MovieChat Forums > The Lifeguard (2013) Discussion > The answer to "What if the genders were ...

The answer to "What if the genders were reversed?"

posted 9 years ago by HurricaneForce96
7 replies | jump to latest

Watch The Diary of a Teenage Girl (2015) and you will have your answer. Said teenage girl, who is even younger than Jason, sleeps with her mother's boyfriend and then goes into a dangerous downward spiral. There does not seem to be nearly as much backlash directed toward the boyfriend or the film as a whole. Throughout the whole thing, you keep wondering who is taking advantage of whom. There are ways to make films about this subject without alienating or disgusting your audience and the gender roles do not necessarily matter.

My friend told some nasty jokes about religion and was put on the Sects Offenders List.

[–] Captain_Wesker 9 years ago

Good find.

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It is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing .

[–] Zombie55 8 years ago

Excuse me for sounding a bit childish, but what I find deeply deeply fascinating in all of these difficult but controversial discussions is that whenever a question on the order of "what if genders are reversed?" is asked, NOBODY gives a one, satisfying, 100% perfectly correct answer, as if morality in itself is relative and not totally absolute.

People do say that oh double standards exist and bring about feminism into all of this etc.

But no one actually comes out and says WHY it is the way it is, even though its obvious that many people are concerned and disagreeing with all of it for JUSTICE related reasons.

By that logic, should the terms "good" and "evil" in these matters also disappear, cause we can't all agree on what makes what?

The greatest trick the Devil has ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist!

[–] Zombie55 8 years ago

Humanity doesn't really all know like that on what is right and what is wrong.

The greatest trick the Devil has ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist!

[–] Zombie55 8 years ago

Could it be also to do with the fact that the reason far more outrage would be felt towards a man is because men, for one, had a whole history behind them of misbehaving like that and taking advantage of women, and add the fact that men cannot get pregnant, are typically physically stronger due to their masculine bodily structure and don't have the level of vulnerability and sensitivity that women do so there's not even any EXCUSE for them doing what they do and get away with it, and the outrage is therefore more understandeable.

But does the fact that not all women in life are innocent creatures either mean that morality in humanity has many complex shades of grey to it as well?

And can humans ACTUALLY be blamed for there being various double standards and the like and whatnot, at least in theory and from the point of view of justice?

You know, its funy I should mention this, but this year alone, I have been thinking a LOT about this stuff lately.

But the mere lack of satisfying and interesting answers I found very frustrating.

What if men for example throughout history actually WERE more civilized and didn't have a penchant for taking advantage of women and what if they could get pregnant and whatnot - would we have a different attitude THEN towards these things as members of a CIVILIZED society?

The greatest trick the Devil has ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist!

[–] [deleted] 5 years ago

Because it's a completely pointless question.

[–] [deleted] 6 years ago

If the genders were reversed, this POS movie would never have been made.

[–] Wuchak (8733) 5 years ago

Really? Just such a movie was made called "Lifeguard" (1976) and it was a mainstream flick, not an indie like this one.

And it wasn't a POS, but rather a potent slice-of-life drama, thoroughly realistic, with a three-pronged moral: (1) you can't go home again, (2) don't be so hasty to escape your teens and (3) adults and teens shouldn't fraternize.