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BRA-burning. My body, my choice. Don't teach girls how not to be raped – teach boys not to rape. #MeToo.
The phrases above are all sayings and feminist movements that are all too well known by now. Yet, what’s more perplexing than the continued importance of these issues, is their never ending repitition throughout time.
To repeat what was stated in the 2018 the documentary 'Feminists what were they thinking’ on Netflix, the second wave of the feminist movement attempted to break through that glass wall to gain agency for themselves and women all around them; to be seen as individuals instead of being wrongly stereotyped and clumped derisively as lesbians.
Now, apart from the waves that women have made for generations, the plight for gender equality, although still ongoing, no longer falls on just the shoulders of women.
Directing our attention to the topic at hand, Moxie. The 2021 American comedy-drama film directed by comic actress Amy Poehler, is a prime example of how the feminist movement has transcended beyond being just a woman’s fight.
I’m not going to lie; when I first saw the poster and the trailer of the movie on the homepage of Netflix, I immediately thought, “Not another one of those cringe-worthy, raunchy teenage American Pie-like movies,” but since I was bored and had some time on my hands to kill, I figured, why not.
To my surprise, Moxie brought more than just the typical coming-of-age narrative but also hit important points about activism, more specifically activism by young women in the fight for gender equality.
Set in a high school where girls are ranked yearly in the most misogynistic categories like 'Best set of racks', 'Most bangable', and other degrading terms toward women – a new kid on the block stirs up the status quo by refusing to conform to the patriarchal precedents of the school.
This disturbance shakes up our protagonist, Vivian Carter (Hadley Robinson), and pushes her out of her comfort zone; for better and for worst.
Long been hiding in the shadows with her best friend, Claudia (Lauren Tsai), an immigrant from China, Vivian’s first encounter with activism sparked during an English class where the new girl, an African American student named Lucy (Alycia Pascual-Pena), spoke up against the recurring reading of The Great Gatsby; “A book about rich white men, written by a rich white man.”
Almost instantaneously, the battle between patriarchy and feminism emerges and hence commences Vivian’s journey towards fighting for gender equality.
Taking the form of Mitchell Wilson (Peter Schwarzenegger), the high school football team captain, popular among students and teachers, and the man who could get away with anything, patriarchy is portrayed in its purest form – control and intimidation.
Mitchell, who has always been in control over people, immediately feels threatened when Lucy not only resists his advances but pushes back. In the attempt to help Lucy, Vivian advises her to keep her head down and hope that Mitchell just moves on to someone else. Unfortunately for all, Lucy is not one to keep her mouth shut nor her head low.
Just with the use of these three characters, Moxie has not only portrayed the issue surrounding patriarchy, but also the underlying issue of being bystanders.
Throughout the movie, we are exposed to more and more issues that have long been swept under the rug by the school. Mind you that these are not new issues that are just arising, these are issues that have been accepted for far too long that our protagonist is just realising.
One core example would be the dress code implemented in the school. When a female student who is a little more blessed in the chest area wears a tank top, she is sent home from school. However, the same consequence is not given to other female students who do not share the same body shape, nor does it apply to the countless amount of times Mitchell and his goons roam the school shirtless.
This injustice springboarded Moxie, a feminist club that was secretly started by Vivian when she created flyers urging the girls of the school to draw stars and hearts on their hands to show solidarity against the unjust misogny that the school conveniently overlooks.
Among the few protest efforts that the girls in the school partook in, a majority of them were on the extreme side, making the efforts portrayed within the film a little too hyperbolic. However, this definitely became main contributor to a significant message about the dangers of just being bystanders in the eyes of injustice.
Returning back to the 2018 documentary, the first thing one of the interviewees mentioned was that “in order to change it (feminism and gender inequality), you had to be disobedient,” and that is exactly what was portrayed in Moxie.
While the aftermath of the ‘disobedient’ protests may not seem like a big deal for most of the students, it was a life or death decision for a particular immigrant student.
Claudia, a second-generation immigrant from China, was content with being in the shadow of the school, not getting into any trouble and working her way up to entering a prestigious college, until her best friend Vivian’s aspiration to fight against the patriarchy sprouted when she interacted with Lucy.
As generations have passed, the flight for feminism and gender equality no longer stands on its own, but is often laced with intersectionality – the interconnection of various social categorisation – and Moxie, although it does not explore these intersections in depth, it does not dismiss them either.
Generally, this intersectionality is often overpowered by one section or another, turning arguments into fallacies, yet, Moxie remains focus on its course and highlights the main issue of society – the bystander effect.
We see feminism interconnecting with race and culture through Claudia’s struggles as an immigrant, doing her best not to stir the pot and get herself in trouble. We see it again towards the end when students were sharing their experiences during a school walkout in protest when an anonymous rape report was made to Moxie.
Speaking of an overlooked rape report, this was the final straw that broke the camel’s back.
As mentioned right in the beginning, the plight for gender equality no longer falls on just the shoulders of women, but all who are part and parcel of the system, and yes, that means everyone.
One might argue that they are helping by not being a part of the problem, a bystander that chooses not to contribute to the issue. Unfortunately, that is just not enough and in the words of one of the students in Moxie, when their English teacher “respectfully (decided to) stay out of it (a protest).”
“It’s convenient to just say that it is a woman’s issue just to say out of it… but if you’re doing nothing, you’re part of the problem.”
This may be a hard pill to swallow but when it comes to equality and issues surrounding justice, silence and pacifism only acts as fuel to the fire. Things can only change when all parties are united in the fight.
The turning point in the movie is when the principal and the English teacher, who have been passive, finally stepped up to the plate and worked towards implementing reforms.
The perpetrator towards the rape victim is held accountable for his actions (yes, it was indeed our glorious captain of the football team, Mitchell) when the principal finally took action against him. The English teacher also showed solidarity, although simple in action, by drawing stars and hearts on his palm when instructed to explain the school rules against protesting.
Regardless of how big or small an individual’s effort is, what matters is to make the effort and not be complacent by being a bystander.
Moxie may not seem like much on the first blush, but it is definitely a gem in the rough. – The Vibes, June 27, 2022
