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junk-1509
Reviews
De stilte rond Christine M. (1982)
Not about Right or Wrong, but WHY
I think the folks who are so negative about this film missed the point. It never seemed to suggest that men deserve to be killed.
The men in the film are 1-dimensional caricatures -- which is FINE. This is an ART FILM. They are SYMBOLS of the worst in male sexist behaviors and attitudes -- exaggerated and highly concentrated. SURREAL!!!
As a member of the "man" group, it's a little uncomfortable to view this, to be sure. But at least I could say to myself, "Well, I'm not THAT bad! I mean, sure I guess I am a sexist jerk sometimes, but I'm not THAT bad!" It has been 20+ years since I saw this film -- I found this site only because I'm trying to track it down again -- but as I recall, the audience doesn't really know what happened -- the murder is not shown until nearly the END of the film. By the time I actually saw the women kickin' the living crap out of the guy, I UNDERSTOOD WHY THEY WOULD FEEL LIKE DOING IT. I was ROOTING for them. I think the whole audience was.
But I don't believe the film actually encourages violence... the male clerk has been clearly established by that time as a symbol of intolerable male attitudes and behaviors. He isn't a real man with both objectionable and sympathetic traits. He isn't a human at all. He is a member of a group who have established themselves as being without humanity.
I really find it hard to imagine women murdering piggish males after viewing this movie, but I can imagine that more than a few of them were more willing to stand up for themselves afterward.