Men and Women Have Been in Battle for Too Long
The Answer Isn’t for Women to Submit
It’s hard for me to watch popular film — either decades-old classics or the current menu of exploding-filled blockbusters. There are so few good examples of men behaving decently toward women. I dare you to name more than a handful that aren’t being produced by the Hallmark Channel.
I’m watching an old one now. It’s Comes a Horseman, in which Jason Robards ruthlessly growls to bedraggled rancher Jane Fonda, “You should have married me when you had the chance,” he says. “I don’t want to ruin you, Ella.” With the clear implication being, if she doesn’t comply, he will. But God Bless Richard Farnsworth for being a decent human.
Even films I’ve enjoyed, such Netflix’s recent Falling for Figaro, depict men as selfish, clueless, and unable to express their true feelings. Why, why, why can’t we have more examples of real men being good communicators? Or unselfish? Or believably decent? Because from all accounts, men are in real trouble, and I think they could really use a good road map to follow. To quote a famous movie line from Cool Hand Luke, “What we have here is a failure to communicate.” And it’s bloody high time to end it.
For women, societal change requires an honest and brave attempt to tell men when they’re going wrong. And…
