Abby’s Movie Reviews

Hello readers and welcome back to Abby’s Movie Reviews! Today I am reviewing the 2006 film She’s the Man starring the gorgeous Amanda Bynes and the handsome Channing Tatum (I love him! Doesn’t everyone?). The movie is entertaining right from opening gambit, with the initial scene showing Viola killing it in beach soccer. However, I could not help but be reminded the entire movie of a piece I once read in my freshman philosophy class. Written by American philosophers Ann E. Cudd and Leslie E. Jones, their work “Sexism” can be related to his movie.

In the first true scene of the movie, Viola and the rest of the girls’ soccer team are seen walking over to their practice field. Instead of finding their empty field, they find the lacrosse team practicing and are informed that the girls’ soccer team has been cut from the school’s athletic program. Viola approaches the boys’ soccer team coach. He offers help if need be; so Viola insists on letting the girls try out for the boys’ team. The coach then laughs in her face and says, “Anything besides that.” He says that they only have two more weeks to prepare for their big rival game. As Viola tries to convince the coach to let them try-out, he blows her off and ignores her. Viola’s boyfriend, who plays on the boys’ team, approaches them and asks what they are talking about. The coach informs Justin (Viola’s boyfriend) that the girls want to try out. Justin replies by asking, “You’re not serious?” as the rest of the boys’ team laughs in unison. The coach stops the laughing and admits that he knows the girls are very good, but “girls aren’t as fast as boys, or as strong, or as athletic.” He continues by adding, “It’s a scientific fact; girls can’t beat boys. It’s as simple as that.” Viola confronts Justin and asks what he thinks should happen…to which he replies that his coach had said it all. In response, Viola breaks up with him (rightfully so). Justin tries to stop Viola from leaving by saying he doesn’t want to see her get hurt.

Now, you’re probably wondering, “So what?” Well, I am going to show you just how this proves to be sexism. Cudd and Jones define sexism as a systematic, pervasive - yet subtle - force that maintains the oppression of women. Let’s break that down to better understand it. Being systematically pervasive is having affects to a significant distant. Oppression can be defined as long-lasting unjust treatment. Therefore, we can say that sexism is a significantly affecting, yet subtle force that maintains the unjust treatment of women. According to Cudd and Jones, there are two reasons as to why sexism occurs. One is that, by nature, women are inferior to men. The second is that women are systematically disadvantaged by society. These two reasons are seen just in this scene alone. Because the coach says that “it’s a scientific fact” that girls are inferior to boys by being slower, weaker, and less athletic; he is inferring that just by nature, they are disadvantaged. In addition, because all of the boys are in agreement that the coach is correct and that the girls could not keep up with them; they are showing that society also disadvantages them. Cudd and Jones also describe three forms of sexism: institutional, interpersonal and unconscious. The main form exemplified in She’s the Man is interpersonal. This can be defined as the interactions between people on specific topics. A prime example would be that girls cannot play the same sports as men. It is quite obvious after this scene with the coach that their interaction can be defined as interpersonal sexism.

When Viola returns home, she runs into her twin brother, Sebastian, sneaking out his window to fly to London as his band as a performance opportunity there. Sebastian tells his mom that he is staying with his dad, and tells his dad he is staying with his mom. Viola takes his absence as an opportunity. Because Sebastian is supposed to be at Illyria High School practicing for soccer, Viola decides to dress up as Sebastian and pose as him for the two weeks before school starts. Her goal is to prove that she is good enough to play on a boys’ team in time for Illyria to face Cornwall, where Viola’s girls team got cut. However, she ends up making second string for the Illyria team. She got lucky, though, since her lab partner Olivia is the girl that her roommate Duke is in love with. Duke agrees to make Viola, who he thinks is Sebastian, good enough for first string if Viola can convince Olivia to go out with Duke.

Throughout this part of the film, Viola (posing as Sebastian) must continually prove her masculinity to show her roommate and his friends that Sebastian is worth being friends with and making first-string. However, since these boys do not realize that Sebastian is actually Viola, their sexism towards her trying to prove she is masculine enough to join them is unconscious. Cudd and Jones would argue that unconscious sexism cannot be blameworthy as they do not recognize it. And as long as they accept the criticism, they still are not blameworthy. On the other hand, it is blameworthy if someone is intentional in their sexism or does not accept the criticism.

Throughout the movie, Viola’s mother encourages her to compete in the same beauty pageant she won as a teen. As Viola is strictly a soccer girl, she does not take an interest in it. However, she agrees to it and works a kissing booth at the Junior League carnival. There, the real Viola kisses Duke. Duke then confides in Sebastian and tells him (or Viola) about him kissing Viola. The real Sebastian returns home from London a day early, which is problematic considering Viola was kicked out of Duke’s room and overslept through the first half of the game against Cornwall, the team that denied Viola as a girl in the first place. In turn, the real Sebastian plays the first half and does horrible, especially after Viola makes him look like a star athlete. During halftime, Viola explains to Sebastian what has been going on and she takes over as Sebastian. Meanwhile, Duke is still upset with Sebastian and will not cooperate with him. This leads to Viola revealing who she really is to Duke. Illyria wins the game when Viola shoots the winning goal, finally proving to Justin and the rest of the Cornwall team that she is good enough to play with the boys.

Works Cited

Cudd, Ann E. and Jones, Leslie E. “Sexism,” pp. 73-83 from R. G. Frey and C. H. Wellman (eds),

A Companion to Applied Ethics, Oxford: Blackwell, 2003. Reprinted by permission of Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Dular, Nicole. “Introduction to Philosophy.” PHL116. Franklin College, Indiana. 26 Apr. 2019.

She’s the Man. Directed by Andy Fickman. Performances by Amanda Bynes, Channing Tatum,

Laura Ramsey, Emily Perkins, Ewan Leslie and Lauren Shuler Donner, 2006.