Photo du Jour 516
Welcome Back! Um, Why Are You at Work Today?
Tiger Woods In "Serious" Condition After Car Crash
-thumb-110x110-461569.jpg)
Photos from Black Friday
Builder of Oakland's Fox Theater Once Imprisoned For 'White Slavery'
For feminists of a certain age (i.e., ours), the Frameline film fest closing night movie Itty Bitty Titty Committee is a deeply, deeply embarrassing movie to watch. Remember when we all used to say things like "smash the state!" and write incoherent pro-girl messages on our stomachs and arms? And sing along with Bikini Kill? And talk earnestly about smashing the master's house with the master's tools and apply postmodern Foucauldian analysis to Beverly Hills 90210? Cringe! We were so young!
Itty Bitty Titty Committee is a tongue-in-cheek portrayal of the fun and frustrations of radical feminist politics, and an affectionate exploration of its inherent hypocrisies. Whether it's adorable baby dykes who have no clue about women's history, erstwhile state-smashers mooching off their girlfriends for cash, older feminists refusing to listen to younger ones, or the questionable situation where the far-left turns into the far-right, pretty much every intra-feminist debate gets some time on the silver screen, in an awkwardly-charming story about a sweet 18 year old girl's feminist awakening. Like we said, CRINGE!
If you've spent any time around feminist politics (or any other kind of smash-the-state group), you'll recognize pretty much all of the situations in this movie -- why does everyone in a state-smashing group have to have sex with each other? Are the wide-eyed naifs more annoying than the cynical seen-it-all elder stateswomyn, or less? Money -- the root of all evil, or just a way to pay your rent? Does radical change come from within the system or without? We had to bury our face in our hands a couple times in the movie, it was so familiar. We've been that person threatening to quit a group over overly-patriarchical practices! CRINGE!
All that said, if you'll allow us to be the self-satisfied Older Feminist here for a moment, we think the movie would've been even better if it had bitten down just a little bit harder. All the plotlines were hilarious -- but because everything went by so quick, it's hard to tell if the movie meant to make fun of all these internecine feminist debates or accidentally ended up falling into them.
As a result, the story gets a little muddled. We don't want to give anything away, but we're hoping the editing team takes note of the fact that everyone in the audience was hissing at a certain character at an awkward moment. Also -- why so many riotgrrl hits from 1995 when the movie's set in 2007? Why not just set the movie in 1995?
The movie really is a good time, though, with a lot of lesbian luminaries cameoing in the cast and having a grand old time (omnipresent Guin Turner, Jenny Shimizu, the L Word) along with the effervescent lead characters. It's a little valentine to those exciting days when you really did think you could change the world! Who knows -- maybe you still can!
add to stumble upon
add to reddit
tweet this
post to facebook
Well said!
"[It] would've been even better if it had bitten down just a little bit harder."
that's what she said.