A few weeks ago the unrated version of Knocked Up was on Amazon Unbox for ninety-nine cents, so I rented it even though I’d seen it once before.
I started watching it yesterday, and I think the fact that the other time I watched it while passing a kidney stone is significant. Because compared to the pain of the stone that movie was some light harmless fun. But in watching it yesterday I was struck by just how freakin’ MEAN it is. All the women are nags who selfishly want their own way. In fact, the very act that results in the titular pregnancy is Katherine Heigl’s character’s sharp, snappish command to “Just Do IT already!!!” The guys on the other hand are mostly fun, easy-going chappies who also only care about themselves–but that’s okay because they’re funny. Right? I mean, make somebody laugh and it’s fine that you are an illegal immigrant who doesn’t pay taxes, has no real job and spends their days getting high and making homophobic jokes with your unwashed compadres.
So, seriously, I did not like it at all the second time around. What’s funny is then when I was getting caught up on blogs, I see that Brittney felt the same way…and so does Katherine Heigl. Although I’ve got to hand it to Heigl….mad props for takin’ their money and then calling them names!!! Way to go!
Yes. How very brave of her.
Of course, all of this complaining about this movie just makes you broads look like humorless shrews.
This is very true. God knows I have NO sense of humour at all.
Coble, don’t provoke him when he’s in crochetty old man mode or he’ll start complaining about feminists from so long ago you end up spending all night on wikipedia just learning about them. I’ve probably said too much with this and he’ll start in on Mary Wollestonecraft and those damn bluestockings.
Oops. I meant crotchety.
Clearly, if he were in crochetty old man mode, he’d be making hats and mittens.
Hmm. Maybe it’s because she didn’t film a lot with the guys, but I have to disagree with Katherine Heigl. For every one moment that supposedly depicts the women as shrews (an assessment I don’t agree with either), there are many more moments depicting the guys as utter dips. People are probably going to take away from the movie a good bit of what they bring to it, but the key scene for me is when Debbie is talking to Pete about the sex offenders in their neighborhood, and gets angry with him because he gets to be cool and funny and she has to be the naggy wife and mom, just because she cares about something and he doesn’t. That is just as much a criticism of Pete as it is of Debbie, in my opinion.
I don’t think the movie is siding with the men at all – it totally calls them on their idiocy. My favorite scene is the Vegas “too many chairs” scene, and it gets to the heart of how Apatow sees relations between men and women, particularly his own marriage to Leslie Mann. Pete knows that Debbie and Alison will take he and Ben back, but he doesn’t know why. The whole movie, in a way, is about guys who have fabulous women that they don’t deserve.