scorp_gal_03 I didn't think the mother and daughter were at all alike, and I don't see how you can say that either of them fall into the category of feminist, whether or not they decided to keep their babies or get abortions.
They may not be alike as they are but I believe they match up during those particular stages of their lives. The daughter was the mother at her age and will be, unless something changes, just like her when she gets older.
They are feminist in the sense they want to behave like men, forgetting they are women, and refusing to accept the fact that we, men and women, are not the same. A very clear aspect of feminism is this idea that women are free to sleep with whomever they choose whenever they choose.
These women chose the lives they were leading but I got the impression I was supposed to feel sorry for them. I also got the sense the men were the bad guys with absolutely no responsibility or blame going to the women for having chosen such losers.
I don't believe Steinem selected the movie because of feminist themes or lack there of. It's a story about a daughter who wants to be nothing like her mother, but then she makes the same mistake (being pregnant and unmarried) that her mother made.
I don't know why she picked this movie. My comments were based on what she said about the movie. Based on what he said, I got the feeling Robert Osbourne thought it was an odd movie choice too. She said she had seen the play and talked to the author but her comments suggested she was backing her usual one-note agenda.
The film/play was ages ahead of its time in exploring themes of class, race, gender and sexual orientation.
As I mentioned before, I always wait until after I see the movie to listen to the TCM comments; both the opening and closing comments. I had a different slant on the movie than Steinem did (no surprise there). I thought it was a good way to show how people's lives can spiral out of control when they make some bad choices. Ms. Steinem said something about 'when women are not allowed...' Her words really annoyed me because she was blaming some other unnamed person or entity for the problems in the mother's life. I felt she was saying this movie supported abortion because the mother's life, she seems to say, wouldn't have been so miserable if only she could have eliminated that unwanted child.
I think it's nonsense. Plenty of people, like this mother and later her daughter, keep making bad choices throughout their lives while others go through an awaken when they realize they are going to have a child. They need to get their lives together and start making better decisions.
Movies have been exploring difficult issues from the time they were first made. I am a woman but resent the idea that some of us have it so much harder while others have it easy. Life is a struggle for most people. We struggle with different issues but it's still not necessarily a cake walk. People who supposedly are on 'easy street' struggle too.
Look at, for instance, Prince Charles. He is a white male, prince, wealthy, etc. I would never want his life. He was born with a lot of perks but I see it as a gilded cage; unable to make a lot of the basic choices the rest of us non-royals get to make every day. People like Steinem, I feel, have done more to make women's lives miserable than any of the men they typically blame. I am not a fan.
Woman, man! That's the way it should be Tarzan. [Tarzan and his mate]
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