Comments

1
Thanks, Lindy. I was going to see it anyway to support Melissa McCarthy's career, but it helps to know you liked it.

Still laughing about the menses all over the Oval Office crack. Except I shouldn't because it is so sickenly true. Oh, well. I still have hope for women in a world that has you in it. If things can get better for teh gays, they'll eventually get better for women even if I don't live to hear "Madame President." I have faith that YOU will. Or your grandchildren.
2
Lindy, you're a smart, funny humanoid. Gold star!
3
This is an amazing review. Too bad weddings have traumatized me and there is no freaking way I could see a movie (gee, even one with smart, funny women) about the whole fucked up Wedding Industrial Complex that really, truly exists.
4
I was holding my breathe through the first three paragraphs, worried that you didn't like the movie. Whew! I'm so glad that it is good - not just not-bad!
5
My impression from the trailer is that Melissa McCarthy is the butt of a lot of fat jokes, and look-at-the-fat-girl-puke jokes. Is this not the case?
6
PMS-ey
7
@5: Not the case! Astonishingly not the case.
8
#5, I saw it at a free screening a month ago so I might be remembering wrong, but she was more of a Zach Galifinakis schlubby weirdo outcast type where her looks were part of her character but her fatness wasn't the punchline of all jokes related to her.

She played a pretty one-note role like Galifinakis. However, she also had one of the best scenes, involving lots of golden retriever puppies.

This movie was hilarious. Way better thanthe Hangover.
9
are you fat on purpose so it's easier to hate men?
10
Wow #9, you are a pathetic human being.
11
LINDY THIS REVIEW IS GOOD. GOOD.
12
I hear you on the smart, but sorry, "These women are funny" is a sentence worth writing down. Have you ever been to a comedy club? It's a horror show every time a woman gets on stage.

I know what you're going to say: Tina Fey! Amy Poehler! Kristen Wiig! You know how I knew you would say that? Because women are so predictable? No, not this time. Because those are the same three women everyone always mentions? Bingo. Those are the three funny women.
13
@12: That's incredibly offensive. Do you want me to write you a list? I count myself on it, for one. And most of the women I know.
14
@12: And I guarantee you I spend more time at comedy clubs than you do, and it's a horror show most of the time men get on stage too. But the difference is that men are encouraged to give it a shot and keep working until they get better, whereas women are shot down even before they begin by all of the bullshit above (your comment included).
15
Great review, Lindy. As fucking always.

As for the "women in comedy are a horror show" - I'm reminded of a comic: http://xkcd.com/385/
16
I want to see this movie. I really do. But I don't want to see it because it is being promoted through word of mouth as "if you don't see it, you are sexist."

I'll probably watch it online because I am too lazy to leave the house.
17
I'm a women and I'm hilarious.
19
Yeahhh, the advertising campaign for this movie IS totally ridiculous. But, the poster has a bride and a bunch of chicks in pink dresses on it, so I guess they want to let GUYS know that it isn't 27 Dresses or Bride Wars. But STILL. "Chick flicks don't have to suck?" Yick. Don't even boys already know Kristin Wiig and Maya Rudolph from SNL, and Ellie Kemper from The Office? Ugh, whatever.

My husband's taking me to see it this Friday. :)

And Lindy? Great piece.
20
Yup, for a carbon based lifeform (with boobs) you are fuuuunnny. Lindyroolz!!
22
Co ja kurwa czytam?

@21: IT'S A TRAP!
23
#14, not to mention at comedy nights there are generally, like, four women to every ten men, so the odds are skewed against them to begin with considering most comedy shows have only a few actual funny comedians.

And when a woman bombs, bigoted dumbasses tend to think of her as representative of the problem with women in the industry, while when a guy bombs, he's an individual who sucks. It's the same with women in music.
24
Also, how "unpredictable" were #12 and #9's comments?
25
lindy,

in the article you are referencing, writer drew writes of writer feig; "Feig, of course, is the guy who created 'Freaks and Geeks,' and he's a whip-smart comedy writer."

not quite:

"These are smart, funny men!"

