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  #11  
Old 14th June 2011, 05:15 PM
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The most (only?) likable character is female, I felt.
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  #12  
Old 14th June 2011, 05:23 PM
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Originally Posted by tobiaswragg View Post
The most (only?) likable character is female, I felt.
Same here, and I agree with Calum about the unintentionally humorous aspects of New York Ripper -- it's a bit like Island of Death in that respect.

Also, as a further digression, I found From Caligari to Hitler extremely heavy going (along with Barbara Creed's The Monstrous-Feminine) -- and that was only for an MA!

Now, back on topic I think!
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Old 14th June 2011, 06:09 PM
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(along with Barbara Creed's The Monstrous-Feminine)
Julia Kristeva is worse.
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Old 14th June 2011, 06:49 PM
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Julia Kristeva is worse.
Kristeva generally has the effect of making me feel incredibly stupid right before I throw her work out of the window.

Anyways, as Nos said, back on topic...
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Old 14th June 2011, 07:58 PM
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Julia Kristeva is worse.
I read some other work and it is extremely hard going. When I decided to write my dissertation on The Exorcist, Rosemary's Baby And The Omen, I didn't think I'd be eye deep in feminist theory!
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Old 14th June 2011, 08:03 PM
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I read some other work and it is extremely hard going. When I decided to write my dissertation on The Exorcist, Rosemary's Baby And The Omen, I didn't think I'd be eye deep in feminist theory!
There's a reason why I decided to focus my PhD on industry concerns and that reason is feminist film theory. Read enough of that and you start seeing phallic symbols everywhere!

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Originally Posted by Calum View Post
I digress: a film *can* hold a misogynistic worldview and it can also sexualise images that are inherently misogynistic: a naked woman tied to a bed with her nipple sliced in half for instance. The New York Ripper does both of these - which is why it has the reputation it has.

However, whether it is down to bad looping and some dubious acting I do not know - the film is also really funny and it feels like some kind of send-up with Fulci and the cast being "in on the joke". Sort of like Pieces in a sense - only with much more technical/ production values. The same cannot be said for more sterile and studied misogyny of something like the Halloween remake - which, if memory serves, had no BBFC problems at all. I do think Shameless got a bum deal from the BBFC.
I completely agree with all those points, Calum!
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Old 14th June 2011, 08:08 PM
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Kristeva vaguely rings a bell from when I studied feminist theory as an undergraduate.
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Old 15th June 2011, 01:14 AM
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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!
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Old 15th June 2011, 02:44 AM
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It chronicles the activities of a misogynist - I mean, the killer obviously hates women, so he's not going to be kind and gentle to his victims, is he? But, in all honesty, for the film to actually be misogynistic would mean that its sole remit as a film would be to get the viewer to hate women. Well, it doesn't really do that, does it?
No, I don't think anyone is confusing misogynistic films with films about misogynists. B

I think your next sentence is a strange and sweeping statement though. Whilst I'm sure we would all agree that 'Virgin Witch' is a pretty misogynistic film, I can't imagine that anyone would think its sole purpose (or purpose to any degree) was to make people hate women! But it's still misogynistic. It also happens to be a film that I enjoy, despite this flaw (and a hundred others ).

As Calum says, intent is another issue. The fact Jim Davidson doesn't think that he's racist hardly means that he's not racist...
Meaning is never black and white, but I think that's why this is an interesting debate - though sorry to be off-topic!

Last edited by TheOwlsAreNotWhatTheySeem; 15th June 2011 at 02:56 AM.
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  #20  
Old 15th June 2011, 02:54 AM
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Originally Posted by Prince_Vajda View Post
Now come on! With so much evil, atrocity and stupidity out there, the last thing I care about is a nasty (and catchy) tagline.
Well with so much evil, atrocity and stupidity out there it's probably not that important whether a film is presented in 2.00:1 ratio or 2.35:1 ratio either , and relatively that tagline bothers me a lot more!
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