Patheticly One Sided - The First Wives Club (1996) Discussion

[–] sinless17 19 years ago

Sweety its just a movie, it really goes both ways doll! Either way it was a funny movie!

Amanda

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[–] countdowntoinfinity 19 years ago

I think it’s a pretty innocent, fluffy kind of film to be honest.

Tyrone, you need to treat women with a bit more respect than that.

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[–] ijonesiii 19 years ago

I agree and I think the initial poster of this thread took the film WAY too seriously.

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[–] gabisu 18 years ago

I think it’s a pretty innocent, fluffy kind of film to be honest.

Nah, it's just another movie in a very very very long trend in the western world
We all know that a movie with the same plot but with men taking revenge on women would never have been made in Hollywood and that the medias would've labelled such a movie as mysoginist and sexist

Tyrone, you need to treat women with a bit more respect than that.

Do you realize the sheer irony of your statement?

The guy goes to the board of a movie protesting about the unfair and sexist treatment of men in that movie and you told him that he isn't respectful of women???
Because he says that women can be bad too?

Omae wa mo shinderu

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[–] that_heiress 17 years ago

How about all the movies that make women look stupid and inadequate? Or all the movies that portray men as "Ladies Men" and they treat women like disposable items? Or all the movies that have violence towards women? Come on. One movie came out where women outsmarted men and you, meaning men, get all up in arms. Get over yourself. There will be plenty more movies to show your superiority to females, so don't worry.

"Everyone wants this. Everyone wants to be us"-Miranda Priestly

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[–] chloe_matson 14 years ago

They do show both sides of the story.... You have Sarah Jessica Parkers character who is only with Marty for his money. I love how men take such a offense to this subject, it's ridiculious. Yes it happens to both sexes but more and more frequently sucessful males leave the wives who have helped them reach their career peak, for someone younger. You can argue that women marry rich older men but isnt that more fool them for being unrealistic. The point of this movie was that these were not men who married women and stole their money. They were meaningful longterm marriages in which the wives had supported their husbands, helped them reach their full potential, assuming that they would be together forever, only to be thrown aside for someone younger. This is something you do not see often with women. It is unsual for 50 year old women to break up their marriage for 25 years for a young stud, leaving their supportive husband jilted and alone.

Chloe

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[–] ShizaMinelli 17 years ago

If it's "just a movie" then there's no point in being on a board to discuss it after already watching it. "Just a movie" holds as much weight as "I read it on Wikipedia", at least give an argument that actually, you know, has an argument to it.

Roxanne
1993-2007
You'll always be with me

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[–] tyrone-jones 19 years ago

ok, maybe i am over reacting. But imagine how you'd react to a light hearted equivalent, where no woman is portrayed as laudible or honorable. the one possible exception is bronson pinchot's character, but we find out he's a useless designer with horrible taste...

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[–] Redisca 19 years ago

I agree that this movie is one-sided, and the script goes out of its way to turn the husbands into two-dimensional cartoon characters without any redeeming value. Even the wives' claim to all of the family wealth is justified by the blanket assertion that it was the wives who earned it single-handedly, without any input from the husbands. So, the husbands are not only pigs, but they are stupid pigs who are bad at their chosen professions. And, on top of that, they are homophobes, who don't love their gay daughters! And (the voiceovers tell us), that's, like, so typical. The only two half-way positive male characters are: (1) a thug who offers to "whack" Morty (what do you expect, he may be well-intentioned, but he is still a man); and (2) a talentless designer who is flamboyantly, stereotypically gay (reinforcing the late 80's-early 90's mantra that all "good" guys are homosexuals). In real life, people, relationships, and break-ups are much more complicated than this. And, from my experience with the divorce industry, the breakdown of a marriage is virtually NEVER the fault of solely one partner. Suffice it to say, love is not something should feel out of gratitude, and certainly not something that's obtained by adverse possession.

I also don't believe that "it's just a movie" is a good defense in this particular case. There is a wonderful Russian saying which is very apt: "Somewhere inside every joke, there is a joke." In other words, no movie is "just a movie". Mainstream cinema is a mirror of societal orthodoxy. This is the reason why we root for Meg Ryan in "Sleepless in Seattle" when she deceives, and eventually dumps, her long-term, decent, generous, devoted fiance; but a man who does something like this to his wife or girlfriend is, naturally, a pig. (And by the way, I don't think Meg Ryan's pursuit of Tom Hanks for the sake of romantic feelings is any less shallow than Dan Hedaya's pursuit of big boobs and anorexic legs.)

I say, let's give men a break.