No.

Because that WOULDN'T MAKE ANY SENSE, BECAUSE PEOPLE TAKE MEN SERIOUSLY BY DEFAULT.

it's a pretty simple writing trick to take a poorly written concept, assume that it represents "PEOPLE" and their "VIEWS" and then blow it up.

simple yes, but you executed in a way that was fun to read. thanks.

http://www.hitfix.com/blogs/motion-captu…

;)
26
The idea that the movie is being marketed as "not all movies for women have to be terrible" is an unprecedented admission to the fact that Hollywood knows what a disservice they have been paying to the female demographic.

"Chick Flick" is a pejorative term now. And for good reason. Its a genre of movies that treat their target audience like children who had to repeat the 4th grade. Every single time Matthew McConaughey's shit eating grin pops up on a poster with the skinny white woman of the moment, I can't imagine how people keep falling for the lazy, jaded razzle-dazzle of the Hollywood romance industry.

I hope that this movie finds an audience with women. Its going to be a grand experiment to see if a real studio can make money by taking women more seriously. Because as things stand, I feel like you are all being treated like morons.

"I have a new pity if not respect for women and the depressing materials they're given to jerk off with." -Seanbaby

27
The idea that the movie is being marketed as "not all movies for women have to be terrible" is an unprecedented admission to the fact that Hollywood knows what a disservice they have been paying to the female demographic.

"Chick Flick" is a pejorative term now. And for good reason. Its a genre of movies that treat their target audience like children who had to repeat the 4th grade. Every single time Matthew McConaughey's shit eating grin pops up on a poster with the skinny white woman of the moment, I can't imagine how people keep falling for the lazy, jaded razzle-dazzle of the Hollywood romance industry.

I hope that this movie finds an audience with women. Its going to be a grand experiment to see if a real studio can make money by taking women more seriously. Because as things stand, I feel like you are all being treated like morons, and you deserve better.

"I have a new pity if not respect for women and the depressing materials they're given to jerk off with." -Seanbaby
28
I can't wait to see it. Looking forward to it the same way I look forward to a Lindy West column.

Kristen Wiig was in Flight of the Conchords about two years back as the owner of a lost dog (gone several years and wearing a kitty costume,) and her deadpan is perfect.

Lindy West for Something Big.

29
Lindy, what if we thought the Hangover, and half of Apatow's movies suck? Would this be a netflix type of movie?
30
I'm excited to see this now. I thought there was a possibility of Suck, but I love Wiig so much I didn't care. Now I know I'll love her even more for seeing it.

And, Lindy, you are rocking awesome, uterus and all.
31
Per the loser male replies, feminism obviously isn't dead. Ding.
32
Because of the quality of talent attached to the project I was expecting to laugh. I was not expecting to get a bit teary-eyed. But both happened, a lot!! This movie is bloody-fantastic. The marketing is abysmal. Yes, there is some delightfully low-brow squirm-inducing slapstick...but there's so so much more. GO!
33
The tag-line, while dumb and useless like most of them are... wasn't about trying to override some inherent prejudice that all women are stupid.

I could quite easily see, on a comedy film like The Hangover, after showing a bunch of insane nutshots and idiocy, the PR people insisting that "These are smart and funny men!" so as not to drive away anyone who thinks that this movie is just filled to the brim with low-brow humor and has no treats for an intellectual. That's a hurdle you need to leap with ANY wacky comedy movie. And I don't think the emphasis was on "women" in that sentence--it wasn't about trying to convince you that women can be smart. It's trying to convince you that this sort of comedy can still be smart.

As for the whole chick-flicks thing... once again, they're trying to broaden up the audience. A lot of people roll their eyes at chick flicks because they're over-simplified romantic fairy-tale stories.
"I have problems."
"Let me solve your problems. With my penis."

