(no subject)
I hate myself for having watched The Ugly Truth. I don't even know how I ended up on its Netflix Watch Instantly page after I finished Nightmare On Elm Street, but there I was, click on "Watch Now" instead of just picking out something a little less 'this is what's wrong with modern films.' I tried to talk myself out of it until John Michael Higgins showed up on the screen, followed immediately by Nate Corddry who is still the most adorably attractive ever, at which point I resigned myself to my fate.
I'm not much for Katherine Heigl movies anyway, but that doesn't mean I haven't seen most of them somehow. I hate romantic comedies on the whole, but I always seem to end up watching Kate & Leopold or Serendipity or Maid In Manhattan or 27 Dresses when I see that it's on, even though I hate watching them. (Except Kate & Leopold because that one is legitimately awesome.) Katherine Heigl's characters take it a step further into female stereotypes, to a much more shrill, painful level. I can accept stereotypes in a romcom because that's just part of the territory, but something about the way her characters are written just pushes me past the edge.
The Ugly Truth, though, took that stereotype and turned the knob to 11. I hate I hate I hate this movie. So here is a list of all the things wrong with it:
1. Stigmatizing female masturbation - LADIES. THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH JERKING OFF JUST AS OFTEN AS YOUR MALE FRIENDS DO. When I was younger, my parents found an Ask Jeeves search for "how to masturbate" and sent me to counseling. It took until 2008 to clear my brain from that and give me the confidence to say "you guys I totally jerk it on a very regular basis." Because I do. And every other woman you meet does, even if she says she doesn't. Your mom does it, your cousin does it, that nerdy girl you make fun of on the bus does it, and I do it.
2. Encouraging faked orgasms because "there's someone else in the room to, you know." Since when has the male orgasm been the elusive one? Now I haven't been around THAT many blocks, but I can guarantee you I've never met a man with an orgasm problem that a little blue pill couldn't fix. Encouraging women to fake an orgasm for the sake of their partner is encouraging their partner to be a lazy, inattentive lover. Is it so hard for him to lick a little there or touch a little here to make it enjoyable for her or are we really supposed to teach him that a woman can be satisfied by a one-pump chump? Because one day, after years of sleeping with faked orgasms, he's going to fall in love with a woman who won't fake an orgasm and he won't know what to do because he's never been taught how to please a woman properly.
3. The only way to find love is to hide your personality, neuroses and all, or hope the jackass misogynistic pig in your life has a change of heart. Take it from someone who tried to change one herself - misogynists don't change. They grew up hating women, they've made a lifestyle out of hating women, and no amount of sweet talk or real talk with a misogynist is going to change that enough to make him worth dating or even finding attractive.
4. If you make more than your boyfriend or your husband, he automatically feels emasculated and he won't want to have sex with you. Who are they fucking kidding with this shit? This isn't the 1950s or even the 1980s anymore. More and more, women are getting paid an equal salary. Unfortunately this doesn't apply everywhere, but we'll get there someday. But to make that a plot point for two side characters reinforces the belief in men and women that she should get paid less than him to keep the relationship balanced. Doing so in films reinforces to yet another generation of working women that they shouldn't wish to get paid equally or else they'll never get married to a real man.
Ugghhhh fuck this movie. I half-heartedly laughed at the scene where she ended up at a corporate dinner wearing vibrating underwear unknowingly controlled by a kid at another table, but even that was just barely a chuckle. The only redeeming quality I was able to find in the entire movie was the scene where the color was really off and it made Gerard Butler look like a leper.
I'm not much for Katherine Heigl movies anyway, but that doesn't mean I haven't seen most of them somehow. I hate romantic comedies on the whole, but I always seem to end up watching Kate & Leopold or Serendipity or Maid In Manhattan or 27 Dresses when I see that it's on, even though I hate watching them. (Except Kate & Leopold because that one is legitimately awesome.) Katherine Heigl's characters take it a step further into female stereotypes, to a much more shrill, painful level. I can accept stereotypes in a romcom because that's just part of the territory, but something about the way her characters are written just pushes me past the edge.
The Ugly Truth, though, took that stereotype and turned the knob to 11. I hate I hate I hate this movie. So here is a list of all the things wrong with it:
1. Stigmatizing female masturbation - LADIES. THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH JERKING OFF JUST AS OFTEN AS YOUR MALE FRIENDS DO. When I was younger, my parents found an Ask Jeeves search for "how to masturbate" and sent me to counseling. It took until 2008 to clear my brain from that and give me the confidence to say "you guys I totally jerk it on a very regular basis." Because I do. And every other woman you meet does, even if she says she doesn't. Your mom does it, your cousin does it, that nerdy girl you make fun of on the bus does it, and I do it.
2. Encouraging faked orgasms because "there's someone else in the room to, you know." Since when has the male orgasm been the elusive one? Now I haven't been around THAT many blocks, but I can guarantee you I've never met a man with an orgasm problem that a little blue pill couldn't fix. Encouraging women to fake an orgasm for the sake of their partner is encouraging their partner to be a lazy, inattentive lover. Is it so hard for him to lick a little there or touch a little here to make it enjoyable for her or are we really supposed to teach him that a woman can be satisfied by a one-pump chump? Because one day, after years of sleeping with faked orgasms, he's going to fall in love with a woman who won't fake an orgasm and he won't know what to do because he's never been taught how to please a woman properly.
3. The only way to find love is to hide your personality, neuroses and all, or hope the jackass misogynistic pig in your life has a change of heart. Take it from someone who tried to change one herself - misogynists don't change. They grew up hating women, they've made a lifestyle out of hating women, and no amount of sweet talk or real talk with a misogynist is going to change that enough to make him worth dating or even finding attractive.
4. If you make more than your boyfriend or your husband, he automatically feels emasculated and he won't want to have sex with you. Who are they fucking kidding with this shit? This isn't the 1950s or even the 1980s anymore. More and more, women are getting paid an equal salary. Unfortunately this doesn't apply everywhere, but we'll get there someday. But to make that a plot point for two side characters reinforces the belief in men and women that she should get paid less than him to keep the relationship balanced. Doing so in films reinforces to yet another generation of working women that they shouldn't wish to get paid equally or else they'll never get married to a real man.
Ugghhhh fuck this movie. I half-heartedly laughed at the scene where she ended up at a corporate dinner wearing vibrating underwear unknowingly controlled by a kid at another table, but even that was just barely a chuckle. The only redeeming quality I was able to find in the entire movie was the scene where the color was really off and it made Gerard Butler look like a leper.