Batman Begins... Again... or "Why I see movies the way I do"

I don't know why I bother trying to state my opinion sometimes. I'm awake way too late tonight because of a quick review I posted on my new Flixter on Facebook page, a review I didn't know would be public although I'm sure I should have figured it out.

If you've been reading my blog for a long long time, you probably remember my rampage on Superhero movies back that started with Batman Begins on June 22, 2005 (that is a hint of where to go in my archives if you're interested). I am still very interested in the ideas I mentioned there about what movies are truly empowering to women as women and when are the women just enacting male roles in order to fit into the mainstream (see Jacob's comment for more questions on that).

So anyways, I decided to cut and paste the comments from the movie review (a sentence or two I might add was all I wrote) so you can see how I can completely overreact to silly, half thought out comments. I deserved since I had only half thought out my review.

Since the review has now been modified, I'll just tell you the gist of what I first wrote was "this is a sexist movie blah blah blah why can't we have a strong superpowered woman or at least a strong female sidekick" That is when the comments began. As you can see, I was getting frustrated responding so now only my friends can make comments on my reviews, as they are the only people I was thinking of in the first place. Read on:

Comment from Random Guy #1

"uh.....it's called Bat MAN for a reason."

I commented

"That doesn't mean there can't be any strong female characters involved in the plot. The women that are lucky enough to make it in the movie could be a lot stronger and less like silly damsels in distress

So the name is BatMAN. Does that mean all men are sexist pigs? I don't think so. I just think this movie did not do justice to how good men can be, including to their female counterparts."

Random Guy #2 commented

"Then you want to watch "Girl Power!: Femine Powers Activate". This was about Batman, about Bruce Wayne. How was he a sexist pig? Because he was more influenced by the male figures in his life than the women?

To call "Batman Begins" sexist is downright puzzling. You may think it didn't have a strong female character (what did you think of Rachel Dawes, an assistant district attorney in a rough, corrupted city...how many female DA's are there in movies again?) but that doesn't make it sexist."

I commented

"I'm sorry, I meant misogynistic, which I doubt will make any more sense to you. I'll change my review accordingly. I was under the impression my friends would be the ones reading my short review and they mostly know they can read more detailed analysis on my blog, where I am able to expand in more analytical and intellectual terms. The characters are not sexist. The movie is misogynistic because it reinforces fundamental patriarchall ideas instead of daring to make women strong and influential."

Then I went and modified my review and commented

at 11:14pm

"Please notice my above changed review. I hope this appeases some the frustration or puzzlement for the two of you."


Before I post the modified review, I feel the need to address a few things said above. I probably wasn't too clear on my responses or at least I used too many sophisticated literary devices like RHETORICAL QUESTIONS! When I asked if the commenter was saying BatMAN meant that it means that all men are sexist pigs, I was trying to make a point that just because a movie is about a MAN, it does not have to be sexist. Then I was attacked for saying the character of Batman was a sexist pig. I don't think I ever said that. I never said his character was anything - I said the movie was sexist. Oh well! So in case more morons read my review, I wrote a slightly longer response that changed the "sexist" parts to "misogynoistic" because that probably is more accurate to what I was saying and really stupid people won't be able to understand what it means anyways so I don't have to worry about them thinking I'm saying Bruce Wayne is sexist.

I'm a little worked up about this, can you tell? This is why I don't think I would be a very good film critic because the majority of the world out there does not watch movies like I do most of the time. I can't turn off the way I watch movies (and read books and watch TV for that matter) and still be true to who I am. I believe that movies, TV, and books have a powerful means of influencing us through subliminal positioning of certain ideals and I would feel weird putting a lot of effort into ignoring what power these mediums can hold. I'm not saying anyone else is stupid for not caring about the subliminal stuff either. It does not make anyone better or worse, smarter or stupider. It just means that I, being who I am, growing up as I did, and studying what I did in college, must be able to have these subtle readings of how books, movies, etc can influence others because it is a part of who I am and what I want to do with my life. All the subtle things add up to much bigger issues, in particular for young women. I want my cousins and nieces and maybe daughters to get reaffirming messages about being a woman without having it hit over their head. I also want the next generation of men to have more men with balanced ideas (like most of the important men in my life - my brothers, my father, my best friend) so that these misogynistic undertones don't accidentally happen anymore in a way that will slowly eat away at self-esteem and self-worth of women. All of what I am saying can be applied to other issues such as socioeconomic differences and race although they are less likely to be subliminal references in movies. I don't know how exactly I can influence this change but I know I'll figure it out. If I could find a paper or website that wanted to hear a feminist academic take on movies, I'd be happy to write for them. But for now I'm starting with my blog, where I can write anything I want and people can comment in a much more intelligent way than the two idiots... I mean people.... on Facebook.

