I hated The Lovely Bones (the book) - I think it's a bit of a Marmite one. The trailer for the film has annoyed me beyond all reason too, so I don't think I'll be popping down to the Odeon for that.

That's interesting Jem because the whole premise of the film seemed anti-cliche to me. It's an anti-love story, isn't it? I liked what it had to say on that score.

Early reports say that Alice is amazing. I can't wait! Only a week to go now!

JB

Well, Waxy, I found it very disturbing, and I'm not the only one. Have a look at this article. It's written by a woman, so of course she would say this, lol!

Why are women being done down by rom-coms?


Barbara Ellen
The Observer, Sunday 6 September 2009
Article history
Has a new Hollywood law been passed that women must henceforth get a hard time in trendy, left-field rom-coms? Looking at recent output, particularly the latest US hit, (500) Days of Summer, there seems to be a new trend for female characters being placed in the background or in the wrong, but definitely nowhere women want to be.

500 Days of Summer
Production year: 2009
Countries: UK, USA
Cert (UK): 12A
Runtime: 95 mins
Directors: Marc Webb
Cast: Chloe Moretz, Clark Gregg, Geoffrey Arend, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Matthew Gray Gubler, Zooey Deschanel
More on this film
Alarm bells should have rung with (500) Days when one found the Smiths featured prominently. Sure enough, the hero (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) turns out to be channelling high-octane passive aggression through a moody indie kid haircut he's far too old for. Meanwhile, the wonderful Zooey Deschanel isn't allowed to become a real character, rather a cipher for his self-important misery.

It gets to the point where Morrissey, wailing on the hero's behalf (to paraphrase: "Please, let him get what he wants because it will be the first time!") creates a problem. I don't think I'll be only female thinking: this guy shouldn't get what he wants. He is a miserable, bitter little freak, and even an under-written girlfriend is too good for him. Then again, what else should one expect from the latest in "vérité rom-coms"?

At what point did supposedly cool, postmodern rom-coms start mainly peddling the male point of view? When did the requisite "refreshing new twist" become casual misogyny? Although engaging in places, this film is a case in point. Never mind (500) Days, one is barely 20 seconds into it before a female is being "jokily" referred to as a "bitch".

From there, Deschanel, the Great Rejecter, is variously portrayed as messed up, strange and cold. Even then, she does better than most heroines in such films who have had guys vomiting over them or had to fall in love while making porn movies. And while Judd Apatow may seem to have started this with the likes of The 40-Year-old Virgin and Knocked Up, to me, it seems more sub-Apatow, many of these rude, crude, shoddy efforts having followed in the wake of the director's generally superior fare.

This is not meant in support of the archetypal formulaic rom-com: (Love Actually? No, frankly). However, at least the classic (female-driven) rom-coms rarely resort to spewing outright misandry. In Bridget Jones's Diary, Colin Firth and Hugh Grant didn't end up sourly slated, with vintage Alanis Morisette screeching in the background. Indeed, the question must be raised: who ever agreed to the sulking, hating, misery nerds taking over the rom-com asylum?

Strangest of all with (500) Days is this sense that women should be grateful for the role reversal - the fact that a man is hankering after a woman. The same hero who refers to his muse as an "evil, emotionless, miserable human being" who "took a giant shit on my face"? Oh yes, we're very grateful.

Indeed, this is the point when you think about it - wasn't this kind of woman hatred once confined to slasher movies? There might even have been more honesty in giving "uppity bitches" axes through the face, instead of sullen character assassinations behind their backs. It's as if Hollywood is saying: "Guys, bring me your nastiest, most screwed-up thoughts about women and we'll turn them... into gentle romantic comedies!" Which appears to be the real (industry-based) "new twist".

At least Lars von Trier's Antichrist is brazenly weird about women - there can be no ambiguity when Charlotte Gainsbourg spends one scene trying to lop off her clitoris. By contrast, the likes of (500) Days try to hide their casual misogyny behind vérité. (This is what guys really think!)

Well, maybe some of us are weary of "what guys really think". What about what women are really like? Indeed, Smiths soundtrack or not, eventually it's going to have to sink in that "chicks" in "chick movies" don't have to be treated so miserably.

Honestly? I think that's so biased it's absurd. Do you want me to compile a list of rom-coms and chick flicks where men are continually and laughingly derided?

Didn't think so.

