The creators of Brief Interviews with Hideous Men might have had good intentions (John Krasinski aka Jim from The Office could never have bad intentions, unless it's toward dear Dwight) but the final and resounding taste of this film was overwhelmingly sour, like that experimental spice mix on your chicken that gave you horrible indigestion for days afterwards. Not. Pleasant.
While the running dialogue of the two young men (the British accent was a high point for me) does something to highlight the questions facing modern women and men's relationship with women, the rest of the unintelligible plot does nothing to actually examine real life consequences of these questions. Unless you count proposing that rape has positive consequences, such realizing you are a "real thing." This seems like an egregious statement for even the most "glass half full" rapist or bro-man trying to pick an "easy" girl up in bar.
I am not in a position to put down anyone's brand or belief of feminism, but it is my opinion that this film has nothing to do with that topic. In fact, the only remotely feminist character in the book barely said a word. Instead she sat piously back, judging the opinions of the men around her, wimpering like a kicked puppy. Her "research" to find out how gender equality has affected men is valid and reminds me of questions I've been dealing with as of late, but her follow through is not genuine. Feminism has affected men in other arenas outside the bedroom, all of which were ignored by her line of questioning. In fact, in the interviewer's intimate relationship, she appears happy only when she's in bed with her former lover, who cheated on her, or maybe didn't. This small detail is lost in Krasinski's sappy, true to TV character dialogue. So I think it's easy and logical to deduce that this movie once again devalues and sexualizes women from a man's perspective. Making it no more progressive that the "cutting edge" ads developed by the fictional but all to real creative directors of Mad Men.
This movie has obviously gotten under my skin. My next step is to read the book written by David Foster Wallace, before I dismiss him as completely as I've dismissed this movie.
What did you think? I need perspective?
