1 00:00:00,422 --> 00:00:02,952 You know, my favorite part of being a dad 2 00:00:02,952 --> 00:00:06,211 is the movies I get to watch. 3 00:00:06,211 --> 00:00:08,092 I love sharing my favorite movies with my kids, 4 00:00:08,092 --> 00:00:10,688 and when my daughter was four, 5 00:00:10,688 --> 00:00:13,578 we got to watch "The Wizard of Oz" together. 6 00:00:13,578 --> 00:00:16,977 It totally dominated her imagination for months. 7 00:00:16,977 --> 00:00:20,195 Her favorite character was Glinda, of course. 8 00:00:20,195 --> 00:00:22,255 It gave her a great excuse to wear a sparkly dress 9 00:00:22,255 --> 00:00:23,909 and carry a wand. 10 00:00:23,909 --> 00:00:26,318 But you watch that movie enough times, 11 00:00:26,318 --> 00:00:27,751 and you start to realize how unusual it is. 12 00:00:27,751 --> 00:00:30,603 Now we live today, and are raising our children, 13 00:00:30,603 --> 00:00:36,953 in a kind of children's-fantasy-spectacular-industrial complex. 14 00:00:36,953 --> 00:00:38,698 But "The Wizard of Oz" stood alone. 15 00:00:38,698 --> 00:00:40,885 It did not start that trend. 16 00:00:40,885 --> 00:00:44,307 Forty years later was when the trend really caught on, 17 00:00:44,307 --> 00:00:46,656 with, interestingly, another movie 18 00:00:46,656 --> 00:00:48,791 that featured a metal guy 19 00:00:48,791 --> 00:00:50,175 and a furry guy 20 00:00:50,175 --> 00:00:55,386 rescuing a girl by dressing up as the enemy's guards. 21 00:00:55,386 --> 00:00:57,827 Do you know what I'm talking about? (Laughter) 22 00:00:57,827 --> 00:00:59,302 Yeah. 23 00:00:59,302 --> 00:01:03,025 Now, there's a big difference between these two movies, 24 00:01:03,025 --> 00:01:05,062 a couple of really big differences between "The Wizard of Oz" 25 00:01:05,062 --> 00:01:05,995 and all the movies we watch today. 26 00:01:05,995 --> 00:01:09,300 One is there's very little violence in "The Wizard of Oz." 27 00:01:09,300 --> 00:01:14,545 The monkeys are rather aggressive, as are the apple trees. 28 00:01:14,545 --> 00:01:18,152 But I think if "The Wizard of Oz" were made today, 29 00:01:18,152 --> 00:01:22,578 the wizard would say, "Dorothy, you are the savior of Oz 30 00:01:22,578 --> 00:01:24,340 that the prophecy foretold. 31 00:01:24,340 --> 00:01:26,414 Use your magic slippers to defeat 32 00:01:26,414 --> 00:01:30,027 the computer-generated armies of the Wicked Witch." 33 00:01:30,027 --> 00:01:31,679 But that's not how it happens. 34 00:01:31,679 --> 00:01:34,081 Another thing that's really unique about "The Wizard of Oz" 35 00:01:34,081 --> 00:01:37,384 to me is that all of the most heroic 36 00:01:37,384 --> 00:01:40,714 and wise and even villainous characters 37 00:01:40,714 --> 00:01:44,226 are female. 38 00:01:44,226 --> 00:01:46,340 Now I started to notice this 39 00:01:46,340 --> 00:01:49,485 when I actually showed "Star Wars" to my daughter, 40 00:01:49,485 --> 00:01:52,021 which was years later, and the situation was different. 41 00:01:52,021 --> 00:01:55,160 At that point I also had a son. 42 00:01:55,160 --> 00:01:56,887 He was only three at the time. 43 00:01:56,887 --> 00:02:01,033 He was not invited to the screening. He was too young for that. 44 00:02:01,033 --> 00:02:02,354 But he was the second child, 45 00:02:02,354 --> 00:02:06,127 and the level of supervision had plummeted. (Laughter) 46 00:02:06,127 --> 00:02:09,741 So he wandered in, 47 00:02:09,741 --> 00:02:13,770 and it imprinted on him 48 00:02:13,770 --> 00:02:19,412 like a mommy duck does to its duckling, 49 00:02:19,412 --> 00:02:23,191 and I don't think he understands what's going on, 50 00:02:23,191 --> 00:02:26,718 but he is sure soaking in it. 51 00:02:26,718 --> 00:02:28,087 And I wonder what he's soaking in. 52 00:02:28,087 --> 00:02:30,565 Is he picking up on the themes of courage 53 00:02:30,565 --> 00:02:32,682 and perseverance and loyalty? 