Sunday, August 26, 2007

last little life

saw the rentals tonight. fan-fucking-tastic show. they crammed in nearly all my favorites, including Getting By off of 7 More Minutes and a great weezer b-side (i just threw out the love of my dreams). matt sharp pin-balled around stage doing what looked like some kind of modern dance exercises. sara radle, rachel haden, and lauren chipman's vocals were tight. they've cemented their place as my new (old) favorite band. hear some stuff.

and: signed up for graphic design I and typography I at the school of art + design at montgomery college. classes start on the 5th. should be swell.

also: looks like i have a gig doing a hang and focus for a show at the roundhouse theatre.

too: superbad is freakin' hysterical. incredibly misogynistic, vulgar, and just generally offensive. but hysterical.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I didn't think Superbad was that mysgynistic in Hollywood terms. It's all about the outcome, and Apatow as usual puts in a healthy dose of respect for women without dehumanizing them.
-Kyle

Flushy McBucketpants said...

Seth's character, at least verbally, is a complete misongynist. Women are nothing but glory holes designed for his pleasure.

Quotes a la Seth:
"Yeah, but the problem is that they don't actually show the dick going in the pussy. Have you ever seen a pussy by itself?"
"I'll be like the Iron Chef of pounding Vag."
"Breast Reduction Surgery? That's like slapping God across the face."

Let's also not forget the two cops who have a tendency to refer to ex-wives as whores and sluts.

I should also point out that the women in the film are given about as much character development as the women not in the film. They are solely used as goals for sexual conquest. McLovin's target being the prime example. If you can even remember that character's name without looking it up, I'll buy you a beer on Tuesday.

Anonymous said...

to be fair, the cop's wife was an actual whore.
and consider for a second the archetypal discomfort story; the point of it is that incorrect action leads to discomfort, honesty and correct action leads to reward. for the moment my lazy brain isn't going to trace this farther back than A Christmas Carol, but i'm sure we can take it further.
Seth was played for laughs, but in the end, the message is clearly "do not be like this guy."
in terms of production, yes, there is a definite preponderance of male-dominated films out there. taken individually, this is not mysogyny. taken as a statement of the industry, it's practically an indictment. therefore i would not say "superbad is mysogynistic because it doesn't develop its female characters" but i would say "hollywood is mysogynistic due to the preponderance of movies with underdeveloped female characters, for example X, Y and Superbad."
i would point out the relatively positive view of women judd apatow tends to have of women, removing them from victorian pedestals and giving them human failings while removing fictional failings.
i think her name's nicole, but honestly i don't know. she's a minor character, the crush of the buffoonish subplot.
becca and jules were the other two, and jules at least proves to be the most well-adjusted character in the film.

Flushy McBucketpants said...

Fair job pulling apart my arguement. Yes, the police officer's wife was actually "a lady of the night." And I agree with your statement about putting it in the context of Hollywood, its an indictment. Though I'm not sure I agree that it isn't misogynistic. Let me try taking another angle.

I do think that looking solely at the moral at the end of a film is not necessarily a good way to look at what morals a film is actually promoting. While the intention may be to promote acting respectfully toward women, the film does encourage men to belittle women when in the company of other men.

Evan has some reservations about the way Seth views women, but his insecurities are portrayed as ridiculous or so awkward as to be funny. Other than Evan, all the men in the film are not only okay with trashing women, but encourage it while in the company of other men--that to fit in with other men, one way to do that is to be a misogynist. Fogell's persona as McLovin is that of a player--supposedly he sleeps with a ton of women, and that's one of the ways in which he gains acceptance amongst the police officers. They then bond over stories of one of the Officer's ex-wife's infidelities. And, of course, Evan's and Seth's relationship circles around Seth objectifying women. Superbad is relatively tame in w.r.t. being misogynistic compared to a lot of movies in terms of charater's action, but is pretty fierce when it comes to dialogue.

...and i think the film seems to say it's okay to be misogynistic as long as the women-folk don't see it, 'cause then men can still sleep with them... and though relationships exist despite this kind of two-faced-ness, that doesn't make it right or healthy, or something to aspire to.

(as a side note: Apatow's track record regarding the portrayal of women is better than your average director, but I would say his being tied to this film has little to do with its portrayal of women. He did produce it after all, not write, direct, act, or edit it. And if you look at at least one of the other films he's produced, Talladega Nights, the Carley Bobby (yes, I IMDBed that), Ricky Bobby's wife, is a complete airhead-bimbo stereotype (and pretty much all of the characters were baffoons... so okay, in context she fits in.). My point being, Apatow's not immune to weak portrayals of women.)

And finally, you answered the bonus question correctly (well, close enough... it was Nicola): I owe you a beer.