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[–] mlritch 19 years ago

Oh please! How many WOMEN action heroes do you know? Not many! Women are usually portrayed as fluff or weak, dependent beings who can't stand on their own, especially now in our "sex-crazed" society. Most women in the entertainment industry have to get ahead by posing nude or being porn stars in the beginning! They have to sell themselves (& their dignity) short just to be successful. It certainly isn't the same for a man.

I, for one, am ecstatic that this film came out. No other one is as good at showing women finding their inner strength & independence after being down in the dumps. You go girls!!

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[–] Redisca 18 years ago

How many WOMEN action heroes do you know? Not many!

How many FEMALE serial killer characters do you know? Even fewer! (And certainly fewer than female law-enforcement characters who hunt serial killers down.)

But whatever, mlritch, if you actually believe that all men are two-dimenstional pigs in a global plot against womanhood, then I understand why you perceive this movie as a manifesto.

I disagree, however, that taking elaborate revenge on an ex-spouse is indicative of "inner strength & independence". I have seen enough people of both sexes who become so consumed by the breakup of their marriage, that it becomes the single defining and all-encompassing event in their lives. They can never bring themselves to let go, become docket stalkers, spending their money on legal fees as junkies spend theirs on heroin. The spend the rest of their lives shuttling between a law office and a therapist's couch and ultimately go to their deathbed plotting the next step in the grand intergalactic saga of the War Between The Exes. They come to believe that the whole world is an audience, and that their post-marital angst is center-stage among world events, that everyone really cares about the status of their post-divorce battles. Everything else in their life fades: they are never rich enough, never successful enough. They are unable to sustain meaningful relationships, as other people become shadows to them; and food turns to ashes in their mouths. Certainly, no matter what they do, they never get enough revenge. The only solace they still find comes from the fleeting high of having dealt yet another blow to their ex, and they drag on a miserable existence from one pathetic fix to the next and even more pathetic fix. Inner strength & independence manifests itself in the ability to walk away and get a life, which the characters in this movie certainly don't show. Such people are neither strong nor independent -- they are pitiful. And, even if they win, they lose: if you beat a dog for biting you, you may make him regret the act of biting, but you'll never make him feel guilty about not loving you (anymore); if anything, his resentment will only grow. You think movies like this turn men into feminists who run to the nearest medical office for an emergency sex change, so they can join the "good" gender? Please.

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[–] mlritch 18 years ago

First of all, I wasn't replying to YOUR post...I was replying to the poster who said:

<what about a first husbands club? what about all the gold digging whores who marry their husbands just long enough to leave them with half of everything. Hollywood is scared to portray anyone but a man as a villain.>

If they wanna make a movie about a 1st husband's club, be my guest! It's a free country! And no, I do not actually believe that "all men are 2 dimensional pigs in a global plot against womanhood".

And, the movie was NOT about revenge!! If you actually WATCH the movie, they go over the fact that initially they wanted revenge, but then they realized that they would be no better than the men if all they got was revenge. Then the ultimate goal became to help others who were abused. Of course, the deeper, underlying meaning is that friends are what matters when something bad happens to u. If Cynthia had her friends to turn to, she probably wouldn't have committed suicide!

Oh yea, and to your little comment: <You think movies like this turn men into feminists who run to the nearest medical office for an emergency sex change, so they can join the "good" gender?>...I say: PLEASE!! I personally don't expect men to watch it in the first place!! I consider it a "chick flick", good as an escape movie or when you're feeling down! If you don't like it, don't watch it! Just don't be a hater cuz it doesn't appeal to you!!

(P.S. BTW, I think u need to take a "chill pill"! You seem to get a little TOO worked up!!!)

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[–] HillieBoliday 18 years ago

I know I'm a year late....but you sho' know how to preach!!

"OOO...I'M GON' TELL MAMA!"

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[–] mlritch 18 years ago

It's a Southern thing!! ;)

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[–] 18 years ago

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[–] fraggle40 10 years ago

Yes, because all aging divorced women are exactly the same.... You need to get out more! 

I was gonna let you *beep* me, but I got my rag, and I know how you hate a mess

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[–] captgeoslady 9 years ago

How many FEMALE serial killer characters do you know? Even fewer! (And certainly fewer than female law-enforcement characters who hunt serial killers down.)

Well lets see...

1. Aileen Wuornos
2. Myra Hindley
3. Jane Toppan
4. Nannie Doss
5. Amy Archer-Gilligan
6. Rosemary West
7. Mary Anne Cotton
8. Kristin Gilbert
9. Miyuki Ishikawa
10. Juana Barraza
11. Beverley Allitt
12. Marybeth Tinning
13. Elizabeth Bathory

I could go on and on and on....but you get the idea

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[–] collieswiss 18 years ago

How many WOMEN action heroes..
like say T2 or ALIENS? or THELMA and LOUISE or or LARA CROFT...
or the Charlies Angels??

