At its surface, the film titled The Switch, doesn’t say much about gender roles in its main message. The film stars Jason Bateman as the male main character Wally, and Jennifer Aniston as the female main character, Kassie. The plot of the film is relatively simple; Wally and Kassie are good friends, though it’s quite obvious from the beginning that he has strong feelings for her which stretch beyond friendship. Kassie tells him that after speaking with her doctor about her age, that she has decided she wants to get pregnant without a male figure in her life, and is currently in the market for sperm donors. Wally does not take the news very well and actually almost tries to ignore it when Kassie first brings up the topic. He’s seriously offended that she wouldn’t consider him as a donor, though she claims that because they’re just friends, the situation would be too weird. However, at her “I’m Getting Pregnant” party, Wally gets extremely drunk and switches the sperm of the proper donor with that of his own, without remembering he did so the next day. Seven years later, he meets the young boy and the pieces fall together.
The plot itself, as I said, does not speak much about gender roles. It does however, subtly touch on several current gender issues, one of which could be categorized as a new trend. The first important issue is that Kassie felt that she didn’t need a solid male figure in her life to have a baby. Though Wally does protest to the idea at first, Kassie insists that she shouldn’t have to wait around for a steady man in her life when that may never actually happen. She claims that she wants a child and that most importantly she’s ready to have one now. Kassie states that she does not need a man to have a baby. In this situation, a strong independent woman is choosing to have a baby because she wants one, regardless of the fact that she doesn’t have a male figure in her life and the child won’t have a father.
The second issue which I found interesting is the way in which the pregnancy process happened. Several of Kassie’s friends threw her an “I’m Getting Pregnant Party” with the appropriate theme of female fertility symbols. After the party had ended, she would perform the act and hopefully become pregnant, if you will (how this actually happened is a little shaky, though there is a doctor present at the party). Though the party itself appeared to be of a slightly strange nature, I wondered if this kind of a thing is happening more frequently today and should be considered a rising trend. Amongst many of her friends, Kassie’s best friend shouted at the end of a toast to Kassie, “We’re doing it for ourselves!” Are more and more women starting to make this choice for themselves?
The third issue I found worthy of discussion came in the second part of the film, when Kassie reunited with Wally seven years later. Though it wasn’t discussed in any kind of extensive detail, Kassie mentioned to Wally that kids in her son’s class had made fun of him because they suspected her to be a lesbian. The topic didn’t lead to much conversation other than the fact that this upset him and her, but that she can understand how it appears that way to people. The film also didn’t address any real hardships Kassie was having in raising him as a single mother. Raising a child without any male figure appears to be relatively effortless for Kassie, which I found to be pretty unrealistic.
Though the film was obviously made more as a romantic comedy than a culture critique, the story centered around the notion that Kassie had a baby for herself and by herself, regardless of the presence of a steady male figure in her life. I think this gender issue is important because it’s relatively new, but I also think it’s pretty accurate in alluding to the fact that this kind of an act could be rising in popularity.
"Raising a child without any male figure appears to be relatively effortless for Kassie, which I found to be pretty unrealistic."
ReplyDeleteWhile I also thought that was an oversight, I would rather have that than have to hear about how she just needs a man. The single moms--and, particularly, lesbian moms--I know are all acutely aware that it is not healthy to raise a child without any males around, but it's hard to express that onscreen without it sounding judgmental or like men are necessary for everything, all hail the men. So I don't know; movies have to leave out some stuff. I think I'm okay with it being that.
I wonder why "raising a child without any male figure" does not translate to adoption. That would be the first thing to come to mind for me, and as a side note that is something I am definitely planning to do when I am ready. But getting back to the movie, I agree with Abby that many single moms of whatever sexual preference allow male influences in their child's lives, be it through extra curricular activities (Boy Scouts, sports, etc.), friends or neighbors. Going the general route due to lack of concrete evidence at hand, some studies have shown that children, especially boys DO need some type of male influence in their lives, to some degree. Does that mean a father per se? No, but one or two good male role models. But as Abby said, and as I mentioned in Michelle's reivew, the movies do tend to leave out the bits of information that acutally keep the films realistic.
ReplyDeleteI think you both make good points, but I do think there is a big difference between showing the necessity of a man in a woman's life (or lack thereof) and the difficulties which a mother (or father) faces in raising a child alone. The context in which the quote cited above was mentioned was not one that discussed the absence of a male; rather, it discussed the absence of anyone, any kind of partner, be it male or female.
ReplyDeleteI don't think that the difficulties in raising a child independently need to be excluded from a film in order to veer away from the idea that a male figure is needed. They're two separate issues.
Madalyn, you raised a good point, and after rereading your review again, your mention that the movie could be alluding to the popularity of "Do it yourself in vitro fertilization" does scare me. Moreover, I would pray this isn't the case, but I wonder how many women after seeing this film would want to host those kinds of parties, just because the film made it look so easy and carefree... it's a disturbing thought.
ReplyDeleteThe notion of a party wherein an event like this would take place seemed kind of overblown and silly to me: a set-up for the plot twist that generates the main conflict in the story. Too easy, maybe. But part of me likes to think a single mother would celebrate such an occasion and shareit with friends; just maybe not quite so flamboyantly.
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