Misogyny 80 years ago and today
So the other night in a hotel we saw a 1926 silent movie called The Temptress, with a 20-year-old Greta Garbo, on cable.
It's a surprisingly compelling movie compared to the handful of other silents I've seen but wowzie did they hate women back then! The story? Woman enters a man's life and betrays him. Women enters another man's life and he bankrupts him so he commits suicide in public. Same woman arranges for her destitute husband to bring her to Argentina (where all the other men have gone to escape financial problems and bothersome women) to work for the first man. Same woman makes all the rough-cut local women look bad. Same woman dominates conversation of all other men in Argentina. Over-the-top bad guy spots the woman and threatens everybody, then steals a kiss. First man and bad guy have stunning-for-1926 bare-chested duel with bullwhips. First man beats bad guy. Woman bandages first man's eyes and cleans his wounds with more eroticism than the average suburban video store porn collection can muster. Bad guy who then comes back and tries to shoot first man through a window but kills woman's husband. Woman demonstrates "complexity of character" by first scorning, then warming to, and finally rocking a peasant baby to sleep. With that out of the way, first man's friends get in argument over woman, one friend stabs other through and through with his dress sword. First man tries to strangle woman for ruining so many men but can't because he admits he loves her too. Yada-yada. Eventually woman destroys herself with drink, while first man succeeds in business and marries the entirely peripheral good girl in the film.
Other people's take on the film? Via IMDB
This film is at least a little different in that much of the time men were destroyed when they fell for Garbo in this film, but she was never directly responsible for their downfall. She was more like the old "Typhoid Mary" character--someone who just seems to have bad things follow her where ever she goes! The problem with this is that no matter how sultry and alluring Ms. Garbo might have been, no one is THAT seductive that man after man after man destroy themselves in order to try to get her! However, the story does have a few new elements and the overall production values are exceptional. So, if you view this film WITHOUT considering how derivative it is, then it's an awfully good film.
and
I've seen snippets of other silent-era films. General conclusion? They didn't simply hate women back then, they were terrified of them.
I suppose the pat, MRA answer would be to say something along the lines of "boy you wommen thawt U hav it bad now, bld a TIME mushne an try living 80 YERS ugo. Haw, "
Instead I think I'll say that's the charming little world MRAs and other anti-feminists would have us all return to.
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Final note: 'Member that movie Madagascar where these monomaniacal penguins in the zoo mastermind a plot to get to Antarctica? And when they get there the first (ok, only) thing they say is "well this sucks?" Ever get the feeling that's what Coulter, O'Reilly, and company would say if they ever did manage to set the way-back machine on gender? It would really, really suck.
