Featherweight Fighters

I was generally excited about the “Birds of Prey” movie because more women kicking butt the better. But after The Gail Simone (who wrote the most beloved era of the comics) gave it her wholehearted blessing I am super excited for “Birds of Prey.” And now, after seeing this fight sequence (the same one Gail visited the set for) I am super duper excited for “Birds of Prey.” Why, you might ask? Well, it’s all about that hair tie.

This, kittens, is why it matters having women in front of and behind the camera - and in every step of the process. We provide a perspective that most men simply can’t. And, you know, we’re 51 percent of the goddamn population. So there’s that.

“Birds of Prey” has a female writer (Christina Hodson, who also wrote the least terrible Transformers movie “Bumblebee”) and a female director (Cathy Yan, who also directed one of the first movie I ever saw Sandra Oh in, “Last Night”*) and a female producer (star Margot Robbie who is Margot Robbie).

One might say, come on, it’s just a hair tie. But it’s more than that. It’s recognizing that the female perspective - indeed all perspectives other than the straight white male default - are different and valuable and make things not only more realistic, but also more interesting.

*This is what happens when you Google too quickly and don’t check the date. Wrong “Last Night,” indeed.