Thursday, April 26, 2007

I'm sick of poor white guy movies

Mr T and I love movies. Especially now that he joined acmi library and our video shop around the corner is relatively cheap.

The one genre that Mr T and I both enjoy is art house. You may think with art house that you might get a bit of variety but not really. I am so sick of watching movies told by and based on white men's problems. Poor guy struggles to get a girlfriend, struggles to get a job, to be popular, to be successful, with health problems, with family. Blah, blah, blah, blah!

Yes I know that while white males hold plenty of privilege they also may have lots of problems. I'm just sick of watching stories based on their lives, told by them. I just don't want to be silenced as a woman in movies. I want women to have voices and lots of different types of voices.
God females make up close to half of the population why can't movies reflect that? Why can't half the movies be told by females, about females and have great female roles. Not females that need to be saved, that only date popular guys, that are superficial, that are 'sluts', that play games. I guess part of the problem is that female producers are not as common as male producers, but then even female producers tell male stories not female stories. So maybe it is that female stores are not validated and supported financially and I'm sure that living in a patriarchy doesn't help the situation. Whatever the reason, though females have problems that need to be told from female perspectives. Yes I know these movies exist but no way near enough.

As for the white issue, we watch a lot of international films especially Chinese films but there seems to be even less of them told by females. It's easier to fix the white issue, unfortunately there is no section for female movies. Maybe the video store could implement a very small shelf just made up of movies told by female characters.

I've decided to try and comply a list of films that I have watched that are told by female characters starting now. Feel free to add to the list. I'm not going to start right now as it is too difficult to come up with a huge list of films to begin with, I will start with the next one I see, it might be a couple of weeks though.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

Would you count '10 things I hate about you'? I love that film! I love the character Caterina, an opinionated, non confirming, intelligent, female.

It's sad that I can't think of any more right now!

K said...

Claire, yes I love it. It's one of the few teenage films that I actually enjoy.

I struggled too, could only think of a couple off the top of my head.

Sour Duck said...

I hear your heartfelt plea!

Let's see, as far as your request for movies, how about:

- Room with a View
- A Month in the Country
- The Terminator (first and second, I believe)
- Belleville Rendez-Vous (U.S. Title: the Triplets of Belleville (tells the story largely from Grandmother's point of view)
- Gone With the Wind
- Little Women
- The Philadelphia Story
- Queen Christina
- The Three Faces of Eve

Other Bette Davis and Joan Crawford movies might be to your liking.

Generally there were more movies that told the story from the woman's point of view in the late 30s early 40s. There was a sort of artistic clampdown post-WWII, with more strictly gendered roles for women (read: bland).

The 1970s were also a rich time for women in film (Norma Rae, Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore). In fact, there's a whole genre of activism films that feature women.

This is off the top of my head - it may not be what you're looking for.

K said...

Thanks Melinda, I haven't heard of about half of those movies, so will have to check them out.

Oddmonster said...

La Femme Nikita's the only one I can think of off the top of my head.

Ravenmn said...

Here via the Carnival.

Born in Flames
Silkwood
Fried Green Tomatoes
A League of Their Own
The Accused
The Piano
Antonio's Line
Handmaid's Tale
Boys on the Side
Secret and Lies
Ruby in Paradise
While You Were Sleeping
Miss Congeniality
The Stepmother

Anonymous said...

Ravenmn's list is terrific, I just wanted to say that it's Antonia's Line with an 'a'. I want to make sure you get the right one. It's one of my very favorite movies.

Anonymous said...

I blog about sexism in movies a lot. This is a great topic. I put an asterisk (*) next to "art" or indie movies.

Amelie*
Moonstruck
High Art*
But I'm a Cheerleader!*
Better Than Chocolate*
Like Water For Chocolate*
Bridget Jones's Diary
One True Thing
Times Square (1980)
Starstruck (1982)
A Walk on the Moon (1999)
Bubble (2005)*
They Shoot Horses, Don't They?*
Rebecca
Last Night (1998)*
Something's Gotta Give
Belle de jour

Anonymous said...

Feminist films from my own viewing experience:

Metropolis (1927)
The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928)
The Women (1939)
Woman of the Year (1942)
Adam's Rib (1949)
All About Eve (1950)
Sunset Boulevard (1950)
Nights of Cabiria (1957)
The Three Faces of Eve (1957)
Lolita (1962)
The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1964)
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966)
Persona (1967)
The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (1969)
Scenes from a Marriage (1974)
The Stepford Wives (1975)
Norma Rae (1979)
Foxes (1980)
Nine to Five (1980)
Sophie's Choice (1982)
Victor / Victoria (1982)
Beaches (1988)
Eat a Bowl of Tea (1989)
Heathers (1989)
Steel Magnolias (1989)
Mermaids (1990)
Thelma & Louise (1991)
A League of Their Own (1992)
Like Water for Chocolate (1992)
The Joy Luck Club (1993)
Eat Drink Man Woman (1994)
Little Women (1994)
Muriel's Wedding (1994)
Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (1994)
Queen Margot (1994)
301/302 (1995)
Antonia's Line (1995)
Citizen Ruth (1996)
Welcome to the Dollhouse (1996)
Ma Vie En Rose (1997)
Next Stop Wonderland (1998)
Polish Wedding (1998)
All About My Mother (1999)
Better Than Chocolate (1999)
But I'm a Cheerleader (1999)
Girl, Interrupted (1999)
Gloomy Sunday (1999)
Jawbreaker (1999)
Ginger Snaps (2000)
Live Nude Girls Unite! (2000)
Iris (2001)
Ghost World (2001)
Hedwig and the Angry Inch (2001)
Monsoon Wedding (2001)
Amy's O (2002)
Frida (2002)
The Hours (2002)
Kissing Jessica Stein (2002)
Rabbit-Proof Fence (2002)
Real Women Have Curves (2002)
Secretary (2002)
Sex and Lucia (2002)
Tipping the Velvet (2002)
Vagina Monologues: Eve Ensler (2002)
Calendar Girls (2003)
Osama (2003)
Sexual Dependency (2003)
Whale Rider (2003)
Being Julia (2004)
Iron Jawed Angels (2004)
Maria Full of Grace (2004)
Saved! (2004)
Vera Drake (2004)
North Country (2005)
Transamerica (2005)

K said...

This is great, although just the fact that we can make lists shows that the movies are by far in the minority. I will start combining the answers in a list on the sidebar asap.