It’s Complicated: The Movie the Social Network and Gender
An article a colleague and I wrote has been published in an online academic journal. http://flowtv.org/2010/10/black-guy-corner/ If you like, you can make your comments there instead of here.
It’s the first part of a three part series–we have about 20 pages left that we’ve written, but have to decide how to make that into 2 other 1300 word sections, while considering this season’s photos as well.
I saw the movie The Social Network about the founding of Facebook two weekends ago and really enjoyed it. Many reviewers are saying it’s likely to be nominated for Oscars, as is star Jesse Eisenberg. It’s definitely a fascinating look at how ideas are turned into actual business, and gives a lot to think about in terms of how trends are set, what is “cool” and what can make something formerly cool uncool, and the reinvention of identity by the characters that echoes this possibility on social networks like Facebook.
However, as much as I enjoyed it, it’s probably the most sexist movie I’ve seen in a long time. I have a policy of not really wanting to spend money to see any movie without an important woman in it (I’m not a big fan of Western or Action movies for this reason), but I’d heard so much about how Rooney Mara was in it and she’s going to be playing The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, and had read that one the people who claimed to be involved with Facebook is named Divvya, which as far as I know is a female name, so it didn’t occur to me to be worried about this movie.
Well, turns out Divvya is male, and Kate Mara’s part is really tiny (she barely gets to stand up in her two scenes), and even the lawyers, one of whom is played by Rashida Jones, don’t really do much except bolster the main male character’s ego. Other women in the movie provide oral sex, do drugs, go insane, and rip off their clothes. To see it, you’d think no plain, heavy, or ugly women attend Harvard, much less any except maybe Mara’s character, with any self-esteem or brains at all.
Evidently, unlike in the last few years, there are going to be a large number of movies with really juicy women’s roles coming out in the last two months of this year, so the Oscar field should be very competitive. I keep reading that Natalie Portman is a shoo-in for her performance in The Black Swan, about a ballerina, and it all sounds much more interesting than all the war movies that came out the last few years.
I’m hoping to see a lot of great movies between December and the Oscar show in February or March. I try to see all the Best Picture nominations, and the ones with best actor or actress nods, (but usually draw the line at anything really scary or disturbing, especially involving the Holocaust or other genocide. ) Living in Saratoga Springs makes this somewhat harder than it was when I lived in bigger cities too, since it’s 45 minutes to the theater in Albany that’s most likely to have a lot of these, and in the winter I don’t like to drive it.
However, The Social Network will probably not provide any nominations for women in the Best Actress, or even the Best Supporting Actress. Here’s an article on Slate that addresses sexism in the movie http://www.slate.com/id/2270304/ and another that includes interviews with screenwriter Aaron Sorkin, defending his choices http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/movies/aaron-sorkin-defends-sexism-in-facebook-movie-20101013-16jkp.html.
Did any of you see it? What do you think?
Hambly, Natalie. “Aaron Sorkin defends sexism in Facebook movie” Sydney Morning Herald. October 14, 2010.
Stevens, Is the Facebook Movie Sexist?: It definitely has a problem with women. Slate. October 8, 2010.
Photos from imdb.com
anyajuliet replied:
I didn’t see the movie but I am going to in the next coming weeks. I didn’t think that there were any female characters in the making of the Facebook (in real life terms) so this movie probably wouldn’t upset me that much in either way. I too however feel the same way you do about movies without primary female characters in them. I will see the movie and when I do I will comment back on how I feel about it then. However I also have to say that in the promos and commercials I didn’t see much of a female cast anyway.
Ann Novikov
October 20, 2010 at 11:41 pm. Permalink.
WOMEN, SEX AND THE MEDIA replied:
At this point, I have not watched the movie “The Social Network” yet, however I did hear and read that it is a very good movie.
After reading your blog post regarding the missing woman characters role, I started thinking. Is this movie really made according to the real creation of facebook? Or is it a different, movie-like presentation of the story? However it might be, I can imagine that when watching this movie, I will feel the need for a strong female character too. My opinion is that a movie should always present several perspectives in order to address several viewers. This movie is about a present topic — Facebook, where equally many women and men are registered, therefore I would prefer a gender variety.
However, first I need to view the film myself, and then I can leave further comments.
October 21, 2010 at 11:17 am. Permalink.
Lisa Anderson replied:
I didn’t see the movie and have no intention of seeing it. I am planning to go see REDS instead. (Helen Mirren is just fantastic.) But really, I read some of the articles blasting the sexism in the movie. What is more shocking is that Aaron Sorkin was the brains behind “The West Wing” which had fabulous writing for characters like C.J. Cregg, Abbie Bartlett and Donna Moss.
I think the idea of this movie was not so much to make it accurate but to keep the image going – the image of being really smart and having an idea to change the world still belongs to men. College worlds, especially in places like Harvard and MIT, are very insular and most people don’t have an idea about it. And for the boys who attend college there (and other places) many don’t know how to interact with females in an adult way. (My cousins are living proof.) The preconceived notions, the delusions and the narrow lives these boys live – they probably never encountered a female who was strong, independent, had self esteem and wasn’t used as a toy. So while this movie was deemed sexist, it is probably the dream of those boys who live on the computer or in video games and have little interaction with real life and real women. In such fantasies, women are either Lara Croft or they simply are inferior.
