Quote:
Originally Posted by Calum  Well, to be fair, misogyny (as a worldview) is not quite as simple as the film would need to make "the viewer hate women" which is entirely subjective and moves out of theorising and into a whole area of qualitative/ quantitative research based on audience reaction and the baggage they bring to it. |
Yes, I can see what you mean. I was just really saying that I, personally, am hard pushed to cite it as a misogynist work. I didn't really get that from watching the film, on a personal level. To me it's just a film with actors and special effects (although, as with any film, I
could analyse it in depth), I certainly would never allow a fictional work to shape my world-view. But what I find interesting is that, for the most part, it's
men that decry these kinds of films as being misogynistic (Kermode, for example), not women (although there are a few, but seem to be fewer than men). I just wonder what it is about these men that make them feel the need to come rushing to the aid of these 'weak' women, as if they aren't capable for sticking up for themselves. Isn't that a kind of inverted misogyny all of its own, by saying that women need a man to rescue them, inferring that they're somehow unable to stand up for themselves? It's a tricky area of debate - and I'm not aiming these comments at anyone here, please be assured of that. I'm thinking more in the field of professional critics and such like.
Myself, I would obviously never advocate violence of any kind towards women (or anyone, for that matter), but I also wouldn't want to demean the opposite sex by thinking they're not strong enough or vocal enough to voice their own opinions. They certainly don't need the likes of me to come to their rescue and 'protect' them from horrible films like
NYR. Because if we do believe that, what we're
really saying is that we need to protect women from men who watch films like this - which is us! Yikes!
