MovieChat Forums > La battaglia di Algeri (1967) Discussion > Males voted this 8.3, females only 5.4

Males voted this 8.3, females only 5.4


This is quite a discrepancy. Why is this?


"Mediocrities all, I absolve you. I am your champion. I am your patron saint"

-Antonio Salieri

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I just watched this film in a class on International Law and Terroism and I give it an 8 so I don't know what the discrepancy is all about.


http://www.imdb.com/mymovies/list?l=16793372

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may i put forth the theory that women are naturally peaceful and nuturing at heart, and thus do not like to see depictions of war and terrorism. just a thought .... i'm a male who gave this a 10 by the way.

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Er, that sounds like a bit of a generalisation (the nurturing part sounds a bit too Mother Earth!) although I do see what you are getting at. Women probably are less inclined to watch realistically graphically violent films. However, Battle of Algiers in no way glorifies terroism, and warns against the suppression of a nation. Anyone who is a strong advocate of human rights will vouch for that, and should appreciate the film, regardless of their gender. I'm female and I would give this a 10 - it's a masterpiece that everyone should watch. It's a pity that this film still overshadows subsequent efforts by Algerian directors though.

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To discuss this subject you're forced to generalize, since we're talking about averages. For instance, my own theory of why this film doesn't appeal to many women is that it's a fairly clinical treatment of a (literally) explosive subject, which is what makes it important and unforgettable, but (generalization alert!) many women may be turned off by its coldness: it's more about history and the machinery of terror and counter-insurgency than personal relationships.

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To me it shows that females (on average) have a smaller brain than us superior males, and can't deal with complex issues such as war movies. They prefer to watch Bridget Zellweger's Diary (and anything else that includes Hugh Grant).

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[deleted]

re: "may i put forth the theory that women are naturally peaceful and nuturing at heart"

Clearly you haven't met my Mum.

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Is there a way to watch what is the top 50 of female under 18 voters?
Seriously I think it would be interesting

Citade de Deus : 6.0
Shichinin no samurai : 5.0
La Bataille d'Alger : 4.6
Il buono il bruto il cattivo : 6.6

Even great movies that they like aren't that well rated
The Godfather : 8.0
The Godfather 2 : 7.2
Pulp Fiction : 8.0
12 Angry Men : 7.0

Shawshank have a 9, Casablanca 8.7, Star Wars ANH & TESB have a 8.9
I guess there's still good in them
* Checks Harry Potter, LOTR..."
No, forget what I said about them being any good...

Omae wa mo shinderu

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When women rule the world there will be peace on earth and more Sex and the City movies!

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OMG, please!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The great PLAGUE of 1348.

The Inquisition

The trenches war

The extermination camps

The nuclear bomb

The war on terror

...........and now Sex and the City movies!

Is there really an end to the horrors humanity unleashes upon itself????????

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[deleted]

or myself!

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someone can know me, but they can never know "myself".

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Actually, Soulcoughi, that's just nonsense. Here in the UK female crime has steadily risen since feminism with 'Violence against the person' now the most common reason for female arrest for the past three years. Women aren't nurturing in the slightest. As soon as society stops forcing a 'nurturing mother' gender role on them they become just as barbaric as everyone else.

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This seems really odd to me. I'm a young female (19) and I thought that this film was really great. BUT I can see how it would be tough to love if you didn't know the history surrounding it (I was lucky enough to get a background lecture in my history through film class).

On the other hand, though, it's actually kind of an interesting film for women, especially young women. Like it says on one of the other posts for this film, women seem to be really instumental to the revolution and terrorism potrayed. They are all fairly young also. I found it really interesting; the way the girls were all sort of ignored, at least in a danger sense, by the French authorities, kind of made me guiltily go "yeah right on girls". Also, there is not too much in this world that I'd plant bombs for, so it came to be really moving and you really understand how much Algerian independence meant to these women and to those they loved.

Anyways I don't think ladies have any reason to dislike it, perhaps they were just coerced into watching it by someone else and didn't have the oppotunity to read about its history. And that's something you'll just have to chalk up to the sad effects of north american culture -girls are certainly not encouraged to care about war, and subsequently about history, and young girls are the ones who are especially concerned with fitting in and what others think of them, therefore they're the mostly likely to reject it in preference of something more "girly". Well, poop on that. History is obviously important, you know, it repeats as the maxim goes, and there's lots of shallow little benefits too: you seem really educated if you know your history, and it can be really entertaining to learn about if you get your info from the right sources. So come on girls!

