So this film is a remake of Fatal Attraction? It sure sounds as if everybody has forgotten the feminist critique about that film, after it first came out. It was a highly convenient vehicle for a lot of sexist crap, with Glenn Close in the role of unmarried psycho bitch. Fatal Attraction delved into the psyche of unmarried successful career women, who, it transpired in that film, must be crazy and violent. A deep well of blatant sexism was opened up there.
Obsessed has not reached Europe yet, so I am judging from the trailer only. But it sure sounds as if that particular sexism debate has only moved backward. The psycho unmarried blonde in the remake looks as if she has become even more weird and emotionally unstable than the original character, who at least had some real sex with Michael Douglas to back up her 'claim'. Also, the power dynamic is even more screwed up. Glenn Close's character was a professional woman, working in publishing, if I remember correctly. Her character, twenty-odd-years on, now has no power in the workplace at all, and works as a temp.
« Calling Spades | Main | Open Thread At High Noon » Fatal Attraction Remakes30 Apr 2009 11:00 am
A lot of folks have written in about Obsessed with some version of the following argument, "What's the problem? It's just Fatal Attraction for the hood!" In that light, I this comment from Daphne is worth highlighting:
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I really have to wonder who is watching this stuff. Are there men who get off on the idea of women being so drawn to them it makes them crazy? Are there women who are titillated by the idea of interlopers violently poaching their man? It is pretty patently unrealistic. Interestingly, the original story of Fatal Attraction had the genders reversed. Which is a much more likely scenario. To my knowledge, that scenario hasn't been made into a movie.
Perhaps its too close to home to be entertaining.
Are there men who get off on the idea of women being so drawn to them it makes them crazy?
Yes.
I'm not sure that's really the dynamic in play here. Movies like this are sort of bloodless slasher films--the fantastical aspects of the antagonist aren't a political statement so much as they are just a means to heighten the tension in the film. Obviously it can go both ways, but I think this discussion is reading a little much into the film. I mean, a realistic depiction of an office affair is ugly people having ugly sex and dealing with the ugly but ultimately boring and entirely predictable consequences. It's pretty obvious that everything in this movie is exaggerated, from the sex appeal of each character to their respective bad judgment and emotional issues, etc.
Oddly I've never seen Fatal Attraction so I'm not entirely sure what to make of your last comment, but it's not as if the "crazy ex boyfriend/stalker" story line doesn't get any play in movies or on TV.
"Unlawful Entry" comes to mind. It's not one to one, but it's close. Madeline Stowe's character doesn't really have a thing for Ray Liotta's, but the movie plays on Kurt Russell fearing that she would be more attracted to the "real man" (who's a cop who responds to their 9-1-1 call after a frightening home invasion and insinuates himself into their life)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0105699/
I tangentally know somebody who was murdered by the husband of the woman who he was cheating on his wife with.
I'd say the reasons for "Fatal Attraction" and this remake are 15 percent man bites dog and 85 percent male anxiety about women getting equalish.
The character in Obsessed - totally unstable. She bypassed 0-60 and went straight into the red zone within a matter of minutes, girlie was clocking 180 throughout the movie. Slow down Lil Red Corvette. So true, at least Glenn Close knocked some dust off before she went crazy.
I never considered the take on the fact that in the workplace the new model of Glenn Close was now a temp. But it is quite interesting. Hmmm, perhaps the peeps behind the movie had some real female issues while developing the script. Think about it: Beyonce's character wasn't particular the model/smartest female in the movie either. Around the water cooler we'd call out Bey's character as well for sleeping with the boss only to slide into a cushy home and fancy car. I'm not saying she's a golddigger...but, she didn't luck on a broke (ahem).
I won't see this film for that exact reason - it's far fetched misogyny. Every federal or state law enforcement agency lists statistics that show that 90% of stalkers are men, yet in the movies they are always women. I would like to hear from folks who think this type of film is entertaining and why they enjoy watching it because I just don't get it. The actors in the movie are definitely attractive but other than that, how is this worth ten bucks and two hours out of your life that you can never get back?
Short answer is that it's not worth the ten bucks and two hours. As for why the movie is made this way, probably just another extension of the "men won't see women movies, but women will see men movies" argument. Ugh.
I would like to hear from folks who think this type of film is entertaining and why they enjoy watching it because I just don't get it.
