Some Feminist Musings on Hop

I recently saw the movie Hop (free advanced preview tickets!), which was fun, considering the last time I was at the movies was to see Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. (I know, it’s pathetic.) Before I say anything else, I want to say that Hop was adorable, full of fuzzy bunnies and fluffy cotton tails, and I genuinely enjoyed it.

(SPOILER ALERT) The movie is about E.B. (Russell Brand), a teenaged rabbit that wants to be a drummer but has to become the next Easter Bunny. He runs from Easter Island to Hollywood, where he meets Fred O’Hare (James Marsden) and moves in with him as he pursues a career. On Easter Island, Carlos (Hank Azaria), the Easter Bunny’s second-in-command, wants to take E.B.’s place as the next Easter Bunny, but revolts when he is not allowed to. Meanwhile, the Easter Bunny’s secret service, the Pink Berets, think that Fred killed E.B. and take him to Easter Island amid the rebellion. When E.B. finds Fred gone, he goes to Easter Island and finds Fred and his father imprisoned. Fred and E.B. stop Carlos and end up becoming co-Easter Bunnies.

While I really loved the movie, there were a few things that irked me about it.

The beginning of the movie showed portraits of past Easter Bunnies. Every one was male. This kinda bothered me. I mean, why does the Easter Bunny have to be male? Can’t a female bunny deliver chocolate eggs and candy just as well as a male bunny can? (I’m Jewish, so I don’t get any candy Easter time, but still. It would be nice to know that all the Christian kids can have some egalitarianism.)

The Pink Berets, the Easter Bunny’s secret service, were the only three female rabbits in the movie. I absolutely loved the fact that the movie portrayed them as tough ninja-bunnies who could still have a touch of femininity. However, the whole “girls are pink” thing does annoy me to an extent. I also found it a little disturbing that they never talked. What, girls can be tough, as long as they keep their mouths shut?

The antagonist of the movie, Carlos, not only had a Spanish name, but even had an accent. Why did the creators of the movie feel the need to make the character we’re all supposed to hate Latinos, while giving E.B. and the Easter Bunny British accents? We’re supposed to like people from England, but not Mexico?

I liked the fact that Fred’s sister was supposed to hold an extremely responsible position, to the point that her boss trusted her to housesit and that she was able to get Fred a job interview. However, at the end of the movie, when Fred showed his family that he was the new Easter Bunny, they complimented the O’Hare matriarch on her cooking. To me, this just enforces all those “women belong in barefoot and pregnant in the kitchen” mindset. Why couldn’t Mr. O’Hare have cooked some of the meal? Why was it taken for granted that Ms. O’Hare would prepare the food? I know this is a small, rather insignificant detail, but still.

Again, I absolutely adored Hop – it was extremely cute, very touching, and the animation was impressive. There were, however, some elements that I felt detracted from my complete and total enjoyment of the fluff.