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I would just like to thank crunch_pixie for alluding to social factors rather tnan a superiority/vs/inferiority nature-based critique of "why women like lousy movies". However, I agree that many films such as the Godfather fare poorly with women because women in the films are negatively portrayed and have dismal lives.

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If you're going by the ratings here, then according to IMDB women DO like The Godfather. It is the #6 film for females. Even if it is not as high as men rate it, it's in the top 10.

I don't believe in this type of generalization. I would never even want to see The Notebook, let alone a film about child raising throughout history as one poster said. I liked The Godfather, The Deer Hunter, Deliverance, Ran, Serpico, The Warriors, tons of horror and crime films, and I loved The Sopranos on tv. Also, you couldn't pay me to watch Terms of Endearment.

I don't think these IMDB stats should inform one's view of what "women" or "men" like.

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No, IMDB stats can only be informative in regards to what male vs. female movie afficienados think. However, it is a large enough sample size in most cases, to be statistically accurate. To dismiss the stats would be just as foolish as to say they are 100% accurate.

The best way to discuss this topic is to find more movies with very wide gaps between female and male ratings, and to look for common elements in them all (including things like length and decade, not just content). Then you should be able to, quite accurately, get a sense of gender differences, but again, ONLY among the type of people who take the time to rate movies on IMDB.

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while it is true that IMDB-s statistics can serve as some sort of guide to general tendencies, they cannot possibly be considered "statistically significant". They hardly constitute a random sample of women or men, because they only include men and women who actually login and vote, not all men and women wo watch the movie. The type of person that does that might not be your average viewer. It makes for an interesting discussion like this one, but it is not statistically reliable

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I think we're agreeing here but getting hung up on whether stats have to be random. My point was that, WITHIN the group mentioned (people who create IMDB profiles and vote on movies), the results are probably pretty accurate. If you identify with that group, then the ratings will likely be of use to you. If you only visit IMDB once in awhile to check out the latest blockbuster, then you might not agree with many of the ratings, along gender lines, age lines, or any others.

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I like what you said about the women needing a strong reason to plant bombs and this showing their dedication. I would guess that they also would feel like cutting their hair, putting on make-up, let alone being ogled by the servicemen as completely disgusting to their religion so they were dedicated.

I liked the movie and knew nothing of the history so I don't think it's the history thing that's making women not like it. Is it fair to say that, somehow, culturally or biologically, women have different tastes?

What hump?

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What can I say, women are women... Just check out top50 by female voters, it's kinda scary. I mean...

Lord of the Rings trilogy in the TOP5
That mediocre lovestory The Notebook is at the place 32.
Finding Nemo, Pirates of the Caribbean and The Princess Bride in the TOP20!!
The Godfather is only the 12. and The Godfather, Part II 39.!!!
Includes TWO HARRY POTTER MOVIES!!!!

Jesus, what's wrong with you gals?

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Yeah, us female voters do not seem to have good taste...I don't dispute that most of the titles you mentioned are not fantastic. However, you could attribute the fact that "classic" Hollywood films that make the IMDB such as Godfathers 1 & 2, The Good, The Bad and the Ugly, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest etc. don't have female protagonists. At the end of the day, everyone likes to see films with leads that they can identify with, or at least position themselves against. Most of these "great films" don't have very memorable female characters. Movie narratives have always been written with male audiences in mind. You have to wait until Silence of the Lambs - number 26. No-one can claim that Kay in Godfather was a pivotal female character in 1970s Hollywood cinema. (Diane Keaton had a nice turn in Annie Hall, but most of the mainstream movie-going public don't watch that film)Uma Thurman's character in Pulp Fiction, however iconic, is pure decoration.

Clearly, it's a shame The Battle of Algiers does not rate higher amongst us girls, especially since one of its merits is that you get a sense of a collective protagonist (and therefore the story of the struggle of a people) in the multiple storylines which have minor characters that reflect different aspects of Algerian society, all with a crucial role to play.

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It's not a chick flick...

'nuff said!

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<i>It's not a chick flick...</i>

No, it's clearly a dick flick...

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You are the ideal woman. Intelligent and logical with a passion for learning. Marry me and bear my children.

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Well said silverscreen, I agree 100% with your post. As a female movie fan I enjoy my mindlessly delicious romantic comedies as much as the girl next door. But The Battle of Algiers ranks amongs the best films I have ever seen. Unrelentless and heartwrenching. It painted a very clear picture of what the Algerian conflict must have been and I imagine similar scenes keep repeating in real life in war-torn countries. And the music... what a score! That Ennio Morricone is a genius. And I must say the Criterion edition really does it justice don't you think?
I gave it a 10.

