Bryce Dallas Howard Stood Up To Critics That Attacked Her Costume — And She Won’t Back Down

Bryce Dallas Howard starred in 2015’s Jurassic World, which racked up millions of dollars at the box office. But it wasn’t quite as popular with critics as it was with audiences. Some people raised eyebrows over Howard’s character and —more specifically — her fashion sense. Years on and Howard is still defending it.

The highly-anticipated sequel

Jurassic World was always going to be successful at the box office. It was after all a sequel to Jurassic Park, the smash-hit Spielberg movie about dinosaurs running amok in a theme park. However, could it possibly live up to the original film? Unfortunately, critics seemed to think not.

Her character wasn't well received

And Howard’s character Claire came in for quite a kicking. She was romanced by Chris Pratt’s character, but reviewers weren’t impressed with this subplot. In fact, they weren’t really impressed with how the film portrayed Claire at all. Howard’s character was a cliché, was the general consensus — a career-minded ice queen whose only purpose was to be won over by the male lead.

They took issue with her wardrobe

And a big part of Claire’s character, it seemed, was her costume — so that came in for a pasting too. Writing for entertainment site Vulture, Jada Yuan noted, “Instead of character development, Claire is saddled with character broadcasting via wardrobe. Was it really necessary for Jurassic World to resurrect gender stereotypes along with the dinosaurs?”

Deemed sexist

Yuan went on, “Claire’s outfit isn’t a sign of fierceness; it’s a crime of lazy filmmaking — a patronizing shorthand for her cluelessness and stubborn need for control. See how out-of-touch she is with her environment? Silly girl!” And indeed, the question of whether Howard’s costume was outright sexist was hotly debated.