(I have several male cousins and two are like this. They have no idea about females, talking to females and on and on. Their idea of a female comes from a video game!! Sad but true…)
October 21, 2010 at 6:52 pm. Permalink.
elizabetheleven replied:
I saw The Social Network a couple of weeks ago and I did like it. I thought Justin Timberlake did a good job too, as well as Jesse Eisenberg. I was not surprised to see the low actress count in the film, since I had read the reviews beforehand. But like you, I just shook my head at the appearance and behavior of the few women who were in it.
I read Aaron Sorkin’s explanation of the representations of female characters in the movie, and it made sense to me. He made some excellent points. I provide this quote from him:
“More generally, I was writing about a very angry and deeply misogynistic group of people. These aren’t the cuddly nerds we made movies about in the 80′s. They’re very angry that the cheerleader still wants to go out with the quarterback instead of the men (boys) who are running the universe right now. The women they surround themselves with aren’t women who challenge them (and frankly, no woman who could challenge them would be interested in being anywhere near them.)”
(Source: Ken Levine Blogspot: http://kenlevine.blogspot.com/2010/10/aaron-sorkin-responds-to-commenter-in.html ).
I have to agree with that last part especially. There’s a little part of me that believes those computer genius types are wired a little differently than the rest of us. Which is a form of stereotyping, I guess. But I’m just sayin’!
October 24, 2010 at 10:56 pm. Permalink.
iloveaphysicsgeek replied:
I am excited to see Black Swan. I don’t get out much to see movies, so I haven’t seen Natalie Portman since V for Vendetta. A lot of the early reviews claim that this psychological thriller will land Natalie an Oscar, so it will be interesting to see how she has developed as an actress. I love Tchaikovsky and my close friend is a ballerina who gets to travel the world with her dance company (they were recently in Africa), so this movie is on my must-see list.
I feel almost obligated to see The Social Network because Facebook has been a wonderful way for me to keep in touch with my family back in New York. We talk on the phone and just started using Google Voice for video chatting, but Facebook lets me put up photo albums and set security so I know only my family can see personal pictures of the kids. For how much I use this platform, should I give the movie a chance? I am grateful for your review and I think that reading your words about the movie will probably be as close as I get to watching it. I don’t have a lot of movie time in my life and to spend some of my free time on a movie that uses women as simple showpieces or sexual eye candy is a waste.
October 26, 2010 at 5:08 am. Permalink.
dcarangelo replied:
I haven’t seen the movie, and probably will not in the future as I have zero interest in it. From what I gather in reading the link in which Aaron Sorkin defends his movie, I think the way these women were represented is the way the women were in real life in that particular circle of people. Of course it wouldn’t be a full representation of the women who attend that college, but just a small number of the total population. Was it a sexist movie, or a movie which depicts real life sexism? I couldn’t tell you and probably will never be able to because I will never watch the movie, but to me it would seem that that is just the way those particular women were and it’s probably true. Whether it be Harvard or some other less prestigious school, it doesn’t matter, that kind of stuff happens.
October 30, 2010 at 3:32 pm. Permalink.
WOMEN, SEX AND THE MEDIA replied:
After this interesting blog entry, I went to cinema yesterday to watch “The Social Network”. I must admit that I enjoyed the move a lot. Nevertheless, I noticed the missing lead woman character. The girlfriend of Mark – Erica is portrayed as a strong character, however, her importance in the film is minimal. As mentioned by Dr. Conaway “she barely gets to stand up in her two scenes”, therefore her character looses the attention. The other character – the lawyer, is rather a ‘weak’ character and she doesn’t even receive much attention from young student Marc.
Overall a great movie. Too bad Erica didn’t get a chance to present her ‘strong’ personality.
October 30, 2010 at 9:52 pm. Permalink.
liberatingdesiree replied:
I have no interest in seeing this movie, just hearing the plot makes me believe that we’re running out of ideas for movies. I guess I’m a bit of a movie snob anyway as the last one I can remember seeing in the theater was The Proposal. I guess I’m just strange because I like to watch movies at home.
Anyway, the exception to my movies at home rule is going to be The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. I’ve heard several great reviews about the book (I haven’t had the chance to read it yet but it’s at the top of the list) and the cast for the film seems very interesting!
November 1, 2010 at 6:26 pm. Permalink.
sward02 replied:
I haven’t seen The Social Network – and I don’t intend to. It doesn’t interest me, seeing how Facebook was created and so on. It doesn’t offend me that there are no leading female roles, if that is true to the real story. I would like to see The Black Swan. I enjoy Natalie Portman’s movies – I think she’s a terrific actress. I really liked her role in V for Vendetta. She plays a strong character in that movie, which is a nice switch for an action film. As for “Girl With the Dragon Tattoo”, I have read the books and I cannot wait for this movie to be released! The main character is a small but tough woman. She doesn’t let people walk all over her and she has some unexpected talents. This will hopefully be a groundbreaking role for Rooney Mara and will lead to a new type of female heroine.
November 2, 2010 at 1:56 am. Permalink.
littledailynotes replied:
I did see Social Network and as read in one of the articles it was a complete “sausage fest”. The blow-job bathroom scenes do depict women in the marjority of a sexual way for either friends with benefits or campanions, but really in regards to gender roles is it much more different than Sex in the City? A show all about females becoming successful and stalking out sexy men to fufill their wishes? It did not bother me that their were no strong females roles in the movie, Sex in the City has BIG, he is strong on the outside in a physical way but not as a charcater. I too am looking forward to some movies coming out in December but more onthe level of Love and Other Drugs staring Anne Hathaway.
November 23, 2010 at 12:03 am. Permalink.