Baby Mama Drama (spoilers)
When I first saw previews for Baby Mama, I was excited because of the two strong female leads (Tina Fey and Amy Poehler) and a plot concept that didn't involve races to the airport and restaurant sing-a-longs (none of that romantic comedy crap). I think it's sad that in this day and age the only movies that star women are romantic comedies. I thought, "Maybe Fey and Poehler are going to change the trend!"
I was wrong. (If you have not seen Baby Mama yet, please stop reading, for I am going to spoil the shit out of this for you).
The plot of BM (not Bowel Movement) is complicated to begin with. Surrogacy isn't exactly a funny subject. It's actually something a little serious, and there's probably not much known about it. Throughout the first half of the film, BM presents the facts on the topic in a humorous, often touching manner.
However, halfway through, it goes all Julia Roberts on your ass and decides it needs to have a romance in order to keep its audience interested. Greg Kinnear appears, Tina Fey falls for him, Amy Poehler is NOT pregnant with Tina's baby, and you just KNOW what happens next.
This movie insulted me -- as well as every infertile woman out there. The message ends up as, "Things work out. Single women with T-shaped uteruses (uteri?) will meet good-looking men, fall in love, and suddenly find themselves pregnant, when chances were one in a million." I'm all for happy endings, but how about throwing a bone to infertile women? I really wanted to see the surrogacy follow through full-term and Tina Fey's Kate find happiness with this new and innovative choice. I hate it when movies ask you at the end, "What kind of wrapping paper did you want? And how about a silver bow on top?"
Maybe I'm just a movie snob, but I think I make a valid point about females and movies. After reviewing BM to a friend, she said, "You're asking for the staple of a genre of movies to be changed -- it'll never be." I said, "Dammit. Why can't it be changed? Why can't we have buddy female comedies without Greg Kinnear popping up?"
This is the new double standard. Forget the whole "slut/stud" theory. The romantic comedy genre needs to die a quick, horrible death. Meg Ryan knew when to back off. Why can't the rest of Hollywood learn?
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