By Katlin Sweeney

Editor-in-Chief

“Kingsman: The Secret Service” reimagines the “English spy” archetype, giving audiences a younger, cheekier protagonist who may save the world in a contemporary fashion, but is still rooted in a dated, sexist ideology.

Gary “Eggsy” Unwin (Taron Egerton) is a teenage boy whose father was part of the Kingsman, a secret intelligence group. His father dies during a mission in the Middle East, leaving behind a young Eggsy and his devastated mother. 17 years later, he and his mother are struggling to get by, now living with Eggsy’s infant stepsister and abusive stepfather. After a series of run-ins with the law, he finds himself following in his father’s footsteps by training to join the Kingsman, under the watchful guidance of his mentor Harry Hart (Colin Firth), also known as “Galahad.”

The movie’s plot revolves around two major focal points: Eggsy trying to make it through training so that he can become an agent, and the Kingsman working to stop internet billionaire Richmond Valentine (Samuel L. Jackson) from controlling the minds of everyone in possession of his SIM cards. The film is exceptionally well-cast, the dialogue is infused with witty cultural references and it deconstructs the stereotypical meaning of “good vs. evil.” Colin Firth and Samuel L. Jackson make for an outstanding comedic duo, portraying an aging hero that wants to do right by Eggsy’s deceased father, and a villain who plans to create a mass genocide of the world’s inhabitants yet cannot stand the sight of blood.

However, the film is only decently successful in providing audiences with a diverse representation of women. While there is an obvious lack in the quantity of female roles, the quality of these characters are split right down the middle. Out of the main cast, there are 15 male roles and only four women (three of whom are blonde Caucasian women). These four females are evenly split as far as the amount of agency they are given in the film.

There are the two “stereotypical” female roles: an irresponsible mother and a princess. We have Eggsy’s mother, a woman living in a lower income neighborhood with a small baby, rebellious teenager and abusive husband. She is often portrayed as submissive, placing her relationship with her husband above her children’s (and her own) safety. The audience is conditioned to root even harder for Eggsy to succeed in his mission, especially considering the kind of “role model” he grew up with. Towards the end of the film we see that he is the one who ultimately secures stable housing so that his mother and younger sister can move out and leave the abusive stepfather.

Next we have Princess Tilde, a Swedish princess who refuses to join Valentine when he offers her a spot in the elite group that will be taken to safety when the planet erupts in chaos. This “safety offer” is a courtesy extended to the world’s ruling powers (e.g. the President of the United States, monarchs, prominent business leaders, etc.), which is a triumphant commentary on how the lives of the “elite and powerful” are prioritized. Upon her refusal, Princess Tilde is imprisoned by Valentine and removed from our vision, remaining in a cell for most of the movie.

Then there are the two successful female characters: the brilliant agent and the incomparable villain. While Eggsy is going through Kingsman training, he is competing against other candidates to secure the sole, open spot in the agency, a position referred to as “Lancelot.” He develops a friendship with fellow candidate Roxy (Sophie Cookson), who in addition to being the sole female contender for the position, is brilliant, quick on her feet and at the top of their “class.” While she and Eggsy work as a team to complete some of their tests, ultimately Roxy defeats all of her male competitors and becomes the new Lancelot.

Then we have Gazelle (Sofia Boutella), the ringleader of Valentine’s team of assailants. In some action films, the sidekick role is typecast as a bumbling fool who blindly does whatever their boss asks of them. Gazelle executes the master plan and makes sure that Valentine stays on target. In addition to her intellectual prowess for devising evil plans, she also defies the stereotype that all or most individuals in spy films be “able bodied.” Gazelle has bladed prosthetic legs, which instead of holding her back, give her incomparable speed and allows her to easily slice opponents in half.

Without Roxy and Gazelle, this movie could have been another bland “dude” movie seeking to secure ticket sales from the stereotypical teenage boy demographic – viewers that pay to see sequences of excessive violence, fast cars and scantily-clad, objectified women. Instead, writers Jane Goldman and Matthew Vaughn (also the director) did a tremendous job constructing two female roles that demonstrate how in combat, women can be just as quick on their feet, goal oriented and motivating to their team as their male counterparts. However, they are also more than capable of being intellectually and physically superior in battle. Roxy is the sole member of the team to journey through space to disrupt Valentine’s satellite. Gazelle is the reason that Valentine is able to continue his plans of destruction, handling all of the physical confrontation and battle sequences.

