Zero Dark Thirty: Gender Construction

            Directed by the first woman in history to win an Oscar for Best Director, Kathryn Bigelow’s Zero Dark Thirty is a truly unique film.  Central to the film is a persistent CIA agent whose determination ultimately leads to the raid on bin Laden’s Abbottabad compound.  Maya, played by Jessica Chastain, is the film’s strong and highly intelligent lead.  Different from most military/war films of any era, Zero Dark Thirty’s strong female lead truly sets it apart.  But, aside from this, what does ZDT bring to the table?  

            The argument can be made that Zero Dark Thirty is, in some ways at least, a feminist film.  In Bigelow’s film, women are not sexualized objects placed at man’s every whim.  Rather, the films protagonist stands out from her male counterparts.  During one scene, Maya spouts, “I’m the mother f*cker that found this place,” when speaking to the CIA director in reference to the Abbottabad compound.  Her male counterparts take note of her unremitting confidence.  She lets no one define who she is but herself.

            But, Bigelow’s Zero Dark Thirty is also criticized as a film that doesn’t live up to feminist ideals.  It is argued that the only difference between ZDT and the countless other military/war films is that of the female lead.  And that, though Bigelow has been highly proclaimed for her work as a director, Zero Dark Thirty is yet another film in the American Imperialist machine.  Proponents to this school of thought proclaim that Bigelow’s film defies gender equality by promoting ideals (the glorification of war, etc.) that are fundamental to patriarchy. 

            Both points hold a good deal of weight, and both are, to an extent, true.  It depends on how the film is viewed, and by whom (obviously…).  ZDT does stand out from the over-abundance of military/war films.  There are a plethora of issues that have been debated around this film, controversy upon controversy has been stirred.  And, being all-to familiar with 9-11 history, the War on Terror, and the hunt for bin Laden, I’m not sure what to make of Zero Dark Thirty.