Spiderman 3 (2007)
Dir. by: Sam Raimi
Starring: Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst, James Franco
Waitress (2007)
Dir. by: Adrienne Shelly
Starring: Keri Russell, Nathan Fillion, Cheryl Hines
Hm...Is pitting these two summer films against each other unfair, and merely an excuse to slam Spiderman 3? Perhaps.
I went to see Spiderman 3 at the first midnight screening, at Hollywood's Arclight Cinema. (This firmly establishes my dedication and credibility.) I left around 3 am, my mind tangled in, yes, webs of horrible dialogue, stomach-churning awkward subplots, and the most under-whelming fight scenes of any graphic novel set to motion, that I've seen. (Meaning that my strict standard of movie-viewing absolutely prevented me from seeing comic adaptations on the level of, say, Daredevil.) About half way through the film, I realized I was having the opposite of fun, right around the time that the film lamp went wonky and distorted the coloring of a few scenes. This tiny defect was enough to earn a free admission ticket, one that I felt entirely deserved.
I used this free pass not much more than 12 hours later, at a matinee of Waitress. My reasoning, knowing only that Keri Russell starred, was that even a romantic comedy starring Keri Russell would be better than Spidercrap 3.
To my great surprise, it was!
That afternoon, I had big plans for this review. Comparing how each film treated the elderly, how a more simple visual style can be more captivating than an influx of unmotivated action sequences, how stories can be new even within very stylized genres, et cetera.
Since then, one major issue has stuck in my side when I think about these films. Even after weeks of not writing this review, I feel this one argument still worth exploring - that old stand-by: female characters.
Love Story involving Abuse : Mary Jane vs. Keri Russell
Everyone knows that old comics, especially Spiderman, are all about love. What's the greatest motivation for Peter Parker? MJ. It's a soap opera under the thinly veiled auspices of an action movie, and everyone is happy to be fooled. Spiderman 3, for some reason, incorporated abuse within Peter and Mary Jane's otherwise wholesome relationship. An hour through Spiderman 3, Mary Jane has endured a great deal of public humiliation and relationship deal-breakers... and says nothing... does nothing to defend herself... weakly moving through the scenes as the most transparent and simplistic device.
Similarly, everyone knows that romantic comedies are about love! It's inherent. Waitress, an anti-love story, also revolves around domestic abuse. For a good part of the film, we see Jenna (Keri Russell) withstand verbal and emotional abuse, including public humiliation. However, her goal throughout the film is to set her pregnant self free, and after many, yes, baby steps, she eventually divorces her abusive husband. AND creates a successful business.
At the end of Spiderman 3, Mary Jane steps off the stage after singing at a small club, right back into the arms of her abusive boyfriend, without a word to explain Venom, or whatever evil possessed Peter to strike her. It was so beautiful, I almost left the theater. I know she's supposed to be the love interest, the thing that Spiderman has to save from falling or something falling on, I get it. I just want to care about the characters. If you let your boyfriend hit you, then yes, maybe a taxi cab should crush you. I'm not saying on-screen violence, to a man or woman, is wrong. In fact, I love violent movies. I just want to see characters fight back. Or leave. Or start a pie business. Anything. Otherwise, I could go watch the evening news.
