"So you want to hit a jewelry story?"
"Not exactly."
The Ocean’s 8 dream team tells us something about
the diverse styles and personalities of actresses
dominating the movie landscape today.
The female answer to Ocean’s 11,
Oceans 8 carries on this tradition of constructing a squad of stars,
each providing a necessary component.
The characters in both draw heavily on the personas of the actors themselves.
So the casting of Ocean’s 8 reveals how much of our movie-watching experience
comes from our ongoing relationships with the people we see on screen.
Without thinking about it, we create a persona in our minds
for every famous actor --
a persona that’s some combination of their most iconic roles,
the bits we know about their personal lives,
and whatever we’ve personally projected
onto their characters over the years.
So we bring all of that into the film --
and this big ensemble movie,
which has to be efficient in character set-up,
is relying on us to flesh out these people
through our imagination process.
So let’s break down
how each Ocean’s 8 cast member matches up with Ocean’s 11,
and which ingredient they add to the star recipe.
Sandra Bullock plays Danny Ocean’s sister.
“Is it genetic?
Are the whole family like this?”
“Literally.”
And her character is Danny’s counterpart,
even kicking off the movie with the same premise as Ocean’s 11 --
"As you know, parole is a privilege."
"It was a mistake.
Um, it-it happened."
she gets out of jail with her mind set on assembling a team
and planning the heist of the century.
"Do you know this woman?"
"No."
"Debbie Ocean, convicted felon.
Her brother, Danny Ocean, more convicted felon."
So is Bullock the female equivalent of George Clooney?
In many ways, yes.
She’s gorgeous, sure, but when you think of Bullock,
you’re more often thinking about her charisma,
"Huh."
and that mischievous twinkle in the eye.
She’s known for playing the relatable everywoman
we can’t help but root for.
And this is no mean feat for an actress.
Women in Hollywood tend to be sorted into specific categories
or reduced to types like the girl next door,
the hot love interest, the best friend,
or the quirky girl.
But Bullock is the unicorn that's escaped being pigeonholed.
She’s played a broad variety of roles
that show she’s mastered that balance of authenticity, reliability and charm
that define the everywoman.
"Those better be candy dishes."
Bullock appeals to both women and men, and has comedic chops too.
Cate Blanchett plays the number 2.
Her character is supposed to be the yin to the main character’s yang --
she’s elusive and stylish
while her friend represents a more standard relatability.
And this is Blanchett to a T.
She’s always a little mysterious to us
and in many of her most famous roles
she’s keeping some kind of a personal secret.
"Don't you think he figured you were lying and bailed out?"
"Look, could you stop saying I was lying?
God.
Okay, I may have dressed up a few facts,
omitted a few unpleasant details,
but in the main, I mean, my feelings, my ideas, my humor,
I mean, isn't that who I am?"
Blanchett’s ethereal beauty also makes her seem untouchable
or more than human.
Blanchett’s known for playing upper-crust women.
She’s also a shapeshifter
who can get into more unconventional roles.
"You know, um, I didn't come out of some cereal box."
So unlike Bullock, Blanchett’s no everywoman --
she’s captivating because of how sophisticated and enigmatic she is.
Even visually Blanchett and Bullock have a strong contrast
as the cool blonde and the down-to-earth brunette.
Blanchett is the Rusty Ryan to Bullock’s Danny.
And we can kind of see a connection between Blanchett and Brad Pitt,
in how the two fair-haired actors embody cool.
Pitt, the ultimate Hollywood heartthrob,
is also known for some mysterious, eccentric roles.
"I want you to hit me as hard as you can."
Interestingly, Blanchett and Pitt have played an onscreen couple more than once.
So clearly these two actors complement each other,
and maybe that comes from the feeling that they’re both unattainable and otherworldly.
"That was ridiculous."
"What's your name?"
"Nine Ball."
"What's your real name?"
"Eight Ball."