To close, here is what my new review says:

"My previous review was vastly misunderstood. I thought this movie looked good and was entertaining. However, I think the overall story and portrayal of all the characters combined made a very misogynistic movie that hurts efforts to actively change...(read more) society's subconscious sexism in many situations. When I say I want a strong female character, I recognize that the protagonist is a male. However, despite the nominal power of the Katie Holmes character as an Assistant DA, she is still helpless and reliant completely on the men. There are also issues of the way the movie was filmed artistically that affect my view on this movie as misogynistic which I wrote out in detail in a blog post when the movie came back. My friends know me and know I have some backing to my outrageous claims, whether or not they agree with me. Next time you watch this movie, just try to look past the entertainment aspect (which was great) and see a little more of the underlying tones. The subliminal, subtle fabric of the film has more effect on the psyche than one might expect in an action adventure film.

I did not have similar problems with the first two X-Men movies, you may notice, because Bryan Singer did an excellent job of equalizing the forces of masculine and feminine by creating interesting characters who were portrayed in a very different light and shot in a different style from Batman Begins. Of course this all changed in X-Men 3 but that is another blog post. If you're not on my friend list and not able to see my blog, sorry. I am more interested in rating movies and writing reviews for the people who know me somewhat and can take what I say with a grain of salt by knowing my background and where I'm coming from. I have added another star since the 1 star was harsh when I was entertained initially."

Books, Thai food, and a movie...

It's been an eventful Wednesday for me (compared to my usually quite boring mid-weekdays when I have nothing to do...). I say eventful because I did more than one thing today. Actually I did a lot of things which was nice. I went to the library to take back four books and ended coming back with at least eight. I answered my phone TWICE which is a miracle since I usually forget to take it out of my coat pocket or leave it in another room (accidently of course) where I can't hear it.

Oh yeah - after I went to the library I decided it would be a great idea to just go straight to the grocery store to pick up essentials (apple juice, Whole Grain Goldfish, and chocolate soy milk) instead of walking the block back to my apartment and then walking the approximately three blocks to the grocery store unburdened of my huge bag of library books. My apartment is not technically on the route from the library to the grocery store - it is about half a block extra (so I would have walked a total of one extra block). You can see the illogical math here seeing as I had a large reusable grocery bag full of books. I had planned to use the bag on groceries. Oops... I ended up buying yet another reusable grocery bag because I feel insanely guilty now when I use the plastic grocery bags. China's way ahead of us and actually has a minimum thickness requirement for plastic bags and forces customers to pay extra if they do not bring in reusable bags! (I love NPR). Now the books would not have been so bad if I hadn't gotten all the heavy stuff at the store - two things of soy milk, a half gallon of apple juice, some frozen stuff, and one of the huge containers of Goldfish (the one that looks like an over-sized milk carton). My arms feel much stronger now, having made this trip to the library and the grocery store.

I just realized that I described above a trip to the library and the grocery store as eventful! I find that sad. I did go up to Evanston tonight though to have dinner with my former roommate and dear friend. We had Thai which I haven't eaten in a long time which was quite wonderful. Mmmmm curry with potatoes, peas, and tofu..... It was just really nice to see her and catch up on our exciting lives. Yes, my trip to the library and grocery store did come up...

After dinner we went to see the movie Juno which was an excellent idea. As you may remember from a former post, I love this movie. What was even nicer than just going to see the movie, though, was that we arrived about half an hour early so we had a good 20 minutes to just sit in the theater and talk. I like moments like that - it makes the movie going experience more social and personal. I often go to movies by myself because sitting in front of a movie or TV with other people does not seem incredibly social for me. However, I had a lot of fun watching Juno with Erica. Afterwards she said "I love this soundtrack!" Luckily I had already brought her a copy of it since I bought it last week.

