Here's The Part I Didn't Buy...
As part of my weekend I caught the movie Mrs. Doubtfire on cable for the seemingly millionth time. I hadn't watched it in years so I settled in and thoroughly enjoyed it because, in my view, it's a pretty funny movie and one of Robin Williams better box office hits.
The film, like so many comedies, is full of improbabilities and impossibilities. Some highlights:
- His own kids and his ex-wife can't figure this out until he reveals it to them? Seriously?
- He can afford what appears to be a decent size 1 bedroom apartment in San Francisco on the salary of a shipping clerk at a PBS station? Yeah... okay. (To be fair, maybe the Sally Field/Mirand, the ex-wife is paying him spousal support.)
- He continues to insult the new boyfriend over and over (Pierce Brosnan) and yet the guy insists that Mrs. Doubtfire join them for dinner and at his club? Sure, he wants to get with Miranda but is that really necessary?
All of these are pretty minor and, yes, I am intentionally nit-picking. Overlooking those examples is not a big deal and, as I noted, its a cute and fun movie.
But there is one improbability that has always struck me.
At the film's conclusion, after his cover as a 60 year-old woman is blown and Daniel has only supervised visits with his kid he has managed to land his dream job, transforming his Mrs. Doubtfire persona into the host of a PBS-style kids show. And it's a hit! His boss informs him the show is winning it's time slot and other stations are getting ready to pick it up. And, hey, I know the PBS world and I don't doubt that the type of show they had going -- the old lady with the puppet chimp -- would be a big hit in real life. But... and this is a monster BUT... the star of your new hit show is the character Mrs. Doubtfire and she is being played by a man, baby! There is no way in HELL that a show like that could take off once word of that got out. True, the locals in San Francisco would probably give a damn but syndicating it to the broader world? Eh... not so much.
And this part of the movie has always bothered me. Yet, at the same time, it could have been the catalyst for a sequel.
Imagine... the Mrs. Doubtfire Show has become really big... like Mr. Rogers big... but the station keeps it hush-hush that the show's star is actually a man. But then rumors get out and there is a huge national story... is the star of a huge kids' show a cross-dresser? Does it really matter, because kids love it and they're learning things and values? But, OMG, it's a MAN DRESSED AS A WOMAN?! And for a huge chunk of the movie you can have Daniel (Robin Williams) trying not to blow his cover on a national scale... and his children have to help... and his ex-wife. And, hey, let's make her remarried now to the Pierce Brosnan character and as a subplot Daniel has to find peace with the stepfather of his kids. And, oh, what the hell... let's give Daniel a new love interest!
So... yeah... I never bought the whole "cross dresser becomes kids' show host" thing... but even then... I can still think sequels and dollars!
J
The film, like so many comedies, is full of improbabilities and impossibilities. Some highlights:
- His own kids and his ex-wife can't figure this out until he reveals it to them? Seriously?
- He can afford what appears to be a decent size 1 bedroom apartment in San Francisco on the salary of a shipping clerk at a PBS station? Yeah... okay. (To be fair, maybe the Sally Field/Mirand, the ex-wife is paying him spousal support.)
- He continues to insult the new boyfriend over and over (Pierce Brosnan) and yet the guy insists that Mrs. Doubtfire join them for dinner and at his club? Sure, he wants to get with Miranda but is that really necessary?
All of these are pretty minor and, yes, I am intentionally nit-picking. Overlooking those examples is not a big deal and, as I noted, its a cute and fun movie.
But there is one improbability that has always struck me.
At the film's conclusion, after his cover as a 60 year-old woman is blown and Daniel has only supervised visits with his kid he has managed to land his dream job, transforming his Mrs. Doubtfire persona into the host of a PBS-style kids show. And it's a hit! His boss informs him the show is winning it's time slot and other stations are getting ready to pick it up. And, hey, I know the PBS world and I don't doubt that the type of show they had going -- the old lady with the puppet chimp -- would be a big hit in real life. But... and this is a monster BUT... the star of your new hit show is the character Mrs. Doubtfire and she is being played by a man, baby! There is no way in HELL that a show like that could take off once word of that got out. True, the locals in San Francisco would probably give a damn but syndicating it to the broader world? Eh... not so much.
And this part of the movie has always bothered me. Yet, at the same time, it could have been the catalyst for a sequel.
Imagine... the Mrs. Doubtfire Show has become really big... like Mr. Rogers big... but the station keeps it hush-hush that the show's star is actually a man. But then rumors get out and there is a huge national story... is the star of a huge kids' show a cross-dresser? Does it really matter, because kids love it and they're learning things and values? But, OMG, it's a MAN DRESSED AS A WOMAN?! And for a huge chunk of the movie you can have Daniel (Robin Williams) trying not to blow his cover on a national scale... and his children have to help... and his ex-wife. And, hey, let's make her remarried now to the Pierce Brosnan character and as a subplot Daniel has to find peace with the stepfather of his kids. And, oh, what the hell... let's give Daniel a new love interest!
So... yeah... I never bought the whole "cross dresser becomes kids' show host" thing... but even then... I can still think sequels and dollars!
J