Where the film’s progressive plot plummets is at the very end of the film. Eggsy’s teammate Merlin successfully rewires the SIM card system in the building they are hiding in, which then kills all of the elite individuals and security guards that have congregated to watch the planet erupt in chaos. All appears to have ended perfectly, with Eggsy set to kill Gazelle and Valentine before finally escaping on Merlin’s plane. However, he hears pounding on a cell door, opening the “peep hole” of sorts to discover Princess Tilde. Rather than trying to find a way to help her escape, he immediately expresses his attraction to her, asking for a kiss. Rather than agree to this, Tilde promises Eggsy anal sex if he defeats Valentine and comes back to rescue her.

Suddenly the film becomes about the young male protagonist reestablishing himself as the victor, who must be more dominant than a woman in order to truly be “the hero.” Eggsy asks Merlin to figure out the password for the locked cell, which he ultimately unlocks and then enters while carrying champagne. Because Eggsy’s glasses have a “video feature” that allows Merlin to aid him in combat strategy by showing him what he sees, the audience watches as Princess Tilde lays down on the bed naked and shows her butt to Eggsy. Instead of Merlin making a comment discouraging Eggsy from using his ability to “rescue or leave” Tilde in the cell as an abuse of power, he merely closes his screen and leaves him to it.

While this may not seem like a problematic way to end the film, it is a deeply offensive “joke” that should not have been placed in the script at all. In a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly, Matthew Vaughn criticized viewers that were upset by the joke, saying instead that the film would be “flat” without it, and that people needed to “lighten up.” This is a phrase that is offensive in itself, due to how many times women are told to “lighten up” when they are being catcalled or treated as objects for men’s consumption.

“I studied all the old movies, especially the Bond ones,” Vaughn said. “At the end of ‘Moonraker,’ he’s floating around in space on Dr. Goodhead, and they say, ‘Bond is attempting reentry.’ In ‘The Spy Who Loved Me,’ he says he’s ‘keeping the British end up.’ The innuendo is pretty strong and always come from the men. I just thought it would be great to turn it on its head by having the woman say it. I actually think it’s empowering. Some bloody feminists are accusing me of being a misogynist. I’m like, ‘I couldn’t be further from the truth.’ It’s a celebration of women and the woman being empowered.”

If Vaughn genuinely thinks that female empowerment is derived from a female prisoner offering anal sex to a man (a 17-year-old, nonetheless) who has the power to leave her in that cell if she does not abide by his wishes, then he is hopelessly confused. It would be ignorant to say that Tilde has the same agency in the film as Eggsy, and it is clear that her perception of “saving herself” from further imprisonment is that she must use her body as a tool for escape.

Because he immediately tells her that he wants to kiss her, Tilde must make the choice to use his immature, uncontrollable sex drive as a way to ensure that Eggsy maintains an interest in her. Although we do not see what happens to her, we can assume that it is because she lets him have sex with her that she is able to escape a potentially infinite imprisonment. Yes, it is perfectly possible that she enjoys the sexual encounter. However, it cannot be ignored that if she were to have denied his desires, there is a strong chance that she would have been left behind (in a cell on a secluded mountain that you can only get to by plane, where no one will ever find her).

Vaughn also needs to take into consideration that if he is going to talk about female empowerment, his film was doing a great job up until this point. While Eggsy’s mom is a stereotyped character, the film does not try to make her marriage look happy or healthy. They do not attempt to cover up that the stepfather is domineering and beats her. Instead, they make it very clear that she is in an abusive relationship that needs to end. Roxy’s status as the top of her class and the new Lancelot demonstrates that men can be supportive of strong, independent heroines. The fact that Valentine hides behind Gazelle showcases that she is the true opponent to beat. The final battle takes place between her and Eggsy, with him barely coming out on top.

I applaud Vaughn’s attempt to be progressive and change the way that women are represented in “spy films.” If he genuinely believes that his anal sex joke is a tool for empowerment, this seems to indicate that he is completely ignorant of what female empowerment actually is. However, trying to approach this relatively complex notion through the framework of a masculine film genre like action is a difficult task. By ending his film with this joke, it discredits all of the work that he did as a director and co-writer to make a movie where women are on an equal platform to men. By infusing the dialogue with this poor attempt at a “James Bond”-style joke, he has sacrificed his ability to refer to Kingsman as empowering for women.

I recommend that instead of telling his viewers to “lighten up” about his heavily degrading joke, Vaughn should educate himself on what empowerment really means, in addition to refraining from trying to speak on women’s behalf in the future.