I review films for our local CBC morning show and am limited to what is currently available in our one, six-screen cinema, which is treated by the programming lords as if it were a suburban mall cinema outside a major urban centre [with the implied choice for those who are interested to hop on public transit for a few minutes and go to an alternative screening] instead of the only game in town for a reasonably-sized small city [also ignoring the fact that people in outlying communities might be inclined to travel HERE for some greater options than they might find at home]... but I rant.
Last week, the pickings were thin, because other reviews had already been done for the "better" films available, so I chose... The House Bunny. It sounds egregious in descriptions, but I thought, "how bad can it be?" and went, dragging along Melinda, who has a graduate degree in gender studies... you can see where this is going, can't you?
I will say, up front [or in the middle, as the case may be] that this film was both better and worse than I expected. Better, for the most part, because of the groans coming from the seat next to me... did I mention that she teaches Women's Studies? [a fine course, and there are still seats available for those who are looking to pick up some interesting college credits]... also better, because Anna Faris is relatively good and has some funny lines... of course, this is in comparison with the train wreck that is going on around her.
The House Bunny is worse than I expected, because I truly felt that there is room in the campus comedy and ditzy girl genres for something new, or at least subverting, or at least parodying [especially when Faris is most noted for her part in the Scary Movie franchise], and we don't find it here... yes, there is the message that being a smart girl is a good thing... BECAUSE IT WILL ATTRACT BOYS!... c'mon, folks, haven't we made it past this? And we get to this message after we have been subjected to the notion that the sorority Faris works to save is a sisterhood of losers because the women in it are all homely or funny-looking in some way... it doesn't ruin the movie for you to be told that their first victory [against the snooty, pretty girls] involves makeup, new outfits, and a lot of hairstyling action... uuuuuuuuunh!
One gendered aspect of note is that almost all of the primary roles in this movie are women's roles, heroes, villains, old grumpy antagonist, etc., while the men's roles are primarily types: good boy, bad boy, sensitive boy, etc. This reversal of the usual order is not, I am afraid, sufficient to redeem the effort.
This notion of a central good effort in this movie is worth pondering; I felt that there were two authors of this movie [and it turns out on examination that two people did write it... we should hunt down the evil one and give her (both writers are women) a good shake]... it seemed like we could hear the voice alternating... on one side, the little angel saying, "let's have a movie where all the significant parts are played by women", and on the other shoulder, we find the one in the little red suit saying, "Yeah, and let's make sure they have some righteous tits on them! Yee haw! Party on! Whooo, whoo, whoo!" And from this description, you should be able to tell who got more attention [and secured more funding] for the project.
It is a challenge to filmmakers to make a movie primarily about women that doesn't have as central concerns a) attracting boys, b) personal appearance, and c) subverting other women's efforts to get ahead... all that, and make it a movie that we'd like to see... the challenge still remains, because it wasn't fulfilled in The House Bunny.
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