Attraction With a Female Lead - When Will It Happen?

[RFRees]

How about Metroid?

 

[Imperius]

How about Metroid?

Unlikely any time soon. Not relevant enough for a full blown attraction. Nintendo had other more popular properties they will use first.

 

[Parkscope Joe]

TLDR: My question is - when will the current trend at Universal be broken? What IP could break this trend?

This is an interesting discussion because I think Universal has done more recently with women than before. There is no trend to break as it's already breaking. Plus a lot of attractions are actually HOSTED by women in person, such as Horror Make Up, Beedle the Bard, and more.

I think there's a way more interesting discussion than "is there a woman talking on a screen in front of me" and that is how Unviersal's rides give women in their stories more agency than others in the industry. None are the typical damsels in distress, fridged, or other tropes. Simply going "add more female friendly IPs" or "this IP has a woman as the lead" is pretty shallow response.

And of course I’m a dude, so the final call isn’t up to me.

 

[Alicia]

Skull Island sorta stars a woman Explorer. And depending on your driver, they could be a woman too.

 

[RFRees]

Simply going "add more female friendly IPs" or "this IP has a woman as the lead" is pretty shallow response.

I agree and disagree.

I get your point and agree regarding the agency they have given to female characters throughout their park. I think this is something that Disney has also started realizing and incorporating into their newer films... Media is definitely trending in the right direction.

And, I can see why you would say counting the number of prominent women is shallow... because generally counting bodies is shallow. However, I feel it's a bit dismissive of the issue regarding proper representation.

Who is on screen and their identity may not matter to you (or basically me, frankly), but tell that to a girl dressed as a Disney princess. I don't personally care to identify with the lead, but I can understand if a female were to choose Disney over Universal due to something we might dismiss as shallow.

(As an aside... In business, there's something called a SWOT analysis. It covers a company's strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. Disney cornering the market with girls ages 0-18 would definitely go on this SWOT. It's possible Universal is fully aware and purposefully markets towards families with boys.)

 

[tankart150]

If anything, it would’ve been ALIEN. But, that ship has since sailed...

 

[Andysol]

However, I feel it's a bit dismissive of the issue regarding proper representation.

It's not an issue...

If anything, it would’ve been ALIEN. But, that ship has since sailed...

Quite possibly the most badass female lead of all time. An Alien ride would've been mind-blowing.

 

[Parkscope Joe]

I agree and disagree.

I get your point and agree regarding the agency they have given to female characters throughout their park. I think this is something that Disney has also started realizing and incorporating into their newer films... Media is definitely trending in the right direction.

And, I can see why you would say counting the number of prominent women is shallow... because generally counting bodies is shallow. However, I feel it's a bit dismissive of the issue regarding proper representation.

Who is on screen and their identity may not matter to you (or basically me, frankly), but tell that to a girl dressed as a Disney princess. I don't personally care to identify with the lead, but I can understand if a female were to choose Disney over Universal due to something we might dismiss as shallow.

I’m not saying having the representation is shallow, but doing a “Put a Bird on It” as a solution is.

 

[RFRees]

I’m not saying having the representation is shallow, but doing a “Put a Bird on It” as a solution is.

Understood and agree.

 

[MrRoamer]

While I do think the "Leads" as you put it are mostly males, I think there may be some question about who the Lead actually is. Universal has been pretty clever with their naming conventions making it so that a character can be male or female. That said I think Universal's current state is more of a symptom of the larger. Once more current action driven movies (Universal's bread and butter) are made, I hope we will see more "True" female leads

All of the below past and present can be male or female roles:
Poseidon's Fury - I think Zeus/Poseidon as the archaeologist as was stated is likely the lead, not the final screen based one.
Jaws - The Skipper was the lead
Disaster - Frank Kincaid may have had a big part, but the person you are constantly with , Lonnie, I think was the real lead.
Horror Make Up - The make up expert can be played by a woman (often times a very talented one)
Rock It - Pick some No Doubt! :dance:
Forbidden Journey - Based on some of the examples used. I would even go so far to say that Hermione is the lead

 

[Miketheboss]

Oh god. The SJWs are coming over to theme park boards now.

I can’t believe a cartoon animal (Hello Kitty) was analyzed to try and prove your point. Second, why are you stereotyping what a female should look like? A female can look and act like The Rock. SJWs are the ones always placing others in boxes.

E.T is triggering me because I don’t know it’s gender and I can’t complain now about the lack of female leads on rides. Who will I look up to now.

