It was the feminist critic Judith Grahn who brought the phrase " menstrual envy " in to popular use . In fact the term is neither popular or populist outside feminist circles or more academic film studies . The thinking behind the concept is that men don't have periods therefore they're warlike to make up for it hence civilisation needs to wage war so blood letting puts men on the same biological level as women . Hmmm I'm not convinced and I think some people are feeling the need to come up with philosophical metaphors to make themselves look clever . Most people think writing their own name is the pinnacle if not the zenith of personal intellectual boundary and if you disagree then take a look at many of the contributions on this website that'll give the impression that humanity has the intelligence of the average mollusc and if mollusc's were typing on the internet then they'd probably write in to tell us how insulted they are at that comparison . If anything Grahn shows that only a genius could come with such a stupid metaphor as " war is menstrual envy "
That said New Hollywood that started in the late 1960s was spearheaded by Sam Peckinpah who effectively destroyed the classic Western genre in one blow with THE WILD BUNCH down to the very violent blood soaked visual nature of that film . Young Martin Scorsese was another member of the New Hollywood who has made a large number of movies in different genres but is best known for his blood spurting violent ones . He too seems to have issues involving " menstrual envy " and THE BIG SHAVE shows us this
It's interesting that this six minute short is also called VIET 67 in some circles which gives a subtext that it might indeed be seen as " war is menstrual envy " but one can also ask if this title became known as VIET 67 through hindsight ? It's not a short film for anyone who is squeamish and it's not a film I would have gone out of my way to watch if it wasn't for the director but it's essential viewing for film students because it's early Scorsese and you can impress the class by coming out with " menstrual envy " which will imprss the girls and embarrass the boys
That said New Hollywood that started in the late 1960s was spearheaded by Sam Peckinpah who effectively destroyed the classic Western genre in one blow with THE WILD BUNCH down to the very violent blood soaked visual nature of that film . Young Martin Scorsese was another member of the New Hollywood who has made a large number of movies in different genres but is best known for his blood spurting violent ones . He too seems to have issues involving " menstrual envy " and THE BIG SHAVE shows us this
It's interesting that this six minute short is also called VIET 67 in some circles which gives a subtext that it might indeed be seen as " war is menstrual envy " but one can also ask if this title became known as VIET 67 through hindsight ? It's not a short film for anyone who is squeamish and it's not a film I would have gone out of my way to watch if it wasn't for the director but it's essential viewing for film students because it's early Scorsese and you can impress the class by coming out with " menstrual envy " which will imprss the girls and embarrass the boys