Something Ive been thinking about since the shooting in Santa Barbara. There is a dialogue thats begun about problematic gender attitudes, and like all dialogues that commence after a tragedy, its imperative that we separate blame (This is WHY this happened!) from cause (In some way, this contributed.). For example (as per Ann Hornadays comments), I dont think anybody looks at Seth Rogen and Judd Apatow as the reason why the shootings took place, however films like these (and Todd Phillips) perpetuate an ongoing message that women are a reward. Im hesitant to call it outwardly misogynist, but certainly latently so and heres why... Its possible that the saying Nice guys finish last was used before the 90s, but it feels very much a product of that decade. As a means of programming, it served I would say an important purpose in educating men to stop being douchebags. However some twenty-odd years later, its essential that we recognize that phrase as fundamentally dangerous and we should not teach it to young men. Why? BECAUSE WOMEN ARE NOT PRIZES THAT YOU WIN. When somebody like Elliot Rodger (who, Lord knows, had other problems) is angry because women are not paying him attention and finding him attractive, it is because he thinks that he is owed, he has completed his part of the bargain. Nice guy = rewarded with women. Its worth stating that my intention is not to condemn any of these filmmakers. Katherine Heigl is correct that Knocked Up is a kind of misogynist (I would emphasize kind of, much as Nice guys finish last is also kind of misogynist), but its also incredibly funny. There are very few films made in the past decade that I have loved as much as Superbad -- which absolutely treats women as rewards. And Judd Apatow has certainly done a huge service by producing Bridesmaids. All this is intended to do is draw attention to the bar and how it can be raised. The filmmakers this post addresses should recognize that and be more than happy to raise the bar on their own work. After all, they are nice guys.
Posted on: Mon, 02 Jun 2014 16:51:18 +0000
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