Thursday, September 25, 2014

Sexism and A Funny Thing

I think that A Funny Thing was sexist, but it was also making fun of itself and the genre and was therefore self-aware. For example, Philia is shown as not being very smart, but the following number ('Lovely') is a satirical take on flowery love songs. This also happens with the song 'everybody ought  to have a maid,' which is sexist because it is basically saying every household deserves a prostitute, but the song itself is poking fun at its own ridiculous nature. I thought A Funny Thing was being sexist without self-awareness when Hero and Pseudolos go to Lycus's house to try and buy Philia. The scene with the dancing women didn't serve any real plot point, and was mostly just there to show off women's bodies. It also diminished these women by comparing them to animals (the first woman was compared to a camel and the second is dressed in leopard print). I think sexism is still rampant in todays media but we are becoming more aware of it. I think movies mainly have this problem of being sexist and degrading women to lesser roles. However, I've noticed that many women run their own shows/are title characters on Tv nowadays.
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2 comments:

  1. AnonymousSeptember 25, 2014 at 8:53 PM

    I agree that the film is sexist and that it was aware of this due to the ancient Roman times being composed of male power.

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  2. DrKSeptember 28, 2014 at 2:46 PM

    Olivia, I agree with your reading of the scene in Lycus' brothel. Part of why it was included is clearly the viewer's titillation; at the same time, it parodies the dance performances in all our other epic movies, except that here, the dances are set not in a palace, but in a brothel, which shows the Romans who enjoy them even better for what they are.

    I also think we are meant to draw a parallel to the slave market scene earlier where Pseudolus' mistress buys the breeder slave, Fertilia. Both scenes, in my view serve to emphasize the Romans' terrible attitude to slaves and their humanity, just as the later scene where slaves serve as a gladiator's practice targets, or the scene where Pseudolus gets beaten by anyone he asks for Hero and yet feels compelled to thank them for it.

    What surprises me in the context of our sexism debate is that no one so far has mentioned that the film's ideal wife is a "Silent Woman". ;-)

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