54 00:02:32,682 --> 00:02:35,662 Is he picking up on the fact that Luke 55 00:02:35,662 --> 00:02:40,556 joins an army to overthrow the government? 56 00:02:40,556 --> 00:02:42,212 Is he picking up on the fact that 57 00:02:42,212 --> 00:02:45,315 there are only boys in the universe 58 00:02:45,315 --> 00:02:48,504 except for Aunt Beru, and of course this princess, 59 00:02:48,504 --> 00:02:52,954 who's really cool, but who kind of waits around through most of the movie 60 00:02:52,954 --> 00:02:56,183 so that she can award the hero with a medal and a wink 61 00:02:56,183 --> 00:02:58,736 to thank him for saving the universe, which he does 62 00:02:58,736 --> 00:03:01,962 by the magic that he was born with? 63 00:03:01,962 --> 00:03:04,928 Compare this to 1939 with "The Wizard of Oz." 64 00:03:04,928 --> 00:03:07,557 How does Dorothy win her movie? 65 00:03:07,557 --> 00:03:10,507 By making friends with everybody 66 00:03:10,507 --> 00:03:12,284 and being a leader. 67 00:03:12,284 --> 00:03:15,590 That's kind of the world I'd rather raise my kids in -- 68 00:03:15,590 --> 00:03:19,480 Oz, right? -- and not the world of dudes fighting, 69 00:03:19,480 --> 00:03:21,383 which is where we kind of have to be. 70 00:03:21,383 --> 00:03:25,163 Why is there so much Force -- capital F, Force -- 71 00:03:25,163 --> 00:03:26,850 in the movies we have for our kids, 72 00:03:26,850 --> 00:03:29,295 and so little yellow brick road? 73 00:03:29,295 --> 00:03:32,712 There is a lot of great writing about the impact 74 00:03:32,712 --> 00:03:36,959 that the boy-violent movie has on girls, 75 00:03:36,959 --> 00:03:39,577 and you should do that reading. It's very good. 76 00:03:39,577 --> 00:03:44,451 I haven't read as much on how boys are picking up on this vibe. 77 00:03:44,451 --> 00:03:47,001 I know from my own experience that 78 00:03:47,001 --> 00:03:52,626 Princess Leia did not provide the adequate context 79 00:03:52,626 --> 00:03:56,755 that I could have used in navigating the adult world 80 00:03:56,755 --> 00:04:01,356 that is co-ed. (Laughter) 81 00:04:01,356 --> 00:04:04,546 I think there was a first-kiss moment 82 00:04:04,546 --> 00:04:07,877 when I really expected the credits to start rolling 83 00:04:07,877 --> 00:04:10,680 because that's the end of the movie, right? 84 00:04:10,680 --> 00:04:12,977 I finished my quest, I got the girl. 85 00:04:12,977 --> 00:04:16,108 Why are you still standing there? 86 00:04:16,108 --> 00:04:17,553 I don't know what I'm supposed to do. 87 00:04:17,553 --> 00:04:20,741 The movies are very, very focused on defeating the villain 88 00:04:20,741 --> 00:04:23,329 and getting your reward, and there's not a lot of room 89 00:04:23,329 --> 00:04:26,220 for other relationships and other journeys. 90 00:04:26,220 --> 00:04:28,459 It's almost as though if you're a boy, 91 00:04:28,459 --> 00:04:30,540 you are a dopey animal, 92 00:04:30,540 --> 00:04:35,014 and if you are a girl, you should bring your warrior costume. 93 00:04:35,014 --> 00:04:37,202 There are plenty of exceptions, 94 00:04:37,202 --> 00:04:42,499 and I will defend the Disney princesses in front of any you. 95 00:04:42,499 --> 00:04:45,551 But they do send a message to boys, 96 00:04:45,551 --> 00:04:48,057 that they are not, the boys are not really the target audience. 