Imagine going about your day as a straight, white male, minding your own business and suddenly, it happens. The news hits that there is going to be an all new "Ghostbusters" reboot — with an all female cast. Oh, the horror! How will they possibly accomplish anything with all of their femininity and feelings!?!?!? #TooFemale. Then, finally, that settles down. You try to just ignore that it's happening. So, you log onto Twitter and what do you find? #GiveCaptainAmericaABoyfriend is trending worldwide. Now they want to take your superheroes too!
Obviously, this is a bit dramatic, and it generalizes white men as being against these things. So, I will put my disclaimer here that I am not talking about everyone who identifies as a straight white male, nor is this discussion limited to that gender and sexuality. Almost all of what I have seen can be linked back to straight, white men being the norm in today's society. We need to get over that.
That being said, there has been substantial backlash lately to the female cast of the "Ghostbusters" reboot, a woman being the next James Bond and trending hashtags on Twitter #GiveCaptainAmericaABoyfriend and #GiveElsaAGirlfriend. People are not happy about even suggesting that a Disney princess could be gay or that a woman could play the iconic character of 007. Here's what I have to say to them: get over it.
This isn't about "staying true" to iconic movies and characters like I've seen argued in the opposition of "Ghostbusters" and "Jane Bond." There have been over seven actors who have played James Bond over the years, all of them being white men. Every actor brought something different to the role. They didn't "stay true" to everything their predecessors did, and for some reasons, fans accepted that. Because they were all men. So, yes, it is misogynistic to be opposed to a Jane Bond just because she would be a woman rather than what fans are used to seeing.
I have been told that "it isn't fair to the die-hard James Bond fans." In my opinion, if you are really a die-hard James Bond fan, you'll be a fan whether James Bond becomes Jane Bond or anything other than a heterosexual white male. If your fan-ship is contingent upon the race, gender and sexuality of this character that is always changing, then I wouldn't call you a die-hard fan.
"Why are feminists ruining everything guys hold sacred?" you may ask. Well, here's the thing. We aren't. Nobody is saying you can't love the original "Ghostbusters" and 007 films. Also, your prejudice is the only thing stopping you from loving the new adaptations. All we are saying is that we are tired of these iconic movie franchises being led by white males when women are just as capable. We are saying that women deserve more. So, give up your misogyny and sexism because times are changing. Women can be more than the male lead's love interest or secretary. Women can be the leads.
The same goes for members of the LGBT community. The backlash for giving Captain American and Elsa from "Frozen" love interests of the same sex has consisted of a lot of homophobia, including but not limited to "why do we have to shove gay characters down children's throats" and "stop trying to force characters to be gay." Here's the thing. The only thing trying to be forced down our throats is that heterosexuality is the norm. That's what I thought growing up because there was nothing to show me otherwise. From television to movies, I was taught that a happy ending was when a man and woman fell in love in the end. But, that's not the only type of happy ending, and heterosexuality is not the norm. If we don't start teaching children that from a young age, we are going to keep having this problem. Members of the LGBT community deserve better representation in all walks of life. Children aren't trying to be corrupted. Seeing a gay character doesn't "turn children gay." They need to be informed that there are other kinds of love out there. So, stop trying to shield children from something that shouldn't be made out to be taboo. #GiveElsaAGirlfriend so we can see a different kind of happy ending.
The other issue of heteronormativity is that just about everyone assumes every character to be straight even though it may not explicitly be stated. For instance, we can't give Captain America a boyfriend because he's straight — obviously, because he fell in love with Peggy Carter, right? Well, there is a thing called bisexuality. It is real, and there is nothing that says Captain America isn't bisexual or pansexual or anything other than straight. So, you want us to stop trying to force characters to be gay? Stop trying to force them to be straight.
Homophobia isn't going away anytime soon. I know that, but we can still move forward. It's now on the shoulders of Hollywood to make things like #GiveCaptainAmericaABoyfriend and #GiveElsaAGirlfriend happen and keep happening until it's no longer the norm to be heterosexual. The same goes for Jane Bond and "Ghostbusters." Men shouldn't be the default when we think of someone leading a franchise or a movie. Make the next Bond Jane Bond. Make more movies like "Ghostbusters" that star four talented and funny women. Represent a diverse population of different colors, genders, sexualities, backgrounds, etc. Let's work together to block out the misogyny and homophobia and racism to change society so that white heterosexual men are no longer the norm and no longer speaking for the rest of us. Ready? Break.
