The heist genre has been made famous by men for many decades as seen in films like the Ocean’s trilogy movies, the anti-heroes did not have any external or internal motivations other than the fact that they were seeking justified violence. Their main goal is to plan and execute the heist to the best of their ability. However, women-led heist movies are reinventing the genre. While looking at male and female-centered heist movies, there is a massive contrast between them, especially in regards to how female characters are portrayed in this male-dominated genre. Films such as Widows and Ocean’s 8 focus on woman-centric stories that illustrate female strength and empowerment. Since the rise of the #MeToo and Time’s Up movement, there has been a shift in the industry to produce more female-led movies that were previously dominated by their male counterparts. Genres such as action, crime, mystery, and heist were given reboots and spin-offs so that studios prioritised their movies to appeal to the female demographics. There is an understanding between the awareness of female representation and acknowledging how female characters are being portrayed in male-dominated genres.
According to Elissa Michelle Day, who explains that even though those aspects differ for each heist film, there is an important aspect to discuss which is how the female characters are portrayed in Ocean’s 8. It was expected of the female-cast heist spin-off to break some barriers in this genre. Historically, women are sexually objectified on screen, and in the case of the Ocean’s trilogy, female characters are more likely to be love interests, helpers, or eventually revealed to be traitors at the end. A female character’s purpose in these movies is useless and only exist to serve the purpose of being sexually objectified by the male characters.
An issue that the Ocean’s trilogy by Steven Soderbergh has is its lack of female characters. In Ocean’s Eleven, Danny and his group of friends plan a heist to rob Terry Benedict’s (Andy Garcia) casino, which is also the love interest of Danny’s ex-wife, Tess Ocean (Julia Roberts). Tess is talented and intelligent, but her only role in the movie is to be Terry’s love interest and to repeatedly remind Danny of that fact when he tries to woo her back. Tess does not have anything to offer other than an emotional aspect for Danny. She does not become part of the heist until Ocean’s Twelve, where she is asked to fly to Amsterdam to help the group complete their goal. In the sequel, an additional female character, Isabel Lahiri (Catherine Zeta-Jones), a Europol agent, is added to the roster. Lahiri is an expert in robberies and the love interest of Danny’s partner-in-crime, Rusty Ryan (Brad Pitt). Isabel has a bigger role than Tess. She knows every major robbery and how they were executed, and has been on the hunt for the “Night Fox” for many years. However, in the final film Ocean’s Thirteen, both Tess and Isabel are practically non-existent. They are only mentioned in dialogue by Danny and Rusty as they talk about their relationship problems. Also, another female character named Abigail Sponder (Ellen Barkin), Willy Bank’s (Al Pacino) assistant, gets romantically involved with another heist member of Danny’s, Linus Caldwell (Matt Damon) in disguise. Linus applies a secret scent that seduces her to get intimate with him. As Linus switches the diamonds, he continues to deceive her. In this scene, she is heavily intoxicated and begs Linus to touch her chest, which he rejects. Then she forcefully takes Linus’ pants down when they are interrupted by the FBI, who reveals his true identity to her. Abigail’s purpose was to be seduced, sexually objectified, and lied to by Linus. Her arc in the film is so minimal and weak because she is only viewed as an object to be gawked at.
In contrast, Ocean’s 8 focuses on Danny Ocean’s (George Clooney) sister, Debbie Ocean (Sandra Bullock), a con artist recently released from prison. She reunites with her former partner-in-crime, Lou (Cate Blanchett) to round up a team, including a hacker, Nine Ball (Rihanna), jewelry maker, Amita (Mindy Kaling), fashion designer, Rose (Helena Bonham-Carter), a street hustler, and pickpocketer, Constance (Awkwafina), and profiteer, Tammy (Sarah Paulson) to steal a diamond necklace during the Met Gala. What sets this female-centred heist movie apart is how different the women are compared to the Ocean’s trilogy. Debbie and her group of criminals are not sexually objectified, they do not have stereotypical roles, and the film contains a more progressive portrayal of women.
