Page 13 - The Staunch Test
P. 13
THE STAUNCH TEST
Promising Young Woman (Film, 2021)
If there is some violence to a woman or women, but the film or show is clearly
trying to highlight, criticise or challenge that violence as its main premise, that
could be deemed a Staunch Test DEBATE.
Many films and TV dramas attempt to take this latter stance, but don’t succeed
convincingly for various reasons. In which case, they are simply tagged as a FAIL.
In fact, all the titles that we assign the ‘debate’ tag to are literal ‘fails’ under our
criteria. But when filmmakers are clearly trying to address the kinds of violence
women face in an illuminating, challenging or particularly condemning way, this
is important, and we support their efforts and intention.
But it does have to be a central premise, not just characters showing sympathy
for a female victim’s plight.
