Mystic River : Women are depicted so poorly ugh

Women are depicted so poorly ugh

Katie is your typical 19 year old bimbette dancing atop a bar, Celeste rats her husband out to Jimmy and Annabeth is the Mafia wife who supports her husband's depraved, sociopathic ways.

I mean I certainly don't go expecting complex women characters, they are just subjugated to supporting roles of women who are not reliable, in such "dude" movies anyway.. No wonder I watched it 13 years later in 2016.

Re: Women are depicted so poorly ugh

Katie was having fun.

Celeste did what she thought was right.

The men in this film were the ones most seriously flawed.


He killed sixteen Czechoslovakians. Guy was an interior decorator.

Re: Women are depicted so poorly ugh

I think it does a much better job at making both men and women seem pretty disgusting. It reminds me a lot of living in a bad area in a small town. Everyone is a bit scummy, and has their own fucked up stories to tell. Reminds me a bit of Twin Peaks, just without any of the quirky or surreal elements.

The film left me feeling sorry for Tim Robbins' character, somewhat understanding Jimmy's character, but being more or less disgusted by or indifferent towards any of the others. Really, the film just made me want to avoid whatever part of town they're in.

Re: Women are depicted so poorly ugh

Well, it is a Clint Eastwood movie...

Re: Women are depicted so poorly ugh




Katie is your typical 19 year old bimbette dancing on atop a bar, Celeste rats her husband out to Jimmy and Annabeth is the Mafia wife who supports her husband's depraved, sociopathic ways.


Do you honestly believe that such women don't exist, or are you just getting up on your feminist high horse for its own sake? If we're supposed to believe your version of things, then by implication:

A. There are never drunken bimbos dancing atop bars or otherwise making fools of themselves.

B. No women are ever attracted to sociopathic criminals, and never encourage their husband/boyfriend's criminal behavior for the sake of ill-gotten status and wealth.

If you believe that neither of these exist, you must inhabit a very interesting alternate universe.

Re: Women are depicted so poorly ugh

Of course I am aware that there are women like these but in this movie no woman character is depicted as someone whom one can like. It's ok to show flawed women but a good writer nullifies it by adding a more praiseworthy character lest it should look stereotypical. Sadly, here the male characters are complex, your heart goes out to some, and you hate others .. But women characters reduced to flawed, simple, and subordinate ones.

Re: Women are depicted so poorly ugh

And the male characters in this movie weren't flawed?



Working in the movie business since -92

Re: Women are depicted so poorly ugh

You aren't a good reader are you? The male characters ARE complex.. They are flawed sometimes, sometimes you feel for their misery and root for them. Which woman were you rooting for in this movie? (Please don't say the daughter who gets killed in the first 5 mins of the movie)

Re: Women are depicted so poorly ugh

You think Celeste isn't a complex character?



Working in the movie business since -92

Re: Women are depicted so poorly ugh

She is mistrusting of her husband, gets paranoid and snitches to her sister's husband about her suspicions... that directly leads to her husband's death. Again, not a character you root for.

Re: Women are depicted so poorly ugh

I agree completely. There are good performances in this film by some amazing actors, but the story frequently forces you to make significant leaps of logic, leading to a lot of characters whose performances don't ring true.

I have a hard time connecting to any film where the characters don't tell what actually happened for whatever plot contrived reason which leads to their or some other person's death. It's just too easy a reason get where you want to go as a writer.

The female characters are poorly written in this film. I couldn't begin to relate to any of them because I constantly felt like they were doing the exact opposite of what I would do in their situation. Obviously, I understand that their are people out there who do things differently then me, but its difficult to keep interest when every character goes against everything that seems logical to myself.

This is in no way a critique of the film making, because I honestly was so put off throughout the entirety of the 3 times I've watched this that the characters and story kept me from even attempting to evaluate it in those aspects.

Re: Women are depicted so poorly ugh

Well, make up your mind. Is your gripe with the female characters that they aren't complex or not worthy of rooting for? That's not the same thing.

And I think you're oversimplifying her character. Celeste witnesses her husband coming home bloody in the middle of the night with some rambling story about what happened. It looks like she wants to believe him but can't find anything that backs up his story. Then she learns that her niece has gone missing and been brutally murdered that very same night. She tries to talk to Jimmy, probably about something being amiss, but can't. Then her husband loses it and starts getting psychotic about vampires, and if I'm not mistaken she also learns that her husband was at the bar where her niece was last seen. At this point, what is she to do? Be silent and stay loyal to the man who she suspects killed her sister's stepdaughter? Or does she voice her suspicions and stay loyal to her sister and her family? I think one brilliant choice (I'm not sure if it's in the novel or the film) was to make Katie Annabeth's stepdaughter and not biological child, because one can argue that it makes Celeste's choice even harder as they're not related by blood.

I would argue that Celeste is one of the more complex characters in the movie. Watch it again and pay attention to Marcia Gay Harden's performance. It's fantastic.



Working in the movie business since -92

Re: Women are depicted so poorly ugh

I did root for Celeste as she only did what she thought was right, while at the same time feeling paranoid, fearful, and alienated from her husband. I'd actually say she was an interesting and complex supporting character. When it comes to Annabeth I thought she turned out to be morally despicable, but not more so than her husband.
And finally, I can say I definitely don't appreciate a 19yo girl being classified as a "bimbette" for dancing in a bar, and considering female characters who act in a sexually provocative way as "poorly depicted" in any way.

Re: Women are depicted so poorly ugh


If you believe that neither of these exist, you must inhabit a very interesting alternate universe.


The question is not whether there are women like that. It's why did all the women have to be portrayed in a negative light. They're all pathetic, bimbos or nutjobs.

If the main protagonists were women and all the male characters were rapists, wimps and serial killers, I'd still think it was silly, even though I'm a woman.

It's not about feminism, it's about realism.

For every lie I unlearn I learn something new - Ani Difranco

Re: Women are depicted so poorly ugh

Hey, baby, I like the way you look. I like your whole steez. Let's hang out sometime.

Re: Women are depicted so poorly ugh

As someone who actually knows people and doesn't send all day on the internet, yea, girls are like this in real life

Re: Women are depicted so poorly ugh


As someone who actually knows people and doesn't send all day on the internet, yea, girls are like this in real life

lol yeah ALL "girls" are "like this" in real life. You really don't come off as someone who knows real people, dude. More like a guy with severe mommy issues.

Did she spank you too much? Or did she bring her boyfriends home and made the bed creak?

For every lie I unlearn I learn something new - Ani Difranco

Re: Women are depicted so poorly ugh

women are depicted exactly as how women are

i never understood the women that sleep with corrupt men

like it's pretty corrupt to work for Lockheed knowing how much bloodshed their ''products'' cause

you're the wife of the CEO, to me that's a bigger bitch than the CEO himself

Re: Women are depicted so poorly ugh

In 90% of films women are scripted to be bitches. There are very few good female characters. Usually only sci fi films have good strong female characters. And when they do they are usually very masculine.

Re: Women are depicted so poorly ugh

Making only 90% of them bitches is too generous, should be 97-98%.

Re: Women are depicted so poorly ugh

All women are bimbettes at 19? The movie says just this one character was. The two other women are quite different from one another.

What should've happened? Play writer for a day. Write in some "better" female characters. We're listening. But hurry up...These boards are dying.

Re: Women are depicted so poorly ugh

"the Mafia wife who supports her husband's depraved, sociopathic ways."

That scene was so disgusting.
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