[Trigger warning.]
Iain and I were chatting and just aimlessly flipping through channels Saturday, when I passed The Usual Suspects. I stopped and we started watching it and talking about it.
Liss: I haven't seen this in ages. Such a good film.
Iain: Definitely one of the best films of the '90s. I'd put it up there with The Shawshank Redemption and Pulp Fiction.
Liss: Ugh. Not Pulp Fiction. The Piano.
Iain: Schindler's List.
Liss: Boys Don't Cry.
[He named another movie I now can't recall. At that moment came onscreen the scene of Keyser Soze's wife being raped.]
Liss: You know, every film we've named has a rape scene in it.
Iain: Fuck.
Liss: Welcome to the rape culture.
Now that I've had time to think about it, I can, of course, name other good films of the '90s without rape scenes. You know, like Swimming with Sharks, in which the female narrator is killed by two men named Buddy and Guy. Or Thelma & Louise, in which the two female protagonists have no better options in life than death. [Oops, no. There was a rape scene in T&L, too!] Or movies directed by and/or starring Kevin Costner or Clint Eastwood, in which there aren't even women around to victimize.
And compared to the Apatowcalypse of the naughties, those were the Good Old Days.
Shakesville is run as a safe space. First-time commenters: Please read Shakesville's Commenting Policy and Feminism 101 Section before commenting. We also do lots of in-thread moderation, so we ask that everyone read the entirety of any thread before commenting, to ensure compliance with any in-thread moderation. Thank you.
blog comments powered by Disqus