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Feminism, sexism and misogyny in film over 2 years ago

I saw a recent topic about racism in film, and I decided to do something somewhat similar. Am I the only one who is put off when there’s overly blatant sexism and misogyny in a film? And recently, I have watched a lot of sexist/misogynist movies since most of the movies that I watch are old classics (where the women are obviously not liberated yet) and well even modern movies are guilty too.

Sometimes, I just ignore especially when some of the women in the film are, you know, kick-ass, tough, smart and in the leagues of the men or I just let it slide sometimes (for example in Phenomena, my most favorite horror film OAT, I let it slide for little reasons such as Inga the chimp does have revenge in the end, some men in the film are also victims and get brutal murders too and Jennifer Connelly does have superpowers, haha).

Any ideas of movies with positive female roles, dominant and strong women, feminist themes, etc.? And no, films directed by women aren’t necessarily feminist. For example, I don’t see anything feminist in Catherine Breillat, Lina Wertmuller and Vera Chytilova’s works; they’re just masochistic and aren’t even defiant at all.

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Top 20 films a la FLICKYOUCREW community @ LiveJournal over 2 years ago

http://community.livejournal.com/theflickyoucrew/profile

If you are a member of flickyoucrew or have tried to apply there, you know what I’m talking about. Give your top 20 list that shows your most diverse range of favorite movies, styles and genres. And don’t make a list of films that are all in IMDB’s top 250 or in AFI’s lists. And don’t be too arty, too campy, too perverted or too surreal (for example, don’t make a top 20 list with all of your favorite French New Wave films or all of your favorite martial arts films). Have a mixture of films from different genres, different directors and different decades (1920s-present): short films, documentaries, martial arts, arthouse, giallo, exploitaion, queer cinema, etc. You get the idea.

And like FlickYouCrew, in this forum topic you could question the taste of the others who gave their top 20 lists (such as “Why The Thing over The Thing from Another World?” or "Give me your top 5 non-American and non-European films) and say yes or no, depending on whether you like their lists or not.

My current top 20 list would be:
Design for Living
Phenomena
Insiang
The House Is Black
The Lady Eve
The Hole (Tsai Ming-Liang)
Assault on Precinct 13
The Young Girls of Rochefort
The Raspberry Reich
Zu: Warriors from the Magic Mountain
Pyaasa
Tongues Untied
Taxi zum Klo
Ritual in Transfigured Time
Kiki’s Delivery Service
The Cameraman
The Reckless Moment
Querelle
Ten (Abbas Kiarostami)
Welcome to the Dollhouse

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Feminism, sexism and misogyny in film over 2 years ago

Oh, I envy you. I have always wanted to get my hands on even a VHS copy of A Question of Silence. But I don’t even think it’s available here, ughh. I have been hearing a lot of good things about it and it seems like the kind of feminist film that I would really love and adore. I WANT TO WATCH IT SO BADLY.

I guess it’s a matter of personal opinion and the way you look at it. But in some films no matter how I look at it, they just seem so sexist/misogynistic. For example, Leave Her to Heaven. Gene Tierney is depicted as obsessive and possessive of her husband, clingy, manipulative and selfish, wanting her husband for himself (and men back then seem to be afraid of these kind of women since they want their freedom and want to be independent). And she is jealous of the other woman whom her husband hangs around with. And she desperately even kills herself so no one else could lays their hands on her husband. That doesn’t say anything positive much for women. And in the end, the woman whom Gene was so jealous of does end up with her husband, showing that Tierney’s suspicions were true. The whole time I was watching the film, I just kept thinking that this seemed like an anti-feminist propaganda film (although there weren’t feminists back then). It’s so absurd creating a female caricature such as that.

I feel the same way about Hitchcock’s films, well except for Vertigo and Shadow of a Doubt. Some say that Rear Window is misogynist because James Stewart just sits there while the women do all the work, he enjoyed as a sadistic voyeur watching Grace Kelly climb that building and go to the room, etc. but I don’t think it is at all. But I think I loved it before because it had a courageous woman who decided to just go inside the room even though it was dangerous.

Well, if the films do tend to glorify or make the viewers sympathize with a character who is blatantly misogynistic/sexist, it does makes you think if whether the film was somehow created with ill sexist/misogynistic intentions or whether the creators have a poor or negative view of women.

