MovieChat Forums > Windows (1980) Discussion > 'She said she loved me.' 'In her own way...

'She said she loved me.' 'In her own way, she probably did.'

posted 11 years ago by amr3078
15 replies | jump to latest

Thanks a lot for that, Barry Siegel. This POS is probably why you never wrote another screenplay or even worked in Hollywood again. Especially after writing dialogue like that!

At least Gordon Willis continued to get work as a cinematographer. He never directed another movie again. And he recently passed away. RIP him.

And poor Talia Shire and Elizabeth Ashley, they were under contract and did the best with what pitiful little material they had to work with. And as the Movie Explorer said in his review of this "Ashley did this film because of the urging of her agent who was reportedly tired of her turning down roles. I really hope she canned his ass after that!"

That was funny. This movie was s h i t. It was extremely offensive and resorted to showcasing hateful stereotypes of lesbians. Much like 1936's Dracula's Daughter and 1967's The Fox before it, Windows portrayed lesbians as disturbed and predatory. And that just ain't cool.

However the most unintentionally hilarious moment involved the "cat-sicle" falling out of the freezer onto the floor. That scene was supposed to be shocking, and instead brought forth howls of laughter from audiences. Oops!

At least Willis admitted he had screwed up and said that the film was a mistake. Amen to that....

[–] Der_Schnibbler 10 years ago

I've never heard of a lesbian psychopath stereotype. Are you sure you're not just being an oversensitive, whiny little PC imbecile?

[–] InherentlyYours 10 years ago

I think the OP is conveying that society thinks bad enough about homosexuality, without this type of exploitation. Same as Cruising. Even though the plot is realistic, it's a matter of the uninformed straights assuming that gays are perverted like they thought. It's like when you ask why there are Gay parades, and the response is that straights don't need to.

They tried a different approach with Making Love--then that got criticized for being too gentle, so as to not offend anybody.

[–] andrereichenbacher 10 years ago

Exactly. Thank you for understanding. The other person obviously didn't.

[–] InherentlyYours 10 years ago

are you the OP under a different user name, or somebody who happened to see the thread?

[–] andrereichenbacher 10 years ago

Yes, I just said that I was the OP.

[–] rascal67 10 years ago

Windows portrayed lesbians as disturbed and predatory. And that just ain't cool.
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So when they make films about 'heterosexual' psychos, they are not portrayed as 'disturbed' and 'predatory', only cooler?

[–] andrereichenbacher 10 years ago

People with severe mental illnesses or "psychos" as you eloquently put it, cannot necessarily help the way they are. It's only if they become violent and murderous, it's then that they need to be caught and put away so they can no longer cause any more harm to society. And sexual orientation has nothing to do with it. There have been gay and lesbian murderers. That doesn't mean all homosexual people are like that, therefore they should not be portrayed that way. This movie failed because of it's truly terrible screenplay and because of it's intention to portray lesbians in a offensive stereotypical manner. The fact that the writer thought doing that was OK, is what is NOT COOL. Do I need to spell that out any more, or do you understand it now? Cuz I'm done talking about it.

[–] InherentlyYours 10 years ago

andrereichenbacher

The problem is that you and other informed people know this, but you are overestimating the masses who have limited knowledge about homosexuality and think homosexuals are all perverts without even seeing a movie about it. That is the OP's point. Do you see what I mean?

[–] andrereichenbacher 10 years ago

I got news for ya. I AM the OP. That was the first name I used before I made a different account. Does it really matter? I think not!

[–] 10 years ago

[deleted]

[–] InherentlyYours 10 years ago

'Does it really matter? I think not!'
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It only matters to know the line of reasoning from different posters on the thread. Nothing to feel so angry about. I was not attacking anybody. People are filled with anger.

[–] rascal67 10 years ago

People with severe mental illnesses or "psychos" as you eloquently put it, cannot necessarily help the way they are......There have been gay and lesbian murderers. That doesn't mean all homosexual people are like that, therefore they should not be portrayed that way.
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Now don't go getting all pc with me, just because you are bitter and likely lesbian. This is a film, about fictional characters. Straight people aren't 'all' murderers either and they get portrayed the same way in films. Stereotypes are common in many thriller films.

I don't object to this film—as I would CRUISING-80, from the same year—because it is a POS, like you have mentioned. It was also made in an era, when films still had a shock-able element to them and audiences were still seeing something different or new. WINDOWS, failed miserably in pretty much all departments and it is not even worth getting upset about. It's failure was deserved.

CRUISING-80', on the other hand, was so ugly and repellent and you may not want to hear this; but male 'homosexuality', is more reviled than lesbianism. That is because men are insecure and fearful about it and many women don't really understand it. If anything, CRUISING cast a bleaker shadow over the 'gay' community, than anything WINDOWS attempted to do.

[–] InherentlyYours 10 years ago

poor Liz Ashley, a great actress who didn't get her due (especially after this film) And her life story was worse.

[–] enfilmigult 10 years ago

Straight people aren't 'all' murderers either and they get portrayed the same way in films.

Yes...as well as quite a few other ways, in all sorts of genres. At the time this came out, though? This kind of thing was about it as far as portraying gay characters. A movie about a lesbian stalked by a crazed straight man wasn't exactly something you were going to see at the time. Especially not one that's lacking in all mystery, reveals him as the villain about fifteen minutes in and acts like a deep psychological portrait of heterosexuality.

I think you're right that 'Cruising' is worse in that department, though, if only for sheer ugliness. Even the "normal" gay characters (i.e. the ones who don't actually go around stabbing guys to death) are portrayed as pathologically obsessed with weird sex; most of the gay "characters" in it are just extras and bit players seen cruising park benches or doing very strenuous things in the back of leather bars. The best thing it has to say about gay men is that hey, they don't like getting murdered either (wow!).

[–] Galley_WormFilledSkull 9 years ago

If it's offensive to portray a lesbian as a psychopath, all of us white people should get offended by the constant and neverending stereotyping of criminals as mainly whites. Very few movies show rapists as blacks because that would offensive to blacks, even though, in the real world, most crimes ARE committed by blacks and not by whites. But it's OK to insult whites with flat out lies showing all white gangs beating up blacks in the streets (in fact most of sucker punch game perpetrators are blacks and almost every victim is white!) when we know there are almost something close to zero all-white gangs roaming the streets. Blacks commit crimes every day in America. Where's the realistic portrayal of their crimes by Hollyweird? Nowhere to be found because P.C. dogmas and Reality are opposite things. Besides, why shouldn't straight people get offended too by, for example, the portrayal of a heterosexual psychopath in American Psycho as in almost every other film where, even if not stated openly, the maniacs, sociopaths, villains, azz.holes, are almost always white and heterosexual? So there can not exist a case of a psychotic lesbian or a sociopathic gay man? Well, last time I checked the Real World, there actually ARE crazy, disgusting, cruel and criminal homosexuals, just as much as there are crazy, disgusting, cruel and criminal heterosexuals. So what's your point?

'What goes around comes around. Just like a kangaroo.'