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July 07, 2007
Husbands & Wives
So I finally saw the film that everyone said Sidewalks of New York was a poor man's version of. And I disagree. While they definitely use the same motif, they use it in different ways - Woody tries desperately hard to be realistic in his portrayal of intertwined New Yorkers, while Ed allows for some movie magic. Not to mention that I think Ed has a much better relationship with the opposite sex.
Seriously, could Woody Allen have a more screwed up notion of the female gender? Why is it that almost every female character in any Woody film is either a conniving bitch, a waif waiting for an older man to set her straight, a cold, highly opinionated NYer who can't relax enough to experience the passion of sex, or some combination of the above? It's clearly gotten to the point that no matter how good I think he is at his craft - and clearly the man can write and act like himself quite well - I've simply grown tired of his crappy portrayals of my gender.
Husbands & Wives is a decent movie. It even inspired Roger to write a real review, rather than simply rehash the plot. Vincent Canby also wrote a great review of the film in the NYT back in the day.
I just have a really hard time giving my full support to the non-stop negative portrayal of my gender. Traditional romantic comedies are not the answer - I like my female role models dumb just as much as I like them conniving bitches. At some point in the future, there will be more female writers, directors, and producers; and there will be more male writers, directors, and producers who understand that while there are gender differences, portraying all females as stereotypes is as realistic as black face performances.
Rotten Tomatoes entry.
IMDB entry.
Posted by cj at July 7, 2007 02:27 PM