Movie rant
Jun. 12th, 2002 10:12 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kellinator(apologies to those of you who have heard me say this already)
You've Got Mail is the only movie I've seen in a theater that I've almost walked out of. My mom wanted to see it. Gaaawsh did it suck. And as if you needed another reason besides the insipid dialogue, holey plot, celebration of Internet infidelity, and so on...
In the movie we have two female characters. Parker Posey's character is successful and independent. She's also a mega-bitch who ends up alone and unhappy. On the other hand, Meg Ryan's character is cutesy and incompetent. Her idea of getting tough is dancing around throwing shadow punches -- while at work. Oooooh yeah, that screams "take me seriously." But it's okay that she's a twit, because at the end Tom Hanks -- the same guy who destroyed the business that was her passion -- sweeps in to take care of her, having abandoned the grownup woman for this irritating woman-child.
Makes me want to scream...
Can anyone name some more feminist movies? Especially ones that show you can be a happy feminist.
You've Got Mail is the only movie I've seen in a theater that I've almost walked out of. My mom wanted to see it. Gaaawsh did it suck. And as if you needed another reason besides the insipid dialogue, holey plot, celebration of Internet infidelity, and so on...
In the movie we have two female characters. Parker Posey's character is successful and independent. She's also a mega-bitch who ends up alone and unhappy. On the other hand, Meg Ryan's character is cutesy and incompetent. Her idea of getting tough is dancing around throwing shadow punches -- while at work. Oooooh yeah, that screams "take me seriously." But it's okay that she's a twit, because at the end Tom Hanks -- the same guy who destroyed the business that was her passion -- sweeps in to take care of her, having abandoned the grownup woman for this irritating woman-child.
Makes me want to scream...
Can anyone name some more feminist movies? Especially ones that show you can be a happy feminist.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
This may seem an odd choice but hear me out...
Date: 2002-06-13 08:33 am (UTC)I assume you are actually asking for decent feminist movies, not just movies with "good" female characters.
Feminism is the idea that injection of the feminist aspect will benefit all (whether as a society or as individuals). That is the core belief and I don't see what is so wrong about that. I see society getting more feminist all the time. Just because some women went banannas with it and twisted it into some kind of crusade or tirade doesn't make the base idea bad.
That said, I suggest Pleasantville as an awesome feminist tale. The movie concerns idealism and gender roles and most of all, lack of vision, and lack of creativity. These two concepts could easily be thought of as female and male respectively.
The speech Toby Macgwyer makes in the end is very feminine. He talks about change and fear and beauty and embracing differences as well as accepting natural impulses.
Reese Witherspoon is a very masculine character who gets in touch with her feminine side.
Everyone in the movie (except perhaps for the guy on the TV) learns to evolve and expand.
I think this movie is one of the most feminist I've ever seen because its symbolism shows the stereotypical nature of masculinist thinking. That is, it shows how masculinism can be twisted into something that has no depth or "soul" (control, centralize and master becomes subjugate, supress and conquer)
Everyone in this movie/town is masculine or feminine in such superficial ways that get turned upside down when these two (gender role reversed) kids come into the picture (literally).