‘Bumblebee’ writer Christina Hodson hopes Hailee Steinfeld’s character, Charlie Watson, will inspire young women to get involved with engineering.
Christina admits one of her wishes for the movie is that girls will watch the adventures of Charlie and the Transformers character and become interested in mechanics and robotics and feel as though those career options are open to them rather than just to boys.
When asked in an interview with Variety, whether she hoped the 22-year-old star’s character would encourage women to participate in more male-dominated genres, she said: "I hope so, I really do. I grew up obsessed with mechanics. I very almost became an engineer. In England, we do A Levels, when you pick three subjects you want to [pursue].
"So I did physics, maths, and English, [which] was my token thing that I threw in there. Obviously, it worked out well and it ended up being what I did for the rest of my life, but I was always much more mechanically minded. I loved building things and making things. I never particularly called myself a "tomboy." I never loved the idea of labels. "
The ‘Birds of Prey’ screenwriter acknowledges that the ‘Transformers’ franchise and toys have traditionally been aimed at boys but she thinks it is "nonsense" to label things and loves the idea of "blurring the lines" between gender roles.
She continued: "I think there’s such a cultural desire to put labels on things. Growing up, there always used to be a boys’ toys aisle and a girls’ toys aisle. And I just think it’s nonsense. So I kind of love the idea of just blurring the lines and letting there be a girl who likes cars and mechanical things and who is good at it."
Bumblebee writer hopes film will inspire young women