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Hahaha.


Do The Mussolini! Headkick!

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"Lord of the Rings trilogy in the TOP5
That mediocre lovestory The Notebook is at the place 32.
Finding Nemo, Pirates of the Caribbean and The Princess Bride in the TOP20!!
The Godfather is only the 12. and The Godfather, Part II 39.!!!
Includes TWO HARRY POTTER MOVIES!!!!"

Chirst...I had nothing to do with that

you can't fight in here, this is the war room!

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[deleted]

Because when all is said and done the movie is about male stupidity and barbarism and how useful males are at initiating violence and how useless males are at finding peaceful solutions. French male efforts at colonialization started the bloodshed, male violence and ego on both sides perpetuated it.

As a rule, males enjoy war, destruction, and killing and females don't. Therefore, while the film might be excellent historically and cinematically, the subject matter is as frivolous to females as a historically and cinematically excellent film on child raising would be to most males.

And before anyone goes on criticizing the ladies on their preference for a romance like "The Notebook" over a violent thug movie like "The Godfather," let's remember neither gender is equipped to roll their eyes at the other's choices given the differences in biology and therefore to a great extent tastes -- but if one insists on making value judgments regarding males vs females - romance and domestic bliss is "better" than murder and killing, including romanticized Godfather gang murders.

As The Battle of Algiers illustrated, males usually figure this out...eventually. Yet with short memories and very little insight or foresight, before you know it history is repeating itself again..and again..and again.

More males voted for Bush. More females voted for Kerry. And 2500 young males have died in vain as a result of Bush's idiocy. While these factoids might not seem obviously relevant to the discussion at hand, believe me they are.

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All I'm going to say to j727fl is that it's easy to point your finger and make sweeping generalizations when you're not in the driver's seat. Though it may be unfortunate (though that's debatable,) we don't have nearly as many historic examples of women in positions of political power. I submit to you however, that if roles were reversed, the world may very well be a more peaceful place (also highly debatable) but our struggles would lie in a number of different areas. After all, fallability is an attribute of the human condition, and not gender-specific. So instead of making petty, blindly feminist knocks on the opposite sex, let's concentrate on being constructive.

Otherwise, you'd run the risk of being destructive like us men.

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please don't call her comments feminist... please I beg you... furthermore I don't know why more women didn't rate this movie higher... perhaps we should look at the numbers that actually voted... more men could have watched this video (on there own?), and those few women that voted had to watch it for a class, with a sign. other, etc. Therefore they thought they'd never enjoy it, didn't pay attention, and thought it was boring. They then gave it a low rating... thats my hypothesis, but I haven't looked at the numbers so I could be completely wrong.

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Top 10 Male:
1. 9.1 The Godfather (1972)
2. 9.1 The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
3. 8.9 The Godfather: Part II (1974)
4. 8.8 Pulp Fiction (1994)
5. 8.8 Buono, il brutto, il cattivo, Il (1966)
6. 8.8 Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
7. 8.8 Casablanca
8. 8.8 Shichinin no samurai
9. 8.7 Star Wars
10. 8.7 One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

Top 10 Female:
1. 8.9 The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
2. 8.7 The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
3. 8.6 Schindler's List (1993)
4. 8.6 The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
5. 8.5 The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002)
6. 8.5 The Godfather (1972)
7. 8.5 Fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain, Le (2001)
8. 8.4 Rear Window (1954)
9. 8.4 The Usual Suspects (1995)
10. 8.4 Star Wars (1977)

Independent Films: 0
Silent Movies: 0
Non-English movies: 3

Ah yes, of course, it must be a gender difference

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You're on to something here... I guess the majority of the users here being young americans might be just as big a factor as anything else.

"When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro."

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Yes, as someone who obviously must enjoy war, violence and killing, you wouldn't want to make me mad would you?

Fatuous.

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"As a rule, males enjoy war, destruction, and killing and females don't"?

Rubbish. Pure ideological rubbish that wilfully closes its eyes both to the victimization of peaceful males by others, and to female collaboration with warmaking throughout history.

Welcome to the looking-glass world of contemporary feminism: an imaginary place where no Spartan mother ever told her son to return either with his shield, or upon it; where the women warriors of Dahomey never existed; where 800,000 Soviet women never served in combat during the Great Patriotic War; and where men are never the helpless victims of violence--only brutal, violent victimizers.

