Happy V.D. (insert eye-roll here ______________, altho I love that V.D. also denotes venereal disease). On a lighter and happier note, I loved the film, Tootsie, which was and remains a human, hilarious (the line “Does Jeff know?” still cracks me up every time, along with many others), heart-centered, proto-feminist classic film, one that was written by two men, moreover, skewering men, the male ego, the entertainment industry, gender perceptions, power dynamics in relationships of all kinds, and more – all of which deserve examination, and – where appropriate – skewering. Teri Garr, Bill Murray, Charles Durning, Dabney Colman, Jessica Lange, and Geena Davis in a small, supporting role – along with Hoffman and director Sydney Pollack playing characters not far from themselves – how could it not stand the test of time?
And, having been in the business of show, how could I not love it? But, beyond the humor and roasting of egos and that entire industry, so many deeper questions were touched on, and deserve highlighting.
The casual sexism it showed, in 1982!!, the power dynamics at play between Lange’s character and her director on and off the set, the notion of sexual harassment and exploitation, including a ‘casual’ form of sexual assault (Geena Davis’s character: “He kisses all the women on the show. We call him “The Tongue”.”) – was revelatory and important. Culturally, we tend to think of the entertainment industry as particularly sexual and sexist – ‘the casting couch’ – but all industries are – all industries are; a difference that matters is that we are much more likely to hear about what goes on and wrong in the business of show (thinking of Blake Lively, and her recent spate of trouble), in part because it gets covered by a designated press corps that serves the show business industry. In other words, you will not be hearing from women who wait tables, or clean motel and hotel rooms, or type letters, or do a thousand other less spotlit (or compensated) positions who are mistreated by their bosses.
And then there is the fact that as Tootsie, Hoffman was less than movie industry standard gorgeous, to say the least – FOR WOMEN. That Hoffman – 5’5″ – was a movie star at all (among so many other famous men) is a testament to the different standards for men on and off screen, as well as to the fact that when casting roles, if you have 25 speaking roles for men and 5 for women – you’re going to cast a wider, and more generous – male net. Ditto only much worse for women of color, who are grossly underrepresented on screen and everywhere else.
Hoffman himself has addressed an aspect of this – his lack of beauty as the character of Dorothy Michaels, a.k.a. Tootsie, as a woman – in numerous interviews, from which the following is drawn: To prepare for his role, Hoffman watched the film La Cage aux Folles (1978) several times. He also visited the set of “General Hospital” for research, and conducted extensive make-up tests. In an interview for the American Film Institute, he said that he was shocked that although he could be made-up to appear as a credible woman, he would never be a beautiful one.
Hoffman said that he had an epiphany when he realized that although he found this woman interesting, he would not have spoken to her at a party because she was not beautiful, and that as a result he had missed out on many conversations with interesting women. He concluded that he had never regarded Tootsie as a comedy.
From Tootsie, during Dorothy Michaels’ screen test (this also still make me laugh, even while… well.):
Rita:
I’d like to make her look a little more attractive, how far can you pull back?
Cameraman:
How do you feel about Cleveland?
Rita:
Knock it off.
And even with Hollywood’s press corps, abuse of all kinds still goes on, particularly of children – whose parents are all too often exploiting or looking the other way, all for cash – and of women in subsidiary roles and jobs. Because whatever industry we’re speaking of, the powerful are just that: powerful, protected, valued, more valuable in literal dollar terms – and, still, most often male. Progress has been made but – we have a long way to go. Deep breaths.