A cinematic complaint

[serai]

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Why is it that every film about a male teacher is about how great he is, and how he rescues his students from ennui and cynicism, and transforms the lives of everyone around him even though he's too humble to know what he's doing, while every film about a female teacher is about how cutely mousy she is, and how she can't find love because she's just too into her books, until some generic Hot Guy from her past shows up to sweep her off her feet and take her away from her drab little life and her twenty cats? Films about male teachers are always dramas; films about female teachers are overwhelmingly rom-coms.

Does anyone else see this?

Comments

[nimue-8.livejournal.com]

Oh, but there was this movie with Michelle Pfeiffer some 10-15 years ago, where she was athgouh cookie, teaching in a rough environment. Forgot the title.
At least one! :-)

[serai1.livejournal.com]

That film is an illustration of a completely different problem, what I call Thank God for White People!

[nimue-8.livejournal.com]

Hmmm ... They tend to do that too.
Mind you, if the story is true and you happen to have a White person being ok to others, it's not autmatically racist, right ?

But, I get what you mean. It's often condenscending.

Complexity and subtelty is not their forte in Hollywood.

By the way, Miss Jean Brodie was not too mousy as a teacher! ( But she happened to be a delusionnal fascist...) Oh well.