Film This Chick Stuff! Part One: A Call for Aid

[Yowsah1]

Not sure if this is exactly what you are looking for, but there was a whole slew of very successful "girl-themed" movies in the 80s I am surprised never got a remake, starting with with the Molly Ringwald movies SIXTEEN CANDLES and PRETTY IN PINK, through HEATHERS, and on to lesser efforts such as ADVENTURES IN BABYSITTING, NIGHT OF THE COMET, and the legendarily bad LEGEND OF BILLIE JEAN.

Also, there were the female-dominated soap operas that were always premiering (and dying) on prime time TV. Perhaps the most famous is the miniseries LACE, which culminated in the shocking-for-it's-time line, "Which one of you bitches is my mother?" But there were also innumerable miniseries based on the works of Judith Krantz (bleccccch) and a so-bad-it's-good short lived TV series called PAPER DOLLS, and the so-bad-it's-just-bad even more short-lived series BARE ESSENCE starring the fresh-from-GENERAL-HOSPITAL Genie Francis.

Finally, an 80s girl-themed franchise in literature was the SWEET VALLEY HIGH series of books.

 

[movienut]

Finally, an 80s girl-themed franchise in literature was the SWEET VALLEY HIGH series of books.

Now that is a movie waiting to be made. I loved those books, they were my generation's Babysitter's Club.

 

[HentMas]

mmm... i might not be the best one, but i do remember watching "Rainbow Bright" and "My Little Pony" those shows were amazing, and i enjoyed every little bit of them (when i catch a glimpse of an episode on youtube or something like that i still recall the show and what it was all about) but for the life of me i cant remember the big pictura of them all...

She-Ra was a spin off to try and catter to girls filled to the brim of what is now the stereotypical "tough girl"

and if i remember correctly in "Tundercats" one of the coolest heroes was "Cheetara" (same for Steelheart in Silverhawks)

i mean,they actually did something other than "being female" or "being a bad ass" giving them a character that was actually really memorable (who doesnt remember Cheetara running towards Lion-O hitting people on her path and then joking with snarf and stuff like that, she was part of the team, not just an Icon)

now i want a "Lion-O" live action movie

as for "more girly stuff" sorry dude, no idea... sailor moon might be a good try (they basically wrote the book of "Magical Girls")

 

[girlfury]

The new My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. Developed and produced by the wife of the creator of the Powerpuff Girls, who also worked on PPG. It only premiered less than a month ago, and the /co/ community at 4chan.org can't get enough of it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tjl8XulH51E&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZkeLzQv7Mn4&feature=related

 

[Ghengis John]

My only guess as to what you could make into a movie would be She-Ra. It has a back story full of magic and mythology and that seems to be okay with people these days. Of course you'd be telling the He-Man origin to boot in the beginning and you'd really need to get a good script writer because those were sort of silly shows. Cast a hot girl in the role of She-Ra and guys might just go see it. But then we're sort of re-aiming the audience to men aren't we?

Well all things being equal they're not equal. There's stigmas attached any way we slice it. I know that many girls didn't really like a lot of the stuff from the pink isle. I knew a girl who used to bury her Barbies in the yard then say mean kids took them from her, at which point she would pick out transformers at the toy store. And while we would think she's cool we might not think the same of a little boy who'd bury his transformers to acquire barbies. The people who make movies have to sell to as wide an audience as they can. That's all they're doing.

I must say though after seeing Scott Pilgrim vs the world people LOVED the fight between Ramona and her evil ex uh... girlfriend. The theater got quiet during that part and one guy said after "Chicks fighting is just bad-ass". So I don't know, maybe a She-Ra could work if you just took it seriously.

 

[mduncan50]

Bob, I'm thinking your reasoning is flawed as to why the "chick stuff" isn't getting the same treatment, because if a studio thought it would make money they'd make it regardless. I think it comes down to one simple fact. Women grow up, we don't. I can't think of too many girls I know that would stopping flipping through the channels if they came upon reruns of My Little Pony or Gem, but if a guys flicks to a channel playing old GI Joe, or Transformers, he instantly reverts back to 10 yrs old, for some a bigger trip than others

 

[Electrogecko]

What the hell people! Comment! I don't have an educated opinion on any subject on this article. I can honestly say that I never played with any action figures/dolls and never really watched any cartoons outside of Nickelodian. I was into K'nex and Legos and Nintendo...that's pretty much my childhood right there.....and baseball in the backyard with neighbors.
Is it insecurity that's keeping everyone away?

