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June 04, 2007

Comments

Jesse

I generally agree, but Apatow in my mind gets some credit for allowing so many women in the film to be so funny -- both the female leads were really funny, without demeaning themselves, and Wiig and Charlyne Yi were two of the best side characters (if not the two best side characters). I know that's only a distinction relative to the woeful state of women in comic films ordinarily, but it is a distinction. It was really cool to get to see women be funny in a movie without having to be totally debased and victimized.

little lulu

Waiting for Apatow to honor women?

Um...there is more than enough female talent reading this blog right now to create a movie with the depth and hilarity of the friends we know and want to see on screen. It is not going to come from Judd Apatow.

If we're not busy doing it right now, it's just not being done, period, so dont look for it at the mutiplex or the sunshine theater, because you wont find it. Apatow is awesome and productive and seems like a great person to work for and all the other things that have been written about him in the avalanche of press that preceded "Knocked Up"--but he is another example of a dude bringing his personal culture very successfully onto the screen. What he's done, in discovering and developing and strengthening the talent around him is great and is a model of hollywood success--and perhaps one that one of us should follow with the talented women we are surrounded by.

Worker #3116

Sounds like someone is having her period.

lindsay

That is so completely true. Best comment ever.

lindsay

HAHAHAHA. My response was to Lulu's comment.

little lulu

thanks lindsay

worker #3116--you prove my point, kind of. way to get things done.

nahuelito

I think Apatow's depiction of women is at least closer to reality than, say, Nora Ephron's.

Mary Mouse

Tee hee. But bravo to Lulu all the same.

Worker #3116

Women be shoppin!

little lulu

oh--and actually my period just ended. you should have heard me last week.

I understand the point, and agree with it somewhat, but why doesn't anyone ever say Nora Ephron / Candace Bushnell / etc can't write guys worth crap?

Aren't you supposed to write what you know?

To be sure Nora Ephron / Candace Bushnell write stereotypical schmaltzy crap from woman's perspective, that's just not what Apatow does.

dukiebiddle

Interesting. Here is a quote from an email I sent to a friend on friday:

“Have you seen the "Knocked Up" reviews?

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/knocked_up/

96% cream of the crop.

The only negative that I saw in the COC section was some feminist perspective that said it was from a masculine point of view. Stupid gash. Who cares what bitches think?”

Of course, I was kidding; but I think the analogy commenters are making here between Apatow and Ephron is apt. I’m not talking about the more recent universally regarded bad Ephron, but the unbelievably overrated “Heartburn.” The Nickolson/Bernstein character was just... ugh... not well done. But Jeff Daniels’ character was one of the most poorly drawn, unrealistic, schlocky infantalized fantasy men in the history of female screenwriting. He was the Fabio of nerdy, emotionally available and nurturing editors who served to empower Streep’s character by giving her someone to reject. It makes my jaw drop to think that Streep considers that to be her best film. But then again, I’m male. If the female characters were painted well, it was probably over my head.

As for Stevens’ critique of Apatow and her hope that he will one day write women as well as he does men... well, that really is impossible, isn’t it? One can never write what one does not know as well as that which one does not. It was just all the more visible to us because his male characters are written with such depth. Perhaps if Ephron had a male editor that was willing to tell her that her male characters are crap, Heartburn would have been a better movie... and for all I know maybe the book as well. And I guess the same goes for Apatow.

linda

I overuse "earnest" as a pejorative term. I will substitute "heartwarming" for a while. Thank you.

Sanjay

I just happen to surround myself with funny fun self-deprecating.

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