MovieChat Forums > Exotica (1995) Discussion > Do women not enjoy this movie as much as...

Do women not enjoy this movie as much as men?

posted 19 years ago by rebound4july
28 replies | jump to latest

The thing I found most eye-catching about the voting results for Exotica on imdb is the huge differential between the male (7.0) and female (6.0) ratings. I`m just curious as to why that would be.

Out of curiosity about the movie,(my all-time favourite), I was going through some old issues of the Ottawa Citizen at my library from when it came out. Shortly after the paper`s movie reviewer had named it the best movie of 1994, a female writer wrote a column completely trashing the film. She uses terms like "soullessness","cardboard characters", "patriarchal and primitive vision of sexuality", "permissive treatment of pedophilia", "exploitative use of women`s bodies" and most interestingly that it "makes no emotional connection with a female audience."

Personally, I feel many of those arguments are ridiculous; especially the part about exploiting women`s bodies. There`s actually very little nudity for a movie that takes place in a stripclub. But does this movie not click with women the way it does for some men? I'm just curious about anyone`s opinions on this.

[–] YesthatChristine 17 years ago

I am a woman and I love this movie. I rented it with some friends for a giggle (thinking it was a soft porn) back in 96 or so and LOVED it. I will admit my friends didn't, as it wasn't the schlock they were looking for.

I disagree with all of the comments above. Those comments sound so defensive on the part of the woman who wrote them; perhaps it struck something in her she didn't want to admit she liked.

[–] agera 17 years ago

Count me as another woman who really loves this film. It has a hypnotic feel that drew me into it and as I slowly discovered it was about redemption, the healing kind of love and the ability to forgive oneself, I found myself very moved by it.

Actually, it's one of the very few films I find to be genuinely spiritual.

[–] xbriarrosed 17 years ago

I'm a girl in my 20's and I absolutely loved it. I watched this movie because of Bruce Greenwood. He's one versatile actor. Francis Brown struggles for the meaning of life and holds on to the people in their 'roles' that connect him with his daughter. Emotionally difficult to watch and much praise for the main characters in Exotica. The music is hauntingly beautiful and so is the setting of Exotica. I think this movie was made with respect to the female beauty and has nothing to do with plain nudity. The focus was seeing the struggle stay connected with the past and watch how every character try to look for love, protection, affection or companionship.

"I always pretend to root for Gryffindors but secretly, I love my Slytherin boys." Karen

[–] lyanthya 16 years ago

I'm a 36-year-old woman and I loved it.

"Human beings have been oppressing stuffed animals for centuries." --Jerome Murphy

[–] dollface_headcase 16 years ago

that's so weird because bell hooks (famous feminist thinker and critic) wrote a really excellent essay on exotica that is very positive. I also like exotica very much and don't see it as sexist at all.

[–] WarpedRecord 16 years ago

I wouldn't put much stock in IMDb ratings. Maybe men have a greater tendency to rate films higher than women do? This is not a "men's" or a "women's" film, but a complicated psychological thriller that would appeal to thinkers of both sexes.

It bothers me when people refer to "Exotica" as a "sex film" because there is very little nudity and absolutely no sex. This has a complex plot that has nothing to do with sex, and the strip club is just the setting. Perhaps the film was mismarketed.

Regardless, this critic sounds completely to have missed the point of the film. Perhaps she missed the whole film?

[–] rockinbone 16 years ago

I just want to weigh in here and say that I think this is a horrible movie.I am male, and don't dislike this because of any political or sexual bent on my part, I just don't get what is appealing here.Maybe this would work as a play, but not a film. The DJ's "Chris from Northern Exposure" rants in a strip club? The modern dance strip routines? These things really stopped me from being able to appreciate the characters, who I thought were poorly drawn.

I'm not that proud of everything I've done, but I'm not that ashamed, either.

[–] SCorvin 16 years ago

I am a woman and I liked this movie a lot. I find it to be very smart, entertain, sexy, mysterious, compelling and different from other movies. The characters are so deep and the actors were so good in their portrayals as the story is just wonderful.