Crocodile

 I often think about and rewatch Black Mirror episodes because they're well done and have interesting themes & ideas.

"Crocodile" is one of those I rewatch occasionally, mostly because of the atmosphere, mesmerising setting of Iceland and the two female leads, Kiran Sonia Sawar and Andrea Riseborough. 

Spoilers (despite it having been out for about 5 years, where have you been?:

The main difficulty I have with the story, however, is the complete brush-over of the physique of Andrea as Mia when it comes to the acts she carries out. It requires huge suspension of disbelief to swallow the way she murders her ex/old friend. Andrea is very slight, stick-thin really, and he is an average bloke, bigger, taller, he could brush her off like a fly. Admittedly he whacks his head on the floor, which is possibly the death-blow anyway, but the struggle beforehand just seems so unlikely. But OK, through his ill-luck/confused passivity, she takes him out. 

Then she has to get his body onto a trolley and then into the boot of her car in the hotel car-park, all without being seen, then drag his body from the car to where she disposes of it. He's got to weigh at least a third more than she does, he's literally dead-weight on the ground, and she does not look like she works out, (sorry Andrea, in this, you look like you control your weight (if you do), solely by diet, not exercise). I know adrenalin can help, but you have to ignore a lot of practical issues here. It's not credible. They don't even show any elements of the enormous physical struggle it would be for her to do any of that, possibly because it would have shown the cracks up even more. 

Reading about the episode in Wikipedia today, apparently it was originally written with a male protagonist in mind, which makes sense.

I'm all in favour of women being given these sorts of roles; the Alien movies would not have been iconic if Ripley had been played by a man as initially planned and not by the amazing Sigourney Weaver. 

But I don't think it does stories, and women as a class, any good to ignore where the character would actually need to do physical things differently than a man would, if she would. She could still Do the Things, and I really really want to see that, but she might need a fulcrum. 

I want to see her find that fulcrum or workaround and use it. 

I mean you can see these movies or series where the bad ass woman character is in a direct fight with a man or multiple men, and it's generally selling us a lie. Unless she has the superpower of enhanced strength or if she is advantaged in some other way, in the most cases the man would outclass her in speed and strength. 

It just needs a bit of thought. Yes to women in action (or sociopathic murdering) roles and doing All The Things, but let's give a passing nod to the challenges. 

It's a false equality to pretend there's no difference.  

And no, this is not saying men are "better", cos if that's all that matters, well, a bullock is both swifter and stronger than any man.