MovieChat Forums > The Woman (2011) Discussion > Might just be me but I didn't see any 'F...

Might just be me but I didn't see any 'Feminism' in this movie.

posted 11 years ago by hoppz
19 replies | jump to latest

I know its obvious that its vile controlling evil men and strong women overcoming them but i f--ing hate feminism with a passion and didn't ever consider that this film was preaching it to me.

I loved the movie watched it with my Girlfriend and i actually said to her (jokingly) "i like the dad he's got the right attitude"

We laughed about it, recognized the the over the top sadistic characters where there to hate and didn't think to deeply on it.

Men claiming feminist propaganda are thinking to deeply on it and quite frankly acting like douche bag feminists do when they claim chauvinism over bikini issues of magazines etc..

Women/feminists claiming it has a feminist message are clutching at straws, its just a movie, a pretty dam good one with a good pay off as well

"I have come here to Kick Ass and chew bubblegum and Im all outa Gum"

[–] ethermusic1981 11 years ago

Wow, did you even watch the movie?
The feminism is continually being pounded into the viewer's head the entire runtime.

[–] 11 years ago

[deleted]

[–] draugwenL 11 years ago

Actually, that would be anti-feminist. The basic tenents of feminism are that men and women are capable of the same thing- that men are not just mindless rapists, that men have a choice in how they act. That's why rape is considered a reprehensible act and not just a "fact of life". Feminists are the ones who think men are capable of being more than raping machines.

If you think feminism is about men being monsters, you've completely missed the point. That point of view is actually misogyny, it's how misogyny is often interpreted in the female mind, particularly women who have unconfronted internalized misogyny and who have been abused by men (which is statistically very common, 1 in 3 women are victims of gender-based violence, 1 in 4 being victims of sexual assault). See equality goes both ways- if someone is saying women are better than men or men are monsters, it's just as sexist as a man saying men are superior or women don't deserve equal pay, etc etc etc. That's not feminism, just sexism. Feminists don't think men are monsters. Feminists think that people are people, which is why our expectations are so high... though I don't think "don't rape" is that high of an expectation.

[–] first-things-first 10 years ago

Thank-you for your definition of feminism. This movie is not that. I read in another post that the violence is over the top, and I agree. This was a good old fashion horror story, poorly executed in my opinion. That an individual can hate all women and hide it in public is comical. That no woman in public hasn't challenged him is absurd. They want us to believe he's not insane. Had they portrayed him as with a mental illness, it would fit the genre. But this is over the top gore. I have said this before, it reminds me of a scene in a movie where the writers are at a table trying to one-up plots to the extreme. Have we come to this? It seems so.

If we can save humanity, we become the caretakers of the world

[–] FCA1975 10 years ago

I am willing to bet the people that are complaining about feminism are males who either have the same issues as the male characters, or don't see anything wrong with men who commit some of these same actions.

Either way I enjoyed seeing the father and son meet their demise, because they are the aggressors and deserved to die. I don't buy into that 'it's not okay to kill someone that is insane' bullsh*t. And I would feel that way, as a man, if all the sexes were reversed in the same situation.

[–] first-things-first 10 years ago

So you thought he was pure evil? Aggressors with no boundaries?

If we can save humanity, we become the caretakers of the world

[–] FCA1975 10 years ago

I would not say pure evil, I mean, he obviously loved his son, no matter how warped and twisted he was.

[–] first-things-first 10 years ago

Or he was male, taking the good ole boys club to the extreme. I haven't read the book, and I'm unfamiliar with the author. I did enjoy the film "Red" based on a book by this author. This author challenges us on identifying the monster.

But we both agree that he was insane.

If we can save humanity, we become the caretakers of the world

[–] pix-e 10 years ago

I would not say pure evil, I mean, he obviously loved his son, no matter how warped and twisted he was.

I know this is a late response, but I only recently saw this film. I am not sure that the father was capable of love. He didn't really treat his son that well in my opinion (we'll say he treated him the least horrible), but was quick to excuse his twisted behavior because the son was only acting like him. Ex: Dad tortured the woman/son tortured the woman. Dad molested the prisoner/son molested the prisoner. His approval and favoritism of the boy existed only because the son reflected him in gender, misogyny, and sadism.

In my eyes the Dad was genuinely evil: he violently abused his wife, trained one daughter to be a wild dog while keeping her confined, probably sexually abused and impregnated his teenager daughter, killed a teacher, raised a rapist amongst other things, imprisoned/tortured/humiliated and sexually violated The Woman.

The whole time I couldn't figure out why no one called the cops to put this man away and attempt to rehabilitate the son, but oh well. We would not have had a movie if that happened.

[–] LordManhammer 11 years ago

so, are you complaining about feminists, or men who are overly sensitive to feminists?

__ __ __
"Gentlemen, you can't fight in here! This is the War Room!"--Pres. Merkin Muffley

[–] BulmaPunkRocker 10 years ago

I agree with OP with only one thing: There's no feminist message anywhere.

Otherwise, the movie, IMHO, it wasn't good.

Please excuse my terrible redaction, english is not my native language.

[–] BlaineAnderson-KurtHummel 10 years ago

I hate feminism too. How dare women want to be treated equally.

[–] swinggold 10 years ago

Then I guess the OP missed a major point of the movie while he was looking for something to jack off to. Very much feminist propaganda similar to I Spit On Your Grave. It's all in the perspective,

[–] PenguinCat 10 years ago

Men claiming feminist propaganda are thinking to deeply on it and quite frankly acting like douche bag feminists do when they claim chauvinism over bikini issues of magazines etc..

I like this statement. I am a woman and I also hate feminism. I understand what they are saying and I do agree with some: Like all humans should be equal in employment etc. But I agree the over the top ones can be douchy as are the men who yip about how they are being unfairly portrayed.

I would hate to live my life to any extreme such as they do. It's a movie.

Always be yourself. Unless you can be Batcatt, then always be Batcatt.

[–] michahardy 10 years ago

"I do agree with some: Like all humans should be equal in employment etc." Well then you do like feminism. Because feminism is wanting to be equal with men. But of course you get the crazy radicals with the nutty ideas in any group. So I understand if other women do not want to label themselves as feminists.

[–] DiscoViolento 10 years ago

The feminist propagating in this is so heavy handed it is dragging its arms behind it. There is no way you can't see it, no way. Not only is the overall imagery blatant, but the characters voice these ideas so bluntly that it is almost too on the nose. The fact that you can't see it can only mean that you know very little or next to nothing about feminism.

The film, and it's very-much-based-in-feminist-theory theory in short:
The family in the film works as a microcosm for civilisation in which man uses violence to control the body of woman and, in doing so, creates an image of what it means to be man which he passes on to his sons. By being able to control woman, he grows to view her as weak, but also feels desire for her, which he despises her for.
Woman, in turn, becomes a domesticated animal. She has learned not to anger man and, fearing violence, passes this information on to her daughters. The daughters accept their place, and passes it on to their daugthers.
After generations have passed, these patterns become so ingrained that neither woman nor man will question the status quo. Not until an outside force barges in to disturb the piece.

Tadaa!

I mean, you can hate on feminism all you want, but there is no way that you can deny this as a feminist flick. Lucky McKee DEFINITELY read the SCUM-manifesto not long before typing out this script, I'm sure.

I would say that it is the most heavy-handed feminist feature film that has been made in... ever, possibly.

[–] timlin-4 9 years ago

Of course McKee fantasizes about being the father, but he is too weak

[–] bite_me_loser_86 9 years ago

Totally agree with your analysis! I thought the same thing!