Once again, chick flicks aren't an integral part of female culture, and therefore any insult to them is an insult to women. Not at all. A lot of the eye-rollers are women who go "what the hell? This is a movie 'for us'? No. This isn't what I want." I'd lump chick flicks in the same category as gratuitous action movies. All men like explosions and brawn and nonexistent plots? NO! You have to convince me a movie like that is worth watching.

...and to do so, you should assert that the characters are "smart and funny."
34
I'll be honest, I initially thought this article would be bashing how horrible the movie is--because that's what I expected. Based on the commercials, my perception was that "oh look, someone's trying to cash in on the success of 'The Hangover' (which was funny, but not groundbreaking in any way), by throwing a little twist on it.. and it's probably going to be filled with stereotypes and I REALLY don't want to see it."

The marketing division, realizing that this sort of perception would be out there, needed to assert that this movie would be witty and good in its own right, rather than just a knock-off. Which is where the quote "These women are smart and funny!" came about.

The tag-line, while dumb and useless like most of them are... wasn't about trying to override some inherent prejudice that all women are stupid.

I could quite easily see, on a comedy film like The Hangover, after showing a bunch of insane nutshots and idiocy, the PR people insisting that "These are smart and funny men!" so as not to drive away anyone who thinks that this movie is just filled to the brim with low-brow humor and has no treats for an intellectual. That's a hurdle you need to leap with ANY wacky comedy movie. And I don't think the emphasis was on "women" in that sentence--it wasn't about trying to convince you that women can be smart. It's trying to convince you that this sort of comedy can still be smart.

As for the whole chick-flicks thing... once again, they're trying to broaden up the audience. A lot of people roll their eyes at chick flicks because they're over-simplified romantic fairy-tale stories.
"I have problems."
"Let me solve your problems. With my penis."

It's not like chick flicks aren't an integral part of female culture, and therefore any insult to them is an insult to women. Not at all. A lot of the eye-rollers are women who go "what the hell? This is a movie 'for us'? No. This isn't what I want." I'd lump chick flicks in the same category as gratuitous action movies. All men like explosions and brawn and nonexistent plots? NO! You have to convince me a movie like that is worth watching.

...and to do so, you should assert that the characters are "smart and funny."
35
They wouldn't have to market this if so many chick flicks didnt' suck. So many chick flicks are - woman likes man, man not interested, something happens, woman and man end up happy together. I think it was paul constant that posted the Vonnegut talk where he talks about how crappy a lot of movie plots are, and most of these chick flicks fall into this category. A bunch of the previews at the showing I saw fall into this category of crappy chick flicks. I think the ad campigain is trying to distance itself from these shitty movies. There's nothing wrong with that, if you're looking for someone to blame, blame all the writers/actors/producers/audicence members of the crappy chick flicks, that bring so much of this crap to market.

And I have heard this type of marketing with other movies in other genre, i.e. this is not your typical action movie/sports movie/etc.

With so much crap movies being made, it's fair for people to assume that good movies, such as this movies, might fall into the same crap as similar movies, and it's fair for the studios to try to say hey everyone, this isn't crap.

Really this is all katherine heigl's fault.
36
Oh, and for what it's worth, I think this movie is much much much much better than the Hangover. The Hangover was just a bunch of guys getting hurt over and over again.
37
I've been entertained by this review and the comments. It's so cute when girls try to do stuff. Thanks! :)
38
@9 Your insult to Lindy is unappreciated sir (I'm assuming you're a sir). I find women with big bellies quite attractive, so go live in your victoria secret fantasy world where women are pretty and don't come off like insufferable screeching harpies.
39
Yes, women can be funny.
Lindy West? No - no not all...
41
Nice job not perpetuating the stereotype of the whiny bitch.
43
The movie just didn't do it for me.
44
#9 and #12 are trolls. Vig is the funniest actor around right now. I'm dying to see this. I didn't think the Hangover went far enough or was real enough to be really funny. There's maybe one funny movie a year, and Family Guy fills the gap. I'm just praying this is worth seeing a couple times.
45
@12 - Sarah Silverman, Carol Burnett, Joan Rivers, Margaret Cho, Whoopi Goldberg, Roseanne Barr (though I will grant you she's off her rocker a lot of the time), Lily Tomlin, Sandra Bernhart, Cathy Jones, Wanda Sykes, Garfunkel & Oates, Ellen DeGeneres (married to a woman 1000x hotter than the best you will ever do), Amy Sederis, all of my friends (most of whom were chosen to be my friends because of their ability to make me laugh so hard that milk would come out my nose). For a start.
46
Bridesmaids was genuinely funny, even considering that they blew more than 50% of the laughs by revealing them in the trailer. Considering it was Wiig and Mumalo's first script it is an impressive accomplishment (forgiving some of the formulaic/structural problems with it). Without Wiig's tremendous talent, the film wouldn't have played as strong.