I thought (500) Days of Summer was fresh and original. It's also fairly realistic. The article takes the 'evil, emotionless, miserable human being' out of context completely, because the film clearly shows you that he's only thinking that in exact counterbalance to what he thought of her when things were good. When he worshipped her. The idea is that he never really knew her because of that worship and that's why she seems so elusive as a character. And the actress in question came over as fiercely independent, capable of making her own decisions, unswayed by a man's wants or needs. By the end, you know she isn't a bitch. Sorry, I'm all for a bit of feminist thinking, but the above article, in my opinion, is very unfair.

And he meant 'shit in my face' metaphorically. His lady friend then points out that the ex didn't do that at all as she had always been straight with him. In fact, he learns the lesson in expectation vs reality, and it's rather bittersweet. I don't think the object of his affection came off badly at all.

JB

<Added>

a new trend for female characters being placed in the background or in the wrong, but definitely nowhere women want to be.

That's a very telling line from the outset. Is she proposing that only men can be in the wrong? Sounds like it.

We'll have to agree to disagree on this one, Waxy. You're in a minority as seeing this as fresh and original though.

(500) Days of Summer. (From Wiki)

The film achieved widespread success. It garnered critical acclaim and became a successful "sleeper hit", earning over $60 million in worldwide returns, far exceeding its $7.5 million budget. Many critics lauded the film as one of the best from 2009, seeing it featured in many year end lists and drawing comparisons to other acclaimed films such as Annie Hall, High Fidelity, and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.

The film also received numerous awards and nominations; including Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber receiving the 2009 Hollywood Film Festival's Breakthrough Screenwriter Award and the Satellite Award for Best Original Screenplay, as well as two nominations at the 67th Annual Golden Globe Awards, for Best Picture (Musical or Comedy), and a nomination for Joseph Gordon-Levitt for Best Actor, Musical or Comedy.

(500) Days of Summer was the second best-reviewed romantic film of 2009.

It also had a terrific soundtrack.

Not bad for an indie film.

JB

To misquote someone - I saw Annie Hall and this was no Annie Hall. Eternal Wotsit was okay but not actually as good as everyone thought it was. I see it as a generational thing. I've seen a lot of good films and this doesn't begin to compare.

No, it wasn't Annie Hall, and it wasn't as good as Sunshine either, which is admittedly a Marmite movie if ever there was one. The generational thing is interesting, because on the one hand films get slammed by critics for treading over old ground, over and over again, and on the other, filmmakers try something different, and they get slammed for that too. I thought (500) Days of Summer was good in the fact that in a world full of sappy happy endings and same-same rom-coms, it offered something a little different. It looked at things from a different persepective. But I'm not elevating it to classic status.

You and me would argue over our popcorn right through the movie, hey? Most trips to the cinema up here usually end up in fierce debates, either for or against. But I'm glad we're all different.

JB

I'd be interested in your take on "A Single Man", Waxy.

Erm, I didn't really like Eternal Sunshine - it was the lead roles. I was totally unconvinced by them. Now, if you want a film about memory, Memento has my vote, all days. I absolutely adore it!

I loved Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

I didn't mind it and some bits I loved but I didn't like Jim Carrey in it - it got a bit irritatingat times - and I think Kate Whimsy was too old to be playing that role. It's like - give me pink hair and I'll be whacky and indy. I much preferred the minor roles - they seemed the right age.

I enjoyed Jim Carrey's performance in that film - Elijah Wood is always worth watching in anything. I thought Kate Winslett was good - if we sympathise with Carrey's character then she has to be less sympathetic and irritating - so kudos to her as an actor for playing the role that way?

I think I was more impressed by Mark Ruffalo and Kirsten Dunst in that film. I really didn't like the main stars. At the time Ruffalo and Dunst were unknowns - to me at least- and so I was able to enjoy them in the film without their celebrity getting in the way. I can't remember much about the film but I do remember wondering when it first started in films that people in their thirties started acting like people in their twenties.

It is a while since I saw it - again I like Kirsten Dunst in anything. I thought she was brilliant in 'Marie Antoinette'.

<Added>

And of course remarkable as a child actor in Interview with the Vampire...

Re feminism - was the writing on the wall when women allowed themselves to be pushed into the ghetto of chick lit and chick flicks and indeed chick anything?

I'm writing a blog post on this but doesn't it seem indicative that when 'The Dud Avocado' came out in the fifties it received serious critical attention - was favourably compared to Salinger as a rite of passage story -Gore Vidal reviewed it and Groucho Marx wrote the author a fan letter.

No one put the book in a pastel cover or shelved it separately.

Sarah