While I’m on the subject of film studies classes I’m taking this semester, here’s another story inspired by a film I watched at school yesterday. In Women in Film, which, in case you can’t tell, is a class on feminist film theory, we screened Marleen Gorris’ mind-numbing debut A Question of Silence (original Dutch title: De Stilte rond Christine M.). While bored from the obviousness of the film, which tells the story of three women on trial for the random murder of a boutique salesman, I thought about how much it reminded me of 9 to 5, a movie I would have much preferred to be watching (and not just because the music is soooo much better).
Then, as my mind kept wandering, I realized that three popular movies I loved as a small child were 9 to 5, The Incredible Shrinking Woman and Mr. Mom, all silly comedies made and set in the early ’80s (as was Gorris’ film), all obviously informed by the women’s movement of that time, which could each be given a serious reading from a feminist film theory approach. But since none of the films are really given enough credit, I’ll avoid attempting to write a scholarly paper on any of them. Instead I’ll use this as my outlet to expose what ran through my head, as I wished for the “real” feminist film to end.
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