On 5/2/96, Kate Bowles wrote:
>Putting together a first year subject component on the screen production of
>gender, I am looking for movies which deal with masculinity and
>consumerism, particularly images of men shopping.
>
>It strikes me that we most often see a man "shopping" for clothes when he
>is sponsoring a female shopper, e.g. _Pretty Woman_. It's his credit card,
>but she's doing the shopping. Is this because shopping for clothes,
>especially the trying-on of roles which it involves, creates the impression
>of both vanity and anxiety, and this sits uneasily with the masculine
>screen image? Still? This seems like an unsatisfactory conclusion.
>
>Otherwise, I have vague impressions of men shopping for guns, cars and
>occasionally gadgets, or movies where jokes are made about men's
>inadequacies as domestic shoppers.
>
>Can anyone help with examples of any of the above?
Just off the top of my head:
CLERKS has some takes on men shopping for groceries (especially eggs) and
videos.
Guns: THE TERMINATOR, FALLING DOWN.
The best such scene, however, occurs in THE GOOD THE BAD AND THE UGLY when
Tucco (Eli Wallach) staggers into town, goes into the gun shop, examines
several different pistols, builds his own from parts from several models,
then asks the proprietor "How much?" After a very brief misunderstanding,
the proprietor realizes Tucco's really asking how much is in the cash
register.
Food: THE NIGHT WE NEVER MET (Matthew Broderick plays a counterman at an
upscale deli); BULLITT (Steve McQueen goes grocery shopping and just piles
up TV dinners)
Clothes: THE BIRDCAGE
Other stuff: MO' MONEY (jewelry)
--Richard J. Leskosky
Richard J. Leskosky office phone: (217) 244-2704
Assistant Director FAX: (217) 244-2223
Unit for Cinema Studies University of Illinois
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