You’re right, I guess kick-ass, tough, smart and in the leagues of the men" is not the best description of what should be classified as feminist but close enough. I mean, the women in Sin City are tough and do kick ass but based on the tortures they go through, their depictions as mere prostitutes and strippers, and the abuse they take from men, they wouldn’t be exactly what I would call positive portrayals of women and feminist.

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Top 10 Films of the 80's over 2 years ago

I unintentionally sleep during any Chris Marker film I watch :P. And I know I still have yet to see a lot more films but for now, this would be my list.

A Zed and Two Noughts
Kiki’s Delivery Service
Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story
Phenomena
Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters
Stranger than Paradise
Zu Warriors from the Magic Mountain (I’m not even kidding.)
Born in Flames
Querelle
Taxi zum Klo

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DECALOGUE OF THINGS I REPULSE FROM CINEMA over 2 years ago

1. they’re going to make a Hollywood remake of THE INCREDIBLE SHRINKING MAN with Eddie Murphy O_O (am I the only one who is flabbergasted about it?)
2. everytime I see the films The Godfather, Amelie, A bout de Souffle, Mulholland Dr., Memento and any other film that’s already in the top 100 of the IMDB list (it always makes me flinch)
3. Quentin Tarantino’s name in his favorite films such as Chungking Express, Switchblade Sisters, etc. when he had nothing to do with those films
4. people who watch movies for the sole purpose of escapism, or the sole purpose of “thinking” for that matter.
5. the fact that although a lot seem to like fucking Donnie Darko, no one has yet properly explained to me the ending of Donnie Darko, the most terrible movie OAT.

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What's your favorite country (by cinematical standards) over 2 years ago

IRAN. Period.

They have Forough Farrokhzad (The House Is Black), Abbas Kiarostami (Taste of Cherry), Jafar Panahi (Crimson Gold), Mohsen Makmahlbaf (Kandahar), Majid Majidi (Children of Heaven), Samira Makhmalbaf (The Apple) and Marzieh Meshkini (The Day I Became a Woman).

I rest my case.

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Feminism, sexism and misogyny in film over 2 years ago

Oh, and why don’t you include A Clockwork Orange as well in your recommendations?

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What's your favorite country (by cinematical standards) over 2 years ago

Oh, I wasn’t trying to be aggressive or offensive there. And I wasn’t making any true arguments. The directors and films that I just mentioned, I hope, were self-explanatory.

I just placed the “period” there to show that I don’t plan to add any more of my favorite countries, in regards to films.

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Feminism, sexism and misogyny in film over 2 years ago

Although I do love Dancer in the Dark, Lars von Trier’s films tend to be pretty misogynistic, sadistically letting his female protagonists suffer and not letting them have any redemption, hope, or vengeance. Even Bjork’s character just lets herself suffer even when Catherine Deneuve gives her a chance, and the ones who deserve punishment in his films don’t tend to suffer as much as his female protagonists.

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MOMENTS IN CINEMA THAT QUICKEN THE HEART over 2 years ago

Alternative Titles: GAYEST MOMENTS IN CINEMA / MOMENTS IN CINEMA THAT TUG MY HEARTSTRINGS

I was originally planning to list my 100 moments in cinema that quicken my heart but that would be a lot and doesn’t leave much for discussion so I just wanted to use this thread for users to share their most favorite moments in cinema. Not necessarily key scenes in the film but even little moments or gestures. And they don’t have to be from your most favorite films. They could be your most favorite moments because they’re just beautiful, hopeful, tearjerking, haunting, campy, hilarious, or just plain random. I don’t care as long as it’s not something like “oh, the shower scene in Psycho” or “oh, the romantic montage in Cinema Paradiso”. Don’t be so unoriginal and cliched.

Here are some of mine:
1. “I love you; I love you all” says young Jennifer Connelly, with her hair being blown by the wind, to the insects that she have summoned and that have just shown up outside by the window (Phenomena, 1985)
2. Jack Lemmon uses a tennis racket to cook spaghetti (The Apartment, 1960)
3. “M-m-motherfucker.“ The three women repeatedly punch the shit out of Kurt Russell, and, finally, Abernathy does an axe-kick to hit him in the face with her boot. (Grindhouse, 2007)
4. After Janis gets mad at Cady and gives her an eye-opening speech, to the beat of an African tune, Janis throws the artwork that she made at her and Cady opens it to see a sketching of the three of them (Cady, Janis and Damien) together. (Mean Girls, 2004)
5. Harumi wears the expensive dress that Yusa bought for her and spins around with it, saying “I’m happy!” (Stray Dog, 1949)
6. After being told that he’s going to be given a big reception, Buster Keaton thinks that the parade in the streets is for him and waves his hat to the crowd. (The Cameraman, 1928)
7. The twins, Elliot and Beverly Mantle, dance together with Elliot’s girlfriend with her in the middle and the three of them hugging each other. (Dead Ringers, 1988)
8. Agnes and Elin literally and figuratively come out of the closet. Well, they come out of the bathroom but you can get the point. (Fucking Amal, 1998)
9. With a gentle wind blowing and her hair following her every movement, in slow motion Maya Deren knits and moves her head at the same time, and suddenly lets loose of what she’s been knitting. (Ritual in Transfigured Time, 1946)
10. Through the hole, Hsiao-kang lends a helping hand out to his neighbor downstairs and lifts her up towards his apartment unit. (The Hole, 1998)

