissus. There are no strong women in these movies! Especially the main characters lacked prestige, esteem, ponderance. This is why I give thumbs up to a movie filled with men, failing in basic structural tests, representing women as "mere" wives and mothers, and thumbs down to a movie that seemingly fulfills all criteria, with an F rating from IMDb.

So - what does this movie tell about the USA? All the patriotism is swagger and show. Cheering and emotional manipulation is a national sport. Don't talk about the downside. Never speak about the fallen. Except as "heroes who gave their lives". That sounds great. It's all about the show.

X Bechdel test

V Mako Mori Test
Well... I kind of think Fay Templeton passes.

V  Sexy Lamp Test

X The Crystal Gems Test

X F-Rating

X Sphinx Test
Mary is pretty complex and compelling with a very big role, but she is still "just a wife".

X The Feldman Score 2

X Furiosa Test

X The Roxane Gay Test
 
V  The Maisy Test for sexism in kids' shows
V  Gender Balance - Gender Representation
V  Gender Freedom
V  Gender Safety
X Social Justice and Equality
 
Gender Balance - Gender Representation
There are surprisingly many female roles in this.
The story is a male's story, so a man is #1, but #2 is a woman. Not his male creative partner, but his wife.

the ratio of male actors vs female actors about 2:1

The sad truth is that no old movies pass these tests. It's even sadder that it's still rare.
X The Uphold Test
X The Rees Davies Test
X The White Test
X The Hagen Test
The positive thing about this is that about half of ALL crowd scenes feature about 50/50 women
X The Koeze-Dottle Test

Gender Freedom:

SEVERAL female journalists 1910. And one of them gets to ask the question!

The main character thinks it's self-evident his sister doesn't need to stop working just because she gets married and wants to have a family.

X The Peirce Test

X The Villarreal Test

Now, I read this test as the protagonist is a woman. Now, if Mary counts as "lead female character", then this movie passes. She is presented as an independent young woman actively working to get the life she wants, and a career.

V  The Landau Test

V  The Tauriel Test
Absolutely. Fay Templeton is a celebrated soprano, recognized by everyone, appreciated and respected, and she doesn't need to prove herself.

V  The Willis Test
Actually, yes, I can imagine George's sister doing the same journey.

X Molly Haskell test
Now, Mary does give up her career to marry George. It is because she isn't good enough, but I don't buy that.
Yes, she is the patient, supportive wife, who gives up everything for George, and imagines his happiness is her happiness. She even says it. But bonus points of George asking her when she last thought about herself.

Mary is a pretty traditionally gendered role. She takes care of her man, feeds him, never eats herself, births his children and take care of them, and supports him in his work self-sacrificing. So thumbs down for that.
But Fay is not a traditional gendered role. She is a career woman, a go-getter, who is not being punished for being that way.

X the MacGyver Test
It is an interesting thing, because in this movie the "manly man" is someone who hasn't had a "proper job" ever, doesn't use violence and sings and dances all days long...

X the Raleigh Becket Test
It is interesting, because in the beginning Mary wants to work at a theater, and George helps her. They obviously have a very close relationship, but it could also be just a friendship. Then Mary wants to marry George and have kids, and he kind of helps her with that too :-D
Now, that doesn't make this movie pass, because they do have a romantic relationship, but something to ponder :-D

Puer Aeternus – Peter Pan syndrome – Man-child
Hmm... George is sort of a man-child. He "needs taking care of" and Mary is the right woman to do so.

Gender Safety

No-one is being sexualized, even though Fay is very aware of her sensuality and portrays it. (Now, perhaps showing her knickers on stage could be understood as sexual harassment...)

Now, they are portrayed having the hourglass figure and very feminine face, makeup, hair, and clothes, but it is the end of 19th century and the beginning of the 20th. Historically accurate. With a 40s twist :-D

Age of actors:
James Cagney (George) 43
Joan Leslie (Mary) 17 (Wow... she did an amazing job for such a young woman!)
Walter Huston (George's father) 59
Rosemary DeCamp (George's mother) 32
Jeanne Cagney (George's AND James' sister) 23
Irene Manning (Fay Templeton) 30
Ouch. Must have been fun playing the mother of someone who's 10 years OLDER than you!