Rihanna’s hacker is sort of a blend of two characters from Ocean’s 11 --
in terms of job title,
she’s most like Livingston Dell, played by Eddie Jemison.
"It's not the least accessible system I've seen, but it's close."
But her character’s laid back vibe and artsy style
make her more similar to Don Cheadle’s Basher Tarr.
"All right, chaps.
Hang on to your knickers."
There’s no one who screams cool, modern, and irreverent like Rihanna.
"My personal life is pretty much nonexistent."
"Uh-huh."
"Which is not good, um, not for the long run.
Not for me, not for...her."
Somehow it’s the ultimate wish fulfillment
to see her as the genius computer whiz
who’s bringing down the system --
"Every time you move it we have to start from scratch."
"What did you do?"
"I turned it on."
this plays into the perception of Rihanna as a rebel.
She does everything her own way.
“There are rules, but rules are meant to be broken.”
Rihanna’s once expressed a desire to be, quote, “the black Madonna.”
And like Madonna,
she got her trendsetter status by refusing to conform.
She’s successfully changed up her image numerous times in her career already.
She created Fenty Beauty, which aims for inclusivity
with a wide range of makeup shades.
She was awarded the 2017 Harvard Humanitarian of the Year
award.
And she co-chaired the 2018 Met Gala.
Now in Ocean’s 8, she’s adding a new layer to her public persona.
"Game on!"
"Uh."
"Oh."
"Lucky you."
Anne Hathaway’s character is the target of the heist.
“In three and a half weeks, the Met will be hosting its annual ball
and we are going to rob it.
Not the ball itself, but the neck of Daphne Kluger.”
So she’s the female counterpart
to Andy Garcia’s self-assured casino owner Terry Benedict,
who Danny and his team set out to rob.
Early in Hathaway’s career she was often cast as the good girl
who was intimidated by the fashionable, popular people.
Here Hathaway is playing the opposite of those earlier roles.
And her embracing the villain role could be a playful nudge
at the “everyone hates Anne Hathaway” trend
that exploded after the 2013 Oscars.
This came out of what some people perceived
as Hathaway’s inauthenticity or affectedness.
“It came true.”
So maybe Ocean’s 8 is giving viewers the fantasy of bringing her down,
stealing an expensive necklace right off her neck.
"Do you want me to set up a meeting?"
"[Mimicking mockingly] Yes."
Hathaway’s character might be on Bullock’s team,
turning it into an inside job --
because she’s the eighth main character,
and without her the title Ocean’s 8 wouldn’t really make any sense.
And the film might be telling us
that all this time Hathaway’s true value has gone overlooked,
and she’s more fun than people might always think.
Mindy Kaling doesn’t have an obvious counterpart in Ocean’s 11.
Her role as an expert jewelry maker is all her own.
"How long would it take you to make seven pieces of jewelry?"
"Five or six hours."
"How long if I told you
you didn't have to live with your mother anymore?"
"Less."
As an actress, Kaling’s most known
for playing ditzy or pop-culture obsessed women.
"I've never really thought about death until Princess Diana died.
That was the saddest funeral ever.
That and my sister's."
And in her public life,
she’s unapologetic about her love of rom-coms
and all things girly.
But Kaling is also known for being a smart and talented writer
and a self-made woman.
She’s the daughter of first-generation immigrants,
graduated from Dartmouth,
and after college made a name for herself
by co-writing and performing in the play Matt & Ben --
which led to her job writing on The Office,
and later, her very own show.
Her character in The Mindy Project is, likewise, an extremely skilled OBGYN,
in addition to being a full-on girly girl.
"I'm, like, very smart and successful, and I'm hot,
but I, like, don't even know, which makes me even hotter."
"No, no, no.
No."
So her character in Ocean’s 8 combines the intelligence,
femininity and pop-culture love Kaling is known for.
“Taylor Swift?
Can’t we just go to this?
Do we have to steal stuff?”
“Yes.”
Once again Kaling’s persona proves
that women don't have to choose between these qualities.
