MovieChat Forums > The Break-Up (2006) Discussion > The most male bashing movie ever made!!!

The most male bashing movie ever made!!!

posted 16 years ago by mcbain20
34 replies | jump to latest

Reasons to support...

OCCUPATIONS:

1. Brooke--Artist :-)....Marilyn Dean is a strong successful woman who treats Brooke right
2. Gary--City tour bus guide :-(...Dennis was a demanding whiny D-Bag who was always up Gary's butt.

Family:
Brooke's family--
Sister-Has a home, children, and a trained husband...she's responsible and cares for everyone.
Brother--Sings in a cappella group...when has that ever been cool?

Gary's family--
Dennis--see above
Lupus--inconsiderate pervert who's prone to tell a racist joke. He puts his winky first, then himself, then other people. Possibly the most villainous character in the film.

Friends:
Brooke--
We don't really get to focus on Brooke's friends because we're lead to believe that she devotes 98% of her time to Gary. Well there's her gay receptionist Christopher. He pretty much annoyed the crap out of her. So we can now add "annoying" to the male persona according to this movie. So when women say that all the good men are taken or GAY, this covers the gay portion by making them look bad as well. Even both of Brooke's dates were the two biggest D-bags on the planet. One was trying to get laid, the other was a complete child. Now we think that she is now doomed in the single life.

Gary--
Johnny tells Gary like it is, but is a partial psychopath for wanting to plot an attack on Brooke's dates or whoever it is that he believes she is seeing. Did I mention that Johnny's date was so cute and innocent...just like every other female was in this movie. Andrew was the wife clinger who sold out his friend..he was a very very sensitive character. Bad traits for Andrew!!!

...now lets move on into the film...

Brooke: The nurturer and provider in the apartment. She would work her super nice job and come home to doing everything while Gary was just a slug. She was the only one sacrificing and Gary is putting 0% effort into everything.

Gary: Alcoholic slacker who couldn't do anything right at work and at home. He was a cranky guy who because of his actions let us think he has zero reason to complain (sitting at home playing video games and watching sports). But the character is still made to be this way. But I think most importantly he was stereotyped as the way bitter women see men. He sat at bars, watched sports, screamed like a baby, did no cooking or cleaning, went to night clubs, played strip poker, had naked girls in his living room, wanted a pool table, the list goes on and on. We are also shown Gary's carelessness. How many people here felt bad for Brooke when Gary didn't show up to that rock concert? We the audience felt even worse in the next scene when Brooke was in the bedroom crying her eyes out. Was she crying because she was hurt? Was she crying because her plans to change Gary are backfiring? She states that he doesn't care anymore and that's what hurts the most.

Now we're up to the best part...as if the male isn't being kicked around enough in this 105 min torture fest
In the films, "go on girl" ending, Gary has finally developed some changes. He finally breaks down and surrenders now to Brooke and wants her back. She rejects him because she has nothing left to give him. Everything is set in stone and we see in the last scene of the movie that Gary has COMPLETELY changed all because of her...

SUMMARY RESULTS OUT OF 3
Brooke's plan to change Gary was a success.

Brooke 1
Gary 0

Brooke rejects Gary's proposal to start things over.

Brooke 2
Gary 0

Everything she did in the movie changed his life forever which we see in the last scene

Brooke 3
Gary 0

Brooke vs. Gary
3 0

The movie as a whole shows Brooke's patience and it seems that she has a lot of it and Gary's lack of...of....EVERYTHING!!! As long as we can see this movie for exactly what it is... A MOVIE.... and not the GUIDE TO LIFE then I think we can live in a world where we can take responsibility for our actions and not point the finger at the opposite gender. Right is right and wrong is wrong.

[–] lizcarlo87 10 years ago

I think both were the reason for the breakup. Jennifer Aniston character was no angel and was certainly no better Vince Vaughn character.

[–] holchie 10 years ago

I thought it was a very realistic portrayal of most men and women. Men do whatever they can to avoid being adults. Even the good ones. Women think they can change that in men, and they can't. I'm not saying any of this is good or bad, just the way it really is.

[–] hka-3 10 years ago

Wow, I didn't see it as male bashing. Gary and Brooke both had flaws. Gary convinced himself that being "the talent" at work was enough and that his job at home was to relax after a long day. His brother and Brooke had legitimate gripes towards his attitude. He eventually realized he needed to try to put a greater effort into his work and relationship.

As Brooke said, she could've tried harder to figure out a way to get a pool table into their place sooner. Brooke could've accepted not having a lemon centerpiece that one night and the dinner party could've turned out fine without it. Around the time when they were arguing about the lemons she mentioned she had been to the market that day, so she actually could take part of the blame for not getting lemons or not planning things out well enough in advance....

Many couples don't get to know each other well enough before diving into a serious relationship. That was both Brooke and Gary's responsibility. I don't think they were as incompatible as they once thought, considering how happy they were to see each other after being apart for a while.