Ever since I saw her as Mona Lisa Saperstein (aka, the WoOoOoOoOorst) on my favourite TV show, Parks & Recreation, I have loved Jenny Slate. She is just so chill and snappy and I don't know what else to say other than LOVE. So when I saw her new film Obvious Child was on Netflix, I immediately dropped everything and watched it. And it's fantastic.

Written and directed by Gillian Robespierre, Obvious Child is the story of Donna Stern (Slate), a stand-up comedian trying to figure out life (as we all are) in New York City (ok, maybe not all) after being dumped by her boyfriend. The second hand bookstore she is working at is scheduled to close, and in effect her income will soon cease. So life seems to be pretty much going downhill. Then Matt comes along.

Seems like your typical rom-com, right? But what is special about this film is that it is subversive, raw and hilarious in the way that has become so successful with the TV show Girls and Broad City. Slate, and the film, is 100% honest and unapologetic about what it's like to be a woman, and she, like the characters on Girls or Broad City, are relatable. Even to me, a 19 year old, can relate to Donna's late-20's struggles of money, careers and pursuing your dreams, meeting a nice guy and not knowing what to do with yourself.

This is no idealised manic-pixie-dream-girl in fairytale New York. It's real, flawed, multifaceted and accurate. Word up. What is most beautiful about this sort of content is it demonstrates that women are funny. And successfully so. The amount of pioneering unapologetic comedic women in prominence at the moment is wonderful. Of course, they have always been around.

Women being funny isn't a new thing. Not even sitcoms directed or produced by women. Let's not forget the incorruptible Lucille Ball, who, when industry execs told her no, funded I Love Lucy all on her own, on her own terms. Can I get a hell yeah?

Obvious Child, while being "subversive" in the fact that women are being women (the horror!) it is not cringeworthy. This is because the film is written and directed by Gillian Robespierre. This is a female, telling the female story, for other females. Which is why women directors are so important. Men often cannot accurately portray the female story, and instead alienates us. This film, however, does not. Because it’s our story. Especially when the opening dialogue is Donna doing a standup set, talking about white marks on our underwear (because men are never going to talk about that, but we all know and live it). So thank you Gillian, for giving us a story we can relate to.

Overall, a delightful film, and definitely a must for fans of the modern comedienne.

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By Claire. 

Obvious Child is available on Netflix / Cause a Cine do not own any image nor the trailer used in this post.

I think my University is great. I am so glad I get to attend, and am able to study what I love with my cinema studies major. However, halfway through my undergraduate degree, I want to bring up a point I noticed about 3 weeks into my cinema studies subject at the start of this year. The subject was about Hollywood and how the film industry has changed from the 60s to present. It was quite an enjoyable and interesting subject. But it was also, to put it one way, a sausage fest.

Out of four “teachers” for the subject, two were male and two were female. One woman was the subject co-ordinator and lecturer, and the other was my tutor. In my tutorial, majority of students were also female. My friends and I (all girls) were not afraid to speak up and dominate the discussion if we had something to say. These observations made me incredibly happy, as it shows the future of the film and film studies industries being challenged as a male-dominated industry. However, this was not reflected in the academia side of things.

Every film we studied was directed by a male, had male-dominated crews and casts. While we studied great films such as Bonnie and Clyde (1967), Dirty Harry (1971) and Taxi Driver (1976), all films had a male lead for a male dominated story.  The most women we saw in a semi-lead or lead role made up a total of 4 out of 12 films: Bonnie and Clyde, Jurassic Park (1993), Gravity (2013), and Kill Bill Vol 1 & 2, (2003/04) 

4 out of 12 films.

Most of the theorists and readings we engaged with were also male. My teachers may have been female, but the subject was taught through the male voice. Obviously, I understand the context in which the films we studied were made and the time periods we looked at. Female directors have always been significantly low in number, but choosing some films with more female characters surely wouldn’t have been that hard? Or at least some acknowledgement of some feminist film theory approach to the films studied (or other films). At least for a week, even, like in my Introduction to Cinema Studies last year.

I loved studying Thelma and Louise (1991), and while I may have shuddered at the “monstrous feminine” and “castration anxiety” of feminist film theory last year, I did write my exam on the approach, and it has been valuable to my education and knowledge as I can now recognise these traits in many films that I may watch in the future. 

BUT, is it too hard to ask that maybe we could have spent a week or two expanding on these areas in relation to the Hollywood system?

I enjoyed the subject, I really did. But I am just disappointed. There is no subject dedicated specifically to feminist film in our first or second years. I have high hopes for a third year subject on sex and gender on screen, but surely, until then, each subject should draw some ladies into the discussion, even for a week. Because quite honestly, you get tired of hearing about what guys think after a while. Especially since I have so many female classmates and tutors, it is upsetting that we are not provided the representation we deserve to see. 

I am taking two more cinema studies subjects this year, so fingers crossed we hear and see more from ladies there.

In the meantime, what are some of your favourite female-dominated movies, from the late 20th century or now. I'd love to hear them!

- Claire