I went to see "Forgetting Sarah Marshall" yesterday and while I knew what to expect I was still a little (nothing personal Jason Segel) taken back by seeing all of Segel's bits and pieces.
I have to say that movie producer/writer/director Judd Apatow has done more to even the playing field of movie nudity gender-wise more than any other filmmaker in recent memory. Seriously, we've seen more, well, packages (not of the UPS persuasion) and backsides in the last four years or so than we have seen since Harvey Keitel revealed all in "The Piano," or Mark Wahlberg amazed us all with his prodigious prosthetic pecker in "Boogie Nights."
Where gender-bias is still very evident however is in the bodies of the typical Apatow male versus the females. Seriously - Kristen Bell's rockin' abs as Sarah Marshall? Yeah, amazing. Segel's doughy bod? Eh, not so much. I have long contended that very few actresses would be hired repeatedly if they looked like Will Ferrell, or if they were above a size 2. I wonder - would audiences line up to see or even believe, that Daniel Craig in the next installment of "James Bond," could be hooking up with "Ugly Betty"? I'm not so sure.
While most Apatow men are "every man" kinds of guys, the women are far from it. As I sat in the theater yesterday I wondered how many women who look like Kristen Bell or Mila Kunis would go for a Jason Segel or Will Ferrell? If they weren't super-successful movie stars?
Maybe it's a geek fantasy. Apatow himself is no Clooney, but he is married to the lovely Leslie Mann, so maybe his thesis is correct: women will go for funny over handsome time and again.
I laughed my way through "Knocked Up," but had a hard time completely suspending belief that someone as beautiful and ambitious as Katherine Heigel's character would go for a pot-smoking slacker like Seth Rogen's.
I'm the first to admit that I think smart and funny supersedes movie-star looks, but most of these guys aren't exactly rocket scientists, and seem to spend an inordinate amount of time on their couches clutching a bong.
The good news is scripts, like those penned by Segel in "Forgetting Sarah Marshall," do dispel some myths about romance - like love only happens between beautiful people who live in gorgeous apartments and wear designer clothes. I give these guys props for that.
And, while I'm on a bit of a self-imposed dating hiatus I appreciate the chance to view the male form and getting to see what I am and I am not missing. Thanks Jason Segel for taking one for the team, and for making me think that for now, being alone ain't all bad.
2 comments:
I was in stitches reading this column. And I don't even like that kind of movie! I can't quote the funniest parts of the author's column because they'd probably bump me from leaving this comment.
Please keep writing, Ms. Hammond!
We all need you!
Candy,
I like your commentary on cinematic gender nudity. Here's a new male perspective. Why is it that when women are nude it is considered sexy, by both genders (as you pointed out yourself on Kristen bell's Rockin abs) but male nudity is either portrayed as disgusting or funny. While it does seem that we are conditioning ourselves to objectify the female bodies as sex objects, we are making men believe that their bodies are gross or comical (i.e. Segal). Even with women there is a movement of big is beautiful with women like Queen Latifah and Beyonce (before she lost her Booty(licious)), there is no movement saying that the average man's body is beautiful. Remember when Titanic came out and everyone praised Kate Winslet for posing nude despite having hips, well no one praised Dennis Franz for showing his butt on NYPD Blue. "Good for you Dennis! Show the world what a real man's body looks like!" You can almost hear the women whispering "god, I hope not." Just some social commentary to ponder.
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