Though in recent decades, the movie industry has made a shift to seem more gender neutral. However, underneath the façade of equality, movies like Monster-in-Law have anti-feminist undertones. It has anti-feminist undertones such as women's lesser job status, the need to have a man in a woman's life, the over-focus on a woman's body, and the lack of relationships between women. Monster-in-Law perpetuates the gender stereotype that women are lesser than men.
Monster-in-Law, the 2005 rom-com from director Robert Luketic, tells the story of dog walking, temp Charlie, her fiancé Dr. Kevin Fields, and his mother Viola Fields. After a faked medical emergency, Viola moves in with her son and Charlie. When Dr. Fields leaves town for a medical conference, …show more content…
As the only male character in the movie with any sort of character development, Dr. Fields holds a position of power as the head doctor in his unspecified department of the hospital. However, the women in the movie hold significantly less _______ jobs. Charlie works as a temp, filling in for absent workers in various unglamorous jobs such as catering, a receptionist at a doctor's office, and ________. Her future-mother-in-law references this inability to get a real job throughout the movie as though it diminishes her worth. Viola commonly introduces Charlie as a "temp" with the vitriol one might say "murder" with. Ruby, Viola's sassy, black assistant, is relegated to a role of service to a verbally abusive employer. Not only does this show a woman forced into servitude, but one could even argue that it harkens back to the days of slavery when blacks were forced to work for white masters. As Susan Douglas said in "Signs of Intelligent Life on TV," "the black women who are the conscience and much-needed drill sergeants of the show don't get top billing." Morgan works as a caterer implying that perhaps, her place is in the kitchen. Many hold the common misconception that women belong in the kitchen cooking for the men instead of holding an equal place of authority in the
Monster-in-Law, the 2005 rom-com from director Robert Luketic, tells the story of dog walking, temp Charlie, her fiancé Dr. Kevin Fields, and his mother Viola Fields. After a faked medical emergency, Viola moves in with her son and Charlie. When Dr. Fields leaves town for a medical conference, …show more content…
As the only male character in the movie with any sort of character development, Dr. Fields holds a position of power as the head doctor in his unspecified department of the hospital. However, the women in the movie hold significantly less _______ jobs. Charlie works as a temp, filling in for absent workers in various unglamorous jobs such as catering, a receptionist at a doctor's office, and ________. Her future-mother-in-law references this inability to get a real job throughout the movie as though it diminishes her worth. Viola commonly introduces Charlie as a "temp" with the vitriol one might say "murder" with. Ruby, Viola's sassy, black assistant, is relegated to a role of service to a verbally abusive employer. Not only does this show a woman forced into servitude, but one could even argue that it harkens back to the days of slavery when blacks were forced to work for white masters. As Susan Douglas said in "Signs of Intelligent Life on TV," "the black women who are the conscience and much-needed drill sergeants of the show don't get top billing." Morgan works as a caterer implying that perhaps, her place is in the kitchen. Many hold the common misconception that women belong in the kitchen cooking for the men instead of holding an equal place of authority in the