Feminism in Jurassic World, Redux

Okay, I don't do this often. And I'm feeling ambivalent about it now. I feel the need to circle back to a previous topic, and to respond to another person's blog. Why? Basically because Someone is Wrong on the Internet.

When Jurassic World came out, I did a bit on feminism in the movie. Short version: It technically passes the Bechdel and Mako Mori Tests. It has some moments that suggest that one prior version of the script was pre-feminism. But the movie as a whole, perhaps destroyed by studio intervention, fails spectacularly to be feminist in any way.

Today, I read Lindsay Ellis' blog on the same topic. It is, in a word, wrong. And this despite the fact that it agrees that the movie fails to be feminist. But it does so by thoroughly mis-interpreting and mis-characterizing many aspects of the movie. (At least in my opinion, but it's my blog so that's the only one that counts.)

Prepare for the point by point.

A Feminist Look at Jurassic World

I gave my review of Jurassic World. It wasn't terrible, but it was hugely disappointing. And the most disappointing thing was the script. And, yet, I want to talk in a little more depth about a curious aspect of that script. See, it passes the two major current tests for feminism. And it had a couple other pro-femme moments. But was it a feminist movie?

(Note, I tried to keep it as spoiler-free as I could, but there were some specific scenes that needed to be referenced.)