With that said, I just wish that Ms. West had expended more words talking about the film and less about her own issues. The Stranger is such a great publication. I just wish it would employ a film "critic" who was more willing to demonstrate a stronger grasp of film and less willing to make herself the fulcrum of every piece.
47
@ 12 - Jane Curtin Gilda Radner Laraine Newman! Janeane Garofalo! Wanda Sykes! Ruth Buzzi! Goldie Hawn! Rosie O'Donnell!

Phyllis Diller! Elaine Boozler! Paula Poundstone! All of the Golden Girls! Lucille muthafuggin Ball, baby! Wheeee!!

Great review, Lindy - can't wait to see the movie!
48
Finally! Another female that watches IT Crowd, I've been looking everywhere for one!!
49
Sorry. Bridesmaids SCREAMS "chick flick." I'm not getting anywhere near it.
50
While stating "these women are smart and funny!" does read like a "believe it or not!!" statement, it doesn't necessarily mean "believe it or not, sometimes women are smart and funny too!" It could just as easily be saying "believe it or not, the female characters in this movie aren't written to be accessibly shallow plot pawns like they are in almost every 'chick flick' you've ever seen."

Like, "OK I know you've been burned before but this time it'll be different baby, I've changed I swear."

But honestly my gut reaction from the title and poster for this movie didn't exactly give this stereotype a lot of breathing room. It's really pretty hard not to do that with Hollywood movies.

And on that note, there is still a bottom line to be reached for a marketing department. Especially with Hollywood movies, if the movie is anything but run-of-the-mill, you're gonna have to get the point of it across to the thick-skulled masses to get there. I think comment #49 demonstrates the difficulty with the "american dudes" demographic pretty well -- jamesdingo evidently couldn't get the point even with an article breaking it down for him.
51
People of diff genders despise chick flicks but dig chick comics, so advertisers & media want to make the distinction clear- they expect their audience (of all genders) to be excited to hear about it & go see the movie.
53
@45 Stop perpetuating stereotypes...Carol Burnett, Joan Rivers and Whoopi are not funny. Ellen DeGeneres should start and end your list. One of the greatest comics ever. Too bad she doesn't do stand-up much anymore.
54
@53: Carol Burnett is not funny?
You, sir or madam, are one delusion little fishy.
I'm with you on Ellen though. An outstanding comic.
55
@54 I'm a little too young to remember the Carol Burnett show, so maybe i should have withheld judgement on that one, but based on cameos and her work on password, i stand by my not-funny assessment.
56
What's with the weird Clinton rant? Are we still pretending that the only reason to vote against Hillary was misogyny? If it's about not enough women being in high-level government positions, make it about that, and not about one particular (Iraq War-supporting) woman's presidential campaign.
57
Flounder, if you haven't seen the skit where Carol Burnett descends the grand staircase as Scarlett O'Hara, wearing the dress she fashioned from the drapes, well then... You just haven't availed yourself of all that life has to offer, I guess.

