Wednesday, September 1, 2010

"Eat Pray Love," "Sex and the City 2," and the Summer of Backlash (The Atlantic)

All of these franchises are fueled by women's money, and women's interest, and all are massive cultural and economic forces. They sell movie tickets, books, and a truly impressive amount of tie-in merchandise. But the most important thing they have in common may be the derision and contempt they inspire in cultural commentators. They're about trivial stuff like shopping, boyfriends, trying to put the "sparkle" back in marriages; they're about pathetic stuff like heartbreak, divorce, loneliness, and menopause; they're about drippy stuff like self-love, family, and cuddly, soft-focus, Oprah-approved spirituality. In other words, they're about the very things that women are encouraged to be most interested in. And this alone may be enough to keep many people from taking them seriously.
The above quote is a little misleading because it probably makes you think this article also slams "women's" films. It doesn't. For example, the author goes on to say "that there is no special shame in buying a ticket to Eat, Pray, Love rather than The Expendables." To which I say, Amen Sister! (Disclaimer: I haven't actually seen either of those films, but I agree 100% with the sentiment.)
Read the full article here.

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