As Bridesmaids prepares to go head to head with The Hangover Part II, which is shaping up to look nowhere near as stellar as Part I, there is a rising question as to whether women can be as funny as men in movies. Do they have the same balls-out, funny or die tendencies, and can the “funny gal” ultimately draw the same box office cash and ride that wave as long and far as their male counterparts.
Funny women in movies are a no-brainer, they have been cracking us up since the moving picture began. They are queens at the subtle jibe; the smirking, snarky retort; the cutting, dry humor; or even flat out hilarious physical comedy, but mostly it’s about being funny and fun, yet still feminine and alluring. It would seem that only recently women have been free to do funny in a way that’s self-deprecating, real, honest, possibly unattractive, and, with a little more, well, testosterone than in the past. The question though, in all the gross out humor, does the realization that (gasp!) ladies have bodily functions and are just as spastic, clumsy, aggressive, and overt as any Seth Rogan or Adam Sandler make it difficult to retain the “heart” of the film?
One thing I found while watching Bridesmaids this weekend was that, while some of the scenes were the funniest I’d seen in a movie in a long while, I found myself not totally invested in the characters. I didn’t really care what happened to them and I was mostly waiting for the next joke to happen. There just wasn’t enough of an emotional connection. I left feeling like I’d laughed a good bit but, other than that, not much else really resonated, which was a totally different experience than, say, watching the The Hangover, 40 Year Old Virgin, or even Knocked Up. What I realized is that it doesn’t really matter how funny a movie is if it doesn’t have heart. Ultimately, I felt that what Kristen Wiig produced was a great SNL-on-film movie, which actually is pretty hard to do, (see most attempts by SNL actors), but not a great film in itself.
I realize that I’m mostly in the minority about this; Bridesmaids is getting praise all over the place. Some female critics are touting it as a feminist approach to comedy. I don’t disagree with some of their sentiments, but I don’t believe that just because women actors and comedians have discovered the freedom to loosen the corset, to let it all hang out, and shove their lower halves into a sink, that this is the pinnacle of the feminist movement on film… call me crazy.
Admittedly, a fresh approach to comedy is always welcome, but I wonder if Wiig was afraid of being too “lady-centric”, that if there was more heart and emotion it wouldn’t be able to measure up to the big-boy comedies? I believe there was that pressure. I wonder how female scriptwriters handled it in the past, and what Wiig could learn from her predecessors?
Clare Boothe Luce: The actresses in 1939’s The Women, Joan Crawford, Rosalind Russell, and Norma Shearer, with all their perfectly coiffed hair, gorgeous gowns, and extravagant movie sets brought Luce’s play to life. They were ballsy, cutting, irreverent, and downright lethal with their acerbic wit, and they were perfectly engaging.
Tina Fey: Tina is the closest contemporary Wiig has, hailing from the same SNL background. Both are off-the-cuff funny and they are veritable geniuses at scoffing at themselves and making us laugh while doing it. Fey gets that forcing your way into the male-littered comedy arena means that you have to be funnier than most and willing to take huge chances. Fey’s biggest movie to date is Mean Girls, which worked on both comedic and dramatic levels. A viewer could easily recall the ups and downs of teendom and relate to the experience while laughing at the petty dramas and feeling the heartfelt emotions Fey conveyed about being the new duck in the pond.
Amy Heckerling: This writer and director brought us Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Look Who’s Talking, and Clueless. She undoubtedly understands comedy and the female role in it. I daresay that there would have been no Mean Girls had there not been a Clueless. No other movie character defined high school girls of the 90’s better than Cher Horowitz. Funny, smart, charming, beautiful, confident, and obviously fabulous. This was a winning girl comedy that stirred both fun and heart.
Nora Ephron: Meg Ryan owes most of her career to Ms. Ephron. She defined the romantic comedy. With such hits as When Harry Met Sally and Sleepless in Seattle, she proved that comedy and romance don’t have to be mutually exclusive. I credit Nora Ephron’s work in When Harry Met Sally for any contemporary movie that has terrific banter between two great leading actors; full of spectacular moments of hilarity mixed with sweet affection, or terse conflict with underlying sweet affection . Mostly, she showed us that one of the best things you can gain in a relationship is the ability to laugh.
Nancy Meyers: Another great romantic comedy writer icon. Meyers, who is no novice at tackling feminist ideals in her movies, balances romance and other subtle facets of the female sensibility like no other. In her films, Private Benjamin, Baby Boom, The Holiday, Something’s Gotta Give and It’s Complicated , she’s tackled women in the military, working mothers, being single, and being divorced over age 50 while still being vital and open to love. All in hilariously funny ways, yet with a heartwarming sentimentality and keen emotional depth.
These women are the gold standard of female comedy in film, and I think Kristen Wiig has the potential to offer films that have the same staying power. I think that it will come down to balance and giving us full-bodied characters. Feminism doesn’t always mean that you’re giving the “boys” a run for their money. I don’t think what the boys do should always define the measuring stick. Proving that you can create a female Hangover is indeed an accomplishment, but there is a difference between making us laugh out loud in our theater seats, and having a character resonate for decades. Wiig is well on her way; I just hope her next movie takes a few notes from the professionals above and gives us characters we not only enjoy, but some who we’d love to call our DVD besties.
Top image via Mass Information at insurancemass.info.