Some of us that would normally comment with educated opinions have decided to send e-mail instead. I know I did.

I was just excited because I was the first commenter...and it was pretty weird that it happened 40 minutes after the original post.

 

[VondeVon]

Well, thinking of the female-targeted cartoons of my youth.. nostalgic as my love for them is, I frankly wouldn't WANT to see them revived.

Lady Lovelylocks is something that wouldn't translate well to film. That volume of hair, the little magical creatures living in it... no. Maybe a CGI movie would be good, but it would either be true to form and target little kids (I'd buy it anyway. Unless maybe it looked like the Barbie movies) or they'd have to 'punk it up' for a more modern audience. FMBs would probably be involved. Gah.

On the plus side, the prince who would normally ride to the rescue was a dog.

She-Ra was obviously a glittered-up version of He-Man. Aside from those two, I can't really recall any female-aimed tv shows that I watched. The rest was Flash Gordon, TMNT etc.

Books of the age like Famous Five, Secret Seven or The Faraway Tree (all by the same author) had very gender-stereotyped characters. Only the tomboy girls were ever tough or brave and even they often had to be rescued by the boys. I'm not sure I'd be interested in seeing that in this day and age.

Trixie Belden was another 'girl detective' series which featured a primarily tomboy girl as the lead, with moments of needing male protection. Very occasionally, the other characters would remark on Trixie's unflattering tomboy-ness and occasionally Trixie herself would feel sad that she wasn't the kind of girl boys normally liked. I can't decide if I dislike this for the strong sense of only boy-like girls being tough or like it because such self-conscious and peer-pressured fears are normal to kids of that age... and Trixie inevitably continued being herself no matter what.

After looking at the kind of shows and books I liked best, I've discovered that what I really enjoyed were stories that weren't about romance. Friendship, danger, clever thinking, creativity and worlds beyond what I knew - these were what I wanted. These were what I enjoyed.

So if anything gets remade, I'll be happy if they just don't cram in a 'Mikaela'.

Seriously, how awesome would Transformers have been if she'd died?

 

[MovieBob]

Finally, an 80s girl-themed franchise in literature was the SWEET VALLEY HIGH series of books.

Now that is a movie waiting to be made. I loved those books, they were my generation's Babysitter's Club.

FWIW, Sweet Valley High actually has a movie in early pre-production, with Diablo Cody doing the first-draft screenplay.

 

[CaptainREBell]

Pound Puppies.
When I was younger, every girl was into the animal toy trend. They still had the Barbie hairdressing heads, but they also had a huge collection of adorable stuffed animals; some branded, some un-branded. One of the branded ones was Pound Puppies.
I had an episode of Pound Puppies on VHS (which I'd obviously gotten with one of my AWESOME purchases), and there was so much that could be done with it! Sure, it would probably have been tacky with awful voice actors BUT HEY, it was fun. It'd be really cool to see the animal toy trend (especially with a moral inspiration to rescue animals instead of buying them from a shop) overtake the yucky baby toy trend (which I was never into, but I've met a lot of little girls who are).
So that's my idea...ANIMALS R COOLZ.

 

[Taranaich]

There hasn't been a good fantasy action movie in a while, and there hasn't been a good one starring a female hero since... was Red Sonja any good? Ah, it doesn't matter it was basically a Conan Film with its inclusion of Ahnold anyway.

Red Sonja was part of the Conan mythos anyway, if I'm not mistaken. And was there really lesbian stuff between Xena and Gabrielle? I mean, in the actual show not in the endless halls of bad fan fiction?

*Deep breath*

Red Sonja was originally a comic character created by Roy Thomas and Barry Smith, loosely based on a character from the Robert E. Howard historical adventure "The Shadow of the Vulture." Aside from the fact both women are attractive swordswomen with red hair, there isn't much else in common between the two.

Anyway, Red Sonja became massively popular in her own right, and she got her own comic title. However, by the mid-80s, the Red Sonja trademark was no longer owned by the rights-holders of Conan, and so Conan could not appear in the Red Sonja movie for the same reason Death's Head can't appear in Michael Bay's Transformers, despite the character originating in the Transformers comics. This was compounded by the fact that a different studio made Red Sonja. Thus we have the bizarre situation where both Conan and Red Sonja occupy the same universe, but the two can never meet, unless one of them adopts a pseudonym (like Kalidor, for instance).

So yeah, Red Sonja may as well be a Conan movie, not least given how Arnold has three times the poster space that Bridgette does.

