Speed, Love Actually, Mad Men
Both of these writers walk us through the plot of two different movies. Anthony Lane reviews the movie Speed in a clear and concise manner. Although it was not a very formal review I still understand him. He engaged the reader and towards the end makes us feel empathetic with the movie plot even though it was not a very good one.
West however writes a review that is structured more like a ranting blog post rather than an actual review. It reminded me a lot of the articles that pop up on Facebook from Buzzfeed or one of the other sites. It was very distracting to read with all the cursing and the capital words. Although I do agree that Love Actually was “shit”, her review made me want to hate her more.
Each writer structured it this way for a different reason; most likely to reach a specific target audience.
Reading these two one after the other really shows the difference in writing culture. Writing online is a completely different style and form now.
I never watched an episode of Mad Men before but this first one was excellent. Women being inferior is definitely a recurring theme. I was not surprised to see how men treated women but it was interesting to see how women treated each other. When the “new girl” introduced herself to the other women workers, that appeared to be working in what looked like a giant walk in closet that was separated from the men, one of the workers told her to show a little leg because her boss Don Draper would like it. They were clear on the role they played in that company as employees and women, and were fine with it.
I thought it was interesting to see how Peggy changed as a character later on:
2 responses so far
Mad Men. The cringe-inducing sexist remarks prevalent throughout the entire show (especially in the earlier episodes) are enough to deter some people from tuning in. Yet, I’ve watched EVERY SINGLE EPISODE (for reasons I don’t understand). I get why the show may be palatable for many people. The sexism/racism and other isms are meant to be ironic. Satire. Funny, even. Right? Except it’s not funny, nor is it okay.
“Women being inferior is definitely a recurring theme.” I agree. I felt that the entire first episode revolved around women and their inadequacies in comparison to men. The writers of the show are using irony as an excuse to run wild with their misogynistic fantasies. This doesn’t sit well with me because I don’t see how “ironic sexism” is any better than regular old sexism. Ironic sexism (aka hipster sexism or liberal sexism) allows people to say offensive stuff and get away with it. Because if it’s funny and tongue-in-cheek, then it’s fine… right? No, not exactly. No matter how you present it, the sexist quips in Mad Men—ironic or not—still reinforce sexism. And until we live in a society in which women and men are truly regarded as equals, and all double-standards are eradicated, poking fun at sexism is in bad taste. No matter how you slice it, sexism is sexism.
Yudit,
Although I agree wholeheartedly that sexism is “in bad taste” and disgusting, I don’t think there was any other way for Mad Men to show the truth about how women were treated in the sixties by other than poking fun at it. I doubt the show would have been as successful if it didn’t. What other way to present these serious issues than through satire?
Knowing that was the way women were actually treated, they might not even be using humor but just presenting the misconception people already had of women being inferior.
Although this show has many underlying themes (like the ones we discussed today in class), its other purpose is to entertain and that’s exactly what it does.