97 00:04:48,057 --> 00:04:50,499 They are doing a phenomenal job of teaching girls 98 00:04:50,499 --> 00:04:53,871 how to defend against the patriarchy, 99 00:04:53,871 --> 00:04:55,836 but they are not necessarily showing boys 100 00:04:55,836 --> 00:04:58,670 how they're supposed to defend against the patriarchy. 101 00:04:58,670 --> 00:05:00,810 There's no models for them. 102 00:05:00,810 --> 00:05:04,083 And we also have some terrific women 103 00:05:04,083 --> 00:05:06,220 who are writing new stories for our kids, 104 00:05:06,220 --> 00:05:10,962 and as three-dimensional and delightful as Hermione and Katniss are, 105 00:05:10,962 --> 00:05:13,088 these are still war movies. 106 00:05:13,088 --> 00:05:17,196 And, of course, the most successful studio of all time 107 00:05:17,196 --> 00:05:21,326 continues to crank out classic after classic, 108 00:05:21,326 --> 00:05:24,070 every single one of them about 109 00:05:24,070 --> 00:05:27,840 the journey of a boy, or a man, 110 00:05:27,840 --> 00:05:31,484 or two men who are friends, or a man and his son, 111 00:05:31,484 --> 00:05:35,079 or two men who are raising a little girl. 112 00:05:35,079 --> 00:05:38,819 Until, as many of you are thinking, this year, 113 00:05:38,819 --> 00:05:40,545 when they finally came out with "Brave." 114 00:05:40,545 --> 00:05:44,552 I recommend it to all of you. It's on demand now. 115 00:05:44,552 --> 00:05:48,446 Do you remember what the critics said when "Brave" came out? 116 00:05:48,446 --> 00:05:52,854 "Aw, I can't believe Pixar made a princess movie." 117 00:05:52,854 --> 00:05:54,975 It's very good. Don't let that stop you. 118 00:05:54,975 --> 00:05:58,867 Now, almost none of these movies pass the Bechdel Test. 119 00:05:58,867 --> 00:06:00,053 I don't know if you've heard of this. 120 00:06:00,053 --> 00:06:02,875 It has not yet caught on and caught fire, 121 00:06:02,875 --> 00:06:04,956 but maybe today we will start a movement. 122 00:06:04,956 --> 00:06:07,738 Alison Bechdel is a comic book artist, 123 00:06:07,738 --> 00:06:12,844 and back in the mid-'80s, she recorded this conversation 124 00:06:12,844 --> 00:06:16,418 she'd had with a friend about assessing the movies that they saw. 125 00:06:16,418 --> 00:06:19,404 And it's very simple. There's just three questions you should ask: 126 00:06:19,404 --> 00:06:21,914 Is there more than one character in the movie 127 00:06:21,914 --> 00:06:25,515 that is female who has lines? 128 00:06:25,515 --> 00:06:28,095 So try to meet that bar. 129 00:06:28,095 --> 00:06:33,755 And do these women talk to each other at any point in the movie? 130 00:06:33,755 --> 00:06:37,208 And is their conversation about something other than 131 00:06:37,208 --> 00:06:40,524 the guy that they both like? (Laughter) 132 00:06:40,524 --> 00:06:44,856 Right? Thank you. (Applause) 133 00:06:44,856 --> 00:06:46,681 Thank you very much. 134 00:06:46,681 --> 00:06:54,284 Two women who exist and talk to each other about stuff. 135 00:06:54,284 --> 00:06:59,414 It does happen. I've seen it, 136 00:06:59,414 --> 00:07:02,362 and yet I very rarely see it in the movies 137 00:07:02,362 --> 00:07:03,529 that we know and love. 138 00:07:03,529 --> 00:07:05,689 In fact, this week I went to see 139 00:07:05,689 --> 00:07:09,303 a very high-quality movie, "Argo." 140 00:07:09,303 --> 00:07:12,962 Right? Oscar buzz, doing great at the box office, 141 00:07:12,962 --> 00:07:17,246 a consensus idea of what a quality Hollywood film is. 142 00:07:17,246 --> 00:07:19,930 It pretty much flunks the Bechdel test. 143 00:07:19,930 --> 00:07:23,737 And I don't think it should, because a lot of the movie, 144 00:07:23,737 --> 00:07:25,318 I don't know if you've seen it, but a lot of the movie 145 00:07:25,318 --> 00:07:28,776 takes place in this embassy where men and women 146 00:07:28,776 --> 00:07:31,453 are hiding out during the hostage crisis. 