Series, movies … Who benefits from matriarchal dystopia on screens?

Adapted from the short film A very ordinary day written by Ovidie in 2019, the series Very normal people (8x15min) immerses us in the world of porn, at the beginning of the 90s. We follow the first steps of Romain (Jérémy Gillet), a young sociology student in rebellion against society. Everything in this intimate authors series exudes realism, except that Romain evolves into a matriarchal society, where women hold power and behave like men..

An instrument of denunciation and pedagogy

To denounce the patriarchal violence taking place in all the interstices of our society, Ovidie has chosen to use an effective narrative tool: the reversal of gender power. Romain discovers the objectifying environment of porn, but she also suffers from ordinary sexism and domestic violence. Struggles to extricate herself from a relationship under the influence of an older woman (Agathe Bonitzer). In a mirror effect, its trajectory highlights the condition of women in our contemporary society..

Fiction based on this gender inversion has always existed, but paradoxically they are not so numerous. Try that they contain something deeply disturbing. This process appeals to the empathy of its audience, especially male. Accustomed to cultural representations that place them in a situation of superiority, men are invited to feel the disorder of the male protagonist through identificationand so on become aware of the condition of women, also to reflect on their own problematic behaviors… At least in theory. The fact of seeing a male and non-female character undergo this psychological or physical violence creates, on the contrary, a setback for the female audience, visually protected by potentially traumatic images. Which is not the case with dystopias like the series The Handmaid’s Taleaccused of spilling into porn trauma.

Matriarchal dystopia in the history of pop culture

This type of dystopia was first imagined in literature, in the genre of science fiction: in novels Sultana’s dream by Rokeya Hussain (1905), Protected Men by Roberto Merle (1975) Where is it The question of Seats by Ursula K. Le Guin (1994), women objectify men or use them for reproductive purposes. At the cinema is the director Alice Guy (see the documentary Be Natural: The Untold Story of Alice Guy-Blaché by Pamela Green, 2019), which offers the first fiction of its kind. In The results of feminism (1906), men engage in housework and are harassed by women who drink, smoke, and exercise boys’ club.

This satirical short film brings the seeds the characteristics of what can be called the genre of matriarchal dystopia, dark imaginary societies based on a relationship of inverted sexism. It sheds light on the plight of women, especially during street harassment scenes on public benches.

To create a striking contrast and provoke laughter, Alice Guy accentuates gender stereotypes. The use of comedy is frequent on this type of work, as if it were absolutely necessary to take the pill with a good dose of humor. Or that a story where women hold power necessarily makes you smile. In Jacky in the realm of girls (2014), Riad Sattouf depicts the “People’s Democratic Republic of Bubunne”, a dictatorial society in which men are socially inferior and wear the veil. To create this imaginary burlesque world, the director drew inspiration from Muslim, Western cultures and communist systems..

In I am not an easy man (Eléonore Pourriat, 2018), Vincent Elbaz embodies a modern macho immersed in a matriarchal society where he suffers from the behaviors he previously inflicted on women (karma!). This nice post from the comedy Me Too has it alleducational tool for contemporary man. Damien goes through the forced waxing session, precisely to denounce the aesthetic injunctions that affect women. A similar scene is featured in season 3 of Heart Map (2022, Netflix), who also has his own macho character to educate, Maxime (Guillaume Labbé). On paper, the intentions are laudable. But on screen, reliance on a good-natured form of comedy tends to minimize the reach of the feminist message. Probably aware of this trap, Ovidie takes a more realistic tone in her series and places Romain in situations that aren’t ridiculous. She confronts an elderly filmmaker with the behavior of a sexual predator and undergoes marital rape.

Male chauvinists and narrative limits

Politically charged, these matriarchal dystopias tend to emerge in the wake of the new feminist waves. Alice Guy’s short film was born in the early twentieth century, at the height of the suffragette movement. Its title refers expressly to feminism. It can be interpreted in the first instance, as an anti-feminist outburst or as a satire that makes fun of those who are afraid of feminism.

In the 70s and 80s, when the sexual liberation movements and comedy passed through there Silent (Bertrand Blier, 1976) or the SF nanar Sexual mission (1984, Juliusz Machulski) imagine men persecuted by women. In Silent, Jean-Pierre Marielle and Jean Rochefort are tired of “good women”. They leave to settle among men in a remote village and rediscover the pleasures of life. Its plot doesn’t question the notion of male domination and even has something to appeal to masculinists of all kinds. The women there become real “feminazis”. Taken in its post-second wave historical context, Silent sounds like an anti-feminist backlash.

We are reaching the limits of a genre that is essentially based on patriarchy, on heteronormativity and which tends to give a distorted image of matriarchal societies. And who says that in a situation of power women would exercise it in the same way as men? With a few exceptions, such as the recent novel The power by Naomi Alderman (2016), these works struggle to escape from their restrictive beginnings, to offer something other than genre comedy. So, isn’t the fictional feminist revival rather on the side of utopias? It opens up an exciting field of creative possibilities and imagines women’s stories freed from the patriarchal system.