Posted by CaribbeanKangaroo (S.Townsley) at 207-172-83-56.s56.tnt1.wlm.va.dialup.rcn.com on November 16, 2001 at 14:51:31:
In Reply to: My general observation... posted by Isis on November 16, 2001 at 14:24:26:
ISIS:
...Is that men aren't that into this movie; they think of it as a chick flick. I do believe they're more inclined to be into this movie than other romantic comedies, though. The sensibility is just really in line with young males.
STEVE:
"Sensibility"? Wha...? And they say men are stereotypical....
ISIS:
Most men do seem to have a lesbian fetish, and why that is, I really couldn't tell you.
STEVE:
To my understanding, it's not so much a lesbian fetish as a "two-women-at-once" fetish.
ISIS:
I don't think Alyssa's character is really a lesbian in that movie -- or you could consider her that way, but the whole point of the movie is that sexuality is a choice whereas love isn't. Holden definitely doesn't "turn Alyssa straight" -- I mean, she ends up with another girlfriend.
STEVE:
...Does she? They *could* just be friends or collaborators.
ISIS:
Anyway, the whole sexuality thing is really just a metaphor. I think men can relate to the idea of being in love with someone who seems unattainable, acheiving the dream of being with them, and then losing them because of their own insecurities. Anybody can relate to that really, but men especially, because they feel more pressure to maintain their pride and dignity.
STEVE:
Pride, perhaps--(Deadliest sin.) Dignity, not so much. Men have less internal conflict about dignity.
ISIS:
I can't really understand a man's perspective on this either, though, so these are just my feelings.
STEVE:
Well, you acknowledge being a woman, then. Some men are into it for the jokes, some for the sex-talk. It very likely differs from man to man, so there is no *man's* perspective...it's just an individual perspective. Sexuality as a metaphor is pretty close, I think--The scene I tend to think of is when Alyssa is playing "the pronoun game" because she's afraid of being ostracized by her peers--which, eventually she is. My thoughts on that are: "Why is one ostracized for being in love?" It sort of carries over (a little bit) to Loki's monologue in "Dogma", when he says "go find some man or woman you can connect with--even for a moment." Because sexuality is really secondary to love.
(One man's perspective.)