Author Topic: Knocked Up  (Read 15319 times)

winrit

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Re: Knocked Up
« Reply #10 on: October 14, 2007, 05:51:21 PM »
my reasoning for writing at all was based on the same belief - the flick, and Apatow's direction isn't that 'important'. Not enough to justify such praise or criticism. It is what it is.

That's a valid opinion too and my intent is not to scare off people who enjoyed the movie. I agree with Alex that it may have been easier for me to laugh at the movie if the crux of the movie was someone getting laid and not parenthood.
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duder

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Re: Knocked Up
« Reply #11 on: October 14, 2007, 08:22:04 PM »
Sorry, I can't get behind a movie that not only makes men out to be useless idiots, but then tries to say that it is O.K. that men are useless idiots. This movie reinforces the idea that women are the responsible/bitchy/ controlling ones that must teach men how to not be useless idiots (because men can't do that for themselves).

I wholeheartedly agree with this, and it baffles me to see so many people taking this movie as an accurate depiction of reality and finding it funny and endearing. It's not, it's bitter and mean-spirited and all-around despicable.
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andyg

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Re: Knocked Up
« Reply #12 on: October 14, 2007, 09:42:32 PM »

Extreme opinions! Personally, I thought it was an okay way to spend a couple of hours. It made me laugh more than the average comedy but then I no longer remember any of those laughs. It was too long too.
Leslie Mann is hot though.


sdedalus

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Re: Knocked Up
« Reply #13 on: October 14, 2007, 10:31:36 PM »

Extreme opinions! Personally, I thought it was an okay way to spend a couple of hours. It made me laugh more than the average comedy but then I no longer remember any of those laughs. It was too long too.
Leslie Mann is hot though.



I think this comes closest to my opinion of the film.
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Washburne

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Re: Knocked Up
« Reply #14 on: October 15, 2007, 10:22:56 PM »
For me, one of the ways that people form ideas about men and women is by internalizing portrayals they see on screen. When these portrayals are reproduced over and over then it reinforces the idea that these portrayals are true. So if many movies (including this one) again and again portray men as incapable, or lacking the ability to properly care for themselves, then it becomes acceptable/understood that men are irresponsible and can't properly care for themselves without the influence of a woman. When I heard the reviews for this film it was said that this is how men are.

What you are saying would make sense if these types of roles were the only ones that men are given. There are far more movies showing men in a positive roles than negative ones. How common do you think these types of characters are? I just cant believe that you are saying men of all people are in danger of being seen as nothing more than slacker stoners. You could very easily make an argument that certain races, nationalities and religions are being portrayed unfairly but white American men are hardly given the short end of the stick when it comes to leading roles. If anything white American men are portrayed better than anybody else in media. Of course you can find all sorts of examples where they are not being portrayed well but those are the exceptions.

I will agree that we have seen these types of roles before but every time we see one slacker who needs a woman to help him we see 200 more strong capable men who are succeeding. American boys grow up seeing men in power accomplishing great things every day. It just boggles my mind that you think men need a more positive image. A funny movie about a bunch of losers is not going to doom men and warp the minds of children.

winrit

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Re: Knocked Up
« Reply #15 on: October 16, 2007, 12:32:46 AM »
No I don't think one film is going to have that big of an impact, but as I said, it is the repetition of such movies/ideas and ultimate acceptance of such movie/ideas that is troublesome. If we worship this director because he is able to so accurately portray how men are then we are saying there is truth in his representations. Yes, I feel offended that this is the "truth" about men.  If my gender were characterized in this way and people said that's how women are, I would be offended then to.

Ultimately, I feel like this is a gender issue, not a race issue. I honestly think their are a lack of movies portraying men as something other than unemotional, unmaternal, and primarily driven by their sex drives. This movie just adds to the pile of films that characterize men this way. 

As for "American boys grow up seeing men in power accomplishing great things every day", I think you just defined Patriarchy.  No I don't think there are a lack of these roles.
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sdedalus

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Re: Knocked Up
« Reply #16 on: October 16, 2007, 03:35:40 AM »
What comedies have gender representations you approve of?
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duder

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Re: Knocked Up
« Reply #17 on: October 16, 2007, 05:45:55 AM »
If we worship this director because he is able to so accurately portray how men are then we are saying there is truth in his representations.

This is the main issue, IMO. Take Adam McKay, for example, who I consider to be the closest we have to a great comedy writer/director these days. Sure, his movies are not without emotion, but it's clear that all he wants is to make people laugh. Some people think Anchorman is funny, some don't; that's fine, people laugh at different things. I think everyone will agree, though, that Judd Apatow has much higher ambitions. When people talk about Knocked Up, they don't just go "eh, movie was funny", they praise it for its earnest and honest portrayal of people and relationships and what it's like to "grow up" (whatever it is they think that means). I just went back to Fimspotting #163, because I realised I had not listened to it after seeing the movie; Scott Tobias says it's "insightful" and "hits at deeper truths", Adam says it's "profound", "realistic" and "relatable". It would be reductive, I think, to dismiss it as just another dumb comedy.
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winrit

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Re: Knocked Up
« Reply #18 on: October 16, 2007, 07:57:59 AM »
What comedies have gender representations you approve of?

It doesn't really work that way for me. As the dude says, what really got under my skin was the sense that this movie represents some greater truth about men. I don't mind watching a dumb comedy with cardboard characters if it doesn't profess to be anything more than that. I hear the world telling me that Apatow is the next big thing and that frankly scares me because I don't think his gender representation (particularly in this movie) are positive. I would rather see men and women portrayed as complex beings, capable of a full range of emotions without their masculinity or femininity being called into question.
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sdedalus

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Re: Knocked Up
« Reply #19 on: October 16, 2007, 12:26:12 PM »
I would rather see men and women portrayed as complex beings, capable of a full range of emotions without their masculinity or femininity being called into question.

Like in which comedies. . . .
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