Hey, instead of writing an article, I’d like to point out a dadsploitation thing happening.
Like hagsploitation.
It gets confusing, because blaxploitation was a pro-black movement (and doesn’t get underlined for spellcheck).
Hags, on the other hand, were trying to make a comeback but were only offered psycho, murderous, older-women roles. (Hags? Should I start this sentence with ‘hags” to be funny or is the description accurate and merely – MERELY? – unfortunate for the actresses?)
Exploitation movies challenged controversial topics.
And sexploitation (also spellcheck friendly) flicks were often violent and threw damsels in distress, that is, when the women weren’t having revenge in sexy outfits. This may be confusing to some, but it’s not always the male directors (and mostly-male crew) getting their kicks out of this. It’s a different kind of movement, to entrain themselves and others interested in the what-if perversions of life; however, let’s not forget that usually involves everyone’s curiosity. Plus, women were sometimes all for the sexy revenge, because it empowered them and gave them complete ownership over their body image. (Depending on the production-people’s and audiences insight, right?)
[Interruption: Do we think Brian De Palma was in charge of or using Rebecca Romijn-Stamos in Femme Fatale (2002)? Does Rob Zombie exploit wife Sheri Moon Zombie? These are only two examples of the unusual, I know. Watch Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! (1967) and make up your own mind.]I had to force myself to Google dadsploitation, and I see others thought of it.
Yes, but they’re talking about Liam Neeson and others like him (and his movies). Revenge guy stuff like those of the 70’s.
I’m talking about something else. Something that’s more like the hags.
Don’t Breathe – Stephen Lang
Black Phone – Ethan Hawke
Kinds of Kindness – Willem Dafoe
Longlegs – Nicolas Cage
And not so much the unattractive getups, suit-ups of Gary Oldman in Darkest Hour, or Jared Leto in House of Gucci, or Colin Farrell in The Batman, but …
John Lithgow in Bombshell
Anthony Hopkins in Hitchcock
Maybe that is more like what I’m talking about. Maybe?
Is this unjust? More than a double standard?
One gets older and, therefore, creepy? I’m just thinking. Maybe, maybe, there’s a little-bit of cruelty when saying the “dad joke” or “dad bod.”
(There’s only enough here for a theory. We’ll have to wait and see if more are to come.)
[NOTE: If you like, after you watch Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! (1967), check out the car stunt consultants, the producers (one in particular), and the director’s previous job.]