"Zero Dark Thirty" Review & Beyonce Bashing

It was quite the weekend for Girl Power at chez guru girl. We kicked it off with a little Girl Scout cookie selling and continued the celebration by enjoying 2 very different depictions of girl power. One had a lot more hair flinging and dance moves. This would be the Beyonce-at-Superbowl brand of girl power.

The other one was “Zero Dark Thirty”, a movie based on the real life capture of Osama Bin Laden, a win made possible by the dogged determination of a young, female spy who used her wits, not her spy kicks, to get the job done. There was no hair flinging in “Zero Dark Thirty”, but this does not mean the movie wasn’t all about girl power.

It was about a different kind of girl power, a strength based on intellect and the kind of passion women on screen are rarely allowed to portray. We’re talking passion for justice.

It’s hard to communicate intellect. That’s why when video vixens like Beyonce want to portray “smart”, they wear glasses. And sometimes lab coats, though always over lacy bustiers.

In “Zero Dark Thirty” there is none of this for Maya, the spy who gets it done. She wears well cut black suits and tasteful button down shirts. There are no Jennifer Garner sexy spy outfits.

That’s because this movie is about the real spy world. It’s about how surveillance is really done, how intelligence is really gathered and the inherent trade-offs, risks and rewards.

This depiction stands in stark contrast to the world of artifice that usually stands for girl power, a world where that power resides in sexuality. This is disturbing. Here’s what makes it more so: that power resides in a sexuality that, for Beyonce at least, isn’t even real. Nothing about Beyonce is real -- from her hair to her on-stage alter ego, whom she calls “Sasha Fierce”. Lately, people are even questioning whether Beyonce’s vocal performances are real or previously recorded.

 If Beyonce is one of pop culture’s biggest symbols of girl power, what does this say about girl power? That it, too, is empty or a lie that we’ll all pretend to believe?  

Uh-oh. This appears to be guru girl’s weekly rant as I’m getting all fired up here. I actually think Beyonce is okay. I think it’s okay that women onscreen celebrate their sexuality. It just bugs me when that’s really the only thing we see them doing. Because I don’t know about you, but I spent the morning doing lots of things but gyrating in a bikini in front of a wind machine wasn’t one of them. (Sorry, TN1970, I know you were hoping.)

So let’s get some more depictions of girl power out there. Maya’s brainy brand of it is a start. Go see the movie so that it makes lots of money and Hollywood is encouraged to get more stuff like that out there.  

Then, because your fella will likely be a little depressed after seeing the movie, stand in front of a fan and indulge your inner Beyonce. Fire-spouting guitars optional.