Women from today pretending to be women from yesterday to inspire women from today to make internet graphics.
Thoughts about The Bletchley Circle and Sex Dynamics in Fem-Cinema
— the cast is superb, especially Susan.
— this is Britain in the postwar, done very well. Bacon rations.
— these are British characters. Where an Australian or American might have raised her voice or made a scene when confronted with gendered limits, they quietly and politely resent and find another way. It’s hard to watch, but in a good way — you know they’re responding equally to class limits as well.
— they refer to the leads as “Alan’s girls” at one point but I’m still waiting for a superhero teamup. I guess he was as undercover as they.
— in (almost) any Fem-cinema there comes a point when the heroine needs aid and the responses she gets from men end up being tense, significant. This is usually where the male tropes emerge: the impotent husband threatened by her power, an old man who doesn’t take girls seriously, a father figure who takes them under his wing, a wild boy lover who is either abusive or supports the heroine but is equally disempowered (maybe by his maleness, maybe his race, maybe he’s an artist, etc).
The male character’s strength is measured by his ability to handle the truth about the heroine’s desires, her capacity and agency. Ironically, there is in almost every fem-cinema a subtext that links this to his virility. As soon as they approach a man for aid, you wonder if he will be a fool, or man enough to see them clearly, and by ‘man enough’ I mean it in the standard romance’ novel sense. Does he have a big D and could he throw down? Is he so confident that he is able to be an ally without insecurity? From the political rhetoric this wouldn’t seem to be the quality most desired from a feminist ally, but in Fem-cinema it’s as blatant as in a Harlequin. They’re not looking for a sexual partner, but for someone with the exact same qualities nonetheless. Liz Lemon wants a Jack, and, just as in pulp romance, he is to be a character in HER story.
Set this dynamic in postbellum London, where male sexual repression is issued with public school uniforms, and they are looking for something they’re not going to find. A lot of Lemons, no Jacks. Lucky for us Alan’s Girls move on and solve their problems together.
— contrast this with “The Long Kiss Goodnight,” which I’ve been thinking about a lot lately. Honestly it might be the boldest work of feminism ever made for the big screen. America couldn’t deal though — most of the movie is Geena Davis getting the shit beat out of her, the same as any male action hero, and without complaint or victimhood. During one beating, she smiles: she knows she’ll exact revenge.
— when she meets the male who will aid her (and he — Samuel L. Jackson — is virile btw), she makes him her sidekick. He helps, but she’s the boss. She rescues him. They are both outside the mainstream, and yet neither feel nor act disempowered. They’ve got too much ass to kick and fun to have. Way ahead of its time.
— being British, and living in the 50's, and having had a taste of agency, the Bletchley Circle is just beginning to have fun, but they are very sure not to let it show.