 

[Hiraeth]

I was just trying to think of things that I used to watch/read/play with and whether or not I'd like to see adaptations of them hit the movies:
Sailor Moon - No, I just don't think it would work.
Babysitters Club - No, I've grown up enough that I'm not really interested in them any more.
Barbies - Uh... I don't think so. I remembered the thing I liked about Barbie was that I could make my own stories and act them out using the dolls, watching a movie about them wouldn't be the same.
Nancy Drew - Maybe. I know this was already remade, but it was aimed at a young audience, and they didn't even try to entice us with the nostalgia value. If they made Nancy older, and made the story mature enough that someone my age would actually find it interesting, then I think it could actually work.

Other than that I don't recall being that girly when I was young - my favourite toys were Lego, my favourite books were the Animorphs series and my favourite film Star Wars: A New Hope.

One thing I might like to see though, would be a superhero film starring a heroine, like Carol Danvers for example. Especially if it was aimed at women instead of, or as well as men. It'd be difficult for it to stay out of cliche territory, but I'd really like to see what they do. Personally I think it's a bit sad for an amazing actress like Natalie Portman to be languishing as a love interest in a superhero film, when I'd much rather see her starring in one. And don't take this as a suggestion to make a Black Widow film starring Scarlett Johansen, she was one of the reasons I didn't bother seeing Iron Man 2.

One thing that I think is a problem with things aimed at young girls is the fact that what we were often exposed to is not something that we grow up and continue to admire. Take the Disney movies for example. I use to love them as a kid, and although I still love them now, when I rewatch them I take them with a pinch of salt. For example I no longer think it's romantic that Ariel was willing to undergo a drastic, and no doubt painful, physical change to meet a man that she'd never spoken to, so she could get married at sixteen. The Disney ladies I do still like are Mulan, Jasmine from Aladdin and Megara from Hercules.

 

[movienut]

Finally, an 80s girl-themed franchise in literature was the SWEET VALLEY HIGH series of books.

Now that is a movie waiting to be made. I loved those books, they were my generation's Babysitter's Club.

FWIW, Sweet Valley High actually has a movie in early pre-production, with Diablo Cody doing the first-draft screenplay.

Diablo Cody huh? Not sure how I feel about that. Lets hope it is more Juno and less Jenifer's Body.

 

[DanDeFool]

Jem is perhaps the best bet. Its one of the shows looked on the most fondly of the girl franchises for the grown woman geek. Jerrica is a girl with some musical talent who manages her own company, takes care of the needy, and is an international world travelling rockstar who raises awareness to issues. Sound like anyone we know? Sure the whole wonder woman vibe may be much but it says alot that not only was there some substance behind things but there was a good deal of accomplishable goals and ideas.
The big thing about girl franchises often is how constraining they were. NO girl franchise I hear about in geek circles, admittedly not much for the girl geeks, is enjoyed straight in every interpretation of the word. The Misfits are thought of as cooler. Every female fan hates Rio and even likes making the girls gay for each other to a degree.

This is mainly because all girl franchises often were about forcing you to play house only ya know with this specific toy.

Now as to My Little Pony, might I just suggest a second look [http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?t=489807] its got some exploitable fun there. but also, the main thing is yes, they are tools for imagination which trend to social networks not icons into narratives you can follow to achieve a destiny of greatness.

Peh, I'm sticking to my assessment that Jem should have been a holographic cyber-ninja and maybe did the rockstar crap on the side. You know why playing house is boring? You're emulating your parents, why the hell would any kid wanna do that?

Okay She-Ra is smuggling rainbow dust into New York and getting Barbie and the Rockers high and making their music suck, in fact it's a rainbow dust epidemic and all the toys are getting shit faced and dying in the street. Han Solo and Spider-Man are the detectives trying to break open the case, but they're carting Sailor Moon along as a klutsy rookie who screws up the operation. April O' Neal is the bitchy mechanic/tech girl who is violently hot for Han Solo. Shredder is the captain who is gonna have Han and Spidey's asses nailed to his office door if they don't knock off the loose cannon shit. Mean while Rainbow Brite is the rainbow dust ki-er queenpin? Anyway, she's using Ninja Turtles as slave labor and running guns from Cobra Commander and Destro who have eyes on taking the business for themselves, with a secret imported weapon, codename: VOLTRON! And yet one cannot over look pleasant baker Strawberry Shortcake, whose name keeps coming up in the confiscated files. Could something more sinister be on the horizon? And how does a ninja vigilante called Jem figure into all this?

