People from other countries (those who remain there and never even visit us) think that our movies and television programs push the female sex mystique beyond the limits of the universe. While Marian (after the virgin Mary) countries, especially Latin/Catholic ones, worship virgins and chaste women, we tend to overgrade the liberated female, they say.
“A romance is a must in most cases and in few films or programs are women absent. Furthermore, they are presented as sex starved, wicked creatures. If there’s an adventure film, the hero must have a female clinging to him, like a leech, everywhere he goes. Women looked forced into the plot and that bothers.” That’s the least of what they say. They also say that we have lewd tastes (and most of them missed Deep Throat!).
When they complain that “women are always present,” they’re not suggesting that women shouldn’t appear at all in these programs. They get the impression that we force a woman into all plots, whether it fits or not.
For instance, if an American producer makes a film about a group of men stranded on an island, he feels that it is his red-blooded American duty to include, whether or not it actually fits into the plot, a native girl during their stay in the island or a girl coming in the rescue boat or a flash-back.
Even in military, or all-male jail films, they must show flashbacks of soldiers or inmates thinking about their sweethearts, again whether or not they fit into the plot. Sylvester Stallone is notorious for daring not to comply with this convention.
“You, Americans,” a young Hindu fellow told me “push women so hard that no wonder there are so many gays in your country. I think I would be gay, too, if I had to face a woman everywhere I went.” (!?)
To a degree, his complaint was about a forced romance is inserted in every plot, and it seems to be true? Although the female presence is not necessarily forced in — I think. It might be a reflection of a society where women have a high public prominence. In some lands, they rule only behind the throne.
The reason why foreigners think women participation or sex plots are overemphasized may lie in the fact that most “foreign” films treat all kind of subjects with a normal flow. Romance, love, or sex comes naturally, not imposed in the plot out of commercial consideration.
We can say that yes, romance and sex are usually a must in most American plots, such a must that when no woman appears, they are replaced by man-to-man affairs. Of course, here also there are some rules to follow.In any decent American homosexual plot, sex must be emphasized over love. Male rape scenes, grotesque sex, are OK. However, no affection must be shown. Especially on TV, no kisses, no tender scenes, no touching, no holding hands, not even sexy looks at each other.
Other countries boast a variety in the subject of the films they produce. There are films about children, about boys, about girls, and about boys and girls; there are films about adolescence, friendship, soldiers, religion, animals, etc., with no forced-in romance or sex. “Neither do they try to put a woman in heat as a hook for horny viewers, if it is not called for,” said a friend of mine from French Canada.
Sex was mildly treated in Gilligan’s Island, where the female sex symbol, Ginger, was clearly directed toward the audience and overlooked by the wimpy male characters of the show.
Except for a few unrequited kisses, none of them paid serious attention to Ginger’s gorgeous looks, in any of the episodes. But then again, Gilligan’s Island was a pioneer in American TV. It was one of the few that wrapped up the story, breaking the trend started by Lost in Space, a series that left its characters lost forever in space.
I don’t know who approved the final episodes in which Gilligan and the rest of the castaways were rescued, but I thank whomever did it for not leaving me frustrated, and I think millions of TV fans thank him (her?), too.
I can only say, it was terrible, though, that they waited so long that they had to replace Ginger. I would have rather seen the last episode with Ginger lost at sea, or killed or something than seeing someone else in the role Tina Louise played for such a long time. Without her, the rescue of the castaways lost credibility. Tina was practically a relative to her viewers.
We were lucky with Gilligan’s Island, for there was never a wrap-up episode for the old Star Trek series nor a nice end for Battlestar Galactica. Nobody ever got to know what happened to the aliens in The Invaders. I just hope they didn’t win. Did they?
Another way to never end a story is stretching their plots beyond the limits of good taste. Among these examples, American soap operas are outstanding for knitting one story to another. Mexican soap operas finish in a few months, the same goes for Argentinean, Italian, Brazilian, and Chilean tearjerkers.
Movies are notorious for another convention, the eternal-monster pattern. They keep on coming back to stab, kill and mutilate in order to scare you (Halloween, or Friday the 13th); beastly animals (Jaws) that are immortal; aliens with a high rate of reproduction (Aliens); greasy copies from nostalgia (Grease), etc. These phenomena are very “American,” although films in series are found elsewhere. In France, for instance, they had Fantomas, shown here dubbed.
Besides not taking the characters out of the mess the writers put them in, another thing that puzzled another friend was making actors and actresses play double roles, or play themselves aged.