You know, I’ve seen a lot of repulsive things recently. Half an episode of Bridezillas, this ad for pap awareness, a Red Bull commercial about a little boy going to a strip club; but it took this movie trailer, which interrupted a perfectly enjoyable evening of Bones reruns, to get me out of my blogging hiatus. I couldn’t find the exact trailer that sparked my Hulk rage, but this should do nicely. Ladies and gentleman, allow me to present The Ugly Truth.
Here’s the information I have gleaned about the plot of this film from the trailer: Abby is an attractive, intelligent, ambitious, accomplished woman who wants the same thing in a partner. In her role as television producer, she is introduced to Mike, a Repulsoid from the planet Repulsor who was given a television show in order to spread his enlightening perspective on sex relations. That perspective? Men are entitled to constant boners, if a woman is not contributing to the making of one or more of those boners she may as well never have been born, boners can only be created by Beauty2K compliant women who know their fucking place, women should be grateful when given the chance to bestow boners upon any member of the male sex, and men can only relate to women on a boner-receiving level. Even though Abby is Beauty2K compliant, her attempts to be an actual human being instead of a boner-producing machine have kept her from being able to achieve the greatest experience a woman can hope to achieve: finding a man who wants to get boners from her on a regular basis. Mike, ever the altruist, takes her under his wing and teaches her how to appeal to the homogenous mass known as men by wearing cupless bras, fellating hot dogs, and straddling the line between virgin and whore in order to produce better boners. Abby starts out thinking that it’s possible to find a man who loves and respects her for who she is instead of how great her tits are, and at first she is resistant to Mike’s Tao of the Boner. However, as time goes on, she comes to embrace the Tao of the Boner and recognize that the idea that men can regard women as fully human is a myth, a by product of our PC society. It may not be pretty, but men are biologically programmed to treat women like shit, and women are biologically programmed to like it.
Now, I haven’t seen this movie, so who knows? Maybe it could surprise me. Maybe at the end Abby realizes that she no longer wishes to be regarded as a place in which to hide a salami and runs off with her assistant to join a lesbian separatist commune and Mike spontaneous combusts. Anything is possible. Somehow, though, I doubt this.
And you know the interesting thing? The Ugly Truth was written by women. Three self-loathing women. Why is it that so many women so enjoy media that insults them and holds them back, to the extent that many of them will go so far as to create the kind of trash that contributes to their oppression? We’re all socialized in the same misogynistic culture and for many women, these values outweigh their own experience of not being two-dimensional cum dumpsters. These values are so ingrained, in fact, that not only do many women believe them, but they believe that they somehow benefit from them. It’s the Doctrine of Separate Spheres, but with a sexy, 21st century twist involving stilletos and brightly-colored alcoholic beverages! Unlike the self-loathing women of say, the middle ages, self-loathing women from the nineteenth century on have accepted the idea that they are not fully human, but instead of resigning themselves to their drudgery, they have been convinced that they somehow benefit from their inhumanity. In The Ugly Truth, women may not be fully human, but through the power of their tits, they can influence people who are: men! So really, it’s women who have the power! Am I right, ladies?
The Ugly Truth is an insult to any person capable of intelligent thought. It is an insult to women because it defines their worth in relation to men and puts no stock in the value of their humanity. It is an insult to men because it says that they are no more than overly-entitled dicks on legs, incapable of emotion or thoughtfulness, no better than male turkeys who’ll go so low as to court a wooden turkey head on a stick. It is insulting to intersexed people because it denies their existence. It is insulting to members of other species because humans are purportedly supposed to be the smart ones. And above all, it is a firm reminder of why I should just watch my favorite shows on DVD instead of putting myself through the misery of commercials.
Filed under: disgusting moments, media, misogyny, movies, pc, she likes it! | 7 Comments
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You know, this film was better when it was called French Kiss (yes, I have a thing for romantic comedies – I’m ashamed too).
With that out of the way, I completely agree. I hate the idea that women have to be “one part librarian, one part stripper”, and do things like pretend we wear *formal wear* when washing the dishes. When we’re by ourselves. Because obviously, we gain some pleasure out of being sexay and uncomfortable and unable to vigorously wash what with the water splashage (and thus like dirty dishes) rather than liking to lounge around in a pair of sweats and a t-shirt while doing the dishes. Because practicality? Where’s the man-attracting potential in that?!
Can you tell what parts of the trailer filled me with rage?
Argh! “One part librarian, one part stripper”… I think Mr. Crankosaur was in serious danger of being collateral damage in my Hulk out at that point. So repellant.
This is why I don’t have a TV or go to the movies.
I accidentally saw this film. I hadn’t seen a trailer and I was desperate for some down-time (or Mummy-eats-popcorn-and-pretends-she-has-no-dependents time), my therapist has banned me from watching anything violent, and I didn’t have time to wait for the only acceptable alternative. Anyway, I thought it would be an air-headed romantic comedy which would annoy me on some levels but basically be… bland. This film actually made me so angry and depressed I ranted about it for days to anyone who would listen. My therapist would have done better to buy me tickets to Drag Me To Hell because honestly by the time this film got to the rape joke in the last ten minutes – and other women in the audience LAUGHED HEARTILY – I hated myself so much for sitting there for that long.
Wow – not done ranting yet and this was weeks ago! Basically the point of this comment is I wish I had read your blog before I went to the movies. You would have saved me $10 and a whole lot of angst.
Oh, poor SpiltMilk! I probably would have tore that theater up. Again, I must ask: WHY DO SO MANY WOMEN LIKE SEEING SHIT THAT INSULTS THEM?!
well liked it. I’m a woman and i thought it was funny. You can’t take these things too seriously you’re there for a laugh and there were funny moments in it that had me it fits. As it happens mike falls in love with her for who she is despite what he told her and at least her views at the beginning of the movie and femininst as i guess thats what your looking for. Also don’t make a judgement on this movie untill you’ve seen it it might surprise you. And yes its a bit smutty but its a good laugh.
A) Being a woman does not necessarily equate to anti-sexist street cred.
B) The fact that something is a joke does not mean it can’t have a negative effect and does not mean it shouldn’t be taken seriously.
C) I may not be able to make a final judgment on the film, having never seen it, but I can judge the way it was marketed, and it was marketed in a repulsive way. I would be surprised if the repulsivity of the film were not at least moderately correlated with the repulsivity of the trailer.