Then we decided that this is one of our favorite movies. We have very similar taste in movies. I have decided I have three favorite movies. This is a big deal for me because when someone asked me what my favorite movie was freshman year of college, I had no idea. I finally settled on Amelie because it is one of the few movies I can watch over and over again and still love it. The other to favorites are actually both from the last 12 months - Waitress and Juno. I realized tonight that there is one major similarity between all three of these movies - they have strong female protagonists who demonstrate independence and fortitude in a society I can actually relate to! I've been having a lot of dreams about high school lately, mostly nightmares about not having really graduated or having the city bus route change completely. I think it is because of the high school depicted in Juno. We didn't have sports and I wasn't pregnant, but I could certainly relate to Juno's experience in many ways. I could go on and on about why I love these movies but this post is too long already.

So that was my day - it was exciting. It may not seem like it from reading the above but for me, it was a nice change of pace. Next week I have a stage management gig with a mime company which will probably be even more exciting than going to the grocery store but I still have a couple days to wait before that big adventure starts...

And yes, I'm still exuberant about Obama's wins yesterday - we're finally ahead in the total delegate counter, whether you include superdelegates or not! Yipee!

"This is one doodle that can't be undid, home-skillet."

***I wrote this post over a week ago but got caught up in the election stuff. I know this makes two long posts in one day but I figured I haven't posted since Wednesday so what's the harm. Click on the title above for a great trailer for the movie Juno, which is hopefully still playing in a theater near you!***


Now that my mother has proclaimed that I should be a movie critic, I am very nervous about writing about Juno, an amazing independent movie that is nominated for the Best Picture Oscar. Until last week when the nominations were announced, I had never heard of this movie before. A new friend who is a grad student at DePaul asked a bunch of friends from the retreat I went on last week if we wanted to go see one of the Oscar nominated movies. Juno was the suggested movie so I went to watch the trailer. I fell in love with the movie just from those few minutes of the preview. Luckily I was not disappointed after seeing the actual movie yesterday.

Juno follows the surprise pregnancy of the title character, who at 16 by no means wants to be having a baby. After deciding not to have an abortion (in one of my favorite scenes), her friend suggests that she look in the PennySaver for adoptive parents who are "desperately seeking spawn," in the words of Juno's best friend Leah.

I suppose this movie could easily be classified as a "coming of age" story yet I think that classification implies something contrary to the message I got out of the movie. Coming of age implies that a character goes through a process of maturity that leads into the next phase of life, such as teenage to adulthood. However, Juno is searching to discover her place in the phase she is supposed to be in as a teenager. Being pregnant complicates the difficult social trials every teenage girl deals with in high school. It is almost as though she is backtracking to the stage of life in which she belongs. In a great scene between Juno and her father, her father asks where she's been. Juno replies "I've just been out dealing with things way beyond my maturity level." The fact that she can recognize this is proof of her high level of maturity for a 16 year old, in an ironic sort of way. It is fascinating to watch a young woman who is acting more like an adult - taking pregnancy tests, acting above the other specimen at her school, etc - become more like the teenager she should be.

It has been a long time since I have seen a movie that is so purely pro-woman with amazingly strong female characters. Most movies tend towards traditional gender roles with subtle inferences of sexism (if you're wondering what I mean, go back to last year's posts about X-Men 3 and Batman Begins). Juno, on the other hand, is empowering (enough so that I want to go see it again soon). The funny thing is, nothing about the gender dynamics seemed artificial, proving that women can dominate a movie without it either becoming a chick-flick or seem like it is trying too hard! I hope other filmmakers pay attention and start making more women heroes! In addition, the male characters show a spectrum of strengths and flaws, just as the women do. We need balance in movies instead of taking sides with one gender or the other.