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What's your favorite country (by cinematical standards) over 2 years ago

Yes, Powell and Pressburger’s films (especially The Red Shoes and A Matter of Life and Death) are reasons enough to appreciate English cinema <3.

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What's your favorite country (by cinematical standards) over 2 years ago

After films such as Juno, Magnolia, Donnie Darko and almost every modern Hollywood film out there, I can’t say anymore if American cinema is my most favorite even though American films (more or less the classics) are the majority of my favorites.

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DECALOGUE OF THINGS I REPULSE FROM CINEMA over 2 years ago

Oh, did you get that explanation for Donnie Darko from Wikipedia?

But what did the “bunny” mean when he said the end of the world? It wasn’t the end of the world. It was just a time portal. You know what, I don’t even remember the film. I watched it two years ago and it was just something forgettable. But as far as I know, I thought it was awful and even the makers of the film, I believe, didn’t know what they were talking about.

And Videodrome, like Donnie Darko, has a warped and twisted ending. But at least, that is fun to watch.

And 2001: A Space Odyssey? What is this, film school?

The only scene I could remember was Jake Gyllenhaal getting all horny (or pretending to, I don’t remember) at the couch beside his therapist, or maybe that was just a dream of mine while I was watching it. HOT.

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Feminism, sexism and misogyny in film over 2 years ago

Oh, right, I originally posted this thread to check out the hot men. But I guess my expectations were too high….

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Feminism, sexism and misogyny in film over 2 years ago

@ Justin: I’m not saying that films should be politically correct and very uptight. You know, but somehow I also expect them to be defiant and rebellious or against the norms and the conventions, and so far, I haven’t seen a lot of those yet. Well for example, Trouble Every Day was something different. At first, the woman here was the cannibal, not the victim. Her target of course was a horny teenager as well as other horny men. But then again, there’s Vincent Gallo who literally eats pussy which put me off the film.

And sometimes since there are a lot of horror films that get a kick out of torturing and killing women, I want to watch films that get a kick out of torturing, killing and raping men for a change. I know that sounds hypocritical and twisted of me but I want to see those for a change. Let’s see how fanboys react to it.

@ Jim: I dunno, I would call David Lynch anything but a feminist especially from what I have watched at Wild at Heart. And women in his films just seem to be cardboard cutouts, caricatures, the embodiment of David Lynch’s deepest fantasies, hence, the lesbian scene at Mulholland Dr.

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Wanna hear a joke? over 2 years ago

Oh, that must explain your predictable choice/taste in movies…

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Feminism, sexism and misogyny in film over 2 years ago

@ Shelley: Good and kind yet weak and dependent… I am suddenly reminded of the typical secretaries and housewives in classic films. Definitely sexist, a patriarchal and typical view of women.

Strong, self-sufficient, but morally reprehensible, here you’re describing someone like Scarface, almost every guy in The Godfather, and every guy in films that somehow people (mostly men) look up to or admire. If they didn’t admire or look up to those characters, fanboys wouldn’t even consider them “the best movies OAT” (which of course they’re not; they’re exaggerating). Somehow, it’s ok for men to have images like that while it’s sexist to prefer strong, self-sufficient, but morally reprehensible female characters over kind-hearted weaklings? It makes you think somehow.

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TOP 5 CHARACTERS IN FILMS WHOM YOU WANTED TO GET AWAY WITH THEIR CRIMES over 2 years ago

Because I like listening to myself talk (well type but whatever) and we, all deep down, like lists.

Self-explanatory, and it doesn’t matter whether they do get away with it or not or whether they are villains or heroes, amoral or just human.

