Introduction
This essay evaluates feminism as depicted in the film ‘Roger Dodger’ by Dylan. In his film, Dylan Kidd presents the two genders in a scintillating and amusing way. The theme of gender is captured in scenes in a plot that invoke drama, comedy, romance and sex.
Throughout the film, the actors, both the men and women, are engaged in battle of wits that oscillates around gender definitions and prescriptions. As the film ensues, one gets the feeling that women cannot outmatch the intelligence of men. Dylan portrays majority of the female actors in the movie as naïve and susceptible to male calculations.
The plot of the movie tends towards portraying women as inferior to men given majority of the women in the movie fall into traps set by men very easily. Roger, the star in the movie, orchestrates the gender battle through a series of romantic scenes that depict women as the weaker sex. Women are depicted as not capable of standing their ground and thus are generally susceptible to men’s selfish maneuvers.
Character of Women
Dylan Kidd’s movie portrays or brings out heroism in men and depicts women in low light. The male characters are the heroes in the movie while female actors in the movie have despicable roles. In this film, Dylan Kidd portrays some sharp contrasts in the character of female actors. Some characters are gullible and submissive while some other female characters are ready and willing to stand for their dignity and assume leadership roles.
Theme Development in the Plot
To develop the plot, Kidd employs a genre atypical of a female author. The author shows clearly that the acts of one woman are not qualified to represent the fullness of other women’s character, choices and actions. It is only a gender sensitive male or a female author that can appreciate such a fact. The whole plot revolves around how the gender divide plays out or how male and female interact in society.
The main character in the movie is Roger. After being dumped by his girl friend, Roger opts to indulge in pleasure by seeking good-looking girls for sex. He, therefore, opts to visit the singles nightclub to try his luck. His mission, at first, seems futile. The initial futility experienced in the mission spurs Roger into intensifying his search. His search finally gets him to an underground brothel. The desire for sex makes him somewhat crazy and he did not care who came his way.
A nephew came visiting and although, initially, Roger is unhappy about his nephew’s (Nick) visit, the idea of helping him break his virginity excites him. Therefore, Roger commences lessons for Nick on “the art of seduction”. From their discussions and actions, it is clear that both of them have low respect for women.
Their first lesson is in the singles club where they encounter Jennifer and Elizabeth. The two women are tough nuts to crack. Both women detect the men’s motives before hand and they stand their ground; they refuse to give in to Nick’s advances.
Both Jennifer and Elizabeth are principled and they represent women who value dignity and are ready to defy exploitation. Joyce, the former girl friend to Roger, portrays similar qualities. Although, in the movie, she was always on and off, she portrays a unique character that refuses to compromise her dignity by not falling for the tempting proposal from his employee, Rodger. Despite the fact that she lowers herself to indulge in an affair with her employee, she eventually stopped it.
Feminism
Roger is a drunken womanizer accustomed to hanging in bars and nightclubs. His attitude towards women helps us to have a clear understanding of the level feminism in the film. The fact that Roger managed to have some women to hang up with, despite his drunken state, points to fact that majority of the women were indifferent towards championing or standing up for their rights and dignity.
He further exposes them as naïve and unable to live without male influence. Hence, the film portrays majority of women as weak and unwilling to detach themselves from the traditional ideology that subjects women to the control of men.
As Roger relates, all women are equal and are subject to men’s advances. Due to this notion, he accepted with a delight to guide his nephew to ditch his virginity. However, once his first mission backfires, he is left puzzled by the determination of Elizabeth and Jennifer (Berardinelli 1). These two women remain exceptional in their character as they set an example for others.
From nick’s underground exploits, we realize that some women are desperate for men to lay them. Joyce’s secretary is drunk and she readily gives in to Nick’s approaches. Although she is under the influence of alcohol, her lack of control leaves many questions about women’s resolve to curtail male dominance.
It is interesting to see Nick decide to allow her to recover from alcohol influence before indulging in sex with her (Berardinelli 1). This scenario shows that some women are contented in their plight of being under men’s control.
Men and Fight for women rights
Since majority women seem effortless or non-committal to championing for their rights, the film is indicative of the role men can play in championing women rights. The movie presents a change of attitude by Roger who drags Nick from sleeping with prostitutes.
Rogers is a talented orator with a convincing tongue that charmed many women towards his malicious and selfish gains. He understood that all women, without exception, were susceptible to advances from men. His determination to lay his employer speaks all about his ability to seduce and attract women to himself. In addition, Roger is rich in speech and his talks with women reveal that he is a master of the seduction game.
He promises his nephew (Nick) that he will sleep with a woman on the first night out. Although this does not happen, Nick had the opportunity and he is consciously aware that he allowed it to slip out of his hands. The film reveals the richness of the Roger’s creativity in the quest to satisfy his sexual drive (Berardinelli 1). However, in all this, one can also discern the capacity of men to be part of the feminism drive i.e. as fellow seekers after respect for women’s rights and dignity.
Conclusion
Dylan Kidd has effectively been able to use the genre atypical of female writer. In the movie, he portrays some women as having the ability to stand the conniving approaches of men. However, the eloquent Roger seems irresistible and a master of seduction as he endeavored to indulge himself in sex.
The way women fell for him really showed that some of them were vulnerable and unable to champion for the feminism aspirations. The film shows that most women were unwilling to fight for their rights or dignity and it is up to the men to surrender their dominance willingly.
Works Cited
Berardinelli, James. Roger Dodger. 2011. Web.