The Intern: The Anne Hathaway / Robert DeNiro Movie I Didn't Know I Wanted

 This has been a pretty great year for feminism in film. In May we had Mad Max: Fury Road, which featured a diverse cast of women with more prominent speaking roles than the men. In July we had Trainwreck, Amy Schumer's hilarious but poignant feminist romantic comedy. 

 And in September we had...The Intern? If you had asked me two months ago if I thought The Intern would be a movie I would be legitimately excited over, I would have told you to leave me alone, because two months ago I was probably knee deep in a 72 hour X-Files binge. But last night I saw The Intern, at the urging of some friends whose opinions on movies (and life) I trust inherently. 

 I don't want to spoil anything: but this was a near perfect film. Taking a different tone of voice and spotlighting other aspects of inequality than Schumer's Trainwreck, The Intern highlights the struggle of the working woman in today's society. But before I get into the reasons why this movie was so wonderfully feminist, I have to remark on Anne Hathaway and Robert DeNiro's dynamic. To put it simply, they were pure magic together. Their relationship was based on mutual respect, and their interactions both within and without the workplace emphasized that with a little patience and a lot of respect, it is possible for older and younger generations to work together to make the world a better place.

 There were moments when I found myself trying not to sob, and then found myself thinking, "What the HELL? In a romantic comedy?! With ROBERT DENIRO?!" Hathaway's Jules Ostin is a complex, imperfect, and wonderful feminist role model. She has a tortured relationship with her mother, a passionate relationship with her work, and a good but not always easy relationship with her family-- her daughter and her husband. She's not always confident, she makes mistakes, but (and this is the "but" that had tears rolling down my face) she knows her worth. I really do not want to spoil anything, because this movie was so full of delicious and unexpected surprises, but there was a moment when I was unsure if I liked where the rhetoric of this film was headed. And then, with a single line, Nancy Meyers completely turned it around. This movie was complex, funny, sad, and real. It dealt with meaty topics in a careful but thorough way, while also being extraordinarily entertaining. I don't want to overhype this or anything, but I think this film is proof that a movie can be a fun, girly "date movie" while also having substance and making you feel like the film industry isn't doomed after all. 

Basically, go see The Intern. 

 -Fran

Trainwreck: A Review

  So Tuesday night I took a much needed filming break to see a movie with one of my best friends. My friend Krista and I had been eager to see Trainwreck since we saw the first trailer, and it didn't disappoint. Not only was it the perfect Girl's Night Out movie, but it was perfectly applicable to our lives, and how we feel about relationships at the moment. I flip back and forth between thinking I want a relationship and thinking there's nothing I want LESS. But I don't think that makes me a "Trainwreck." 

  One (admittedly nitpicky) thing I didn't like was that Amy Schumer's character has to be considered a "Trainwreck." I know throughout the course of the movie you discover that she's actually not, she's pretty normal...or what is considered the norm for men, anyway. But I am a firm believer that the language we use to identify and classify is extremely important. So by calling her a "Trainwreck," we imply that women who act like men are unnatural, and akin to a transportation disaster. That kind of thinking is hypocritical, sexist, and there's something extremely wrong with it. Although I do understand that there are only so many title options. Judd Apatow couldn't very well call this film, "A woman who acts like a man..." but I think there could've been a better option than likening her to a literal disaster.

  Anyway, let's get into all the reasons why I loved this movie, without giving away any spoilers. 

  1) There was no girl on girl hate. 

  2) It was the most body-positive romantic comedy I've ever seen. No comments were made about Amy Schumer's body size. There was never a fat joke, and she never needed to be told that she was beautiful. She was confident and comfortable in her own skin, and that was something really refreshing and honestly inspiring to see in a movie whose target audience is (young) women. 

  3) It was sex-positive. I'm so sick of this (genderized) hypocrisy when it comes to sex. In our culture it seems that women aren't permitted to deny sex, but if they dare to enjoy it they're considered sluts. As Allison so astutely put it in John Hughes' The Breakfast Club, "It's a trap." Amy Schumer's character is therefore so refreshing. She's a leading lady who likes sex and isn't afraid to say so, and at no point in the movie does anyone other than herself accuse her of being a slut for it. That is to say, there was no slut-shaming of any kind. 

  4) The overall message of the movie was the kind of feminism I want to see. Basically it was this: "If you wanna date, get it girl. If you wanna have casual sex, get it girl. If you wanna get married and have babies, get it girl." That's what I walked away thinking, and I feel like that's really cool. No one should be shamed for what they want. Whether we're talking about slut shaming or marriage and baby shaming, it all has to go. 

  Essentially, this film was a commentary on the consumerist romance culture we have in our society today, and the negative effects it can have on us. I think most women (and probably men, but I can only speak for women) feel this immense pressure to live up to movies and tv shows when it comes to romance and relationships. And that's such a tall order, we don't even know where to begin. So we don't. So we're often left sad and terrified about feeling unable to participate in love. But really it's society that has the problem, not us. That's why so many of the moments in this film were so poignant. Amy Schumer is funny while also being intensely down to earth, relatable, and real. I'd definitely want to get waffles with her. 

 -Fran