For example, Jennifer Garner's character, the wife in the adopting couple, seems unlikable at first until we are shown the flip side of the relationship. I don't want to give away too much but if you see this, pay attention to who sympathies change towards Jason Bateman's character (the husband in the adopting couple) throughout the movie. I was pleasantly surprised by my own reactions in the end. Juno's father, on the other hand, is like the wise old owl and loving father, played brilliantly by J.K. Simmons. Just so you know, all the performances were brilliant so I won't go through each of them here. Watch out for Ellen Page who played Juno, though! She was amazing and brought things to the character I'm sure no one else could have pulled off.

I really liked this movie, can you tell? The last issue I want to mention is fertility and adoption. I took a class in college called "Feminism and Fertility" in the Religion department. Since that class I have developed very strong feelings about infertility treatments and adoption. Juno shows us the struggle and journey of the individuals involved in adoption - the adoptive parents, the birth parents, the friends and family of the birth parents, etc. A lot of people don't think about the pain couples go through when they are not able to conceive on their own. Most people know that adoptions take months or years to go through the system but I've found even myself thinking of that time as mere "annoyance. Society has a "normal way" that children are brought into this world and become parts of families. Even though adoption is much more accepted in modern society than it was in the beginning of the last century, it is often seen as a "last resort." It is often assumed that only people who are "defective" in terms of reproduction adopt and therefore the couple can be stigmatized amongst others, especially in non-American cultures. In this film, however, we are shown the emotional journeys of both the adopting parents and the willing birth mother (and father and grandparents). Adoption takes just as much patience, hard work, and LOVE as being pregnant yourself and having a baby. I think this movie is a strong reminder to those of who may forget this from time to time. I have even more respect for my aunt and uncle who adopted two children and for all others who take the emotional risk to help children who need families.


Juno tackles these issues and more, highlighting both the humor and sadness found in all of the characters' lives. From the stress of high school dances to the pain in the delivery room, this movie shows what is real in life and what truly matters.

A commentary on the film Black Book***

I watched the movie Black Book this evening and it got me to thinking about the rhetoric of war. This is Dutch film made in 2006 about a female spy with the Dutch Resistance during WWII. The most interesting part for me was in the English subtitles to the German dialogue. I wish I spoke German so I could be sure it was an accurate translation! In any case, the Nazis always referred to the Resistance as "terrorists." Although this movie is by no means supposed to be from a Nazi German point of view, it did make me think about how the "other side" often thinks the same thing about the "good guys" as we think about the "bad guys." Everyone thinks they are on the "right" side to some extent.

Even more interesting was one of the main German characters, Muntze, who was a high ranking Nazi official who was one of the most compassionate characters. I know it seems strange to think of "Nazi" and "compassionate" in the same sentence but Muntze (who I think is fictional but I'm not sure) spoke out against worthless executions of Resistance prisoners and actually tried to negotiate with the Resistance to stop killings on both sides (the movie takes place towards the end of the war from 1944-1945 so the smart Germans knew it was just a matter of time before they lost). Muntze was given a death sentence by higher ranking SS men under the accusation of "negotiating with terrorists." I do not think the writer's words were chosen lightly. It seems that every time I hear Bush or his posse speak about the war in Iraq, it is something about "we will not negotiate with terrorists." It is an "us" vs. "them" mentality. This does not condone the actions on either side of these wars - either the Nazis or Al Quaida. However, as I have ranted about in Religion Major terms before, more needs to be done to understand the other side in order to eventually negotiate peace. And I do think that peace in the Middle East needs to be a negotiation. Yes terrorism is horrible and by no means should be condoned. However, there are a lot of other people in the Middle East who are not terrorists who would REALLY like to live life without the fears of suicide bombers or civilian casualties of American and other international "peace-keeping" occupying militaries.

Black Book was a very well made and fascinating movie but I would caution you that it contains a lot of graphic nudity and violence, often at the same time. However, it is good sometimes to be reminded about what WAR is really like and how many lives are affected by even a few violent deaths. The performances were all amazing, especially the lead actress Carice van Houten, who played the Jewish protagonist Rachel Stein who goes undercover for the Resistance by becoming Muntze's lover. The only flaws in the plot were probably too many characters with not enough exposition to keep them straight. However, the main characters like Rachel Stein and Muntze were incredibly deep and they really humanized the brutal story in a way that made many of the outcomes heartbreaking. It is because of the strong performances and characters that I actually finished watching this long movie without even multi-tasking like I usually do! I sat and watched straight through and cried quite a few times. So if you like history and want to see a Dutch take on WWII, go out and rent Black Book.


