At the rate at which controversies are emerging today, it is possible that you have already forgotten the commotion that was mounted around the soulless —heh— version of ‘Charlie’s Angels’ directed by Elizabeth Banks and that reached our movie theaters in November 2019 solely to stick a good hit at the box office.
At that time, the Columbia Pictures production was called little more than a feminist pamphlet; a somewhat excessive reaction on the part of the usual sectors despite the fact that, at a discursive level, the feature film is as subtle as a brick in the teeth. But we already talked about that at the time.
Action with a woman’s name
The one who has returned to manifest itself in this regard has been Banks herself, who, in an interview with The New York Times, has gone back in time and, among other things, has recalled the experience of shooting the film in addition to denying any propagandistic will.
“It was an incredible experience. It was very stressful, in part because when women do things in Hollywood, this refrain comes up. With ‘Charlie’s Angels’, the idea was circulated that I was creating a kind of feminist manifesto. I was just making a movie of action”.
The director has also expressed her opinion about the figure of the woman in the Mecca of cinema when it comes to action movies.
“I would have liked to do ‘Mission: Impossible,’ but women don’t direct ‘Mission: Impossible.’ I was able to direct an action movie, honestly, because it was starring women and I’m a female director, and those are the limits of Hollywood. right now. I wish the movie hadn’t been presented as just for girls, because I didn’t make an all-girls movie.”
But Banks is not just guessing; also exemplifies the problem as follows.
“I was told by a big producer of big action movies that I couldn’t direct action, that the actors weren’t going to understand me. I guess he was taken aback by the idea of a woman being able to direct Dwayne Johnson on a green screen. It was said to my face by someone with a lot of power in our industry.”
However, regardless of all the above, Elizabeth Banks keeps a good memory of his time in ‘Charlie’s Angels’. And that, in the end, is what matters.
“Let me just say I’m proud of the movie. I loved Kristen Stewart being funny. I loved introducing Ella Balinska to the world. I loved working with Patrick Stewart.”