It's a story so fucked up, the bat computer exploded trying to predict the outcome, can you?

That is the most awesome thing I have ever read, particularly because, as a kid, I would do this kind of stuff all the time. Getting most of your toys from garage sales gives you a different perspective on creating narrative, doesn't it?

Congratulations! You win THREE Internets!

 

[Taynas]

Also, Ouran High School Host Club is an excellent comedy anime aimed at women and it probably wouldn't be hard at all to adapt into a movie or live action series. Though of course, when we're talking about these foreign properties, the licensing issues would probably be too ridiculous for anyone to even think about releasing an American adaptation.

I'd love this- large ensemble cast of romantic stereotypes (many of the stereotypes are japanese so there is a problem there but) who are revealed to be much more complex characters then they originally appear. It's a romantic comedy but a good one- my husband loves it too.

Other then that, I didn't really watch that many girl shows or play with girly toys. The thing of my childhood which could be an interesting movie would be The Magic School Bus. Go Go Science!

 

[Darmani]

I don't get the Ariel Hate of Little Mermaid. She's an, amateur admittedly, archaeologist and explorer of a foreign culture she is obsessed with as a means for self fulfillment and empowerment. She has a variety of friends and wants to dance, walk in the sun, and etc BEFORE she ever meets Prince Eric who's similar boundary breaking and joyous spirit (her for land, him for the seas) entices her to a life outside her overbearing and downright abusive dad. URSULA (often the gamer girl geeks champion) is the one who tempts and tricks this desire into becoming a human being, running from home, and giving up her voice as a, get this, bid for reclaiming her lost throne.

Seriously Ariel was diving into dangerous places and wanted rather specific things. Admittedly there was some of the same rosey eyed conception such as the mice with America in Fieval but goodness sake. Yet come criticism time she's hoisted as the effigy of all that is/has been wrong with the Disney Princess. Technically she's fulfilling a narrative, at the time, often associated with dudes (or which JC Avatar is the largest variation to mind).

 

[greenkira]

She-ra is the only "girly" cartoon character I can really remember. Only He-Man was on in rural MN though so I only saw the movie (twice in the theater) and then in a fit of nostalgia downloaded it a couple years ago... at which point I was like, holy sh*t, She-Ra is all about lesbian Wiccan eco-feminists hiding in the woods and fighting fascist corporate patriarchy. Then I realized there wasn't enough vodka in the house to properly appreciate this, and quit watching.

So, She-Ra live action film movie dream team: Joss Whedon directs. Christina Loken plays the main character. Lucy Lawless as the evil sorceress that works for Hordak. Let's up his "creepy villian" quality by a factor of ten, make him quit pig-snorting, and have Christopher Walken play him. Shirley Mclain as the annoying little witch, can't remember her name. I'm trying to think of an actor gay enough to play Beau, the Resistance's token male. Maybe Collin Farrel? I'm not sure he could camp up the tights and rainbows costume enough, though, nor the heart-headed arrows. Or maybe Hugh Jackman, if you've seen any of his photos from his dancing days.

As no one could possibly come out of this movie looking even remotely dignified or straight, it should be as campy and over-the-top as possible while still being an action flick.

 

[Darmani]

Not Mine bot an rpg.net poster named Wakshaani:
As for me?

Jem and the Holograms

This show damn near writes itself.

Starlight Music, heading by corporate sleaze Eric Draven, hosts a reality show, the Battle of the Bands, to find the new hot recording sensation... winner gets a three album deal with them and the power of Starlight Marketing behind it.

The Misfits, naturally, are the front-runners, but over the first season, the Holograms get 'plucky underdog' status and wind up catching, and finally surpassing, them. A band made up of hard-luck former orphans against a spoiled rich girl?

Yeah.

Season One is all about the Battle of the Bands, while season two is the "So... now you're a rock star. What happens next?" expansion, where the girls face getting shuffled around the world like props, the road life, but also the positives of it as well... try to keep it real, but rolling along, with the overall arc being "Making your first album".

The Misfits, of course, continue to show up and harass them, claiming that he fan voting was fixed, that they're the *real* stars, and so on.

Season Three has them settle in a bit more, living a more glamorous life and using their wealth and fame to help people, but also threatens a breakup due to personality conflicts. While the second album is the focus, the *real* focus is on how fame has affected each of 'em and where they'll go next.

