How the mighty have dated
I watched "Crocodile Dundee" today, possibly for the first time since a year or two after it was released. Hmmm. What struck me is not only how much it's dated (Paul Hogan smokes like a chimney throughout) but how very little plot it actually has and how unlikable the characterisation of Sue, the female lead, actually is. She's self-centred, patronising and insensitive, culturally as well as socially.
For example - When an aboriginal man tells her she can't take his photograph, she makes the assumption it's because he's afraid he'll lose his soul (instead he points out she has her lens cap on.) In this case, we're invited to laugh at the fish out of water situation, rather than consider just how patronising she's being, but shortly after this, she's told there is an aboriginal corroborree going on, a men-only ceremony; not only does she sneak over to take a look, she prepares to take photographs of it. I felt decidedly uncomfortable at that point; it felt like it would if someone made a joke about a stalker gate crashing a funeral or a photographer sneaking photographs of a woman giving birth. The total lack of respect, of sensitivity, the idea that she, as the city-bred, cultured white woman had the right to determine whether someone else's cultural intimacies should remain private or not. No commentary on her behaviour, and any sense that she behaved inappropriately was shrugged off with a joke that as a woman and a reporter, she'd be unable to refrain from sticky-beaking.
There are a plethora of other similar incidents (not the least of which is taking her "outback man" to New York where she takes him around society events like some kind of exotic exibit), but she is totally dishonest in her romantic relationships. She kisses Mick Dundee while in Australia, totally failing to reveal that she is in a relationship with a man in New York. When he meets her at the airport, Mick appears to be unaware of her relationship, and unphased by it. She doesn't come clean with her boyfriend, and continues to flirt with Mick, then appears delighted when her boyfriend proposes. There seems to be very little conflict in her - she's happy to string both men along, only changing her mind at the last minute for the safe happy ending in the subway.
Looking at this movie now, it's hard to see how it was a success, other than that Americans love all things Aussie (god only knows why) and Australians like taking the piss out of Americans. The humour is generally racist and sexist, and decidedly homophobic. The scene where Mick gooses a transvestite left me cold; the manner the reveal was done and the laughter it generated seems decidedly cruel. There was more than a hint of "how dare this (presumably gay) man deceive a straight bloke into thinking he was a she - punish him, humiliate him, mock him for his presumption." And that the same genital groping was then later done to a low-voiced older woman later made me feel irate - no woman would respond to such behaviour with a sense of having been flattered, and that Sue shrugs an incident of what amounts to sexual assault on her hostess off with a laughing "he's Australian" not only makes her seem horribly callous, but is quite frankly insulting to Australians.
I almost wish I hadn't watched it again. I had fond memories of the film, the little I remembered (although I do still like the steam inhalation of cocaine and the sheepdog response to getting through a crowd) and having seen it again, I just found it shallow, unfunny and decidedly offensive. Still, at the very least, it's a sharp lesson on just how much social sensibilities have changed since the mid eighties.
For example - When an aboriginal man tells her she can't take his photograph, she makes the assumption it's because he's afraid he'll lose his soul (instead he points out she has her lens cap on.) In this case, we're invited to laugh at the fish out of water situation, rather than consider just how patronising she's being, but shortly after this, she's told there is an aboriginal corroborree going on, a men-only ceremony; not only does she sneak over to take a look, she prepares to take photographs of it. I felt decidedly uncomfortable at that point; it felt like it would if someone made a joke about a stalker gate crashing a funeral or a photographer sneaking photographs of a woman giving birth. The total lack of respect, of sensitivity, the idea that she, as the city-bred, cultured white woman had the right to determine whether someone else's cultural intimacies should remain private or not. No commentary on her behaviour, and any sense that she behaved inappropriately was shrugged off with a joke that as a woman and a reporter, she'd be unable to refrain from sticky-beaking.
There are a plethora of other similar incidents (not the least of which is taking her "outback man" to New York where she takes him around society events like some kind of exotic exibit), but she is totally dishonest in her romantic relationships. She kisses Mick Dundee while in Australia, totally failing to reveal that she is in a relationship with a man in New York. When he meets her at the airport, Mick appears to be unaware of her relationship, and unphased by it. She doesn't come clean with her boyfriend, and continues to flirt with Mick, then appears delighted when her boyfriend proposes. There seems to be very little conflict in her - she's happy to string both men along, only changing her mind at the last minute for the safe happy ending in the subway.
Looking at this movie now, it's hard to see how it was a success, other than that Americans love all things Aussie (god only knows why) and Australians like taking the piss out of Americans. The humour is generally racist and sexist, and decidedly homophobic. The scene where Mick gooses a transvestite left me cold; the manner the reveal was done and the laughter it generated seems decidedly cruel. There was more than a hint of "how dare this (presumably gay) man deceive a straight bloke into thinking he was a she - punish him, humiliate him, mock him for his presumption." And that the same genital groping was then later done to a low-voiced older woman later made me feel irate - no woman would respond to such behaviour with a sense of having been flattered, and that Sue shrugs an incident of what amounts to sexual assault on her hostess off with a laughing "he's Australian" not only makes her seem horribly callous, but is quite frankly insulting to Australians.
I almost wish I hadn't watched it again. I had fond memories of the film, the little I remembered (although I do still like the steam inhalation of cocaine and the sheepdog response to getting through a crowd) and having seen it again, I just found it shallow, unfunny and decidedly offensive. Still, at the very least, it's a sharp lesson on just how much social sensibilities have changed since the mid eighties.