Awkwafina seems to fill in for Matt Damon’s character Linus in Ocean’s
11 --
like him she plays a stealthy pickpocket.
“That’s the best lift I’ve seen you make yet.”
"Don't sleep.
Don't sleep, 'cause you might disappear.
Saw that?"
Damon was considered something of a wunderkind
when he was starting out in Hollywood,
and likewise Awkwafina is a newcomer with major star potential.
She’s the youngest member of the cast
and embodies the millennial zeitgeist and a carefree sense of fun.
"New York City bitch, that's how I'm rolling
You out-of-state fakes get your iPad stolen."
She’s a rapper and comedian who first rose to fame
for a viral YouTube video of her original song “My Vag.”
"It's time that we let the world know
Bitch, ya vag is only so so."
So she reflects a persona that’s very much of the moment:
the young, multi-talented rising star with a strong personal brand.
"My best advice to you is not to try to be like everyone else,
but just try to emphasize yourself.
That'll carry you further than just -- being normal."
Helena Bonham Carter’s character may correspond to Bernie Mac’s Frank
in Ocean’s 11 --
she’s a designer,
and she can help the team get access to the Met Gala,
just like Frank helps Danny Ocean from inside the casino.
"This is courtesy of Frank Catton, the blackjack dealer at the Bellagio."
Bonham Carter comes across as
the most vulnerable, sensitive woman in the group.
“I’m gonna be really poor.”
The actor was born into an aristocratic British family
and started her career in a series of period pieces.
Later on, she became known for playing eccentric or damaged characters
and for her collaborations with her ex-partner Tim Burton.
"Off with their heads!"
Her style feels like a mix of punk rock, Victorian, and Gothic.
So we perceive in her
both delicate fragility and bold badassery,
often at the same time.
"Oh God, why are you doing this?"
"It's cheaper than a movie, and there's free coffee."
Sarah Paulson plays a suburban housewife
who has to be persuaded to get involved in the heist.
“Do you want me to tell you how big a job it is?”
“No, I’m out.”
“I’m going to tell you how big the job is.”
“I'll be back before you know it.”
“Can I come with you?”
“This is mommy's very special work trip.”
So in this way she’s like the Saul Bloom character in Ocean’s 11,
played by Carl Reiner.
“I got a duplex now, I got wall-to-wall and a goldfish,
I'm seeing a nice lady,
she works the unmentionables counter at Macy's.
I've changed.”
Paulson’s able to play the stable wife character
but she’s really made a name for herself with more provocative, complex roles
in high-profile TV shows and award-winning movies.
"It was hot, hateful scorn.
It filled that black face.
You tell me you didn't see it, it's because you choose not to look.
Or are you saying I lie?"
Paulson’s versatility as an actress might mean some of
what she’s doing under the surface goes unnoticed by the casual viewer --
so it’s fitting that in Ocean’s 8 she plays a woman we think we know,
who’s actually full of surprises.
When Ocean’s 11 came out in 2001, it wasn’t that remarkable
to see a movie with so many distinct male characters.
It’s long been normal for there to be many male parts in a story
and for the writing to focus on how they each vary subtly in personality.
But even today, we rarely get to see eight star actresses playing characters
with individualized personalities in one movie.
To have such a variety of female characters in a blockbuster like Ocean’s 8
is a big step forward.
So Ocean’s 8 passes the Bechdel Test with flying colors,
and it follows other beloved female-driven films
that have won our hearts over the years.
Gender-swapped reboots of classic films are gaining traction
because there’s a desire to reimagine our old favorite movies
though this new lens --
to wonder what it would have been like
to see a bigger range of female characters back in the day.
Each of the women in Ocean’s 8 is an icon in her own right.
And now we get to see them all joining forces
and redefining #squadgoals,
taking Danny Ocean’s idea of a great heist into a new era.
"Seven people."
"Why do you need to do this?"
"Because it's what I'm good at."
Hi, guys.
Susannah and Debra here.
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