Sunday, January 29, 2012

The Ides of March

I recently saw The Ides of March - the George Clooney political thriller (and yes I know that technically Ryan Gosling was the star but this was a Clooney movie). The movie was dark and maudlin but the feeling that really struck me after watching it was how misogynistic it was. Seriously - I am as surprised as you are.

I couldn't help thinking that there were just three women portrayed in the movie - a doting wife, a shrew New York Times reporter and the ultimately tragic nympho intern. Men in this movie had all the power and did all the thinking while the women were window dressing pigeon-holed into their assigned roles. Maybe the real world of politics is like this or maybe that's just how writer, director and  star George Clooney sees the world. Trying to figure out which of those two positions is more correct was what I was left thinking after seeing the movie.

I'm glad I saw the movie - and don't get me wrong - it wasn't a bad movie but it also wasn't a movie I'd be eager to see a second time. And BTW - the Ides of March in my house just means 2 days till Saint Patrick's Day.