Women's Media Nation | Social, political, and cultural issues relating to women

Why is it so strange that male critics like movies about women?

posted by Women & Hollywood
Wednesday, August 18, 2010 at 1:10pm CDT

I read this blog post yesterday What does this say about U.S. manhood: Male critics actually like ‘Eat Pray Love’ by Patrick Goldstein of the LA Times and it didn’t really get to me enough to blog about it. But while I was tossing and turning in bed this morning Goldstein’s post came to my mind and it made me angry.

The point to me is not that male critics like the film — male and female critics both like and dislike the film — it’s that there is surprise in the fact that some male critics actually like the film. Not mentioned is that some women dislike the film, but that doesn’t seem to be as big a sin than men actually liking a film about a woman.

I seriously can’t believe that this conversation still goes on. The job of a reviewer is to look at a film and say whether they like the film, the characters, you know the whole package. The fact that it stars a woman or is about a woman should not automatically let men off the hook because really, how are they supposed to like a film about, oh my god, A WOMAN.

Can you imagine the reverse sentence ever being written?

What Does it Say about US Womanhood: Female Critics Actually Like The Expendables? (or substitute any of the hundreds of movies that star men.)

Would never happen.

What does this say about U.S. manhood: Male critics actually like ‘Eat Pray Love’ (LA Times)