Crazy, Stupid Reverse Objectification

So, if anyone has not yet seen the film Crazy, Stupid Love, this post may contain some mild spoilers.

First of all, Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone totally made this movie. Ryan Gosling is hilarious, Emma Stone is sarcastic and awesome as always. My favorite scene from this entire film was between the two of them. Let me lead you up to it: Ryan Gosling is, as Emma Stone and her friend call him, "the hot guy from the bar," the guy who's always hitting on women and getting them to go home with him. We know he never calls women back, we know he uses the same moves on every woman he tries to get with; he's totally sleazy and predictable. So, as often happens in the romantic comedy, he's most attracted to Emma Stone's character, because she is not seduced by him, and she blows off his attempts to hit on her.


Jump ahead to a later scene, in which Emma Stone realizes that her boyfriend is a lame-ass douchebag, and she starts drinking heavily and builds up her courage to go have some R-rated fun (her friend tells her repeatedly that her life is PG-13). So she goes after "hot guy from the bar."

This is where things get good. Emma storms into the bar, yells "You!" and kisses him. Then she tells him to take her home. And he does.

When they get back to his fabulous house, she's starting to get nervous. But she keeps talking about what she does, and does not, want from him. When he tells her she's adorable, she cries, "NO! I'm sexy. And we are gonna bang!" She makes it very clear that what she wants is hot sex with the hot guy from the bar (he reminds her a couple of times that his name is Jacob; she doesn't call him that). Then, she makes him take off his shirt so she can see what he's got going on. After making him uncomfortable and telling him that he looks "photoshopped," she refuses to let him put his shirt back on.

Why do I love this scene? For one, it's wonderfully acted and comically timed by the two actors. But more than that, I love it because Emma Stone is showing Ryan Gosling exactly what it feels like to be objectified. She's not trying to mess with his head or teach him a lesson; in the moment, she is objectifying him, or at least trying to. She's trying to have an R-rated one night stand the way that he does, and in his world, objectification is required. (So in her mind, and I would say the collective mind of our culture, R-rated fun is masculine and sexist.)

I think this scene is important because, in order for Ryan Gosling to open up to a relationship beyond one-night stands, he has to understand what he's been doing to women. He experiences being wanted and used just for his body, sex, etc., and he doesn't necessarily like it.

I don't think that reverse objectification is the way to solve problems of men objectifying women, but I don't think the movie is saying that, either. After all, (*spoiler!*), they don't end up having sex; they end up talking, laughing, and Gosling is the one to pass out before anything else happens. Emma Stone's character is, ultimately, unable to truly objectify someone; she's too interested in other people. I think the movie uses Ryan Gosling to show that objectification of others leaves people empty and lacking in actual relationships (not saying that this means all casual sex is wrong; just that manipulating women/men for casual sex consistently can lead to sad, lonely lives).

I'm kind of amazed I was able to write this much about this romantic comedy. I'm not sure if it all makes sense. But if nothing else, this movie is worth it for Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone, and don't worry, I have definitely not spoiled the best moment between the two of them!

The Girl with...No Clothes?

So far, I am not excited about the English-speaking version of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. I loved loved loved the book series, and saw the first Swedish film adaptation of it. I loved the film. I was amazed with the amount of violence they were able to show without being too gruesome (basically, the book was very violent, and while I was afraid of having to see some of the violence, I also knew that censoring it would damage the story). And I loved the way the filmmakers dealt with the character of Lisbeth Salander.

Lisbeth is not necessarily a feminist character. While very tough, she's always described as looking like a young boy instead of a woman, and the books imply that she ultimately needs (male) Mikael to come to her rescue and save her from herself (what can I say? the books aren't perfect). But even so, she is a strong woman who has survived abuse and adapted. She is incredibly (ridiculously, actually) intelligent, and she uses it to her advantage. She can fight. And she's a sort of vigilante character: doing good for good's sake but doing it outside of the law. Who doesn't love that kind of character? (Batman, hello!)

So why does the English-speaking version seem to be turning her into a sex symbol?

Check out this poster for the film. She's naked!!! Totally unnecessary. Also, what's with Daniel Craig's creepy hold on her? Does he own her? Is he 'protecting' her? Lisbeth is a sexual character in the book; in fact, her lack of inhibitions along with her willingness to seek love (and her own pleasure) from whomever she chooses is admirable. But she is not, as this poster implies, a sex object.

And yet, with this being the English-speaking, Blockbuster-intended version, somehow I'm not surprised. Our culture objectifies women. Period. You want a strong female character at the center of your film? Great. But she's gotta be naked.

Also, the tagline bothers me. "Evil Shall With Evil Be Expelled." We're calling Lisbeth evil now? What are her "evil" characteristics exactly? Independence. Strength. Lack of nurturing "feminine" characteristics. Stubbornness. Extraordinary intelligence. Perseverance. Asocial tendencies. Tattoos. Piercings. Survival skills. Instinct.

Yeah, evil. She probably sold her soul to the devil. (And the devil is, as far as Hollywood's concerned, an uncompromising sense of self.)

Dear Hollywood,
 Can you please take a strong female character and portray her admirably, even when she doesn't fit into society's narrow feminine mold? Oh, and can you do this with her clothes on?


Thanks,
Genie