“No girls allowed” in buddy films

Though independent cinema often features women in complex leading roles, the majority of parts available for female actors in mainstream Hollywood movies are supporting roles, often accessories to strong male counterparts. In such films, female characters are designed based on the assumption that, in order to profit at the box office, films must engage male viewers sexually.

Films that feature unnecessary female characters are often those depicting a strong relationship between two men—frequently characterized by homoerotic subtext. In that case, a female love interest is included only to mask the movie’s subversive approach to gender norms. Perhaps the best-known example of this type of movie is “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.” The relationship between Paul Newman and Robert Redford far eclipses the relationship of either man with Katharine Ross.

“Gattaca” depicts a futuristic world so dominated by genetic engineering that Ethan Hawke, playing a man conceived naturally, is utterly marginalized. In order to become an astronaut, he assumes the identity and the genetic makeup of a biologically “superior” man (Jude Law) who happens to be crippled.

The relationship between the two men is deeply warped and also utterly engrossing. Law’s character is self-absorbed and pathetic, and despite being wheelchair-bound and wan, his performance ignites the movie. He hungers for Hawke’s experiences, while Hawke covets Law’s genes. Their dynamic is narcissistically homoerotic, unsettling, and startlingly fresh.

It is then disappointing that the story shies away from Law’s character and shifts focus to the gratuitously beautiful Uma Thurman, with whom Hawke is supposedly in love, although she possesses little in the way of personality. In fact, her only distinguishing characteristic is her mild heart condition, which leads her to believe that she is physically weak. While “Butch Cassidy” can get away with Ross’ presence for much of the film, she does little to advance the plot but is at least a fully-formed individual. Thurman’s character in “Gattaca” is sleep-inducing.

On the other hand, the popular “Pineapple Express” represents by far the best approach to gender I have seen in the genre. Seth Rogen dates a stereotypical hot, blonde girl throughout the film, and we get the sense that she is not a total airhead. Her gravest sin, in fact, is being foolish enough to date such a consummate loser. But since the filmmakers are smart enough to know we don’t really care about her, they don’t even try to make her interesting or important. They move on to bigger and better things, specifically Rogen’s pot dealer friend, played with an almost graceful mania by James Franco.

Their relationship is what makes the movie work—instead of suppressing its homosexual subtext, “Pineapple Express” embraces it. Though gay jokes pervade, it does not cast gay people in a derogatory light. Instead, the movie twists the gags to positively illustrate Rogen and Franco’s dynamic.

This phenomenon is not limited to the buddy movie. Sometimes, movies are driven by nothing but testosterone. This does not make them bad, sexist, or inaccessible to female viewers, but it does
make them about men—”The Departed,” for one.

The film’s only female character, played by Vera Farmiga, is so poorly forced into the plot that she serves as the love interest for both Matt Damon’s dirty cop and Leonardo DiCaprio’s undercover spy. She is bad at both her job and her personal life. Worst of all, like Thurman in “Gattaca,” she is boring. Her physical and psychological presence onscreen is nondescript. Watching her interactions with the vividly rendered male characters is simply depressing.

But without her, only the women in the audience would be sexually satisfied. She is a discouraging reminder of why mainstream movies are made, and for whom they are meant.

Morgan Davies is a Barnard College sophomore majoring in English. A Film of Her Own runs alternate Thursdays.
arts@columbiaspectator.com

Tags: Arts & Entertainment, Morgan Davies