I wonder if anyone saw Strange Days and what you think about it. It
starts like a typical "action set in dark and gloomy future", and then
they turn everything around in a very strange way.
First, the main hero was not a traditional macho-type. He was pretty
smart, sensitive, and not very good in fighting. Actually, if not his
female best friend, he would have been killed many times before the movie
was over. And he was not ashamed of not being of superhero, which is
rather odd for action movies.
Second, I really liked the character of the women who was his best
friend. She was tough but not "butch", she was always there for him
without slipping into sacrificing-for-the-man-she-loves or
maternal-protection-of-poor-guy-in-trouble mode. Instead, it was a
friendship of equals.
Finally, in the end, after the main hero eventually saved the troubled girl
from bad guys, he walked away from her and chose the strong woman instead. I
think, this is the frist time I saw anything like that in mass culture.
Normally, guys fight (and win) either for some poor little girl that needs
help, or for his wife (preferrably already dead), or for some women-unrelated
guys' issues. Strong women, in their turn, are fighting either _against_
the man they used to love, or to save a child in the absense of a man to
do it, or they are not interested in men altogether (think Xena). But they
never, ever fight to help their friend, who happens to be male, and on
the top of it, end up in a relationship with him, who choses them over a
helpless bimbo. I think, this is something new.
I had not heard of this film before. And it might not be an
artistic masterpiece. But I'd like to think of it as a sign that the
tradition of sexism in action hero culture is going to pass away. What do
you think?
Marina
"Femininity is code for femaleness plus whatever society
happens to be selling at the time."
Naomi Wolf
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Thu May 25 2000 - 19:07:36 PDT