Predatory Romance in Harrison Ford Movies

Harrison Ford has played some of the most iconic male heroes ever to appear on film. Many of his most popular characters antagonize women, disregard basic ideas of consent and ultimately force themselves on their love interests. Although each movie attempts to frame these actions as sexy or romantic, predatory is a more fitting description.

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LINKS
Thanks to David Wong for this article which reminded me of that scene form The Mask of Zorro
Getting A Yes (Instead of Avoiding A No) – The Standard of Enthusiastic Consent:

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CREDITS
Writer/Producer: Jonathan McIntosh
Motion Graphics: Jonathan McIntosh
Logo Design: Justin McIntosh
Outro music: Jonathan Mann

Help us caption & translate this video!

[raccontourahara]

I love “Howl’s Moving Castle” because at the end the prince accepts Sophie doesn’t want him. The prince helps her and risks his life, and he doesn’t do that to buy Sophie’s consent, but because he really cares for her and truly loves her, and he understands Sophie loves Howl. So he’s like “Oh, well” and walks away, doesn’t fight for her or force her to realize how much he cares for her.
And that’s a beautiful thing: Acceptance.

[jordangreen]

Thr blade runner scene and a "love" scene from basic instinct convinced me that filmmakers in the 70s and 80s had never seen or heard of consensual sex

[inanordinaryway]

The scene with Leia where he drapes his body over hers to help her with something also happened to me at work.

I was in the back store room trying to grab something from the back of the shelf, a male co-worker came in and did the same thing as Han and went to grab the item for me while pinning me to the shelf with his body and his arms either side of me. At the time I was terrified, I was very aware that he was bigger than me, stronger than me and we were very much alone.

When he moved away from me he said "it's a good thing we know each other so well or that would have been awkward" thing is I barely knew him, I would maybe smile and say "good morning" but that is the extent of our conversations. Apparently that's enough familiarity for men to claim possession of your personal space.

I was never comfortable being around him after that and made sure not to ever be alone with him. I was worried that since I didn't rebuff him, just put my head down and left, he would take it as an invitation to keep harassing me. He left that encounter thinking he was being charming, I left it feeling scared and uncomfortable.

[CoffeeNCardio]

It's unbelievably important for a male voice to be intimating these concerns. A woman can literally scream out all day and not be heard. Thank you for making sure this message IS heard.

[paperl]

4:41 it's times like this when i wish people read more Pride & Prejudice-when Mr. Collins proposes to Elizabeth (the main character), and Elizabeth says no, he says he'll ask again because he knows that women often say no to 'play' their lovers, and this is framed as a bad thing in the book, with Elizabeth fully rejecting him. It's horrible how commentary from the 18th century-from a required-to-read classic, no less, is still applicable today.

[TheMedicatedArtist]

This also feeds into the toxic, "if he hits you, that means he likes you" saying that people _still_ tell their children.

[shkeni]

Even sadder it is that I think these depictions don't only affect the way men see themselves, but also affect women. I know it colored my own expectations growing up.

[raquelsantos]

There's an extra layer on the Blade Runner scene. Sean Young, who plays Rachel on the film, said that Ridley Scott, the director, wanted to hook up with her but she rejected him. So he made her "love scene" with Harrison Ford be agressive like that as a form of revenge.

[XpunkishXduckX]

ALSO, THANK YOU for mentioning that the women's response is often written to re-enforce this behavior. I can't tell you how many times I've had men rebuttle me when I make this argument with "the women love it! They kiss at the end!"

This totally perpetuates the culture of No means Yes and I hate it.

[DaAwesomeSubscriber]

That scene from Frozen is absolutely fantastic, I completely forgot about it. What a nice display of asking for consent in a movie aimed at children.

[twigstwigs]

The worst part of this is that men start to think that woman like being forced to do things

[sketchynatalia]

Thank you for analyzing masculinity in a way that is personal, vulnerable, and sincere. You are a gleaming example of how men have an equal stake in changing gender roles, not just women, and your voice at the table is desperately needed.

[PerryyMouse]

This is a very clear demonstration of something I struggle to explain. When women are asked "why do you lie about having a boyfriend" or "why didn't you get mad or tell him no?" when a man is hitting on them the answer is because there is this fear of violence!

[sophiagrace]

Not to mention the fact that Carrie Fisher was 19 years old when first doing star wars and Harrison Ford was 33. There is usually always an age difference between actors that plays into the unbalanced power dynamic.

[creepydude]

Oh boy the blade runner one is extra uncomfortable. All the other women have an instant shift in their mood to make the viewer think the whole thing is fine because it's just how they flirt or whatever. But Rachelle looks uncomfortable the whole way through + it's the one where he is the most violent. putting her in a position where she can't say no and forcing her to yes out loud. Her attitude doesn't change despite the verbal "consent". No amount of sexy music can cover up the rape tones on that one!

[tammikilpi]

I remember watching Emperor strikes back with my dad a few years back and when I was like "ugh Han should leave Leia alone" my dad said she "clearly secretly likes him!" and it felt... really troubling

[Sophie-ucvh]

This style of romance in film actually originates back in the early 20th century. Around the 30s/40s, it was seen as improper for women to engage in sexual activity at all outside of marriage, whether they wanted to or not. For that reason, a culture began of women having to say no coyly and the men having to read that as a yes - think of songs like Baby It's Cold Outside and the line 'say, what's in this drink?' A line like that was a common way for women to excuse the sexual activity as something they were tricked into so that they wouldn't be socially condemned. It was potentially a much more dangerous version of rape culture as there was no acceptable way for women to indicate consent, or a lack thereof. It was all down to the man interpreting what the woman was implying (which is also perhaps where the whole 'she was asking for it' thing comes from, because back then, they would have been asking for it even if they were verbally saying no). Scenes like this are a remnant of that style of romance which is seen as old-fashioned and therefore more 'romantic' because it contains a sense of nostalgia for a different time. Nonetheless, it needs to stop because it teaches very dangerous ideas.

[geminijoule]

I don't even like Frozen but I 100% agree that that scene was a wonderful way of showing consenual romance in a Disney film :)

[qualifiedarmchaircritic]

Women also learn that they are supposed to like it this way, and are undesirable and abnormal if they don't, which is crazy. Talk about self-fulfilling prophecy...

[Seishae]

Re-watching Bladerunner as an adult is a very uncomfortable experience. I was enthusiastically showing that movie to someone who had never seen it before, and then when that scene started happening we were both just like, well, this is really disturbing all of a sudden.