 

[Imperius]

Oh good the person who provides nothing to the conversation except to say something condencening is here. Couldn’t just sit back and close the thread had to come and start trouble.

 

[RFRees]

Oh god. The SJWs are coming over to theme park boards now.

Since I expected this... I put this in my first post: "I'm not trying to be a social justice warrior and I'm not saying Universal is intentionally doing anything wrong. If I were to guess, Universal just went with the most popular IPs and the ones which were easiest to translate into an attraction at Universal while not alienating any of their core audience. It just so happens that a majority of the media is male dominated... especially the media with action packed thrills you'd expect to find at Universal."

I'm more of targeting this as a business perspective. Universal would be foolish not to consider this.

Note that I'm not an SJW. If you want to label me: I am a graduate in business (Bachelor's), psychology (Bachelor's), industrial/organizational psychology (Master's), and a former team member (5 year pin), who has learned much about how companies operate. I'm not just pulling this out of my butt... this stuff matters. I bring it up here because I know (well, strongly believe) this has been brought up within their company for discussions... so why not discuss it here?

 

[Imperius]

Since I expected this... I put this in my first post: "I'm not trying to be a social justice warrior and I'm not saying Universal is intentionally doing anything wrong. If I were to guess, Universal just went with the most popular IPs and the ones which were easiest to translate into an attraction at Universal while not alienating any of their core audience. It just so happens that a majority of the media is male dominated... especially the media with action packed thrills you'd expect to find at Universal."

I'm more of targeting this as a business perspective. Universal would be foolish not to consider this.

Note that I'm not an SJW. If you want to label me: I am a graduate in business (Bachelor's), psychology (Bachelor's), industrial/organizational psychology (Master's), and a former team member (5 year pin), who has learned much about how companies operate. I'm not just pulling this out of my butt... this stuff matters. I bring it up here because I know (well, strongly believe) this has been brought up within their company for discussions... so why not discuss it here?

Ignore that poster. Just a bitter person with nothing to offer here.

 

[shiekra38]

I still wouldn't discount Universal actively using several female icon leads for HHN...Something to consider

Also, Universal's rides and attractions are reflections of pop culture...So I believe as pop culture changes, you will see more female leads

 

[Clive]

@Legacy already nailed it. The park is reflective of popular IPs, which are historically male-centric. When they have the option, Universal tends to make an effort to include women - gender neutral hosts for Horror Makeup/Barney/Poseidon's Fury, etc., Kate on Kong, Bellatrix in Gringotts, etc.

In my opinion, Storm counts as much as Hulk does. They both have roughly the same amount of actual involvement in their attraction experiences.

Horror Nights has featured four female icons - The Storyteller/Terra Queen, Bloody Mary, Lady Luck, and Chance.

EDITED TO ADD: I think this is a perfectly fair question to pose/explore, I just don't think the situation is nearly as dire as the original poster posits. It would be great to get a headliner attraction with a True Female Lead, which will likely occur when/if a Trolls ride happens.

 

[Andysol]

However, I feel it's a bit dismissive of the issue regarding proper representation.

Since I expected this... I put this in my first post: "I'm not trying to be a social justice warrior and I'm not saying Universal is intentionally doing anything wrong. If I were to guess, Universal just went with the most popular IPs and the ones which were easiest to translate into an attraction at Universal while not alienating any of their core audience. It just so happens that a majority of the media is male dominated... especially the media with action packed thrills you'd expect to find at Universal."

I'm more of targeting this as a business perspective. Universal would be foolish not to consider this.

Note that I'm not an SJW.

Mike is abrasive and condescending.

But to be fair, when you say something like”media is trending in the right direction” or “proper representation”that I quoted above, that is about as cut and dry SJW as you can get.

 

[SkiBum]

Mike is abrasive and condescending.

But to be fair, when you say something like”media is trending in the right direction” or “proper representation”that I quoted above, that is about as cut and dry SJW as you can get.

I hate you all. I had to google what an "SJW" was. This is as bad as the Hyrule conversation where I didn't know what it was.

 

[shiekra38]

I hate you all. I had to google what an "SJW" was. This is as bad as the Hyrule conversation where I didn't know what it was.

I had to Google Mike

 

[RFRees]

@Legacy I think this is a perfectly fair question to pose/explore, I just don't think the situation is nearly as dire as the original poster posits. It would be great to get a headliner attraction with a True Female Lead, which will likely occur when/if a Trolls ride happens.

I agree 100%.

Honestly, a first post (blog/article/story/etc.) usually has a bit of hyperbole just to stir up discussion a bit.