Movies and women’s work
September 5th, 2010
Yes, I know I said I wasn’t going to post, but …
In honor of Labor Day, Salon has a great slideshow of 10 movies “that really understand work.” It’s a great list, but where are the women? Granted, first place goes to Ellen Ripley of “Alien,” but come on; it’s also the only science fiction film on the list, and the role of Ripley was originally written for a man. What about women who are office temps, hotel maids, waitresses, factory workers, stay-at-home mothers, sex workers, soldiers, day care providers, nurses?
What movies would you say get work right, and show women doing it?
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My favorite is “Erin Brockovich” (Julia Roberts, 2000), which shows a single mom working hard to first create a job for herself and then keep it when the powers that be have a different idea. Then “Norma Rae” (Sally Field, 1979), about union organizing at a gritty small town mill. And finally “Silkwood” (Meryl Streep, 1983), which again gets at the gritty underbelly of corporate malfeasance. And even though I admire Sigourney Weaver, one terrible, absolutely terrible movie about a working woman is her “Gorillas in the Mist” (1988), in which a brilliant and pioneering scientist (Diane Fossey) is reduced to some sort of Miss Lonely Hearts of the Jungle. Ugh!
I’m glad the original “Alien” captured the no. 1 spot, but what does it mean that it’s a fantasy?