Two Movies / Two Dissatisfied Wives

[zarby]

I rented two movies yesterday. Both had dissatisfied wives.

The first was "Transporter II." The husband was extremely wealthy.
He seemed like a nice enough guy.They had some "arguments" but
they were very mild. The arguments seemed to be mainly her rolling
her eyes and acting disgusted. He didn't seem to have done anything wrong other than once when he didn't know his son's favorite sport. He thought it was baseball when it was really soccer.  She attempted to seduce the transporter but the transporter declined. It seems this couple got back together.

The second was "Lord of War." He seemed to be a decent guy other than his morally questionable or even reprehensible. She seemed to be a very good woman but she ultimately left him due to him not giving up his job.

The first one offended me most. That guy was apparently pretty innocent.

But, is it small wonder that so many women are dissatisfied when dissatisfied women is such a major theme.

[Galt]

There's a certain point where men simply shouldn't accept it.  There are plenty of relationships I've seen in which the man simply accepts his lot in life with a woman who REALLY nags him and cuts him down.

Your work and happiness in life and motivation to do new things are all going to be pulled down into some black muck if you let a woman do that to you.  And you may be supporting her while she pulls her number on you, which to me is unbelievable.

Life can be better.

[Galt]

I'm not a big Bible guy, but my memory is that there are even two places in the Bible where that concept is approached.  Both have the theme of it being better to be in some uncomfortable place rather than with a sharp-tongued woman.  I think one is on the corner of a roof and the other is out in the desert.

I'm not really a person for formal religion, and I'm not "church-goin' folk", but I pretty much agree with that advice.

[neonsamurai]

I think that the problem is that these women's actions are deemed to be acceptable. I see this in a lot of shows where women have men jumping through hoops to make them show how much they love their wives. In the end it turns out to be a test and the husband passes it. (Altogether now) Ahhhhhh...

You've even got reality shows like 'Bring Your Husband to Heel' whereby a husband is humilitated on TV, oblivious to the fact that his wife is in on the act. The production company thought that was fine.

What you've described in these films is endorsement of this behaviour (unless the women are called up on this like men would be). If the Transporter situation had the genders reversed it would suddenly seem much worse. A man trying to cheat on his wife! Outrageous.

Just once I'd like to see a guy who'd been made act like an ass in order to win back his wife through a 'test' or because of some minor error, just turn around and say 'No'.

'Hitch' would have been a much better movie if he'd have not acted like some kind of neurally impaired buffoon in the last part and then declared that all his theories about women were wrong.

[zarby]

I haven't seen Hitch.

The transporter thing kind of hit home with me. I was accused of being indifferent to my children (absolutely untrue). That father didn't attend soccer practice apparently but that doesn't mean he didn't care for his son. He was all excited. He had just bought his son a baseball bat, etc. for his son's birthday. The mother was disgusted that he didn't know that his son really liked soccer better than baseball. Horrible father? She ruined the moment -- the kid's birthday. Even assuming he is imperfect, does that justify this kind of poisonous conduct (a relationship can only take so many moments like these). Yes, like you say, no man would be portrayed in a sympathetic light (as she definitely was) who attempted to cheat on his wife. That is far worse than not being completely up to date on his son's favorite sport. The transporter is a morally ambiguous figure. He in his first movie transported illegal items. There was suggestion that in the next movie he will again. However, he lives by strict rules. He declined to the invitation for an affair with another man's wife (the right thing to do) although he obviously found her attractive.  In any event, it was a good action flick despite this wrong portrayal of a "sympathetic" yet actually abusive and immoral wife. Not a positive role model at all.

Another example of role reversal. If a man acted disgusted and destroyed an important day like birthday, anniversary, christmas, or even just a weekend based on some imperfect of his wife, he would be considered abusive. Suppose she bounced the checkbook or whatever. He would be expected to accept the imperfection graciously. He should do that. Anything other than intentional hurtful acts should be graciously tolerated -- after all we are all human. He was imperfect by not knowing his child's favorite sport -- but is hardly a major bad act. The man obviously had to be a diligent worker based on his obvious wealth. Is it small surprise that he cannot attend soccer practice. After all, where did the term "soccer mom" come from. Nobody is perfect.

[TheManOnTheStreet]

Shoot, when my son was growing up, he changed his favorite sport so darned much, I had trouble keeping up with it!  The only thing that kept me in the loop was having to go out and get equipment for the "sport of the week" with him!

Luckly, my daughter was into T-ball, then soccer, then dance.  That was it.

Al

[hurkle]

I'd like to point out that in Transporter II, I think the rich couple were separated. Obviously she had been doing some gatekeeping, however.

It is interesting that the rich guy was portrayed as a bad person in a number of subtle ways - he doesn't know his son's favorite sport, he seems to care more about his career than his wife (which is why he is rich, but that's beside the point), and he doesn't just go out and bust some ass, but instead relies on the authorities like a "girly-man".

The first movie was SO MUCH BETTER.

[Shades of Pale]

Proverbs 27:15 5 A quarrelsome wife is like
      a constant dripping on a rainy day;

Prov 25:24 4 Better to live on a corner of the roof
      than share a house with a quarrelsome wife.


Prov 21:19 19 Better to live in a desert
      than with a quarrelsome and ill-tempered wife.


Prov 21:9 9 Better to live on a corner of the roof
      than share a house with a quarrelsome wife.

There are more.   However the entire 31st chapter is about how wonderful a thing a good wife is.   Not as easy to find, however.