58
I do think Bridesmaids was a good movie, but I do think it could have been better. And holy shit, way to preface your review with a bunch of extraneous nonsense. Yes, we're women, we get how tough and annoying it is to be women sometimes! I can't stand chick flicks, and I'm a woman. But here's my bone to pick with Bridesmaids. First of all, the script had a lot of Apatow influence. The whole puking in the bridal place? Apatow. Of course they had to throw a gross out scene in there, how else would they be able to market it as a "non-chick flick" without it? Apatow would have never produced this movie if the women had been allowed to write the script by themselves. He wouldn't have been able to make fun of a certain characters girth that way. Haha, she's fat.

The fact that women are calling this movie damn good is, well, sad. There was so much potential for this movie to be as funny as it was and still go deeper than it was (with several undeveloped storylines) but the producers probably shied away from that because they didn't want to get too "mushy." Women can be funny and have emotions! Imagine that! Ugh. Yes, the movie is FUNNY! Hilarious! But is it good? Really really good? No.
In your review of this movie you only spent two paragraphs actually talking about the movie. Did you actually see it? Think about it? Or were you too busy changing your tampon to actually write a review?
59
Are women allowed to study grammar and punctuation?
60
Saw it. Loved it. Only thing it needed *way* more Chris O'Dowd...well, I'll amend that. What it really needed was Chris O'Dowd in the seat next to me. Dreamy and hilarious
61
Let's be honest: chick flicks generally suck, just like dude films generally suck. Whether the plot involves 1) a quirky, single barista looking for love in the big city or 2) a team of marines dropped into a jungle to save a small village, you know the movie is going to blow.

I am totally going to see this movie because it was well-reviewed and looks smartly written, unlike most movies in the genre. Just like I am totally going to see Thor because it was well-reviewed and looks smartly written, unlike most movies in the genre.
62
I think that this lady is overreacting like a juvenile. Her reference to the navy seals is stupid because there is not one single woman on this earth that is as strong or as fast or on so many steroids as the male members of Seal Unit 6. Face it, you want the best out there and women can't compete in the physical aspect. Also, men will try to protect women from being captured by the enemy because men are afraid that they will be raped if they are captured by the enemy. This makes the men be more worried about protecting the women in the squad that completing their mission.

Now to call this a Bridesmaids a chick flick is misguided. It is a comedy and I think that because of its novelty it was advertised properly. When was the last time you saw this type of movie?  It would be like if a chick-flick type movie was created for guys. It would make a lot of sense to advertise it as a "chick-flick" for guys. Men are not as sensitive as women and we don't seek out the situations that occur in chick flicks just as women aren't seeking out the misadventures that happened in the movie (while men are). Correct me if I'm wrong on this point. 

The writer is clearly upset about her life and she will take issue with any and all social issues involving rich-educated-white-women. Society isn't perfect nor is it equal for everyone, but we already knew that. This movie, just like everything else in society reflects that. She just picked this topic to be trendy. Also, she says that because women have a Tina Fey and some
other funny white chick, women are funny. That's bullshit. I don't think Fey is nearly as funny as other women. Why doesn't she cite a funny black or Hispanic woman?  She may not be talking about women in the broad sense of the word.  Instead, she is referring her narrow socioeconomic bracket of educated-rich-white-women who already have so much but are so ungrateful for it, that instead of counting their blessings, they always find something to complain about. 
63
Unfortunately, I think there is some worth to saying "these are women that are funny!" only because there are relatively few in Hollywood. And don't get me wrong, I don't think it's because women are inherently less likely to be funny, but simply that they are less-often ENCOURAGED to be. For one, there is probably a bit of an "old-boys club" mentality to a lot of writers' rooms. But for another, it just isn't as ingrained in women from a young age to crack jokes and be funny. Conan O'Brien once related in an interview how he and his brothers were encouraged to be funny, but his sisters weren't because it wasn't "ladylike," and he felt this general societal tendency was largely what led to his own writers' room lacking many women. He wanted to hire more, but there simply weren't many applying.

