MovieChat Forums > 100 Girls (2000) Discussion > Why I thought this movie *was* feminist

Why I thought this movie *was* feminist


Hi,
I'm French and only learned English recently (well, not so recently, but I don't really use my English knowledge everyday), so this may not be a genius essay.
However, aside from all the stereotypes and tropes pictured, I thought it was a real feminist movie. People often say that a feminist movie need a female to be the first protagonist, I think this isn't feminist at all. It's sexism. I can't really develop it further, but it strikes me as the same as saying that no man can be feminist.
There, we got a male protagonist and the movie enlighten what shaped his perception of his gender, and what shaped others' character perception of their genders. Some says it's sexist because some characters have sexists ideas about themselves or others, like in that book the Female Man. Does one say it is a sexist book because it show you what the characters think about themselves?
I hope you got my point here, I always understand what I read in English, but it's harder for me to write. (I think this problem has a name, the [something-someone] Effect, but well)

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i thought it was feminist to, mostley because they twist the truth so that woman are coming out better the men.
example, when lead character says something about shopping and sex.
woman look at the item they want and dont but and that way they learn something.
but men know what they want and thats why they dont learn anything and thats why we want more sex.
the thruth is more that woman dont know what they want and men know what they want and take it.

i cant remember the example anymore but for those of u who have seen the movie might know what i mean.

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How do the women come out looking better than men? He's literally holding women responsible for not being raped by men. This movie is not feminist because feminists do not believe in female superiority, or the very stereotypical gender roles he's riffing off of such as women being the "gate keepers" of sex. It holds men unaccountable for their actions which is a huge aspect of rape culture, acting as if men are animals acting on instinct that women need to protect themselves from otherwise they were asking for it. He even out does all the women on campus who were sexually assaulted by the abuser boyfriend for having the self proclaimed "courage" to fight back (as if it's easy for a woman being attacked to subdue her attacker, like, see, he could do it!) and come forward about it. Each woman had absolutely no agency or control over their own lives and needed him to save them all and prove them all wrong. In one instance he even saved a woman by showing her that she too could be objectified by men! You've got to be kidding me if you truly feel this is feminist, or that the protagonist was in any way admirable. He spent the entire movie manipulating and violating the privacy and boundaries of a dorm full of women, as well as stereotyping and objectifying them. And in the end, he doesn't learn from it. No, he just reaffirms his backwards internal monologue and is rewarded with a hot girlfriend and the approval of dozens of women for it.

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It's definitely feminist because it doesn't paint either men or women as the better sex, it opens up discussion about the strengths and weaknesses of each, and shows the main character seeing both sides and sharing his opinions and thoughts honestly.

The main character can be male and the film can still be perceived as feminist.

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