Social Justice and Equality

I would like to remind everyone that this movie has more people of color than Beguiled and Coal Miner's Daughter TOGETHER. And one of the roles is a speaking role! And they are not discussing white people. The main character asks the black butler about how his life has been since they last saw each other some 20 years ago.
Now, all black characters were servants, but they were treated respectfully and fairly.

Now, there is even a person in a wheelchair. And he is the President. ;-)

Still, most people in this movie are white, straight, able-bodied. And male.
Representation Test C

X Kent test
X Aila test
X Waithe test
X Ko test
X Villalobos test

 

Coal Miner's Daughter 👎

I can't give this movie thumbs up, because I don't think this movie showcases feminist values. In real life Loretta Lynn might have been a feminist icon, but in this movie she looks like a self-centered brat. She doesn't seem to consider the man she supposedly loves at all. She complains about him making all the decisions never discussing with her about it, but she makes also decisions without discussing with him about them. And he just accepts it.
He becomes a SAHD when she gives birth to twins, because she has decided to go back to work as soon as she can. Then she suffers from burnout some 10 years later. And she expects him to save her. She is standing on the scene and asking her husband to come and save her.
No... I really don't like this person, and I don't want young girls to see that kind of behavior as an example of how to be a woman. Sure, it's great she did what she wanted to do with her life, but there are other movies with the same message and better role models.

The reason why I watched this movie was that I was listening to Cinecast (or Filmspotting as it's called now-a-days), and they listed movies about America - movies that describe the "American experience", movies that show what it is like to be American, American ideals, etc.
I am going to see all the movies on their lists (about 20) from a feminist point of view. It doesn't look promising.  

According to this movie, there are very few women in America. At least 4-5 men for each woman.
Women are more or less a backdrop. Mostly silent. Birth babies, take care of the household and kids. Decorative objects.
Celebrities are nice people whom you can treat as you wish. All they want is entertain you. Music business is easy. If your husband tells you he likes your singing, make a record, send it to all radio channels and you will become a huge star.
To become a huge star, you need men. Lots of men. Men will be making all the decisions and handling money and so on. Men are the leaders and managers and hosts and so. Women just sing and are pretty.
Women don't have any network. No friends, no relatives, no neighbors. There is no interaction between neighbors at all. It's useless to create personal relations beyond marriage, because everyone dies. Even marriage is questionable, because your husband will cheat on you. Men are like that.
American women can't read.

V Bechdel test - yes

V Mako Mori Test

V Sexy Lamp Test

X The Crystal Gems Test
Ok...This fails already at the first step. There aren't four women in this movie. Just three with any role to mention. Loretta, her mother and Patsy. Sure, there is her little sister, who doesn't say anything, and her daughters, who don't talk much either.
We don't get to know anything about her mother, sister or daughters.
She has one friend, Patsy. Patsy has her first appearance in 1:20, and she dies 15 minutes later.
Most of the females could be replaced with sexy lamps or cardboard cutouts, wouldn't make any difference.

X F-Rating

Sphinx Test
I wouldn't say this movie passes, even though it's a biopic about a woman. She isn't very active at all, just reacting. She keeps saying she wants to do things her own way, but it's just words.

X The Feldman Score

The sex scene: she is 13, a virgin, it's their wedding night, no foreplay. She is practically raped. And marrying a 13yo? Excuse me, what? (Now, Loretta was apparently 15, not 13 when she married, but that's just marginally better. In the movie she is 13. Not OK. Now, Doo was just 21, so the age difference isn't that big, nevertheless, he married a kid. After having known each other for a couple of months. In the movie it's their "anniversary".)

X Furiosa Test

X The Roxane Gay Test
Well... It is a woman's story and... I suppose it's as complex and what not as Loretta's life is, but her world isn't filled with women. There seems to be two other women in it. Her mother is in it for 15 minutes, and Patsy another 15 minutes. She's the only woman in the movie for 1 1/2 hours. (Yeah, sure, there are fans, with words, people in the background, audience, bars and restaurants. They could all be just cardboard cutouts, they are not real people with their own stories. As said, not even Patsy or her mother have a story.