Season Four has the band in the position of being the 'old dogs' instead of the 'young turks' and sitting in on the next Battle of the Bands, where The Stingers walk away victorious. Romance in the air? Too many life stresses? Where do they go next?

Season Five's the finale, and oddly a future-past-retrospective done VH1 style would be a fun penultimate episode, shot in '2030' and looking 'back' on the band.

But I digress.

 

[Hiraeth]

I don't get the Ariel Hate of Little Mermaid. She's an, amateur admittedly, archaeologist and explorer of a foreign culture she is obsessed with as a means for self fulfillment and empowerment. She has a variety of friends and wants to dance, walk in the sun, and etc BEFORE she ever meets Prince Eric who's similar boundary breaking and joyous spirit (her for land, him for the seas) entices her to a life outside her overbearing and downright abusive dad. URSULA (often the gamer girl geeks champion) is the one who tempts and tricks this desire into becoming a human being, running from home, and giving up her voice as a, get this, bid for reclaiming her lost throne.

Seriously Ariel was diving into dangerous places and wanted rather specific things. Admittedly there was some of the same rosey eyed conception such as the mice with America in Fieval but goodness sake. Yet come criticism time she's hoisted as the effigy of all that is/has been wrong with the Disney Princess. Technically she's fulfilling a narrative, at the time, often associated with dudes (or which JC Avatar is the largest variation to mind).

I'm assuming that this was directed at me somewhat, so let me respond.

Okay, my main issue with this (and sorry to gripe about what is a minor point) is that she's not an archaeologist. Sure there are some similarities to the archaeologists of the past, who were rich men who went and gathered treasures and sat around discussing them and feeling self important, but even what they did is not really considered archaeology by modern standards. She's more like an antiquities dealer/collector, bane of archaeologists everywhere. Moving on.

My problem is simply that she doesn't decide to actually do something about her desire for independence until she's met Eric. Of all the things she wants to do, she puts none of her plans into action until she falls in love with a man she's never actually spoken to. She goes from being under the thumb of her overbearing father to basically being married. It's not something I personally can identify with. I guess by your definition of her you could say I'm somewhat similar to Ariel - I study archaeology and anthropology, I have a love of travelling, I want to see the whole world, not be stuck in my hometown for the rest of my life. Yet I'm 22, still not married, and despite being six years older than Ariel is supposed to have been when she got hitched, I still have no desire to do so. For me, it's like if you really want to see the world, why the hell would you tie yourself down before your life has even started. Maybe when I was eight I thought I'd be married at sixteen, but now I don't even know if I'm ever going to get married, or if I even want to.

I don't hate Ariel, I just don't identify with the character as well as I did when I was younger. Similarly, I no longer think that the story of Sleeping Beauty or Snow White is awesomely romantic, and I'm well aware of the Stockholm Syndrome implications of Beauty and the Beast. My point is that when I was little I wanted to be a Disney princess, whereas now I want to be Indiana Jones. I still enjoy watching Disney movies, but I'm not watching them with the same wide-eyed innocence that I was ten or so years ago. Because I've grown up, my response to them has changed, and while their nostalgia value is still strong, I don't necessarily agree with some of the messages that I feel are conveyed by the stories. My point was that as I've grown up, my understandings of those types of stories have changed, and they no longer hold the same appeal that they used to. That doesn't mean that people shouldn't enjoy them, rather if they're like me, they likely view a lot of those stories with a more cynical eye than they did when they first saw them.

 

[Neumanoid]

Dear GOD, please may there never be a movie from the pink aisle made ever.
There is a reason no one has made any movies about 80's girls toys, it's because they sucked.
They were shallow, had little to no back story or were incredibly dull or predictable.
Boy?s toys from the same period normally had huge story arcs behind them, backing up the brand. Girls had none of that.
We were expected to grow up to represent the toys we played with as children; they were reinforcing the stereotype we were expected to maintain as adults.
As a geek girl growing up in the late 80's I spent the majority of my time playing with boy's toys because the girl?s ones were boring. Also, I fed any Barbie?s I was given to my dog...
I think most of the responses from geekish women my age will reflect this same view, that what we were expected to like as children we didn't. Girl toys were boring and so we played with boy?s toys, making us targets for massive criticism and chastisement from adults and children alike. This is why so many female geeks and games my age are closeted, we learned early on to hide our geek ways in order to avoid negative comments and hurtful remarks.
Also, the few girl stories/toys that we did play with as children have lost their appeal as we grew up, their innocent story and underlying messages now make us cringe at the idea of the stereotypes they represent.