I thought Fatal Attraction was lame, so I am not speaking for me, however a lot of people like to see movies that prety upon their fears and ultimately, the enemy is repelled and good wins in the end. I saw someone on MSNBC bragging about how well this movie did at the box office and she complained that Hollywood thought it would do less because they don't like women-centric films. So while it may offend some women, plenty seem to be enjoying it.
I see this as an exploitation of the fear women have of the hot secretary who comes in a becomes the new trophy wife. Or even just that in the modern age, men and women interact so much at the office, that office affairs are commonplace in some offices. (certainly not mine though) Maybe a movie like this is even more appealing to women because they will see in themselves the Beyonce character, not the slutty blond girl, and the male character gives the wife the ultimate compliment by not bedding down the Temp.
I brought up in the original post that maybe the use of a Temp was intentional. It showed how a relatively powerless woman can come close to ruining a powerful man. Again, kind of unrealistic, but Hollywood focuses on sensational.
DougEMI said: I brought up in the original post that maybe the use of a Temp was intentional. It showed how a relatively powerless woman can come close to ruining a powerful man. Again, kind of unrealistic, but Hollywood focuses on sensational.
Anyone ever heard of Monica Lewinsky?
She didn't exactly ruin Bill Clinton. He took a small hit but came out of it more popular than he was before, and your characterization of her makes it seem like Clinton didn't have anything to do with the situation. Takes two for a blowjob, unless one is really, really flexible.
Clint Eastwood's methodical thriller "Play Misty for Me" set the bar for the psycho, loon-burger bitch.
This is the kind of movie that used to be called a B movie. So many movies are junk, and this one--my goodness, I'd rather spend my time doing a thousand and one equally time wasting activities as bother to drop down an Alexander Hamilton to go see it.
As a Wire fan, however, I think there is something in the casting that I find interesting. No doubt the cast of the Wire was spectacular, an unrivalled ensemble in the history of teevee. Idris Elba, from my perspective, was not, not even close, the best of the ensemble--give me Michael K. Williams' (Omar, how many here know his real name? I had to look it up) enactment every day of the week. But Elba had a sexual charisma in that role that captured the attention of viewers everywhere. So casting him as the man fatale for this (relatively unknown) blonde babe's sick fantasies added to the component of--like Beyonce or not--who would think even a sexy temp was worth bothering if it meant tossing Beyonce--give me a break--all that is part of the draw.
If one really wants to go after an "other wwoman" story I'd recommend reading Jazz by Toni Morrison because that gets all in deep about the heart of the matter.
Obsessed looks like a complete exploitation film to me on just about every level, almost posing the question is movie watching a jones people have, and I find it puzzling, even after reading all the posts and the brouhaha--is it sexist? is it racist?--that so many people have bothered to go see it. The real question I would ask--was it or was it not lame?
i like your take. i mean, assuming your description is accurate, which i do because it jibes with how it looked in ads and online discussion, because i haven't seen it. :) nor will i.
Actually, I'd bet Ali Larter is more known than Idris Elba. She was and/or is on "Heroes" which has got to be way more popular than "The Wire" (not in a just world, etc.), right?
LOL. You know I saw Fatal Attraction when it was in the theaters and I haven't spent much thinking about it since then but I distinctly remember my feelings about it. I was pretty young - still in High School - and it wasn't the sort of thing I would normally spend my limited funds on but there was so much buzz about it and I wanted to see what that was all about. I was surprised by how little I liked it but I was even more surprised that no one I knew, including my mother, seemed to have any sympathy for the Glenn Close character at all. I understood that she was obviously not mentally stable but it was also pretty clear to me that she was quite ill used by the Michael Douglas character who I found to be kind of a prick.
Which is to say that I have never really been able to vibe with the dynamic that seems to drive the appreciation in these sorts of films. Normal revenge type flicks involve a catharsis where the character that has less power, economically, physically etc, finds a way to fight back against their more powerful enemy and succeed. But these sorts of movies, deliberately it seems, turn that scenario on its head.
Does the film bear any resemblance to He loves me, he loves me not where the conceit is the unreliable narrator? (The film leads the audience into thinking that the woman is wronged and the man is a cad before revealing that Audrey Tautou has a diagnosible mental illness. Point-of-view is skewed in a Sixth Sense sort of way.)
I think I could deal with Obsessed if they were playing around with storytelling for art's sake (however, the title "Obsessed" is a blatant giveaway that sorta precludes this, I guess).
I was hesitating to note the feminist critiques of Fatal Attraction, but I'm glad someone did. Thanks, Daphne, for speaking up.