Thanks a lot!

[blackcats73]

After lurking (and the occasional post) on this board, I can't watch a film like Love Actually without noticing and being outraged by its sexism!

The porn star couple. Porn shown in a positive light, she is the only showing her rude bits.
The evil assistant seducing poor Alan Rickman who has a frumpy wife.

Thought of more last night but can't remember now!

I used to love that film!

You have all ruined my Friday night film and wine experience

Can't remember the last film I watched. They are indeed, all pish.

Hmm well I was going to offer up Rachel Getting Married as a potential to pass the tests but it's a while since I saw it so I'm not sure that Anne Hathaway's character qualifies as the lead female - I think she does, she's the one who is out of rehab and around whom the drama of the film revolves - not a sex object (iirc), not around a man/chasing a man (iirc, although possibly some father influence) and she's neither pg nor a mother.

Qualify or not?

Haven't seen it but the title rather lets it down.

Atonement is great. It's not perfect by any means, but it has a rapist who is condemned for what he did, well-rounded female characters, women in active roles, Keira Knightley acting her socks off in an amazing green dress and the rather lush James MacAvoy.

Passes the Bechdel test about a million times.

No prostate exam, but you can't have it all.

Ar, the title is shit but is reflective of the situation in which the family find themselves - i.e. the sister is getting married and that's why Anne Hathaway is back from rehab for the weekend. But it's really a backdrop to the actual storyline which is about the family interactions. (trying to remember if there is a love interest for AH in it - there may be, actually, which would let the side down :()

Oooh what about peggy sue got married?

(one of my fave films)

I started watching An accidental husband and switched it off as soon as she met up with the prick, because I predicted what was going to happen. Thanks for the confirmation Bertie.

It is always the case that when a man (usually a prick) fancies a woman (who is not interested) he gets her in the end, through stalking and persuading etc. This almost never happens the other way around. If a woman fancies and stalks a disinterested man, you know something bad is going to happen to her.

The only exception I can think of at the moment is Bringing up Baby, where Katherine Hepburn follows Cary Grant around until he gives in. Are there any others?

Twilight?

Twilight is an interesting film to look at from a feminist angle. The first one anyway. The sequels were shockingly bad.

On the one hand, yes, it's creepy, it's abusive and so on. On the other hand, I hate how it's slagged off purely because lots of young girls like it. And Bidisha (doesn't she post/used to post here) wrote an interesting article about Twilight and the female gaze: www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/jan/19/women-gender

I hated an accidental husband. He was a prize dick and I couldn't for the life of me work out why anyone would want him. Vile film.

I think Stephen King said the right thing about twilight. It goes something along the lines of "Harry Potter teaches us how important friends, hard work and sacrifice are. Twilight teaches us how important it is to have a boyfriend."

Bella drove me maaaaaaaaaaad.

Great article by Bidisha, thanks for linking yellow. My view of the films is so tainted by the books that I can't get much beyond that though!

The books are shite, agreed.

But the first film wasn't bad, actually. Pretty well directed and Robert Pattinson is sexy

Ryan Renolds on the other hand....

Yellowraincoat said:
Atonement is great. It's not perfect by any means, but it has a rapist who is condemned for what he did...

I haven't seen the film, but this gets the story as told in the book seriously wrong. The whole story is the result of an incident where a young girl identifies the wrong man as a rapist. Who is then condemned, for what he didn't do. It's easy to see this as an extremely anti-feminist novel, though a lot of it has to do with how that girl, as an adult, deals with the results of her earlier mistake, so in that sense it's a woman's story.

TeiiTetua - I don't agree that the man who rapes isn't condemned. No, the characters in the book do not condemn him. In fact, he gets away scot free and even marries the woman (who was a girl at the time) he raped. He is certainly not a sympathetic figure, however. That is the sense in which I mean he is condemned.

Ryan Reynolds has a cheesy American face. And a stupid body.

Pattinson said he was told to shape up for the second Twilight cos he had to take his shirt off and he was going to and then he just couldn't be bothered and he felt really embarrassed about it.

I like that in a man. Laziness.

Also, you could grate cheese on his cheekbones.

I will stop now and banish myself to the outer regions of Sleb Stuff. Goodbye Feminism. Goodbye!

Hadn't heard of the Bechdel test before. Been watching Winnie the Pooh with DS and that definitely fails as kanga is the only female character. A lot of children's programme would fail the test too and I've only just realized.

Yellowraincoat - the whole point of Atonement is that the young girl caught the young man and her older sister in a passionate embrace and thought she was seeing an assault. She accused him, he went away to war and died separating the couple. To atone for her mistake, she writes the book of what their lives should have been like. Hence: Atonement.

Er, there is an actual rape in the book, you know.

Yes. Sorry- was just about to apologise. I'd forgotten about that bit. Yep. See what you're saying.

Apologise, buy me a Galaxy and you may atone for what you have done.

Atone? See?

I need to go to bed.

Hanna passes BertieBotts' test and the Bechdel test IIRC

How about The Hunger Games, more recently?

Apart from the sappy tacked-on love interest, that was pretty awesome.

I haven't seen it yet as it never came out here but loved the books.

Sled twaddle :o

The Descent, anyone?