MovieChat Forums > Hudson Hawk (1991) Discussion > Misogynist rubbish

Misogynist rubbish

posted 11 years ago by HarveyManfredSinJohn
10 replies | jump to latest

I really hate the casting of Sandra Bernhard as the female villain, a truly hateful grotesque. Bernhard is a strong, outspoken iconoclast in the entertainment/comedy world who is unconventionally-looking to say the least. This film seems to associate unconventional/less attractive looks and a strong assertive attitude in women as something repellent.

It would have been far less sexist if Minerva Mayflower had been a more typically beautiful, feminine woman rather than a screeching, emasculating harpy. She's not there to satisfy men's needs by looking pretty so hey, she must be wicked, right?

I don't like this film for a lot of reasons. It's a mess. But I'd have been able to enjoy it in as an undemanding piece of silliness if it wasn't for this misogynist sticking point.

Minerva should have been played by a Hollywood beauty, but instead Hollywood does its usual sexist thing. Less attractive woman = evil.

[–] smithc93 11 years ago

Even though I was not offended by your statement, your statement was very misogynistic. Calling an actress "ugly" is not very PC of you.

[–] HarveyManfredSinJohn 11 years ago

Even though I was not offended by your statement, your statement was very misogynistic. Calling an actress "ugly" is not very PC of you.

Can you quote the part of my post where I call an actress 'ugly'?

[–] smithc93 10 years ago

"This film seems to associate unconventional/less attractive looks and a strong assertive attitude in women as something repellent".

You also called her a "grotesque".

[–] jurched 10 years ago

Minerva was the best cast of all! I cannot imagine ANYONE playing that character with nearly as much gusto and over-the-top pizzazz as Sandra Bernhardt. Impossible!

[–] HarveyManfredSinJohn 10 years ago

"This film seems to associate unconventional/less attractive looks and a strong assertive attitude in women as something repellent".

Firstly calling someone unconventionally attractive or less attractive is not the same as calling someone 'ugly'.

You also called her a "grotesque".

Secondly, I called the character a grotesque, hence why I consider this film to be misogynist, and not Sandra Bernhart.

[–] 10 years ago

[deleted]

[–] HarveyManfredSinJohn 10 years ago

Wait...how would that make it less sexist?

Because there is something inherently problematic about casting a less typically feminine woman as a villain. It plays to misogynist men who believe that any woman who is not there to satisfy their sexual and/or aesthetic needs must be worthless and/or a nasty piece of work. Either make the villain a man or a typically beautiful/feminine woman. Not an assertive but ball-busting harpy.

The World Is Not Enough
Basic Instinct
Maleficent
Batman Returns
Batman & Robin
The Dark Knight Rises
Men in Black II
Terminator 3

Just a few Hollywood films with attractive females as villains. You = fail.



The villain is Men in Black II was an alien who used a model's body as a disguise. The villain in Terminator 3 was a damn machine disguised as a woman.

I'll give you The World is Not Enough and Basic Instinct, although the latter loses points for making the villain a strong, assertive and bisexual woman (those damn evil lesbians, right? )

I haven't seen Maleficent, but Catwoman in Batman Returns is more of an anti-hero than a villain and she even starts off as a typical 'Plain Jane' nerdy type, much like Poison Ivy in Batman & Robin, further supporting the sexist view that any woman who is intelligent and studious (i.e. ambitious and not simply interested in using her looks) is a villain. How about presenting the shallow, looks-obsessed bimbo types as the villains for once? They're the type of anti-role-models we should be dissuading modern women from becoming; not strong, intelligent and studious types.

[–] Drooch 10 years ago

Utterly ridiculous. The femme fatale is a classic Hollywood trope of villainous beauties, much like the sirens of Greek mythology. You're taking 2+2 and getting 5, you're adding a Hollywood agenda that doesn't exist so that you can push your agenda and force your slanted portrayal on the world.

Bernhard rocks this role alongside Grant - both of them freakish but sexy in their own ways. She was perfectly cast, and created a unique character that hasn't been seen before or since. Thank god you weren't around to ruin this for everyone, including Bernhard.

[–] dialixii 10 years ago

Sandra Bernhard is a strong willed, confident and one who truely believes in feminism. If she had mysognistic complaints about the role, do you really think she would have accepted it? If she was ok with it, why can't you be?

[–] Nizzemancer-1 9 years ago

No, just regular rubbish

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