I don't know - I haven't seen it yet. But the co-screenwriter, Jace Anderson, has a few concerns over some of the dialogue she's written.
On her blog, Jace Anderson writes that when she first showed the script to some of her colleagues to get an opinion, what she seemed to hear frequently about her female characters is, “It’s not realistic. Women don’t talk to each other that way. This scene shouldn’t even be in there.”
The scene to which she is referring is one in which women discuss getting a Brazilian bikini wax while knocking back a few drinks. The film stars Tiffany Shepis, Bobbi Sue Luther, Monica Keena, Shannon Elizabeth and Diora Baird. I will bet it is Tiffany Shepis who says the dirtiest things during that conversation.
Now, I know for a fact that when I watch an episode of Sex and the City I usually want to gag at the dialogue and will point out vehemently that A) "Grown Women do NOT talk like that!" and that B) "Some gay guy who hates these actresses wrote that line!".
But am I wrong? I mean, I don't actually know the gender of any of the assholes who wrote any of the Sex and the City episodes. (I DO know that they think women are practically mentally retarded, but that's about all I know).
Quote:
I heard the same criticism when we were editing: women don’t talk that way. I’ve gotten the comment from fans. Several critics have singled out the scene, saying the dialogue sounds like it was written by some horny and/or lonely guy fantasizing about how women talk. (I always laugh at that – after all, the last time I checked I had ovaries.)
You want to know the really interesting thing about these complaints? I’ve only heard them from men. Not a single woman has told me that the conversation was unrealistic. In fact, they tend to laugh with recognition.
Interesting.
Why do these men think the dialogue is unrealistic, I wonder? Oh, if only I had a clip to watch or if Anderson had the time to conduct an in-depth research study posting the question of believability of female characters in cinema using her film and second wave feminist theory (with lots of Laura Mulvey quotations) to boot. Unfortunately, she's probably writing another screenplay and doesn't have time, so our only recourse is to hear the dialogue in the film and draw our own conclusions. But while we do that, we need to take into consideration WHY we believe what we believe about the dialogue. It isn't enough to say, "Women don't talk like that." We need to ask ourselves, male and females alike, "WHY do I not believe this dialogue?"
Is it something in our own experiences from our own gender interactions and performance? How can one gender ever truly 'know' what the other gender talks about en masse in Western and eastern Cultures, in which gender divides are so rigidly maintained and reinforced on a daily basis? And how does this affect how we experience the entire film - does it diminish our ability to sympathize with or root for certain characters? What does it do to our experiences of onscreen violence?
Or you could tell me to shut the fuck up and just watch the movie. But that would really hurt my feelings. And it really wouldn't enrich your intellect on the subject. So pay attention to dialogue cues, and especially when you watch the Night of the Demons remake. I'm curious as to what we all have to say about the women in that movie.
The film is on DVD October 19th 2010 in the USA. www.facebook.com/NightoftheDemons
I saw Night of the Demons last year at Frightfest, and from what I remember I didn't think the female dialogue was unrealistic. I mean, there isn't much character development, so in the context of vapid party girls getting ready for a bash where they hope to get laid, talking about bikini waxes while pregaming is completely realistic.
In the larger sense, this is a low-level slasher flick; true, all the women are your stereotypical drunken nymphos...but then so are the men. None of the characters is well-developed, because character isn't the point--it's all about the hack 'n' slash. Unfortunately, that also means I didn't care whether any of the characters lived or died, and as such I ultimately didn't give a toss about the film either. Which is a shame, because I really liked Autopsy and saw this on the strength of that.
www.shortlease-movie.com