Where are the rivers of blood and the mountains of bone?
I was promised mountains of bone!
-Winifred Portly Rind
Spoiler Warning: This article spoils the movie Boxtrolls. If you have not seen the movie, be warned. This is a spoiler alert.
There is an idea that gets floated around periodically that if you criticize a piece of media, you’re saying that it shouldn’t be enjoyed, or people that enjoy it are wrong. It’s why I get annoyed comments when I mention race in Frozen, or when people freak out when people point out the problematic elements in World of Warcraft. But it’s not true. You can enjoy problematic art; for example, I really enjoy “All about that Bass” by Meghan Trainor, even though the message of the song is kind of deplorable. I analyze media because it’s important to look at the messages we’re sending; especially the messages that are a bit hidden. This often makes it seem like I’m focusing exclusively on the negative, because there’s not a lot ot talk about when media gets something right; mostly just a “hey, you got that right, good job!” That being said, if you think I’m being too harsh, comment and say something; I’ll listen and respond, even if I don’t agree with you.
So I got to watch Boxtrolls last night, and I really enjoyed it. It was a clever concept, and the overall message of the film was positive (mostly). The movie is about a boy who was raised by the eponymous boxtrolls, and believes he is one of them; he can’t fit into his box like they can because he is “long-boned”, his ears aren’t pointy like theirs because he “slept on them wrong”, etc. Eventually, the boy learns that he was given to the boxtrolls to save him from the villain, Snatcher, who has been promised a place in the “white hats”(the town council, essentially), in return for killing all of the box trolls.
The filmmakers were really good at identifying privilege systems; the white hat/red hat conflict is clearly a power and oppression dynamic, with the white hats having privilege (one of them says, “Be rich! That’s how I got [my white hat]!” In fact, the villain’s entire motivation is an attempt to move up in his society from a red hat to a white hat. He ultimately fails, not because his quest (to genocide the box trolls) fails, but because the white hats have decided they don’t want him there.
There are three main issues with the movie: transphobia, the treatment of fatherhood, and the portrayal of women.
The biggest problem with the film was the blatant transphobia. Snatcher cross-dresses as a cabaret-esque performer to gain access to white hat parties. Now, it’s not really clear whether he would be defined as a “queen” (simply a performing cross-dresser), or actually trans; the reactions garned in the film are problematic regardless. Near the climax of the film, one of the white hats says to the villain, “Why are you talking like Madame Frou Frou — I have so many regrets.” The context of the line is clearly meant to evoke sympathy for the white hat being decieved by the cross-dressing villain.
In this case, the question would have to be, “If a child who was already wanting to be seen as a girl saw this movie, what message would they come away with?” The answer, of course, is a highly negative one. So the transphobia on display is pretty problematic.
Fatherhood in the film is a mixed bag. On the one hand, the protagonist is saved because his father gives him to a boxtroll before Snatcher can steal/kill the baby. So we have an example of a selfless father. Winifred’s father, however, is an absent figure, and cares more about retaining his white hat privilege than taking care of his daughter. The movie takes the time to define a “father”: “Someone who raises you, who takes care of you, who listens to you, and always has time for you.” At that point, Eggs(the protagonist) says, “Like Fish!(the boxtroll who raised him).” Winifred starts to agree, but then changes her answer, saying that Fish isn’t Eggs’ father. Later, Winifred’s father refuses to listen to the children, causing Eggs to challenge her with, “I thought father’s were supposed to listen!” Her reply is only, “They’re supposed to.” Unfortunately, the back-and-forth the film takes gives all sorts of unfortunate implications. Winifred’s father never loses his “fatherhood”, if you will; he’s always her father, he just doesn’t act like it all the time. Eggs’ father, thought long-dead, turns up as a prisoner of Snatcher, and immediately assumes the role of father. Fish is implicitly abondoned as a father figure in the narrative the instant Eggs finds out he is not a boxtroll. Except, we are shown Fish meeting the film’s own definition of “father” in the opening montage. The film seems to be saying the only valid fathers are those who share your genes. Which is a bit of a slap in the face for those of us who don’t exactly have a standard-issue father unit.
Finally, the portrayal of women has some issues. There are actually very few female characters – the only explicitly named female characters are Winifred and Madame Frou Frou; and Madame Frou Frou is Snatcher, the villain. While Snatcher and Winifred do have conversations, all of them are about either Winifred’s father or Eggs. So even if Snatcher is a trans-woman (which is by no means clear), their conversations still revolve around the male protagonist, so it’s another movie that doesn’t pass the Bechdel test.
There is one other named woman, but she is named by implication: Madame Portly Rind. She has one role: to get mad at Lord Portly Rind when he flirts with Madame Frou Frou in front of her. Seriously: we only see her in one scene, and in that scene, she hits him in the arm after he blows a kiss to Madame Frou Frou.
In short, this movie is not great at portraying female characters.
With all that being said, I really enjoyed this movie. It had clever writing, and a bit of meta-humor, and for the most part, gave good messages. I definitely recommend this movie.
Note: The quote and the title refer to a line spoken by Winifred.
Aaron K Collett 