Lord of the Rings (1978) distributed by United Artists Films

After watching Asylum’s A Woman’s Perspective on ‘Lord of the Rings’, I think it should have been titled “A Non-Fan who Happens to be a Woman Thinks The ‘LotR’ Movies are Stupid.”  It was a half-hearted attempt to make fun of the Peter Jackson series, but there’s a lot more to laugh about in this 55 year old book trilogy than the box art.  To celebrate the end of Tolkien Week, I have reviewed the much reviled 1978 version of The Lord of the Rings by Ralph Bakshi.  Just to make things clear, I am both a fan of the books and the Peter Jackson movies: I’ve read the books, including most of the appendices, and for women who are into romance novels rather than fantasy, the story of Aragorn and Arwen in Appendix A is really touching.  I’ve seen the extended versions of all three movies, all of the extras, and I treasure those gigantic box sets with foldout flow charts that navigate the 4 DVDs per box (yes, I have no life).

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Mark Benford (Joseph Fiennes) in FlashForward

If I could describe FlashForward in one word, it would be: AWESOME.  I had little knowledge of it except from glimpses on recent commercials.  My only thoughts were “Wow, where has Joseph Fiennes been all this time?” and “Wow, that’s such a flagrant plot device.”  However, after some good reviews I decided to give FlashForward a try.  It did not disappoint.

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Megan Fox in Jennifer's Body

Is Jennifer’s Body, the girl-centric horror film written by Diablo Cody and directed by Karen Kusama, a feminist movie? The issue has been tossed around on a variety of different feminist blogs: some say yes, some say no, with some good arguments from both sides. The film centers around two friends, Jennifer (Megan Fox) and Needy (Amanda Siegfried). Jennifer is as sexy and confident as Needy is nerdy and dull, but once Jennifer becomes a demon who devours men, their friendship is sent into a tailspin.

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Eastwick on ABC

Not all works of art and literature have to be feminist. Feminism itself is comprised of many different ideas and viewpoints, so even if you tried to create the “most feminist work evar,” you could never please everyone. As long as the female characters feel like real people, with hearts, minds, motivations and weaknesses, I can enjoy it. However, I take issue with works that wear a veneer of empowerment and girl power, but in the end serve up the same old stereotypical view of how men see women: that we’re fickle, emotional creatures who don’t know what we really want, who use our looks to manipulate but get offended when men judge us on our appearance, and who need a strong patriarch to survive in the world.

Eastwick is a major offender, not because it pushes these viewpoints, but because it pushes them as empowerment. You should be proud when a character releases her inhibitions and becomes a sexy, powerful woman, even when she’s abusing that power to steal from her boss. Putting your dignity up for auction is perfectly acceptable, as long it’s for a guy with a big dick so you and your girlfriends can fantasize about it in a girl power-y way. I have presented the evidence but readers beware: be ready for boobs, double entendres, drunkenness, and girls talking about sex! Because that’s what women like, right?

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