oslane Review of Straw Dogs

Straw Dogs (1971)

Not misogynistic, great satirical farce, black comedy, A+ film!

[18 January 2006]

I don't know why people call this film misogynistic. It has one female characters who acts on a whim. It has one male character who's failure to act on a whim makes him look like a fool. If anyone has seen Godard's Contempt, that might shed light as to the motivation of the female character. Sure SHE is a weak character but that isn't saying that women are weak. Peckinpah is showing the contradiction between the apparently weak American male and his supposedly liberated wife when in actuality, they are both human characters thrown in a situation where political correctness and proper social behavior are thrown away and that purely human, animalistic urge explodes. The rape scene was pretty controversial, if only because it seems like Susan George partly enjoys it but to criticize her is to criticize people in general for following their gut feelings of excitement. This is obviously the most extreme way to portray such a thing but, hey... Dustin Hoffman being too controlled led to the opposite affect and of course, you know how he reacted... it might seem sick to call a film with rape a comedy, but this is clearly social satire... the bear trap? Come on, laugh at humanity... seem nihilistic? Hardly, human nature still hasn't been able to control it's animal side. This is like a pre-cursor to Taxi Driver.