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Misogyny Watch

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ONLY NICE THINGS

13:01 / 11.10.07

Well, there's an industry standard belief that women don't open movies, I believe - that is, you don't expect people to go in large numbers to see a film with any female star as they might a film starring Tom Cruise or George Clooney. I believe Julia Roberts bucked this trend for a while, as to a lesser extent did Demi Moore. Jodie Foster _does_ open movies, but those movies are generally comparatively low-budget, I think, and have comparatively limited expectations, at least in terms of ticket sales. So, hmmm. I think it may be like the belief among publishers of children's books that girls will read books with boy protagonists, but not vice versa.

Papess

20:28 / 11.10.07

Gloria Allred has a few words for Warner Bros.

Thankfully, Gloria Allred (America's famed women's rights attorney) put Robinov's ridiculous commandment in its place. Calling his anti-actress ruling "an insult to moviegoers," Allred says, "It is truly unfortunate that women get blamed for decisions which are made by men. Instead of taking responsiblity for their own lack of judgement...some men in the movie industry find it easier to place blame for their lack of success on women leads and to exclude talented female actors from the top of the employment opportunities in Hollywood in favour of macho males."

You go Gloria!

Allred's solution? Boycott Warner Bros. Now that ought to fix Robinov faster than a randy rottweiler.

Chiropteran

01:45 / 12.10.07

Allred was careful, however, to preface her comment (quoted in full at the original link) with "if that's what he said," and concluded with "If that studio confirms that their policy is to now exclude women as leads, then my policy would be to boycott films made by Warner Bros." The studio has instead announced that this is not their new policy.

Papess

02:28 / 12.10.07

True, true...

Our Lady Has Left the Building

04:24 / 11.12.07

Wow, I think I've found someone to hate more than Nirpal Dhaliwal... British women are fat, ugly, don't bother to scrub up, did I mention fat, lazy, dress like hookers, don't tell one another when they dress like hookers, oh and fat.

The author is a screenwriter (single) who divides his time between London and Los Angeles.

Slim

03:00 / 12.12.07

To be fair, he also implies that American women are money-grubbing whores.

Axolotl

09:57 / 12.12.07

Yeah, that was one of the most odious pieces of writing I've come across in ages, filled with misogyny and unpleasantness.

Alex's Grandma

10:54 / 12.12.07

Alarmingly, a google search reveals that there actually is a screenwriter called Tad Safran, whose credits include 'additional material' for the Magic Roundabout movie. As such, he perhaps deserves our pity; writing Florence's dialogue must have been hell for the poor man.

'But Tad, I don't think Zebedee would say that ... Frankly, we think you may have some issues here.'

Axolotl

13:20 / 12.12.07

Uggh. Don't even look at the comments the article provoked on the Times Online site. Aside from those who've missed the point and just state that American women are just as ugly as British women, there's even some fuckers agreeing with him. Of those my particular favourite is one guy who extols the virtues of South-East Asian women into whose arms he's been driven by the assertive harridans that make up the female population of the UK.

I can only assume that the journalists have been too busy getting pissed for Christmas to do real work which is why they ran this dreck.

Olulabelle

21:08 / 12.12.07

The worst bit about those comments is that people are saying that British girls are loud and obnoxious and drink too much and that they don't behave 'properly' by being more demure. It's what that implies for how women 'should' behave that annoys me. And the fact that because women are being criticised for their appearance, suddenly all kinds of behaviours can also be questioned.

eye landed

00:11 / 17.12.07

tad is saying that all women should look like theyre 17, and spend their whole lives painfully primping themselves for men, but not talk about it because its gross and dull. he also mentions his love of skimpy outfits on high school girls, but then insults adults for looking like hookers. this piece is so far off the bad-taste humour scale i cant believe anyone is seriously critiquing it.

Our Lady Has Left the Building

11:10 / 17.12.07

Tad's back.

Axolotl

12:22 / 17.12.07

How much does it cost to hire a hitman? I'm sure if we all chipped in it wouldn't be that much per head.

Closed for Business Time

13:16 / 17.12.07

It'd likely cost less than the minimum amount he believes any self-respecting female should spend on "beautification" per month. I notice he didn't even try to defend that point from his first piece. Then again, he is writing in the Times.

All Acting Regiment

13:31 / 17.12.07

It's trying very hard to be a romantic comedy, isn't it? With James Blunt on the soundtrack. He's this witty American screenwriter, see, and he ought to be having charming tea in little English restaraunts, with women in long coats and big scarves, to a soundtrack of James Blunt, and it's the hit of the winter season. Except he's a massive, sprawling misogynist squatting in the middle of it. It's like Richard Geefe. I can imagine him putting out a cigarette on someone's face, and then getting the shit kicked out him, only to wake up and find a man in a santa suit going through his pockets. To a soundtrack of James Blunt.

Alex's Grandma

00:02 / 18.12.07

The thing is, Tad proabably thinks (and he could well be right here)that all this is going to help him in his career. He won't just be the anonymous screenwriter from now on; he'll be the misogynist one who's upset all his friends. So up to a point he now has a brand identity.

lille christina

07:55 / 18.12.07

The thing is, Tad proabably thinks (and he could well be right here)that all this is going to help him in his career.

Absolutely. The first thing I thought was that this guy probably needs attention, and what would be a better way to get attention than by pissing people off?

After all, Tad was involved in the making of only three moovies (according to imdb) I haven't even heard of. He probably wants to get the attention to get work on a bigger production.

He might have bigger chances if he'd write a comic book about his issues with women and turn it into a romantic comedy, as All Acting R. was saying... Shallow guy makes fun of fat people and poor people and then falls in love... oh wait, hasn't that been done in "Shallow Hal" (Gwyneth Paltrow and Jack Black)?

Regrettable Juvenilia

08:28 / 18.12.07

He probably wants to get the attention to get work on a bigger production.

That being said, is there an argument for not giving him said attention? It strikes me that this is the kind of extreme form of misogyny to which even the mainstream media is going to produce objections. Might people who actively identify as feminists might do better to spend their time critiquing less obvious examples?

All Acting Regiment

11:57 / 18.12.07

Or indeed, worse, more glaring examples that happen out of the limelight.

Our Lady Has Left the Building

12:30 / 18.12.07

Well, the adage of 'there's no such thing as bad publicity' isn't true, Julian Clary spent a few years in the wilderness after his 'fisting Norman Lamont' joke, Angus Deaton has a much quieter career than before his cocaine and hookers period and only time will tell what happens to Chris Langham.

Despite the efforts of The Times and people like me blabbering about it on the web, this isn't really a big story yet. And I doubt it's got enough currency to get him a job as the Times celebrity misogynist. It's too small a story at the moment to do much for him, and soon it, and he, will be gone.

lille christina

12:38 / 18.12.07

That being said, is there an argument for not giving him said attention?

I guess it depends on what massmedia makes of it. A newspaper in Norway, I think it was "Dagbladet" had a headline that sounded something like "most men think that it's a womans fault if she gets raped" I think they asked about 50 men about their opinion.

I don't know where they find those men, but I certainly don't know any men who think rape is the woman's fault. So I guess extreme opinions such as "all men do/are/think and all women do/are/think..." get short living attention because people get irritated for a day or so and then they forget about it because they have to concentrate on other things.
What I'm trying to say is that these kinds of articles sell newspapers better than a positive headline.

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