I spent a little time in grad school for classics. I've always thought that the Lysistrata was misogynist (I'm not sure what I said about it when we read some of it in seminar). Maybe it's because my preferred Greek playwright is, and will always be, Euripides, but to me it's absurd to regard this text as feminist when it so studiously avoids challenging any of the pathetic, chauvinistic, violent attitudes of the Athenians, and when it so thoroughly fails to reveal the real social dimensions of womanhood in Athens. At no time does Aristophanes actually fail to obscure those dimensions, at no time does he fail to support the horrifically misogynist view of his fellow Athenians in this disgusting play. At the same time, it is true that this is a drama that's been put to use by modern readers. Feminist uses, pacifist uses, and so on.
I don't know what all of that means for this film, other than that I'm pretty sure even with the misogynoir allegations there's no fucking way Spike Lee's movie can be as misogynistic as Aristophanes. At any rate, this movie is not necessarily a comedy in exactly the same sense as Aristophanes' work, but it does feature an appropriately lyrical and, uh, let's say archetypal cast. For better or worse, Spike Lee's very tuned in to certain aspects of what Greek drama was trying to do, almost self-consciously so, in the way that you'll occasionally see a Shakespeare adaptation connect on a deep level to what Shakespeare did. A lot of the time, the dialogue remains incisive, inflected with both comic and tragic turns, but sometimes the script does fail.
There's a lot I think about this politically. In some ways, it's still more politically advanced than anything directed by a white leftist. It's also annoyingly liberal in outlook. Sure, make economic improvements to fight gang violence. But this movie never really gets to the point of asking how to make economic improvements, how it's even possible in this dying empire for things to start getting better again.
What's a real shame is that by the end of the first 45 minutes things were going pretty well. But this movie really starts dragging on in the middle.
Something I do like about this movie is the monologues. Sam Jackson, John Cusack, Teyonah Parris. And there are a few scenes that show a flash of genius. And you have to respect someone for getting so many people to say so much stupid shit for this movie. I guess being Spike Lee helps.
I suppose at the end of the day I'm glad a movie like this could get made, but I really, really wish this thing was twenty or thirty minutes shorter. Also, it definitely is misogynistic, but I don't think it's as misogynistic as Aristophanes' play.
"It's how we live." "It's how we die. You want to lose your man to a drive by?"
I spent a little time in grad school for classics. I've always thought that the Lysistrata was misogynist (I'm not sure what I said about it when we read some of it in seminar). Maybe it's because my preferred Greek playwright is, and will always be, Euripides, but to me it's absurd to regard this text as feminist when it so studiously avoids challenging any of the pathetic, chauvinistic, violent attitudes of the Athenians, and when it so thoroughly fails to reveal the real social dimensions of womanhood in Athens. At no time does Aristophanes actually fail to obscure those dimensions, at no time does he fail to support the horrifically misogynist view of his fellow Athenians in this disgusting play. At the same time, it is true that this is a drama that's been put to use by modern readers. Feminist uses, pacifist uses, and so on.
I don't know what all of that means for this film, other than that I'm pretty sure even with the misogynoir allegations there's no fucking way Spike Lee's movie can be as misogynistic as Aristophanes. At any rate, this movie is not necessarily a comedy in exactly the same sense as Aristophanes' work, but it does feature an appropriately lyrical and, uh, let's say archetypal cast. For better or worse, Spike Lee's very tuned in to certain aspects of what Greek drama was trying to do, almost self-consciously so, in the way that you'll occasionally see a Shakespeare adaptation connect on a deep level to what Shakespeare did. A lot of the time, the dialogue remains incisive, inflected with both comic and tragic turns, but sometimes the script does fail.
There's a lot I think about this politically. In some ways, it's still more politically advanced than anything directed by a white leftist. It's also annoyingly liberal in outlook. Sure, make economic improvements to fight gang violence. But this movie never really gets to the point of asking how to make economic improvements, how it's even possible in this dying empire for things to start getting better again.
What's a real shame is that by the end of the first 45 minutes things were going pretty well. But this movie really starts dragging on in the middle.
Something I do like about this movie is the monologues. Sam Jackson, John Cusack, Teyonah Parris. And there are a few scenes that show a flash of genius. And you have to respect someone for getting so many people to say so much stupid shit for this movie. I guess being Spike Lee helps.
I suppose at the end of the day I'm glad a movie like this could get made, but I really, really wish this thing was twenty or thirty minutes shorter. Also, it definitely is misogynistic, but I don't think it's as misogynistic as Aristophanes' play.
"It's how we live." "It's how we die. You want to lose your man to a drive by?"