It's of course a shame, and something that SHOULD ideally be different. But I have a hard time blaming the marketers and reviewers in this case for pointing out how rare it is for there to be a good, women-centric comedy. Most of them aim to be "cute" rather than funny (e.g. every romantic comedy ever made). I'm sure studios and marketers themselves are largely to blame for this - they've pigeonholed the market largely out of their own doing - but it's still worth noticing and commenting on, if only so we (audiences as well as those creating and selling comedy) can actively try to improve the situation.
64
Comedies featuring female characters in the lead role generally aren't cast with actual comedians like Kristin Wiig. They're cast with actresses like Kate Hudson or Sandra Bullock that deliver a kind of light acting rather than comedy. It's more important for these women to be beautiful than funny. The advertising campaign of this movie is a bit condescending when you consider the talent behind it, but the studio is obviously trying to distance Bridesmaids from this convention of casting pretty actresses in place of comedians.
65
Fully possible that "These are smart, funny women" refers to the Hollywood bubble, not the ladies we know in life.

Funny women in movies are usually played as second bananas (the quirky friend of the beautiful lead actress) and funny all-female movies are extremely rare.

Off the top of my head I guess Drew Barrymore's "Whip It" was the last female-heavy comedy that I remember that was pretty good.

Bridesmaids deserves it's success and if a little bit of pandering helps it out, no big deal.

There's just as much sexism aimed at men in Hollywood, believe it or not. Hey knuckleheads this generic movie has violence and boobs - give us your money! A plot? That's the hole they bury victims in right?

Face it, Hollywood thinks we're all a bunch of idiots, men and women alike.

66
There was a scene in American Splendor where the three (nerdy) protagonists see Revenge of the Nerds. Two of them come out raving that it's a watershed moment in American culture, that nerds are finally being given their due, not just being accepted but celebrated. That's how I would feel about Bridesmaids if I were a woman.

If I may say so, it was the most refreshingly honest portrayal of female relationships I've ever seen on screen. The fact that it was hilarious is just a bonus. I look forward to seeing a lot more from Kristen Wiig, particularly anything she has a hand in writing.
67
I dunno. Women are and have been heads of state in a lot of places - just look at the 2nd most populous country in this continent. So I don't think menses is why HC didn't make it. Maybe, just maybe, someone else beat her fair and square.
68
#67 and she was IN the picture, so, not the greatest example of someone that done got did wrong.

I sympathize with all the people who say that our whole gender gets done wrong every time another rom com comes out, but then I'm sure there's a guy flick equivalent. And I'm guessing the smart guys don't feel patronized as guys (yer profiling me rong!) because they know it's just a bunch of dumb guys making the decisions and they don't take it personally. The best movies are the ones that are popular with both genders, because they're good. And there are enough of them that we can all ignore the dreck. I don't want to be profiled at all, really.

This thing that LOOKS like a chick flick? About a wedding? Of course they have to distance themselves. OF COURSE.
69
@67: Yes, absolutely. I also supported HRC in the primaries, despite my concern about her unfavorability ratings, right up until South Carolina. The subsequent massive pandering to white voters and the veiled attacks against blacks and other minorities turned me off completely, and I was far from the only one. It was shocking that HRC's campaign ended up relying much more on the "Southern Strategy" than McCain's.

HRC was subject to sexist criticism and to various double standards during the campaign, and I have no doubt that some people voted against her just because she is a woman. I also have no doubt that some people voted against Obama because he is black, so I'm not sure whether the prejudice tips for or against HRC.

In any event, IMO HRC lost primarily due to strategic errors by her campaign-- specifically, they had no game plan post "super Tuesday." While HRC was competitive until that point, Obama went on to win eight primaries in a row due to HRC's lack of funding and organization, picking up a delegate lead that HRC just could not make up.
70
I started watching Party Down on netflix recently. There's a show with a lot of funny women- Lizzy Caplan, Jane Lynch, Jennifer Coolidge, and Megan Mullally among them.

