But first, a confession: I watched Leap Year on the plane ride home. Yes, voluntarily.
Need a refresher? Here's the trailer:
I know I KNOW. I should have known better. Tragically, this decision has led to several angry shower rants (Yes, in my head. I haven't journeyed quite so far into Crazytown to mutter out loud to my imaginary audience just yet).
Then I read this hilariously sarcastic review by MaryAnn Johanson and realized there wasn't much left for me to say. Please read it.
Did you read it? Okay, good. Moving on.
So MaryAnn points out that Anna's job in the movie as an apartment stager is appropriately feminine because it involves decorating a house to look like a home (women's work) so that a man can then sell the apartment. That may be true, but I didn't mind that part. I liked Anna's job and her perspective on it. She informs the audience in a voice over that she helps people see the potential in a house.
What I minded was that when Anna tells Declan (the Irish love interest) what her job is, he accuses her of being a charlatan who tricks people into buying an idea rather than a home. Anna is crestfallen. Only later does Declan see where her skills come in handy--in the kitchen. Anna "stages" the table at a B&B where the two of them are staying and cooking dinner. Declan sees how she has turned the table into a welcoming place and smiles. "Is this your staging then?" he asks and she smiles shyly. Oh sure, so if she's decorating the HOME to make dinner nice for her family, there's nothing to be ashamed of. But using that skill to make money? That's just tacky.
There's been a slew of recent romantic comedies that revolve around the smart career girl. Case in point: Amy Adams in Leap Year, Katherine Heigl in Knocked Up and The Ugly Truth, and Sandra Bullock in The Proposal. These movies tell us that these independent, smart, successful woman aren't happy. They're LONELY. They have lost touch with their essential femininity.
For example, at one point in Leap Year Anna is upset that Declan has killed a chicken for dinner. When he asks her where she thought chicken came from, she replies, "The frozen food section." Oh ANNA, if you would just stop fooling around at your silly, well paying job and learn to COOK, you'd be so much happier.
We know these woman have lost touch with their feminine nature (thus resulting in an inability to find love) because not only do they not know how to cook, they are introduced with hair pulled back tight. They often wear PANTS as if they were MEN. But by the end, traditional gender roles are restored: the woman's hair is soft around her shoulders and she's in a dress. NOW she is ready for love and therefore happiness and fulfillment.
Give. Me. A. Break.
No comments:
Post a Comment