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[–] ShizaMinelli 17 years ago

Sandra Bullock - Speed 1 and 2, and Miss Congeniality to a degree
The lead female in Crouching Tiger who's name just escaped me
Geena Davis in Long Kiss Goodnight

That's just off the top of my head lol

And come one, Thelma and Louise isn't action lol, just "positive" female characters (though the debate on that one still rages on lol).

Roxanne
1993-2007
You'll always be with me

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[–] skiop 18 years ago

It depends on how you look at it.

Side 1: These women were wronged, their husbands are evil. Revenge is theirs.

Side 2: These are evil, vindictive women who these poor shmucks who married them were lucky to get rid of.

I looked at it as side 2, and in which the villains win. Still a mediocre movie, though.

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[–] Awakening124 18 years ago

I'd like to see a movie about husbands getting revenge on their horrible wives, why not? FWC is just a good 'let's sit down for a while and just hate men' movie that any wife who's been straight up betrayed can identify with. Don't take it too seriously, it was made for a pretty specific group.

I'll come to thee by moonlight, though Hell should bar the way.

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[–] thesnowleopard 18 years ago

I'd like to see a movie about husbands getting revenge on their horrible wives, why not?

They did. It was called "The Taming of the Shrew". "How to Marry a Millionaire" and other less memorable 50s romantic comedies had a similar theme. Then, there are entire genres, like the medieval French fabliaux (in which most of the female characters are portrayed as cheating wives during a period when most of the men cheated and had the right to kill their wives if the wives cheated) or noir. In noir, you either have the virginal victim or the much more common femme fatale/b**ch goddess. The latter usually must die to satisfy all of those men who find her thrilling but really scary. And when she doesn't die, she generally ends up not being as much fun.

I am amazed at the number of people (men and women) who get all upset when a film or book by a woman is anything less than worshipful of men. Give me a break. This movie is a gender-wars revenge fantasy. If anything, it fizzled in the second half when the filmmakers got cold feet and tried the portray the jilted wives as forgiving their men and moving on. Just play the revenge through to the end, already. It was like making us wait until the last twenty minutes of Thelma and Louise before we actually got to see the protags blow anything up, whereas if the protags had been men, the story probably would have begun in mid-explosion. God forbid that we show women enjoying violent retribution. As it was, the makers of First Wives Club might as well not have bothered to take their feet off the gas, since they got trashed for being man-hating, anyway.

Now, I say, if this is not your thing, don't watch it. It's not like the ad campaign was subtle in its intended target audience. And if some of the men on this board want the women on the board to apologise for enjoying a chick flick where the men are not portrayed well, I would first suggest that they apologise for a film like Sin City where the female characters are strippers, whores, victims or a combination of all three. Censorship cuts both ways, boys.

http://www.geocities.com/rpcv.geo/other.html

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[–] fraggle40 10 years ago

Awakening124, I don't agree that the film was made for a specific group. I have always loved the film, just because it's a great film and not becaue I identify with it

I was gonna let you *beep* me, but I got my rag, and I know how you hate a mess

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[–] MCphoenixdean 18 years ago

Please! What about more female superheroes, huh? How about that? Why are women always the damsels in distress? It's Hollywood, they stick to what works. It's not fair, so what?!

And it wouldn't have been funny had the men screwed the women over, they would have just looked like jerks. This is a chick flick. So females would not be too happy with that ending. And men don't want to see movies about males screwing over their ex's...they want something a little more macho than just being a male gold digger.

And if it upsets you, then write a screenplay for the new First Men's Club. - sounds like a club for middle-aged pathetic balding men. Remember to tell pitt and affleck to join up.

I loved this movie by the way and the ending sequence is inspiring. =oP

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[–] 18 years ago

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[–] dancekdesign 18 years ago

The only reason this movie was so poular is because it is a movie about feminism. How often do you see that. I mean for once it is right up in your face. Every time a woman does something important in a movie it is so subtle (unless it is a movie about women). Like think about it. In Disney Cartoon movies, the main character may be girls but most of the other really important characters are boys. Forgive me if one movie was made to give women a chance to see some justice. But there is some justification to the movie being one sided. But a first husbands club wouldn't really work because the men would not get so hilariously emotional. I am not sorry but in movies whenever men are emotional it is usually supposed to be a joke.

Skittles,Starburst, and Cho-co-la-te!

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