Day explains that the trends of women’s empowerment with the portrayals of women in film, identifying the masculine and feminine observations of the Ocean’s franchise includes the object of desire and dialogue that helps support the narrative while also focusing on the gender stereotypes of these characters. This also plays into the role of friendship and the narrative of the franchise. The Ocean’s franchise has the same characters and narratives, however, Ocean’s 8 has the stereotypical interests of women, diamonds, and high fashion. For Danny and Debbie, who wish to continue their family legacy of con artistry, their motivations are different. Danny’s motivation for the heist is love and Debbie’s is revenge, disguised through diamonds.
Ocean’s 8 has its own set of problems. The characters are dressed stereotypically, however, they have a bit more versatility in their outfits. Debbie, apart from wearing an orange jumpsuit at the beginning, wears fitted mid-length dresses, dress pants, and blouses for the remainder of the film. Lou dresses in pantsuits, jumpsuits, blazers, leather jackets and is characterised to have a more masculine, edgy look to her character. The other characters, Nine Ball and Constance are dressed in a masculine/tomboyish manner. Nine Ball wears oversized sweatshirts, ripped jeans, and a Rastafarian hat whereas Constance wears the same type of clothes too. Their characters are not overly feminized and sometimes wore masculinised wardrobes. This allowed characters like Lou, who was styled in an androgynous way to be broken away from assumptions and managed to focus on the narrative, instead of the female body.
When Debbie and her team are planning to execute the heist, each character is assigned a dress to wear when they leave the event. When Amita dismembers the necklace, Constance grabs the pieces and distributes them to the other characters who are present at the Gala. Debbie and her criminal gang wear the dismembered diamond necklace as accessories as they escape. The camera focuses on each of the characters’ gowns, they were not overly sexualised but the dresses themselves were meant to invoke a sex appeal in the characters. While Day states that the costume design in Ocean’s 8 does not sexually objectify the women on screen, this scene enforces a stereotypical aesthetic archetype of female characters.
Another heist movie from the same year was Widows, which discusses complex themes of racism, corruption, and violence. Veronica Rawlings’ (Viola Davis) husband, Harry (Liam Neeson) and his criminal gang’s van blow up after stealing money from a crime boss, Jamal Mannings (Brian Tyree Henry). Rawlings is forced to pay back the money that was lost, by devising a plan to steal money from an important politician’s home. When Alice (Elizabeth Debicki) becomes a young widow, her mother forces her to become an escort and begins a transactional relationship/girlfriend experience with David (Lukas Haas). Linda (Michelle Rodriguez) is unable to support her children after she loses her store and learns that her husband gambled away the rent payments. After the fourth widow, Amanda (Carrie Coon) does not show up, Linda recruits her babysitter, Belle (Cynthia Erivo) to become their getaway driver.
The four women are separated by race, class, and age, and none of them has experience robbing banks. They are pushed into the life of criminality due to the circumstances presented to them. There is no competition or sexist ideas between these characters because their goal is to survive by dealing with the external and internal factors of why each woman has to participate in the heist. The film also explores the social, economic, and political backgrounds and critiques the corrupt systems and launders political gain from the people who live in that town. Veronica, Alice, Linda, and Belle use their own set of skills and talent to devise a plan from the beginning by obtaining transport, buying guns, and scouting the location. In a scene where Alice is tasked to identify the blueprint using Lukas’ knowledge of the real estate business, she uses her sexuality and beauty as armour to protect themselves and to get the necessary information, and complete the mission. They are determined to finish the job no matter what challenges they are presented with, as they believe that people underestimate them. WhenAlice, Linda, and Belle question whether they can go ahead with the heist, Veronica implores the rest of the group, says that people would expect them to fail. She explains, “No one thinks we have the balls to pull this off.” By the end of the film, they learn to become independent, totally removing themselves from their husband’s debts and their previous lives.
There are criticisms of female characters in Ocean’s 8 and Widows being controlled narratively and visually by the male gaze and for the consumption of the gaze. While these two movies are seen as trailblazing, they are no the first to include women in revolutionary roles of the heist genre. Similarly, Charles Crichton’s A Fish Called Wanda deals with the female protagonist directly attacking the patriarchal power structure and traditional womanhood as she double-crosses the male characters using her sexuality and femininity. F. Gary Gray’s Set It Off deals with four Black women who rob a bank to improve their lives but are faced with systemic obstacles and institutional bias such as sexism, racism, and classism. A Fish Called Wanda and Set It Off movies are faced with a new perspective and discovery of fresh storylines in a genre that is frustratingly male-focused.