1. Asami in Audition (I couldn’t care less for the old geezer)
2. Jack Nicholson in The Passenger
3. the mental patients in Bedlam
4. Farley Granger and John Dall in Rope
5. the lovers in Gun Crazy

I am pretty sure a lot would include the guy in Peeping Tom…. =O

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Feminism, sexism and misogyny in film over 2 years ago

Is the name Shitzu? You’re for laughs XD. I don’t even know if you’re insulting me or just doing it for the amusement of it all.

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TOP 5 CHARACTERS IN FILMS WHOM YOU WANTED TO GET AWAY WITH THEIR CRIMES over 2 years ago

Yes, the hero of Kind Hearts and Coronets. A good one, how could I possibly forget that one? Stupid Hollywood code, couldn’t let people with justified crimes get away with it.

And I have also forgotten my dear CARRIE. Carrie should have wiped all the pig’s blood in John Travolta’s face.

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Why has it become "fashionable" to hate Tarantino? over 2 years ago

BECAUSE IT’S THE SNOBBISH AND ELITIST THING TO DO.

Although I loathe him to the core, I do adore his top ten list in BFI Sight & Sound. It’s more fun and interesting than the other dull lists there.

I mean, His Girl Friday, Carrie, and Rio Bravo? All my favorites. And They All Laughed, a blaxploitation film, a martial-arts film, and a spaghetti western? Just fucking awesome taste in movies.

Anyone who doesn’t have their own certain unique style and who just imitates their favorite directors and films is a no-no for me. And plus, he’s the only director whom most film school people acknowledge and recognize. BOO.

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THE AUTEURS FILM CANON GAME, OR THE MAKING OF THE AUTEURS' TOP 100 FILMS over 2 years ago

How about we make a The Auteurs’ film canon, a list of The Auteurs’ top 100 films? Films that we could highly recommend as an alternative to IMDB’s top films list.

Anyone who wants to can give 25 films that they want to be included, and I’ll put them as entries. But to avoid having a narrow and particular style of films in the list, I’ll divide them into categories/groups.

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THE AUTEURS FILM CANON GAME, OR THE MAKING OF THE AUTEURS' TOP 100 FILMS over 2 years ago

Is it that World Cup? But isn’t it more like a battle among countries?

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THE AUTEURS FILM CANON GAME, OR THE MAKING OF THE AUTEURS' TOP 100 FILMS over 2 years ago

But I was hoping for an eclectic list with films directed by women, martial arts films, giallo, B-movies, bad movies, exploitation films, and more foreign films. Not boring Solaris, overrated Citizen Kane and everyone’s favorite The Wizard of Oz kind of thing.

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THE AUTEURS FILM CANON GAME, OR THE MAKING OF THE AUTEURS' TOP 100 FILMS over 2 years ago

I was hoping in this kind of format:

1. AUTEUR
2. ARTHOUSE/SHORT
3. HOLLYWOOD
4. B-MOVIE/SCI-FI: any B-movie, sci-fi movie, Z-movie or monster movie
5. WOMAN: a film directed by a woman
6. QUEER
7. MUSICAL
8. DOCUMENTARY
9. EXPLOITATION/WESTERN
10. HORROR/THRILLER
11. GUILTY PLEASURE
12. SILENT
13. WAR/MARTIAL ARTS
14. FILM NOIR
15. ASIAN
16. EUROPEAN
17. AMERICAN/CANADIAN
18. SOUTH AMERICA/AFRICA/AUSTRALIA
19. CRITERION COLLECTION
20. CULT
21. PARODY/SATIRE/MOCKUMENTARY
22. ACTION/CRIME
23. CAMP/SURREALISM/EROTICISM/NEO-REALISM
24. KIDS
25. FREE PICK

This way, we won’t have 99% film school and 1% entertainment. I’M A GEEK FOR MAKING THIS LIST :P.

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THE AUTEURS FILM CANON GAME, OR THE MAKING OF THE AUTEURS' TOP 100 FILMS over 2 years ago

Well, I just wanted it to include at least a couple of films directed by women because without that category, more or less, it would be mostly films directed by men.

And for the exploitation/western and wars/martial arts, what could you suggest? Do you prefer them all by their own? Or war/western and exploitation/martial arts?

