THE WOMEN (1939)
Comedy melodrama about a kind woman (Norma Shearer) who learns her husband is having an affair with the hot girl at the department store makeup-counter (Joan Crawford). She decides how to deal with the situation, whether to confront her husband or carry on as if nothing is happening, whether to demand a divorce, etc. The story is told without any of the male characters appearing in the movie. We hear about their actions, but only encounter the women.
This is a story about how women mistreat each other and claw their way toward what they want with just as much ferocity as men. These characters are bold and snide and clever and insult each other beautifully, with some of my favorite brutal witty dialogue. And if there is any movie that strikes me as powerfully feminist and empowering to women, it’s this one. Of course, I’m a man and I can’t really know or understand what empowerment means for women (and of course, it’s different for every woman), but for whatever it’s worth this is a movie that makes me feel empowered.