A while back in Vanity Fair Christopher Hitchens attempted to explain that men use humor to convince women to have sex with them, and women aren't funny because they don't need to work to convince men to have sex with them. He made some good points, but my takeaway was that the kind of men who say women aren't funny are the kind who see them mostly as sex objects who should spend as little time talking as possible anyway.
71
An excellent example of how women can write smart, funny reviews of movies.
72
Lindy, I would be honored to serve as your sex- ottoman/chicken-nugget-delivery-system.
73
Ummm, Joan Rivers is definitely funny. Read one of her books. Also, how has nobody mentioned Lisa Kudrow?! Google "Web Therapy", start with Season 1 Episode 1, and thank me later. Her comedic timing is perfect. See also:

-Ana Gasteyer
-Jan Hooks
-Betty White, Rue McClanahan, Bea Arthur, Estelle Getty
-Molly Shannon
-Cheri Oteri
-Mayim Bialik (aka Blossom) on either "Fat Actress" or "The Big Bang Theory"

....there are tons and tons of hilarious women. This list doesn't even scratch the surface.
74
Oh, and Portia de Rossi!
75
Bridesmaids was hilarious! I liked it, my wife liked it, my mother in law who normally prefers cheesy Disney-ness liked it. Also, I don't think anyone mentioned Julia Sweeney yet. She is excellent. Especially her moth stuff.
76
Men really just don't like women, mostly because men are scared of women. So they belittle them and insult them and call them 'crazy'... and that's the non-rapey, non-women-are-property part of the equation.

And I'll never, ever understand it. Women (as a gender) are so much smarter, funnier, stronger and more asthetically pleasing than men (as a gender).

I'm a guy, and I can't stand it when other guys assume you're a member of the He-Man's Woman Hater's Club just because you happen to own a penis. And the guys who make a claim to 'love women' are mostly guys who want to have indiscriminate sex with as many of them as possible - no love involved, please.

In short - Lindy's right, as usual.
77
Jeeeeze, so bitter! Ever notice the drunk driving PSAs on TV? It's always a man. Or the insurance fraud PSAs? Only men. Or how about every family-based single sitcom on television (Home Improvement, The Simpsons, Married With Children, Modern Family, Family Guy, King of Queens, 8 Simple Rules, Still Standing, Family Matter, even Dinosaurs for goodness sake), they ALL are based around a big buffoon of a man who is just plain idiotic at best. Yoplait commercials where the man is moronically looking for the actual Key Lime Pie in the fridge. The entire Secret deodorant campaign. It's ALWAYS a man being portrayed as stupid.

I challenge you to find more instances in mass media where a woman is portrayed as dumber than a man. You can not. I also challenge you to find more women that genuinely find female comedy to be better than male comedy. Not out of your readers, not out of those who have just seen Bridesmaids, I'm talking about a legitimate sampling.

You don't have to take it so personally. Calm down. Maybe male comedy is just better. Men and women are different for a reason, it adds to the variety of life. Looking for equality in every facet of society is a futile and naive effort.
78
My mom is the funniest person I've ever met. I've never thought of her funniness as "female comedy," nor do I think she's especially funny because she's so good at "male comedy."

There's no male comedy or female comedy. There's just comedy.

If you're a standard representation of us men, #77, then it's not so much a problem that men are being portrayed as stupid as much as they are stupid.

79
@timdavids, you really should read the article being commented on before you attempt to actually comment on it. The main point that Lindy is raising (the writer of this blog, since I'm guessing you didn't notice) is that female comedians can be as funny as male comedians, and they shouldn't be debased with the phrase "these are smart, funny women," because it implies that ordinarily, women are not smart and/or funny.

In my comment, I was arguing the fact that there is no stereotype against women being stupid, in fact, it appears to be much the opposite. You so astutely supported this by calling all men stupid (through an insult to myself). There exists absolutely no stereotype that women are NOT smart, therefore, I don't think she has any reason to be upset, let alone rant about removing her uterus with a fork based on this "stereotype" because it simply doesn't exist.

