"

The prevalence of this kind of comedy contributed to the rise of the canard — “meme” is too dignified a word — that women are not as funny as men. This notion became, in effect, a self-fulfilling prophecy. It consigned brilliant, frequently sexy screen comediennes of the past (like Katharine Hepburn, Claudette Colbert, Judy Holliday, Doris Day, Marilyn Monroe, to name just a few) to the footnotes of film history and made “Bridesmaids” feel like a groundbreaking event in the annals of pop culture.

Which, in a way, it was. Partly because it introduced many of us to the unhinged, protean comic gifts of Rebel Wilson, and partly because it made you wonder what had taken so long, given that Maya Rudolph and Kristen Wiig and Melissa McCarthy did not all of a sudden become funny in 2011. And you may also have found yourself wondering why it took the wizards of Pixar 17 years and more than a dozen features to arrive at its first female protagonist, or wishing that Katniss Everdeen had been around when you (or your sisters, or your daughters) were young.

"

Preach, A.O. Scott. Preach.