Crazy, Stupid, Love

Logan Simon

Crazy, Stupid, Love

               For my Representation Test, I chose to watch the movie Crazy, Stupid, Love. It’s a movie about a man who realizes his wife is divorcing him because she’s having an affair with another man. Since they were married awhile, Cal (Steve Carrell) hadn’t been too accustomed to the dating game. He meets a man, Jacob, at a bar, who then tries to take him out of his misery and becomes his wingman. Overall, I enjoyed the film, as Ryan Gosling and Steve Carrell are the perfect actors to play the young, handsome wingman, and the quirky, outdated divorcee.

               The movie didn’t do so well on the Rep Test. I gave it 3 out of the possible 24 points, which gives it a grade of D. There was little to no diversity in the film, with the only speaking role from a minority coming from Emma Stone’s Asian friend. This friend only appears at the bar and a work celebration, not even having enough speaking lines for me to consider her as an important figure in the movie. Since the movie is all about relationships, and also sex, it is appropriate that the women in the film are primarily viewed this way by the men. As well, this movie fails the Bechdel Test. There are very little conversations between two women in general, but in one specific scene at a parent-teacher conference, the conversation between the women is only about Cal. There are no colored males with speaking roles, no LGBT members in the move, and no people with disabilities, so I’m not very surprised that it grades out so poorly.

               I believe that this rating system is fair, as it focuses on giving equality to both genders and races. Though a bad grade on the Rep Test doesn’t make it a poor film, receiving a bad grade only means it lacks diversity. The men in this movie are focused on developing a sexual relationship with women, and that’s a stereotypical role for men to play. Even Cal’s son is in love with their babysitter, while the babysitter is caught sending nude pictures to Cal. By directing it this way, the movie constantly portrays men as only loving a woman for her sex appeal and nothing more. In fact, it even goes as far as to suggest that women only love a man for their sex appeal. Ryan Gosling is portrayed as this handsome, seducing male who every girl would love to have a shot at.

               This film was written by a white man and directed by two other white men, so it’s not too surprising that the movie is portrayed from the stereotypical male’s view and there is a lack of diversity. The women in this movie are all about the same body type: not too thin, but also not too thick. The men are the same way. Even the ages of the actors and actresses are about the same, ranging from about 30-45. I think all of this reflects exactly what Hollywood wants, especially five years ago. It shows how women were primarily used in movies to act as a sideshow to the male actors. These movies were all about a man finding love with a woman, never a woman finding love with a man. Hollywood knew that these stereotypical roles would attract audiences, and this movie is a reflection of that.

               In retrospect, a D grade on the Rep Test is accurate for this film. There is not a single important colored person in this movie, nobody with a disability, and no LGBT character. It’s a pretty bland movie that did what it had to to attract viewers. However, this movie does do a very good job of avoiding racial stereotypes, but that’s primarily because there aren’t enough of these characters to be able to have that. Avoiding racial stereotypes, not glorifying violent men, and not perpetuating an unhealthy body for men are the only 3 points this movie received. For me, this is one of my favorite films that I would give very high praise for, but the Rep Test is an accurate showing of how little diversity is in this film, and there’s no disagreeing that it deserves a D.

Movie Poster: https://www.bing.com/images/search?q=crazy+stupid+love+movie+poster&view=detailv2&&id=52E68DC063E144B62C5E40808B69D1FD7E1CA40E&selectedIndex=0&ccid=EsVN%2b7pB&simid=608035351577102075&thid=OIP.M12c54dfbba414b0a60a6e9979edd973fH0&ajaxhist=0