147 00:07:31,453 --> 00:07:33,342 We've got quite a few scenes of the men 148 00:07:33,342 --> 00:07:37,503 having deep, angst-ridden conversations in this hideout, 149 00:07:37,503 --> 00:07:41,519 and the great moment for one of the actresses is 150 00:07:41,519 --> 00:07:46,641 to peek through the door and say, "Are you coming to bed, honey?" 151 00:07:46,641 --> 00:07:48,642 That's Hollywood for you. 152 00:07:48,642 --> 00:07:51,087 So let's look at the numbers. 153 00:07:51,087 --> 00:07:54,649 2011, of the 100 most popular movies, 154 00:07:54,649 --> 00:07:58,894 how many of them do you think actually have female protagonists? 155 00:07:58,894 --> 00:08:02,188 Eleven. It's not bad. 156 00:08:02,188 --> 00:08:05,883 It's not as many percent as the number of women 157 00:08:05,883 --> 00:08:09,009 we've just elected to Congress, so that's good. 158 00:08:09,009 --> 00:08:12,013 But there is a number that is greater than this 159 00:08:12,013 --> 00:08:14,670 that's going to bring this room down. 160 00:08:14,670 --> 00:08:18,332 Last year, The New York Times published a study 161 00:08:18,332 --> 00:08:19,991 that the government had done. 162 00:08:19,991 --> 00:08:21,379 Here's what it said. 163 00:08:21,379 --> 00:08:25,595 One out of five women in America 164 00:08:25,595 --> 00:08:31,848 say that they have been sexually assaulted some time in their life. 165 00:08:31,848 --> 00:08:35,632 Now, I don't think that's the fault of popular entertainment. 166 00:08:35,632 --> 00:08:39,915 I don't think kids' movies have anything to do with that. 167 00:08:39,915 --> 00:08:41,693 I don't even think that 168 00:08:41,693 --> 00:08:45,248 music videos or pornography are really directly related to that, 169 00:08:45,248 --> 00:08:48,013 but something is going wrong, 170 00:08:48,013 --> 00:08:51,064 and when I hear that statistic, 171 00:08:51,064 --> 00:08:53,569 one of the things I think of is 172 00:08:53,569 --> 00:08:57,694 that's a lot of sexual assailants. 173 00:08:57,694 --> 00:09:01,054 Who are these guys? What are they learning? 174 00:09:01,054 --> 00:09:02,770 What are they failing to learn? 175 00:09:02,770 --> 00:09:04,920 Are they absorbing the story that 176 00:09:04,920 --> 00:09:09,447 a male hero's job is to defeat the villain with violence 177 00:09:09,447 --> 00:09:11,980 and then collect the reward, which is a woman 178 00:09:11,980 --> 00:09:17,028 who has no friends and doesn't speak? 179 00:09:17,028 --> 00:09:22,233 Are we soaking up that story? 180 00:09:22,233 --> 00:09:24,579 You know, 181 00:09:24,579 --> 00:09:27,346 as a parent with the privilege 182 00:09:27,346 --> 00:09:29,990 of raising a daughter 183 00:09:29,990 --> 00:09:32,859 like all of you who are doing the same thing, 184 00:09:32,859 --> 00:09:36,639 we find this world and this statistic very alarming 185 00:09:36,639 --> 00:09:37,776 and we want to prepare them. 186 00:09:37,776 --> 00:09:42,062 We have tools at our disposal like "girl power," 187 00:09:42,062 --> 00:09:44,796 and we hope that that will help, 188 00:09:44,796 --> 00:09:48,405 but I gotta wonder, is girl power going to protect them 189 00:09:48,405 --> 00:09:51,003 if, at the same time, actively or passively, 190 00:09:51,003 --> 00:09:55,956 we are training our sons to maintain their boy power? 