I then went on to argue my opinion against the idea that "funny women" shouldn't be an exception, and that female comedians should be treated equally as men. I just see men and women as having different strengths, and instead of commenting on my views, you decided to incorrectly nitpick the language that I used. It seems to me that a female comedian would produce female comedy and a male comedian would produce male comedy. I'm not sure why you're so offended at that, it's simply a characterization of who is physically producing and presenting the material. Instead of arching your back because someone said the words "male" and "female" separately, why don't you actually read the content of what I read and intelligently comment on that, if you do in fact have a coherent opinion, and not something that sounds like it belongs on a bumper sticker.
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I wanted to come on here to say FUCK YOU to Lindy West. After you wrote that stupid fucking waste of screenspace article about being fat I thought you were an annoying loud mouthed cunt. BUT, I liked your reviews, well written generally intelligent.
I saw this shitty ass movie because of your review. Kristin Wigg or whatever her name is possibly the least interesting actress i've ever fucking seen. Get off your fat woman high horse holy shit, this is the worst chick flick I have ever seen. The only funny parts are with the fat woman or the woman from reno 911, I left before it ended. My girlfriend who is a girl as well thought it stunk like a big boys thong. GOD DAMN
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Oh my God anal smith you are everything that is wrong with society.

But I digress. I know its late but I had to comment on this, because I only saw bridesmaids recently (and consequently loved it so much I saw it another two times), but one thing has bugged me since I saw it...

Before I go into it though, I agree with the others on here that the tag "these are smart, funny women" is actually kind of necessary in a day and age when comedy films centred on women are kind of limited to the dumb romantic chick flick. Which I do love in all honesty, but in a "secret shame/I like to watch them while eating a whole tub of icecream" kind of way. The tag to me speaks to the multitude of women who are tired of all the films aimed at them being of the "hot professional woman, has amazing career but is a lonely sad loser because she is DEVOID OF LOVE PEOPLE! SHE NEEDS A MAN NOWWWW oh yay here comes a hot one, the end" and want something that isn't so completely stupid - and more importantly, a movie that wasnt solely about a woman needing a man to be complete. I mean, all the important themes of bridesmaids were about the complexities of female friendships, which i LOVED - that felt so refreshing, and thats why I dont feel like the tagline is so bad - because this is a different movie to your normal chick flick of the past, and these women are smart and funny - not just funny because they fall over and land in a wedding cake, or get PMS and start crying because their dress looks fat on them, but funny because they are actually comedically talented.

Phew! So I see what you were saying Lindy, but I disagree.

Onto my real gripe about the film - humans, sometimes I hate you all. I mean, really HATE. Because each of the three times I saw this movie, there was a group of ignorant dumbasses laughing at Melissa McCarthy purely because she is fat. Now I know they styled her to be unkempt and erring on the masculine side as part of her character. I know she isnt meant to look gorgeous or put together. And I know at times (jumping on the couch, etc) she uses her weight as part of the joke. But what Im talking about are people who genuinely think its funny to see a fat person with confidence. Like "haha, shes fat and she goes after men, thats disgusting!" that was the kind of laughing and sniggering I was hearing. I mean, for fucks sake.
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Who cares if Lindy liked this movie or not. Certainly not me.

It's a Chick Flick with Crossover Appeal. Because Men weren't the Target of Revenge for some Fault. Cheating, Marrying Up, Divorce, Etc, etc. So men went to see it too. Helping it make $$$

Also Melissa M accepts roles where her size is mentioned or is a Punch Line. If she doesn't like it. She can go work at Denny's.

She CHOSE to work in an Industry where Size and Beauty and DOLLARS matter. If she wants to get paid. She has to play to her Comedic strengths that audiences want to see. The movie studios are under no obligation to her. Or to what people think about anything Melissa says she's concerned about. Good,even great comedic actresses are a dime a dozen in Hollywood. They just haven't been discovered yet. Or, haven't received that "Big Break" or "Starring Role". Melissa had hers. Others will follow.

Summer Redstone, Bob Iger and Sony will put up with so much. Before they say "NEXT!" And then someone new is "Discovered" and they are the "Break Out Star" of the new Television season. Or Summer Comedy Blockbuster.


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