MovieChat Forums > The Girl in the Café (2005) Discussion > Gender stuff

Gender stuff

posted 17 years ago by afb20-1
6 replies | jump to latest

I watched this because I love Davy Jones, but I am not a fan of Richard Curtis and his male-fantasy land. If a younger woman is going to fall for a much older man, it should at least be someone a bit more charismatic like Corin Redgrave's character, don't you think? I thought Lawrence was very sweet but suspect that I maybe just liked him because I was thinking of Davy.

But someone should really take Curtis to task for such lines as "Let's go and spend the money our menfolk earn" and "I don't know how much you ladies know about what's going on here". Excuse me, we are in the 21st century and politicians and their aides come in both genders. One of the American representatives was actually female and then there was the token "minority race" female on the British team, who - of course - was partnerless. Despite being young, good-looking, perceptive and alert, of course she as a woman would have had to give up a private life for her career. Sigh.

[–] 17 years ago

[deleted]

[–] Danusha_Goska 17 years ago

afb20, thank you for your opening post, which is, of course, all true.

It's called "geezer-babe." An old man and a young girl is standard in movies nowadays. it is a male fantasy. Young actresses, in real life, are typically married to handsome men their own age.

Geezer-babe is ironic to the point of grotesque in this movie. This movie wants so badly to be all about liberating the peoples and feeding the hungry, and it can't throw a bone to women over 29.

This film would have been twice as good had Nighy been paired with an actress his own age. There are plenty of really great women out there his age who could have really improved this movie.

But men throw women in the garbage when they age. And then brag about feeding starving children.

[–] ithinktfiam 16 years ago

Just one correction. It might not happen in the real world, but "Young actresses, in real life, are typically married to handsome men their own age" misses all the many examples of just the opposite. Catherine Zeta-Jones is just one example. of course, in Hollywood, they marry rich or famous older men, so that is more like the real world...

[–] alitosca 16 years ago

I'm not sure where this age thing comes from. I must be very weird, becos I don't see other humans with a number stamp on them defining what they are good for. I just like people or I don't. The characters don't come together because of or despite age. They are two lonely, shy, socially clumsy people who are drawn together despite the odds. And not in a sickly romantic film way, but as profoundly damaged people who have the courage to connect. And Bill Nighy is a spunkmuffin whatever age he is.
I think her mentioning the women in particular at the dinner, comes from her conversation with the politician's wife, who discloses that she has lost babies & is not coping. Which plugs in to her own experience of having had a child (maybe her own) murdered by a man. Which may make her see male politicians as a bit of a lost cause.

[–] johnatrott 9 years ago

Excuse me, we are in the 21st century and politicians and their aides come in both genders.

Sorry, I can't excuse any of the miserable criticisms voiced in this post. This is a movie. A movie's primary purpose is to entertain, not to comply with mind sets that presume to dictate how everyone "should" think and act. Thank goodness for movies like this, that succeed so very well in entertaining us. It reflects some real people in a real world, not some stilted and, IMO, very misdirected and unhappy idealism.

[–] JukeBox-Bill 8 years ago

Exactly so. This is a very funny movie and the 'message' is a bonus.

What if this is as good as it gets?