On 25/09/01 09:01 -0700, Dave Cross wrote:
> [about Charlie's Angels]
>
> I saw _plenty_ of the series as I was growing up. I still enjoy
> it today. But only because it's an artifact of it's time. 25
> years ago the majority of people _did_ think of women as clothes
> horses. I just get depressed that in the year 2000 we're making
> films that still perpertuate those ideas. There _are_ people
> who will argue that it's some kind of "post-feminist", "girl
> power" story when, in fact, it's the kind of thing that puts
> back the women's movement by a good fifteen years.
My own feeling on the matter is that the whole thing was
tongue-in-cheek. It's a simple biological fact that most
heterosexual men are going to enjoy watching pretty women doing kung
fu for 90 minutes, and I don't think the concept is any different to
Keanu flexing his six-pack whenever he can. I certainly didn't see
any publicity or attendant media-fluff which portrayed the film as a
blow for feminism.
Bizarrely, your paragraph reflected exactly my feelings on "Bridget
Jones's Diary", which I was unfortunate to see, and which deeply,
deeply horrifies me. Endless reams of newsprint, and glossy pages of
Cosmo and her 1001 sister magazines were devoted to the "go get em
spirit" and "feminist ideals" of the film. There were countless
pieces on being proud to live like Bridget Jones, blah blah blah.
The actual message of the film boiled down to:
1) Bridget is in her early 30s, but can't cook, string a coherent
sentence together or appreciate art or literature or music, and
appears not to have made any progress in her career in the last 10
years. She spends most of her time swilling as much vodka as she
can. But she's okay because she's got a Gay Friend which means she's
a Modern Woman With Attitude.
2) Anyway, her lack of accomplishment and personality doesn't
matter, because she Gets A Man. Except he's a sleazy bastard. But
that's okay, because she dumps him, and decides she doesn't need a
man, because she's a Strong, Independent Woman.
3) Oh, except she's not truly happy until she gets off with a
boorish, self-centred man who had his heart broken a few years ago
and is therefore Simply Misunderstood So It's All Okay. Her getting
together with said man is A Happy Ending, because she is now
Fulfilled And Has A Purpose In Life.
Yeesch.
And there are little sheep-women all over London believing that this
is the blueprint for the way they should live their lives because
Cosmo Told Them So. Spare us all.
Er, thanks for the soapbox, Dave. :)
--
Simon Batistoni Penseroso Ltd
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