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lol Insults women almost as much as men.

heh This post is so dumb and ridiculous I'd guess it's a troll.

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"Lord of the Rings trilogy in the TOP5
That mediocre lovestory The Notebook is at the place 32.
Finding Nemo, Pirates of the Caribbean and The Princess Bride in the TOP20!!
The Godfather is only the 12. and The Godfather, Part II 39.!!!
Includes TWO HARRY POTTER MOVIES!!!!"

unfortunately, differences in biology or not, these movies really do not deserve such high regard. instructed movie watchers of both sexes would rate the 'male list' movies more than those above.

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"Because when all is said and done the movie is about male stupidity and barbarism and how useful males are at initiating violence and how useless males are at finding peaceful solutions. French male efforts at colonialization started the bloodshed, male violence and ego on both sides perpetuated it. "

So the Algierians underneath the French Jackboot are supposed ot aleviate their oppression with flowers and kind words? The French conception of a "peaceful solution" was either the status quo ante or the total pacification of the Algierians. The only reason the French decided to approach the negotiating table in 1962 was because the guerrillia war became to costly to combat (both in human and financial terms). Curious that someone so eager to take a potshot at Bush would chastise the Algieran revolutionaries for their violence? I suppose the Iraqis should've just asked the Americans extra nicely to not invade/leave their country and everything would've been allright, and there would've been no war. If you take away the right of the oppressed to their self-defense (read: liberation) , you are no different than the oppressor, so get off your high horse.

Political Violence is a structural consequence of imbalanced power/resource distribution, every single head of state in the world could be woman and we'd still have war. Blaming the problems of war and violence on "males" is wonderfully counterproductive.

RIS

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One of the best posts on the thread. Nice to see someone really shoot that idiot down.

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T1HPdt-_aRk

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Because when all is said and done the movie is about male stupidity and barbarism and how useful males are at initiating violence and how useless males are at finding peaceful solutions. French male efforts at colonialization started the bloodshed, male violence and ego on both sides perpetuated it.

As a rule, males enjoy war, destruction, and killing and females don't. Therefore, while the film might be excellent historically and cinematically, the subject matter is as frivolous to females as a historically and cinematically excellent film on child raising would be to most males.

And before anyone goes on criticizing the ladies on their preference for a romance like "The Notebook" over a violent thug movie like "The Godfather," let's remember neither gender is equipped to roll their eyes at the other's choices given the differences in biology and therefore to a great extent tastes -- but if one insists on making value judgments regarding males vs females - romance and domestic bliss is "better" than murder and killing, including romanticized Godfather gang murders.

As The Battle of Algiers illustrated, males usually figure this out...eventually. Yet with short memories and very little insight or foresight, before you know it history is repeating itself again..and again..and again.

More males voted for Bush. More females voted for Kerry. And 2500 young males have died in vain as a result of Bush's idiocy. While these factoids might not seem obviously relevant to the discussion at hand, believe me they are.
Disproportionate male involvement in war and politics is likely explained by men's domination of public life in most times and places. There is evidence that women--given a chance--are just as cruel as men.

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Chicks don't like subtitles. ... I'm kidding, ladies! Damn, can't you take a joke!?

...with this blank, pale, emotionless face and the blackest eyes... the devil's eyes

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While I can't comment on the Battle of Algiers in particular (I'm going to watch it for the first time tonight), after reading this thread I looked around at the demographic breakdowns of a lot of movies off the top 250 list, and otherwise, and it seems that the vast majority are voted lower by women than by men. I wonder if women tend to be more precise in their voting than men do. As in, men may tend to either love or hate something more, while women tend to have a larger gray area inbetween. Or perhaps men are more likely to vote on something that they love or hate than something they just found to be mediocre, while women may tend to be more consistent in their voting habits.

I think in any case it's difficult to make broad generalizations about men and women, so much of it depends on the individual. I think the point that someone made about most films not having female leads, or at least female leads that most women could identify with, is a good one, but that doesn't explain everything (I personally loved the Princess Bride, but thought that Buttercup was one of the lamer characters in the movie...but then again I'm a guy, so maybe women identified with her more--I don't think it belongs in the top 20 though).

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[deleted]

Call this an unfair generalization, but all women are stupid

Sincerely,
c-huddleston

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Lets just be honest. Women are stupid and aren't as smart as men.

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