X Maisy Test

X Gender Balance
V Gender Freedom
X Gender Safety
X Social Justice and Equality

Gender Balance:
About 1:3 gender division
Most speaking roles are given to males
Most important parent is the father

X The Uphold Test
On-set crew mostly men (there are a couple of women there)

X The Rees Davies Test

X The White Test

X The Hagen Test
First crowd scene: Cissy is the only female in the scene.
Most one-scene roles go to men

X The Koeze-Dottle Test

Gender freedom

This is a story of a woman who had her own career as a very successful singer. She has a husband who is practically a SAHD, who supports her and her career, even sacrifices his health and work for her career, and does basically what she wants. So in that way it's a very empowering movie with good role models. But...
Loretta Lynn as portrayed in this movie keeps very nicely within the traditional gender roles.
She takes care of the house and kids, even though she didn't know how when she first became a wife.
She is submissive, following, uncertain and meek. She doesn't ask questions, she doesn't answer questions, she doesn't solve problems, just follows plans a man made, sits when she is told to sit, speaks when she is told to speak, sings when she is told to speak.
She wants to be a country singer, but doesn't do anything about it until her husband makes it practically impossible for her to stop things from happening by doing nothing. He forces her to decide, make up her own mind, tell him what she wants. "I won't force you to do anything you don't want to do", he says.
She is shown as really innocent and ignorant through the whole movie.
Even as a big country star, she can't make her own decisions. It is obvious she can't do the touring anymore, but she can't say it. She begs her husband to tell her not to go on stage, but he tells her to do it. So she goes, and has a little sentimental speech and has to be "rescued".
She seems to make all her decisions based on selfish desires and emotions. Not once did she consider anyone or discussed with anyone about the choices she actively made. Not once are they shown considering the possible economical consequences or the consequences of country singer lifestyle on their children. She doesn't talk with her children about anything.
Nevertheless, they have given her a scene where she berates her husband after he shows her a spot on their property where he has started building a house for her. She berates him for not discussing about anything with her. She doesn't discuss about anything with him. He just have to solve the problems she causes him and his life - and their children - the best he can. Not once does she ask him what he thinks or feels or how he would like to have it.
She doesn't seem to be interested in anything but country music. Perhaps hairstyles, clothes, makeup. He tells her he doesn't want her to use makeup, but she tells him she does what she wants.
She is shown as less educated than he is. He can read, he assumes she can, too, but she can't. At least not very well.

V The Peirce Test
V The Villareal Test
V The Landau Test
V The Tauriel Test
X The Willis Test
V Molly Haskell Test

Age
Sissy Spacek - 31
Tommy Lee Jones - 34
Levon Helm (Loretta's dad) - 40
Phyllis Boyens-Liptak (Loretta's mom) - 33
Beverly D'Angelo - 29

Gender safety

Er...
First there is the rape scene. Now, Loretta is 13. It seems like all she knows about sex is that it's dirty, shameful and disgusting, and she doesn't really want to do it. It's their wedding night, and she keeps saying "no, no, no" through whole scene. Nothing is shown, but it's pretty clear. The next morning she tells Doo "You promised my dad not to hurt me, but you already did!"
Now, she's a country girl, who has plenty of younger siblings and there's animals on the farm, so it seems to me pretty unrealistic that she knows nothing about sex. But, what ever.

There is male upper body nudity - in the wedding night scene.
No female nudity. Everyone is very modesty and nicely dressed.

There is some violence. Doo slaps Loretta twice, Loretta smacks him with her handbag and breaks his hand. Doo tries to hit Loretta, drags her by her hair, she is "rescued" by her friends. He is left behind to fend for himself in a hostile environment with a broken hand. Not cool.

Social Justice and Equality

No. I didn't see any non-white, non-straight, non-ablebodied person in the whole movie.
The Representation Test C


X Kent Test
X Aila Test
X Waithe Test
X Ko Test
X Villalobos Test