Movie Rec: My Chauffeur
I was talking to my brother, and we agreed films of the 80s and 90s at least seemed to confront sexism head-on whereas nowadays it seems like they want to ignore the fact it exists any longer.
So in that sense, it feels like we've slipped.
I'd like to recommend as an improbable icon in a forgotten comedy classic, Deborah Foreman in My Chauffeur, one of those indy LA 80s films. Foreman plays Casey Meadows, a Madonna-bejangled charmer who is offered a position as limousine driver in the staunch, old-boys establishment of Brentwood Limousine. The former dishwasher meets tremendous resistance from the old boys, of course ("Women such as that don't have to work, all she's got to do is wiggle her butt."), but is supported by one of the drivers and secretly by the big boss, Witherspoon, whose son Battle, played by Sam Jones of Flash Gordon fame, is a work-obsessed asshole (and destined, of course, to be Casey's love interest.)
Foreman is charming, playing the role by turns like a zany improv comic then flashing into an Irene Dunn 30s-style comic character where appropriate.
The most awesome and biting scene in the film would only be shown on TV these days, since movies aren't much for commentaries on sexism lately. The set-up: the Rolls has overheated thanks to Battle insisting they keep driving after the warning light goes off, and Battle and Casey are trudging through the Sonoma foothills trying to find a phone. Casey tries to warn Battle but he doesn't listen and trips into a mud pit. The following monologue is Casey's as Battle is trying uselessly to claw his way out (and doesn't ask for her help despite the fact it becomes increasingly obvious he needs it):
Casey: "Now I understand what used to happen to those dinosaurs in the tar pits! Ha! Boy, I bet you an archaeologist [sic] would love to see this! Maybe, oh! They'll dig you up a million years from now. 'Perfectly preserved early Neanderthal man.' It won't dawn on them that you were actually a very retarded form of modern man. You've got too much monkey in you!
"I know! I'll leave a note! 'Dear--Future--Archaeologists: What you see here is not an ape! He is the last of a very ignorant form of Homo sapiens in the late 20th century, who would not listen to women, would not take their advice, and under no circumstances whatsoever, would he ask a woman for help." [Battle falls back down into the pit after being close to the top again.]
"Awww. And so he died. I hope you find a nice museum to put him in."
Needless to say his character improves. He changes throughout the film (not a huge amount, but enough.) Interestingly enough, she doesn't, except of course she has to learn some things for her new job. She's irrepressible and hilarious:
Casey to Giles [stuffy old driver]: "Nice talking to you, babe. It is 'babe,' isn't it?"
Throughout the film she changes the people around her much more than they change her. She makes people think.
Warnings for gratuitous T&A, an old lady getting assaulted for her blue panties (she put up a pretty good fight though), Teller of Penn&Teller fame playing an Ambassador of Iran (the whole scene is cringeworthy), and drunken Sam Jones streaking a bunch of helpless citizens in the park. The two gay men on the park bench didn't appear to mind at all but everyone else seemed a little traumatized. ;) I probably wouldn't be. He's a hottie.
Available on iTunes.
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So in that sense, it feels like we've slipped.
I'd like to recommend as an improbable icon in a forgotten comedy classic, Deborah Foreman in My Chauffeur, one of those indy LA 80s films. Foreman plays Casey Meadows, a Madonna-bejangled charmer who is offered a position as limousine driver in the staunch, old-boys establishment of Brentwood Limousine. The former dishwasher meets tremendous resistance from the old boys, of course ("Women such as that don't have to work, all she's got to do is wiggle her butt."), but is supported by one of the drivers and secretly by the big boss, Witherspoon, whose son Battle, played by Sam Jones of Flash Gordon fame, is a work-obsessed asshole (and destined, of course, to be Casey's love interest.)
Foreman is charming, playing the role by turns like a zany improv comic then flashing into an Irene Dunn 30s-style comic character where appropriate.
The most awesome and biting scene in the film would only be shown on TV these days, since movies aren't much for commentaries on sexism lately. The set-up: the Rolls has overheated thanks to Battle insisting they keep driving after the warning light goes off, and Battle and Casey are trudging through the Sonoma foothills trying to find a phone. Casey tries to warn Battle but he doesn't listen and trips into a mud pit. The following monologue is Casey's as Battle is trying uselessly to claw his way out (and doesn't ask for her help despite the fact it becomes increasingly obvious he needs it):
Casey: "Now I understand what used to happen to those dinosaurs in the tar pits! Ha! Boy, I bet you an archaeologist [sic] would love to see this! Maybe, oh! They'll dig you up a million years from now. 'Perfectly preserved early Neanderthal man.' It won't dawn on them that you were actually a very retarded form of modern man. You've got too much monkey in you!
"I know! I'll leave a note! 'Dear--Future--Archaeologists: What you see here is not an ape! He is the last of a very ignorant form of Homo sapiens in the late 20th century, who would not listen to women, would not take their advice, and under no circumstances whatsoever, would he ask a woman for help." [Battle falls back down into the pit after being close to the top again.]
"Awww. And so he died. I hope you find a nice museum to put him in."
Needless to say his character improves. He changes throughout the film (not a huge amount, but enough.) Interestingly enough, she doesn't, except of course she has to learn some things for her new job. She's irrepressible and hilarious:
Casey to Giles [stuffy old driver]: "Nice talking to you, babe. It is 'babe,' isn't it?"
Throughout the film she changes the people around her much more than they change her. She makes people think.
Warnings for gratuitous T&A, an old lady getting assaulted for her blue panties (she put up a pretty good fight though), Teller of Penn&Teller fame playing an Ambassador of Iran (the whole scene is cringeworthy), and drunken Sam Jones streaking a bunch of helpless citizens in the park. The two gay men on the park bench didn't appear to mind at all but everyone else seemed a little traumatized. ;) I probably wouldn't be. He's a hottie.
Available on iTunes.
[ X-posted to Dreamwidth with