By: cftoto

cftoto — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 18:51:24 +0000

Good points all, Nell. I disagree about the independence the women were showing initially. They were drowning themselves in their low self esteem, and the women who emerge later in the film still cling to core values but are more likely to speak out and embrace their feminine side on their own terms. One girl spent 24/7 in the closet before Shelly arrived!
The virgin material was as tacky as you said, and I should have harped on that. And the fact that Hef and co. were treated like these wonderful folks just slipped my mind. I’m so used to seeing them treated in that fashion it zipped past my cultural radar.

By: Nell Minow

Nell Minow — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 16:29:52 +0000

I love Anna Faris, but I’m going to agree with the commenter on this one. The movie makes a half-hearted attempt to say that girls should do more than show a lot of skin and pretend to be dumb but its more powerful messages are all the other way. It never questions the idea that popularity, hotness, and having a boyfriend are the most important goal. The girls go from expressing their individuality and independence to identical makeovers into long-legged hotties. Virginity is considered funny and embarrassing and the whole “virgin sacrifice” ritual was distasteful. Most important, even though it was made by women, the camera spends a lot of time on what they clearly consider Ms. Faris’ chief assets. All those lingering shots of her bare stomach and miniskirts sends a more powerful message than the weak “message” that it is important to be about more than being sexy. And certainly the glowing Playboy-endorsed depiction of life in “The Mansion” is hardly an argument to the contrary.

Comments on: Is ‘The House Bunny’ a good role model?

By: cftoto

By: Nell Minow