Is It The Chad?
Before I get into Charlie’s Angels, a quick thank you for being here.
FYC will hit your inboxes at most twice a month. Typically with essays and discussion of movies—old and new—that have had some significant impact on moi. Occasionally with some curated watch lists and recommendations. Always with a Letterboxd roundup of what I’ve been watching and what I’m looking forward to.
Now, without further ado, For Your Consideration:
In late 2000, I was 10 years old. Awkward, uncomfortable, and the only daughter amongst the thorns (complimentary) that are my three brothers. Every weekend The Johnno Men would be at the local football club. I hadn’t yet figured out I was interested in watching boys play sports. In fact, I rebelled so aggressively I decided dad’s least favourite team would be my favourite.
Football season meant dad and I didn’t get much one-on-one time, and my overall lack of any sporting ability (anyone remember my singular season playing basketball? Best we don’t) meant we bonded, primarily, over films. Aladdin, Indiana Jones, Kindergarten Cop, and The Last Boy Scout.
Action men saving the world, history, and the girl. While Marion (Raiders of the Lost Ark) and Jasmine (Aladdin) have their own individual strength as women, much of their arcs rely on the men saving them. In a family full of boys, that was echoed in almost every movie we consumed as a family.
Whether it was my desire or dad’s to see Charlie’s Angels is debatable, but it’s the first time I remember the two of us going to the cinema together, just Ellie and Alan.
It’s one of my first cinema memories, actually—and certainly the first that positioned women in the driving seat of the action movies we so regularly enjoyed together.
Glaringly 2000s in aesthetic and content, McG’s feature debut is a revitalisation of the 1970s TV series of the same name. The titular Angels are Dylan, Natalie, and Alex (Drew Barrymore, Cameron Diaz, and Lucy Liu, respectively), three private investigators working for anonymous millionaire Charlie. Bill Murray stars as Bosley, the middle-man and their only direct line to Charlie. Together, they’re tasked with finding kidnapped tech bro, Knox (a very suave Sam Rockwell), and saving the world from data breach mayhem.
The plot is silly but so is the film. A kick-ass, colourful, campy adventure with fight sequences that are bordering on parody and cinematography that is bursting at the seams with vibrance.
The hair flips are in slow motion. The dialogue is often painfully on the nose. And yet, while what we know of them is relatively sparse, we are at least offered three individual women with unique personalities. Stereotypical personalities, sure; a perky blonde (Natalie), a rebel with a heart of gold (Dylan), and a brainy overachiever (Alex)—but hey, Alex can’t bake and aren’t women supposed to be good at that? Subversion!
As a long-running franchise, Charlie’s Angels has always presented as feminist; one giant leap for womankind with each new film or TV series––at least, for their time. All the while relying on two rivalling concepts: women can be powerful and kick-ass in a patriarchal society, and women are very hot. Crucially, the Charlie’s Angels of 2000 insists these are not mutually exclusive: women can be strong and kick ass and they can do it in heels, too.
I would be remiss to ignore the heavy handedness of the male gaze employed by McG. Shots linger on unzipped bodysuits, bikinis, and bare backs. The sexuality of the three women with whom we’ve entrusted the world’s tech privacy is blatant at almost every turn: Dylan seductively licks the steering wheel of a car to distract a driver, Alex dons a dominatrix adjacent patent leather outfit to infiltrate an all-male office of engineers, Natalie collects her colleagues via speed boat in a barely-there gold bikini.
As an adult, these choices feel like a decision to remind audiences that whether or not they’re beating the bad guy, women are ultimately for consumption. But Charlie’s Angels seems to be in on the joke, having the trio leverage their womanly wiles to succeed in every mission handed to them.
“It’s a move that so paradies what men find sexy that it becomes strangely empowering,” suggests Anne Cohen for Refinery29. “Was it a vehicle for male sexual fantasies? Or did it subtly subvert those tropes, providing a rare example of female empowerment and friendship in one sleek, action-packed blockbuster package?”
The answer is probably both—but perhaps that comes down to when you first watched it.
This iteration of Charlie’s Angels entered the pop cultural conversation at the peak of third-wave feminism, when women were being encouraged to live and do as they wanted; reclaiming their power through their sexuality and traditionally feminine traits.
In 2024, whether the movie’s intent is objectification or empowerment becomes increasingly harder to distinguish, particularly with the added layers of racism in the film and the way that it intersects with this particular brand of feminism. But in 2000, my malleable 10 year old brain saw three beautiful women having fun, being friends, and saving the world.
This was like the movies dad and I watched together at home, but it was also completely different. In place of Schwarzenegger were women in red lipstick, fighting crime in a way I had only seen from men up to this point. It’s hard to overstate how significant an impact Drew Barrymore fighting five men and moonwalking out of a room had in the early aughts. Finally, there was room for me in a space designed for The Johnno Men.
It would take another few years for me to realise I didn’t hate football, and longer for dad and I to bond over it (I’m still a Collingwood supporter, after all). But in 2003, we sat in the very same cinema and watched Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle together. Just Ellie and Alan.
I think Letterboxd user dorimuller said it best: “Right amount of sexism and right amount of feminism equals a forever iconic movie.”
Last Four Watched: Freaky Friday (2003) / What’s Your Number (2011) / Neighbours 2: Sorority Rising (2016) / Neighbours (2014)
Will this be the only time Challengers doesn’t appear in my last four watched? It’s possible. Will it be the only time I’ll be forced to list four silly comedy and/or comfort films? Definitely not.
Favourite Recent First Watch: Suspiria
Suspiria is a visceral nightmare; equal parts gorgeous and horrifying. Luca Guadagnino is particularly apt at telling stories (new and old!) about all-consuming want, and Suspiria does so with such lucid dreamlike terror, it’s sometimes difficult to even grasp what it is that’s unfolding—in only the best way.
Favourite Recent Rewatch: Jaws
There’s a reason Jaws’ place in Hollywood history is so significant and it lives up to that lore every time. 10/10 no notes, except that they really did need a bigger boat. Suspend disbelief and stay out of the water.
Coming Soon:
There are a handful of things I’m excited about in the wake of Cannes, naturally. Particularly, Sean Baker’s Anora, Andrea Arnold’s Bird, Paul Schrader’s Oh, Canada, Yorgos Lanthimos’ Kinds of Kindness, and Francis Ford Coppola’s Megalopolis. Potentially controversially, The Substance has piqued my interest, if only for the stark difference between female and male critics leaving screenings of Coralie Fargeat’s latest feature. But for now, I’ll probably watch Challengers again.
That’s all for now, see you at the movies!