When done well,a female-led TV show or film can do justice to the complexities and diversities of women’s stories. But when it comes to gender-flipped reboots,like Australia’s upcoming take onThe Office starring Felicity Ward as our very own David Brent meets Michael Scott,there needs to be a truly good reason for them.
Felicity Ward is set to star as the boss in the Australian version of The Office.Supplied
The gender-flipped reboot is not a recent phenomenon,despite the past decade serving up some shockers (Ghostbusters andOceans 8,I’m looking at you). The 1940 filmHis Girl Friday,an adaptation of the play The Front Page,switched the supporting role from male to female. But the trend to replace male characters with female characters seems to have intensified to a new level recently,perhaps most notably in this year’s Peter Pan and Wendy,where a few token girls were chucked into the Lost Boys gang. “But you’re not all boys …” Wendy says,looking as confused as the rest of us.
According to market research by,for every 100 men who appear on screen,there are just 56 women. It highlights that gender equality matters and still has a way to go,but much of the criticism aimed at these reboots challenges production studios for simply taking the easy path to representation.
Melissa Silverstein,an advocate for gender equality in Hollywood, that female-led reboots don’t feel like “a step forward” but simply follow in the footsteps of male-led casts. In other words,it’s great to have more women on screen,but this a lazy way of doing it. These reboots draw ire because they feel patronising – a tokenistic gesture,a kind of “you can play with the boys!” sentiment.
Remaking classics of any kind is fraught with risk,especially when “updating” them to suit modern times or cultural tastes. Ricky Gervais’The Office had its hit formula reproduced in Germany,Canada,France,Chile,Israel,Sweden,Finland and India. Steve Carell’s American take on the obnoxious David Brent character earned him a Golden Globe and a swag of Emmy nominations.
The Australian version will be another kettle of shrimp altogether,though. We already have our own brilliantly awkward workplace comedy inUtopia. The ’90s mockumentaryFrontline,about narcissistic current affairs presenter Mike Moore,played by Rob Sitch,debuted well before the UK version ofThe Office.
Utopia has given us some wonderfully awkward women bosses and employees in the form of Kitty Flanagan,Michelle Lim Davidson and Emma-Louise Wilson. Flanagan also gave us the gift ofFisk,which features an abundance of bumbling workplace scenarios.
There are many distinctive ways that an Australian female version of David Brent could manifest,but do we actually need one?
We’ve all had an odd female boss. Mine was eccentric,yelling across the building for you instead of using a phone. Once,she even had the carcass of a baby goat delivered to the office. She proceeded to butcher it in the shared kitchen while a meeting was happening. Apparently,the on-site hacking had to be done so she could fit the animal into her Esky to transport it home.
We need new stories,not another Ocean’s 8.Warner Bros.
Reboots shouldn’t remain static,but there needs to be an artistic reason for flipping genders. “Ironically,one of the greatest mistakes screenwriters make is sticking too closely to the original,” screenwriting lecturer Philippa Burne.
Rather,reboots must grapple with both the audience’s expectations and the need to extend the adaptation into something that justifies its existence creatively. The AmericanKath and Kim was a horror story for that very reason;nothing good about the beloved Australian show translated,and it felt like a waste of time and money.
Ultimately,the problem with reboots is the lack of investment in innovative stories. Rather than take a punt on an unknown screenwriter,studios consistently pump out big,flashy franchises. “The Marvel phenomenon has yanked Hollywood into a franchise-drunk new era,” Michael Schulman wrote inThe New Yorker,noting that the overriding plot of all Marvel films is “keep glowy thing away from bad guy”.
Interesting films and series with strong female leads,such asKilling Eve,Big Little Lies,Hidden Figures and Australia’s ownThe Clearingfeel like progress for female representation on screen. These stories are written for female actors and don’t shy away from gender-specific scenarios.
Let’s hope the Aussie version ofThe Office brings something new to the table and doesn’t end up in the category of reboots that should never have been made in the first place.
Cherie Gilmour is a freelance writer.
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