***I do promise that I will post my already written review of Juno soon but since it is now one of my favorite movies, I want to edit it to make sure it does justice to the amazing movie.

P.S. I Love You

Yesterday I finally went to see a movie! The last movie I saw was The Golden Compass over Christmas break and before that I don't remember the last time I saw something in the theaters. Lately I've been avoiding the movie theater because there are so many movies I want to see and I couldn't make up my mind. I was worried that I would pick something that didn't end up being too good and I didn't want to waste my money.

Well, as luck would have it, I saw a not so great movie, P.S. I Love You. However, I think a lot of my cynicism on the movie is based on the fact that I recently read the book. As often happens, the movie was nearly as good as the book and all of my favorite parts were either left out or changed.

The book P.S. I Love You was written by Cecilia Ahern at a relatively young age (21 years old I believe). As is many times the case, age did not matter much in the overall maturity and talent in this book. The setting is Ireland and the main trope is a woman dealing with the loss of her husband to brain cancer. Her husband left her with a "plan" of things to do each month to help her move on. Simple story but the true beauty was in the humor.

Unfortunately the movie seemed to drop all of the original humor and make up new story lines or change character details in a way that completely voided the remaining humor. I will concede that Gerard Butler did a fantastic job playing the always humorous, easy-going Gerry, the deceased husband. The casting of Hilary Swank as Holly was not as perfect. Maybe she was perfect for the uptight Holly in the rewritten story but she was not in the spirit of the book.

After reading the book I knew it was not likely that the movie could be anywhere close to heart-wrenching and hilarious as the book. There were "too many" characters for a two hour movie and way too many intricate details about their lives. One of the big losses, I felt, was in the story of Holly's (the protagonist) story. In the book, she has 3 brothers and a sister with both parents living in the same town in the house she grew up in. They're family dinners were something to both enjoy because of the family humor and dread because of the tension created by a diverse set of siblings. In the movie, Holly had only one sister and was abandoned by her father at the age of 14. Her mother was still bitter about this desertion and did not approve of Holly's amazing husband, Gerry. I was shocked at this huge alteration. Instead of the movie being a joyous celebration of life after the death of a loved one and the process of moving on, it became a drama about a woman who has been "abandoned" two times, once by her father and then by her husband dying at a young age. I'm sure I could write a whole other post about our culture's reluctance to show an actual happy family not broken by divorce or death. I'd like to believe it still exists!

The other major alteration that disturbed me was the addition of an Irish singer, William, who Holly and her friends meet on a trip to Ireland (planned by Gerry). Yes, Ireland, the original setting of the book which was discarded in favor of a trendy look at life in New York. In any case, William is found nowhere in the book. In the movie, however, it was necessary to add some sex, otherwise it would not qualify as a modern romantic drama (note the sarcasm and cynicism in this observation). Part of moving on, according to the movie, is having meaningless sex with a stranger in a foreign country mere months after the death of the love of your life. Talk about mixed messages! I am a lover of romantic comedies and I would have been just fine without this additional character! The time wasted on this relationship could have been better spent by including the exploits involved in Holly finding an administrative job she actually enjoys (in the movie she becomes a famous shoe designer) or looking at the intricate, real relationships in her family (before it was taken to the chopping block).

To sum up, there is something wrong with how Hollywood sees the genre of romantic comedies. I would rather watch a predictable romantic comedy with great characters and dialogue like Ever After or Sleepless in Seattle than watch what Hollywood deems appropriate in realism and contemporary values. Some changes need to be made in Chick Flicks before I waste my money on another one. I can't remember the last time a true romantic comedy was made that was just fun and sweet instead of melodramatic and raunchy. The closest I can think of is Waitress which is too much of an amazing FILM to be classified in the non-artsy category of romantic comedy.

So if you are looking for a movie to see this weekend, skip P.S. I Love You and try something a little more classy. Or better yet, go read a book, perhaps even P.S. I Love You.