Is having a relative or friend that is cooler or smarter
than you are your greatest achievement? If so, A Wrinkle in Time and Epic are
movies you will really empathize with. Epic is a movie where a girl is chosen
to help save a race of tiny people (think Fern Gully but with less humor, a
forced and awkward romance, no moral/message, and no Robin Williams) where she
is told that she was chosen for a reason. The ending conclusion? She was
chosen…to fetch her dad. But only sort of because it really came down to her
leaving a push pin in a map. Despite his tantrum where he said he was done
looking for them and the fact that he was convinced she left, he decides to
show up anyway and doesn’t seem surprised that she is tiny and arrives at the
exact right time to save the day. And then even after he shows up, basically
she just uses his phone to play bat sounds and that was really his whole part.
So, it is a good thing that the bud thing used its magic to shrink her down to
be there to use her dad’s iPod rather than use its magic to stop the Queen from
dying.
Wrinkle in Time, the movie at least, seems to carry a
similar ending message. The main character is the older sister of a genius. Her
role is to be a pessimistic, screw up and to just sort of be there in the end to
tell her brother, she loves him. But it also seems to suggest that if she hadn’t
been there a lot of what happened could have been avoided in the first place.
So…why did she need to be there?
For those who know Buffy the Vampire Slayer, there is a scene
where Willow witnesses the love her life murdered in front of her. Her best
friend is also shot. She is devastated and basically loses it and turns into
what could basically be described as a black magic goddess and goes on a bit of
a revenge spree. She targets the people responsible for her friend’s near death
and girlfriend’s death then decides that isn’t enough. Her best friend who
almost died, Buffy, has to fight her because she has turned evil. Her
father-figure Giles has to try to fight her. And no matter what she is still
stuck in darkness. She is about to bring about the end of the world when her
other best friend and the friend she had the longest shows up and stands in her
way and as she attacks him and tries to scare him away he continues to tell her
he loves her. He tells her over and over until she comes back to her senses.
The end scene in Wrinkle of Time was like a weak version of
that scene, but instead of fighting with his own darkness her brother was
fighting against a force of darkness that I feel like was never explained as
thoroughly as it should have been. And he pushes her around but being as
powerful as it is supposed to be, it seems like it could have killed her or
just made her disappear or something, but no. She serves as a reminder of his
humanity, but as the movie seems to imply she is the main character it
certainly seems like she should have more of a purpose than that. He could have
looked in the mirror and seen himself and had an epiphany. Wonder Woman was
about to kill a psychopath responsible for so many deaths and realized that
wasn’t who she was through a memory of Steve. Thumbelina decided not to marry
because the ring she received from her past fiancé reminded her of him and even
though she thought he was dead that was enough for her to call off the wedding.
Now those aren’t the exact same situation, it is comparable and her big moment
at the end could have been replaced by an inanimate object, memory, or his own
reflection.
You know what it seems like (to me at least)? Like they were
trying so hard to make it a female protagonist, that they just slipped the character
in even though they didn’t do anything. It would have been more interesting if
her dad shrank down instead or if her brother was the main character. If they’re
not going to have a role in the story, they certainly shouldn’t be the main
character. It would be like if instead of James Bond movies focusing on him
having some random girl be the main character and acting like Bond having to
save her somehow made her the actual hero.
In both movies the most interesting characters are in it the
least, while this wet blanket character acts as the central point. Yeah, it
sucks your dad is always working. Boohoo. You literally shrank down to the size
of a thumbtack and are involved in what is suggested to be some epic good vs
evil battle that looks like it will actually have an effect on the world as a
whole (though how and what that implies are never brought up) but sure keep
complaining about how your dad doesn’t spend all his time with you and goof
around while lives literally hang in the balance.
I’d rather not have a main female character than a fake
main female character. I don’t want some stock character who is there just to
be there for diversity. If they’re not going to serve a purpose, then lose
them.
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