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THE AUTEURS FILM CANON GAME, OR THE MAKING OF THE AUTEURS' TOP 100 FILMS over 2 years ago

The categories could be compromised:

1. AUTEUR
2. ARTHOUSE/SHORT
3. HOLLYWOOD
4. B-MOVIE/SCI-FI: any B-movie, sci-fi movie, Z-movie or monster movie
5. WOMAN: a film directed by a woman
6. QUEER
7. MUSICAL
8. DOCUMENTARY
9. EXPLOITATION/CAMP/EROTIC
10. HORROR/THRILLER
11. GUILTY PLEASURE
12. SILENT
13. WAR/WESTERN
14. FILM NOIR/NEO-NOIR
15. ASIAN
16. EUROPEAN
17. AMERICAN/CANADIAN
18. SOUTH AMERICA/AFRICA/AUSTRALIA
19. CRITERION COLLECTION
20. CULT
21. PARODY/SATIRE/MOCKUMENTARY
22. ACTION/CRIME/MARTIAL ARTS
23. SURREALISM/NEO-REALISM
24. KIDS/ANIMATION
25. FREE PICK

@ Dimitri: What would you suggest I replace for the continents?

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THE AUTEURS FILM CANON GAME, OR THE MAKING OF THE AUTEURS' TOP 100 FILMS over 2 years ago

Just like the free pick, the guilty pleasure is almost anything you want to include as long as it’s something you guiltily enjoy; it can be a very bad movie, a lame movie, a movie that is not liked by most critics, a movie that is different from your usual taste in movies, a movie that you can watch for a million times and never get tired of it.

Well, a cult film could be a horror film for example but if you wish for this particular film to compete with other cult films, include it in the cult category. An auteur film could be a film noir but if you think it has more of a chance of being included in the list by placing it in the auteur category then put it in the auteur category.

If what you placed in a certain category doesn’t make sense, I’ll have to question it or just not include it.

In order not to have Citizen Kane and the other films that you usually find in canon, I was planning not to include any films from the IMDB top list so if one submitted one that is in IMDB’s top 250, it’s not counted (even if it means not having Bringing Up Baby in the list O_O). This way, the list will have its share of camp, trash, arthouse, etc.

And yes putting in people’s favorite 50-100 films will only end up with the films usually seen in critics’ list to be the ones in our list.

And I specifically made 25 categories so the four films in each category that have gotten the highest number of votes get to be included in the list.

Ok, I have decided to listen to your suggestions and I have separated genres that are really not that similar or related so here it goes (I hope this is more agreeable, more of a compromise):

1. AUTEUR
2. MUSICAL/MUSIC
3. HORROR/THRILLER
4. ACTION/CRIME
5. WAR/EPIC
6. WESTERN
7. COMEDY/MOCKUMENTARY/SPOOF/FARCE
8. EXPLOITATION/EROTIC
9. CULT/CAMP (if the cult category is too general for you, then just put any campy film you like)
10. DOCUMENTARY
11. REALISM/DRAMA (Italian neo-realism, kitchen sink realism, etc.; if you don’t like realism, just plain melodrama instead)
12. SHORT FILM
13. SILENT
14. MARTIAL ARTS
15. CLASSIC
16. FILM NOIR/NEO-NOIR
17. B-MOVIE/Z-MOVIE
18. QUEER (even if it’s only hinted at, subtly shown)
19. SURREAL/AVANT-GARDE/EXPERIMENTAL
20. KIDS/ANIMATION
21. SCI-FI
22. WOMAN (just so there will be at least 4 films directed by women)
23. FOREIGN (just so there will be a higher chance of having more foreign films in the list)
24. GUILTY PLEASURE
25. FREE PICK (just anything you want to add and mention which category you think it’s most appropriate for)

ANY FILM FROM THE IMDB TOP 250 INCLUDED WILL NOT BE COUNTED

IF YOU THINK ROMANCE NEEDS A PLACE IN HERE, I COULD TAKE FREE PICK OFF INSTEAD.

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THE AUTEURS FILM CANON GAME, OR THE MAKING OF THE AUTEURS' TOP 100 FILMS over 2 years ago

What do you think? Should I limit it only to not counting IMDB’s top 100 films since many great films are in its #101-250?

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THE AUTEURS FILM CANON GAME, OR THE MAKING OF THE AUTEURS' TOP 100 FILMS over 2 years ago

I would rather have something from the TSP list than something like Juno or Amelie. O_O

Well, since most of the categories (war, western, epic, exploitation, etc.) are more for the male audience, why not woman-directed films for a balance in the list?

Well, if I did break action/crime to separate categories, there will be 4 movies similar to Point Break. Imagine that.

For classics, the end would be 1969, I guess.

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