Elizabeth Banks is an example of a woman in the entertainment industry who wants to make her mark with the same equal respect that men have. She made her directorial debut with Pitch Perfect 2 as well as reprised her role of a cappella commentator Gail Abernathy-McKadden. The 48-year-old actress took on the directing project of the Charlie’s Angels reboot while starring as the iconic Bosley, and expressed she had some regrets about the movie.
What Elizabeth Banks’ directorial projects have in common is that they are female-run movies. I think this can give off the impression to some that the rising director has a “girl power” vibe instead of just simply directing a movie that happens to have female main characters. In an interview with The New York Times, Banks clarified that she was proud of Charlie’s Angels, but was disappointed with how people perceived what she was trying to accomplish.
I wish that the movie had not been presented as just for girls, because I didn’t make it just for girls. There was a disconnect on the marketing side of it for me... [W]hen women do things in Hollywood it becomes this story. There was a story around Charlie’s Angels that I was creating some feminist manifesto. I was just making an action movie.
It’s understandable that Banks would want her project to appeal to the masses and not just young girls. The Brightburn star expressed her wish to have wanted to direct a Mission: Impossible movie, but knew that wouldn’t happen because those movies are not typically directed by women. She continued to tell NY Times about how studio heads and corporations should be asked questions about why female directors tend to be given poor products with unsuccessful outcomes. It was said that one of the reasons more fans didn’t watch the new Charlie’s Angels movie was in its failure to find its audience. Deadline reported that the action movie aimed at a female demographic of girls/women ages 13-39. Looks as if men didn’t show much of an interest in seeing kick-ass women showing their stuff.
Despite the disappointing Charlie’s Angels performance the remake experienced, Elizabeth Banks still stands by the movie. She defended the studio going forward with the reboot of the 1970s show with the idea of reviving a franchise we haven’t seen in years. She has a point as the last time we saw a new generation of Angels was in the ill-fated 2011 TV reboot. The Seabiscuit actress remade Charlie’s Angels with the intention of giving women the opportunity to participate in an action franchise. I would say mission accomplished on that front. She also helped audiences see actress Kristen Stewart in a new light outside of Twilight in her surprising role as wild and rebellious Angel Sabrina. This movie could be an example of why superhero movies should no longer be thought of as a “male genre”, as Banks put it.
Things are still looking up for Elizabeth Banks as she continues to make her name in Hollywood in front and behind the camera. Her Charlie’s Angels follow-up came from being given the opportunity to choose a project by a roster of Universal monsters. She picked The Invisible Woman which she will direct and star in. This will be another chance for the Power Rangers star to introduce audiences to a female monster instead of the traditional male-gendered monsters we’ve seen throughout the years. She also told NY Times that her starring in the by-the-book film of abortion access in Call Jane was important to her in educating audiences about women’s reproductive justice. This talented actress-director is what Hollywood needs in order to tell stories by women to the masses.
Elizabeth Banks may regret that Charlie’s Angels came off as a female manifesto, but she’ll still continue her mission to bring stories to audiences that she’s proud of. You can watch the upcoming movie Call Jane which hits theaters on October 28th.