A Fish Called Wanda is a caper film, starring Jaime Lee Curtis that begins with planning and executing a heist. What comes after that are the characters crossing and double-crossing each other to retrieve the stolen diamonds. What is interesting about A Fish Called Wanda is the portrayal of Wanda. Wanda is the only female character and she uses her sexuality to manipulate her boyfriend and the rest of the group to get what she wants. She uses her sexuality and femininity to seduce her boyfriend’s barrister, Archie Leach (John Cleese) into getting information about the location of the diamonds. She pretends to be an admirer of his work and enthusiastically compliments him for doing his job, and he quickly falls for her. When Wanda manipulates him into going on a date with Archie, she wears a short black dress, exposing her cleavage, and wears lipstick. Archie, who is completely enamoured by her presence is unaware of what her actions are as she seductively tries to get more information about the diamonds.
What sets Wanda apart from the other female-centred heist movies is that she is not ashamed or embarrassed to express her sexuality and femininity to control and manipulate the male characters. The movie does not try to punish her either or her sexual appetite with her other boyfriend, Otto (Kevin Kline), who she also tries to double-cross. In a hilarious sequence, cut back and forth between Archie and his wife getting ready for bed, Wanda is turned on by Otto speaking in Italian. The comedy in the sequence is exaggerated as Otto and Wanda participate in some freaky business. Furthermore, Wanda casts her spell on her friend, Ken Pile (Michael Palin) after she discovers that key in his fish tank. She pretends to get a call from someone who informed her that the loot is at a garage. Wanda knows that her boyfriend moved the loot somewhere so she kisses Ken to find out where the diamonds are located. To her disappointment, Ken does not know where it is but she finds out that the key is to the safety deposit box. Wanda deals with these situations with a sense of pleasure and silliness. Her sexuality is sinister and alluring to the male characters and she gets everything done without any shame or guilt, which fundamentality sets it apart from the other heist films.
Set It Off revolves around four close friends who plan and decide to rob a bank. After Frankie (Vivica A. Fox), a bank teller, is fired after a robbery, she goes to work with her three best friends, Cleo (Queen Latifah), Stony (Jada Pinkett Smith), and Tiesan (Kimberly Elise) at Luther’s Janitorial Services. The four friends are tired of working low-paying jobs so Cleo suggests that they rob a bank. Each character is faced with personal and systemic challenges, but they are determined to stick together and execute the robbery.
The movie sympathetically captures their experiences as they are presented with obstacles. The four best friends are trying to make an honest living as financial and systemic restrictions make it nearly impossible for them to achieve their goals. Their motivations are specific to them as the film explores the experience of poor Black working-class women. Their pursuit to provide for their families makes them do unthinkable things but their reasons are justified. Stony raises her brother all by herself and wants him to go to college. Unfortunately, he is gunned down by the cops in a case of police brutality and mistaken identity. After her brother’s death, she agrees to rob the bank. Tiesan’s motivation begins when her son is taken away by Child Protective Services after she takes him to her job as she is unable to pay for childcare. Frankie loses her job at the bank only because she lived in the same project as the bank robber. Cleo deals with homophobia from her boss, and she has had enough of how the world is treating her.
When analyzing the female characters in the heist genre, there is a lot to consider, from the costume design to their characteristics traits, it is important to highlight the gendered stereotypes and sexual objectification of women in this genre. The traditional ways in which these women were reinforced in films are changing and the negative narratives are no longer being represented in reboots and franchisees alike. Female-led movies, in general, have a more progressive portrayal in the film, and Ocean’s 8, Widows, A Fish Called Wanda, and Set It Off are the markers that will serve future potential changes within Hollywood.
A great heist film is executed through its conception and execution. While the characters may have no experience with robbing a bank, each of the female characters has special skills, talent, and inside knowledge to execute the mission. When they are presented with obstacles, they improvise. These are not the conventional heist archetypes who are sexually objectified or written as love interests or helpers – they are taking the narrative back. These stories are crafted with intelligence, and with a note on social conscience that the Ocean’s trilogy does not present. The heist genre has gone through a renaissance with movies like Widows and Ocean’s 8, where there are real-life stakes with themes that challenge the rest of the movies in the genre.
