Luke Owen has a theory on why Karen Gillan’s costume in Jumanji isn’t sexist…
It certainly caused some ire amongst the folk on Twitter when Kevin Hart unveiled our first look at the cast of the Jumanji sequel, as many pointed out the ‘male gaze’ nature of Karen Gillan’s costume of thigh-high boots, short shorts and a croptop that exposes her midriff. Anyone who pointed this out isn’t wrong, of course. After all, the men in the photo look more ready to deal with the dangers of the jungle than Gillan is. But perhaps there is a point to it all?
The Rock, looking to defend the costume and the movie, took to Instagram to reveal that their, “dope 90’s vintage costumes will all make sense when our plot’s revealed” and Gillan herself sent out a tweet which read: “Yes I’m wearing child sized clothes and YES there is a reason! The pay off is worth it, I promise!”
Jumanji! Yes I'm wearing child sized clothes and YES there is a reason! The pay off is worth it, I promise! #Jumanji pic.twitter.com/qBshnhwV6K
— Karen Gillan (@karengillan) September 21, 2016
But what could this pay off be? And why would The Rock point out the costumes are 90s inspired? Well, I have a theory which I talked about on this week’s podcast and will expand upon below.
Jumanji, as we know from a previous Instagram by The Rock, is a sequel to the 1995 comedy adventure movie starring Robin Williams and Kirsten Dunst based off a book of the same name by Chris Van Allsburg. It was about a young boy named Alan who plays a board game he uncovers with his school crush Sarah in the 1970s. However this is no ordinary board game, and a bad move by Alan sends him spiraling into Jumanji itself, trapped until some one rolls 5 or 8. It’s only until 26-years later when two children carry on Alan’s game that they break him free – as well as the rest of Jumanji.
As explored in the spin-off cartoon series, the game of Jumanji is a living breathing entity and there is a whole world living inside it. Not just animals and killer plant life, but a fearsome hunter named Van Pelt who comes out of the game later in the movie to kill Alan. My co-host Oliver Davis explored the idea that this new cast of characters would also get sucked into the game in this article, but I would like to take it one step further.
They are not playing a game, they are characters from a game.
First off, look at all of their costumes. Each one – regardless of gender – looks like an action-adventure stereotype. The Rock is Allan Quatermain, Jack Black is Henry Jones Sr, Kevin Hart is any comedy relief character and Gillan is Lara Croft. Everything about her look screams Tomb Raider, with only the colour of her top being different to the black sported by Ms. Croft in The Angel of Darkness.
Which brings us to an interesting second point of The Rock’s post: the costumes are 90s inspired. That suggests Jumanji will be a period piece, or at least they themselves are a period piece brought into a modern-day setting. What if we follow this group of characters through the Jumanji jungle, and then some kids play their board game and bring them into our world through one of their turns, essentially reversing the set-up of the original movie. This makes Jumanji a fish-out-of-water story with caricatures in the real world, rather than regular folk like you and I surviving the onslaught of the viscous jungle inside the game. Not only is it an interesting dynamic, it sets itself apart from the 1995 film.
Lastly, you’ve only got to look at the character’s names. Kevin Hart’s character is called Moose Finbar. I’ll repeat that: Moose Finbar. It sounds like a joke name, like Cade Yager or Stacker Pentercost. As does The Rock’s Dr. Smolder Bravestone. It’s the sort of name you’d see the lead character have in an Adult Swim parody of adventure serials. Jack Black’s character has the over-the-top name Professor Shelly Obron, while Gillan sports the equally laughable Ruby Roundhouse. If this movie was attempting to take itself seriously, they wouldn’t have picked these character names – which means they’ve been given them for a reason. One might say, only characters from a stereotypical action adventure game would have such ridiculous names.
Most likely, this game of Jumanji will not be the same as the one played by Robin Williams in 1995. And before you cry fowl, this isn’t the first time they’ve done this. Does anyone remember Jon Favreau’s Zathura: A Space Adventure, which was based Van Allsburg’s sequel book to Jumanji? This series of movies have set up a world in which other board games share similar mystical powers, which means it’s not out of the realm of possibility that a bunch of kids find a new board game. The fact The Rock pointed out the costumes were 90s inspired would suggest this new game was made in that decade, giving reason to their choices. What if, going one step further, this sequel is ultra-meta and is about a video game made in the mid-90s based on the movie?
But does this excuse Karen Gillan’s outfit? In a way, yeah, it sort of does. If the movie is sending up 1990s sexism and action adventure stereotypes, it’s very fitting that Gillan wears such a skimpy outfit. If she was wearing something more appropriate, the joke falls flat. It also sets up a scene later on in the film where she puts on more suitable clothing in our reality to deal with the elements. Gillian points out in her tweet that the costume is silly, which means she clearly knows its leading to something more suiting to a modern-day audience who are sick and tired of overly-sexualising female leads.
Perhaps we shouldn’t jump the gun on judging the movie on its costume choices until more details are available. Perhaps there is a reason for what we’ve seen so far.
Unless of course I’m completely wrong, and this is just a way to get teenagers to pitch a tent when they see the movie. In which case it’s a bit gross.
Luke Owen is the Deputy Editor of Flickering Myth and the co-host of The Flickering Myth Podcast and Scooperhero News. You can follow him on Twitter @ThisisLukeOwen and read his weekly feature The Week in Star Wars.
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Originally published September 22, 2016. Updated November 30, 2022.
