Desperately Seeking Susan was a film that I will probably never watch again in my life. Romantic Comedies never really did anything for me and there's always too much coincidence in these films to draw me in because at times they are just frustrating to watch. This film is especially hard to watch because we all grew up with cell phones and if all of the characters just had the latest IPhone none of this would have ever happened because they all could have just Snapchatted, Vined, Instagramed, Tweeted, Face Timed, Facebooked, and Texted where they all were. This film really bugged me. All of the characters seemed dumb. All they had to do is sit down Madonna with Gary and post amnesia Roberta with Dez and explain what they hell was going on using their adult vocabularies, but no Dez just thinks Roberta is being funny and Madonna is crazy doing whatever she wants by not telling Gary a god damn thing. But I guess that is the allure of Madonna and why this film is so popular in giving her more street cred.
I can see the argument that Madonna is a third wave feminist in the fact that she doesn't need a man to help her and she lives on her own. She dresses how she wants, does what she wants, takes what she wants, sleeps with who she wants, she is a strong independent woman. And where I am all for that and for other women to be doing those exact same things, seeing Madonna's character still aggravated me. In the film she just felt like I AM MADONNA AND I CAN DO BAD ALL BY MYSELF! I mean she was with a guy who got killed after she left his hotel room and she was like, "Well this sucks, but whatever." I mean you should show some sort of emotion especially at the end of the film when you probably figure out that you are the reason that that man was murdered because you felt you could just steal things from anyone you want. And then Madonna meets Gary and goes through all of Roberta's things and wrecks his house and takes his car. Who does she think she is wrecking other people's homes and just shrugging it off. I did not see Madonna as a feminist in this film. She was more of thug. She bossed people around, stole, cheated, and ruined everything she touched.
I did however really like Roberta in this film. Life shouldn't be a drag like her life was. I mean her life with Gary looked to be like it would have been more fun to watch paint dry on a house than to be stuck in that relationship. Roberta took it upon herself to get out and to find a little adventure in her life even if it meant stalking someone from the personal ads. She got out there to get some excitement and that's what she got. She transformed into a version of Susan that wasn't personality wise like Susan and it changed her spirit. It allowed her to get out of a boring shitty relationship and lead her to get out there and find a new love. Good for you Roberta!
I understand that Madonna is supposed to be like she is because of the Virgin/Whore archetype, but I just couldn't get behind that. i understand she was acting, dressing, and doing all of these things in the film because that was who Madonna was and it shocked a lot of people. And like the saying goes "sex sells", so if Madonna and her record company are making money based on this persona that she was putting on then more power to her.
I completely understand your frustration with this movie. When it comes to movies that rely on plots like it, I just want to scream. I was about to start throwing my arms up in annoyance when they kept misunderstanding each other or when Susan walked right past her boyfriend and his friend. Today, we may misinterpret texts but at least we can get it cleared up pretty quickly and in real time.
ReplyDeleteThe plot bugged me as well and I don't really mind most romantic comedies or chick flicks. I feel like there are smarter rom coms than this. I couldn't stop rolling my eyes throughout the whole film because of how stupid the characters were and how coincidental it all was.
ReplyDeleteI love how you point out that if any of these people had our modern day technology, none of this would've happened. And that maybe added to my frustration while watching this film. I didn't understand why once Roberta had knocked her head and returned to herself, she didn't try harder to fix the confusion. Instead she sleeps with Dez and runs out when him and Jim (i think that was his name) were arguing over Susan. And then she goes to the magic club and continues her weird routine like nothing happened.
ReplyDeleteI do like Roberta's part of the plot, her being unhappy with her life and wanting something more exciting. Yet at the same time I find it hard to believe she found that excitement at that Magic Club doing the routine. The romance with Dez was definitely more exciting and passionate than her marriage to Gary, but what a weird gig to pick to keep yourself happy
So if you liked Roberta, what is it that she saw in Susan, do you think? Also, given this is an 80s movie and today's technology did not yet exist, what's happening with images here--specifically image of women, and the concept of image or style as substance, which is part of the definition of postmodernity? The reading might have have given you something more to work with.
ReplyDelete