Searching for Debra Winger

There is a Documentary by Rosanna Arquette that I keep seeing on cable called Searching for Debra Winger . The premise is that Arquette was sitting one day wondering why, at the top of her game, Debra Winger left the movie business. So she gets a lot of actresses together, mostly in their late 30’s and early 40’s, to talk about their struggles in the movie industry. Towards the end, she has a separate interview with Debra Winger herself. This movie hit home for me because it talked about the narrow attitudes of what is considered sexy in our society as well as the lack of good human characters in the popular arts.

It really annoys me that this society, in general, relies way too much on looks. It isn’t even just that. What really irks me is that this society has a very narrow view about what is sexy. The popular standard for sexiness is pre-pubescent Arian looking women, or should I say girls, with exposed ribs, silicon breasts, and flat asses. We are taught that Black isn’t beautiful and that it is better to look unhealthy and thin then healthy and, I don’t know, a person who actually eats food during the day. It really sucks for women, because by the time they reach their sexual peak, they are considered damaged goods, and this is based on useless and arbitrary standards. Who would think that men would think that a woman with experience who is as horny as a 20 year old guy would not be sexy?

Whoopi Golberg talked about how she is often pigeonholed into playing the Aunt, or some character like that. I remember her saying “Aunts fuck”. The lack of a portrayal of anyone over 30 who doesn’t look like Pamela Anderson as a sexual being is really disturbing. It isn’t honest, and it doesn’t paint a full picture. How can we have art about life if we excuse 99.9% of the population as asexual?

Martha Plimpton had a monologue quoted here that really hits the money:

I'd just like to see a role for women where someone who isn't traditionally attractive is not portraying the best friend. You know, the character that only speaks in questions. "Gee, are you gonna go out with him? Do you think I look fat?" I'm so sick of hearing how there's no strong roles for women. I don't care about strong roles. I just want to see women who are characters! A nun, a serial killer, a housewife, as long as there's some depth there.

This basically sums up what is wrong with Hollywood today. There is nothing wrong with trashy movies or movies with gratuitous sex and violence. To say that I don’t watch these movies, or even enjoy them at times, would be a lie. But is that all that we have to offer? Why can’t I see movies that show humanity? I want to see people at their highest highs, their lowest lows, and their every day normal state. I want to see that mirror to nature crap that I here people talking about on “Inside The Actor’s Studio” all the time. I want to see acting that is so powerful that a character drinking a glass of water is as explosive as a nuclear blast.

But this isn’t easy, and Hollywood, being about business and not art, is only interested in what is easy and can be merchandised. With that, I will leave you with a quote by the subject of the film:

“For me, when it started to be these schedules, like you get the script and you had to go to work in 4 weeks, 3 weeks, I got lost. It's like, what happened to my 3 months of preparation?”