191 00:09:55,956 --> 00:09:59,354 I mean, I think the Netflix queue 192 00:09:59,354 --> 00:10:02,610 is one way that we can do something very important, 193 00:10:02,610 --> 00:10:05,665 and I'm talking mainly to the dads here. 194 00:10:05,665 --> 00:10:08,515 I think we have got to show our sons 195 00:10:08,515 --> 00:10:10,371 a new definition of manhood. 196 00:10:10,371 --> 00:10:14,891 The definition of manhood is already turning upside down. 197 00:10:14,891 --> 00:10:17,022 You've read about how the new economy 198 00:10:17,022 --> 00:10:20,423 is changing the roles of caregiver and wage earner. 199 00:10:20,423 --> 00:10:22,077 They're throwing it up in the air. 200 00:10:22,077 --> 00:10:24,695 So our sons are going to have to find some way 201 00:10:24,695 --> 00:10:27,670 of adapting to this, some new relationship with each other, 202 00:10:27,670 --> 00:10:31,517 and I think we really have to show them, and model for them, 203 00:10:31,517 --> 00:10:35,218 how a real man 204 00:10:35,218 --> 00:10:38,987 is someone who trusts his sisters 205 00:10:38,987 --> 00:10:42,160 and respects them, and wants to be on their team, 206 00:10:42,160 --> 00:10:45,783 and stands up against the real bad guys, 207 00:10:45,783 --> 00:10:49,639 who are the men who want to abuse the women. 208 00:10:49,639 --> 00:10:52,690 And I think our job in the Netflix queue 209 00:10:52,690 --> 00:10:56,459 is to look out for those movies that pass the Bechdel Test, 210 00:10:56,459 --> 00:11:00,740 if we can find them, and to seek out the heroines 211 00:11:00,740 --> 00:11:02,326 who are there, 212 00:11:02,326 --> 00:11:06,115 who show real courage, who bring people together, 213 00:11:06,115 --> 00:11:09,703 and to nudge our sons to identify with those heroines 214 00:11:09,703 --> 00:11:13,188 and to say, "I want to be on their team," 215 00:11:13,188 --> 00:11:17,770 because they're going to be on their team. 216 00:11:17,770 --> 00:11:21,464 When I asked my daughter who her favorite character was in "Star Wars," 217 00:11:21,464 --> 00:11:23,493 do you know what she said? 218 00:11:23,493 --> 00:11:25,996 Obi-Wan. 219 00:11:25,996 --> 00:11:29,893 Obi-Wan Kenobi and Glinda. 220 00:11:29,893 --> 00:11:33,360 What do these two have in common? 221 00:11:33,360 --> 00:11:35,284 Maybe it's not just the sparkly dress. 222 00:11:35,284 --> 00:11:38,911 I think these people are experts. 223 00:11:38,911 --> 00:11:40,437 I think these are the two people in the movie 224 00:11:40,437 --> 00:11:42,005 who know more than anybody else, 225 00:11:42,005 --> 00:11:45,332 and they love sharing their knowledge with other people 226 00:11:45,332 --> 00:11:48,436 to help them reach their potential. 227 00:11:48,436 --> 00:11:50,444 Now, they are leaders. 228 00:11:50,444 --> 00:11:52,662 I like that kind of quest for my daughter, 229 00:11:52,662 --> 00:11:54,849 and I like that kind of quest for my son. 230 00:11:54,849 --> 00:11:56,760 I want more quests like that. 231 00:11:56,760 --> 00:11:59,360 I want fewer quests where my son is told, 232 00:11:59,360 --> 00:12:01,571 "Go out and fight it alone," 233 00:12:01,571 --> 00:12:06,776 and more quests where he sees that it's his job to join a team, 234 00:12:06,776 --> 00:12:10,876 maybe a team led by women, 235 00:12:10,876 --> 00:12:16,496 to help other people become better 236 00:12:16,496 --> 00:12:18,888 and be better people, 237 00:12:18,888 --> 00:12:21,170 like the Wizard of Oz. 238 00:12:21,170 --> 00:12:34,479 Thank you.