The Bitch Is Back--'The Wicker Man'

Here's the deal with The  Wicker Man--if Neil LaBute intended the film be a darkly comedic male nightmare, the kind of vision Norman Mailer wakes up to in a cold sweat, it's a smashing success. If not, I don't know what the hell to make of it.

The picture sure didn't scare me (though it may scare men), but it was weirdly entertaining and at times, hilarious.

LaBute is no stranger to pitch black comedy between the sexes. Check his Carnal Knowledge salvo's In the Company of Men, Your Friends and Neighbors, The Shape of Things and the softer, gentler Nurse Betty. All films propel the viewer into a world in which men and women say and do despicable things to one another. Because of this, LaBute's often been labeled a misogynist. I've always thought that unfair since his men are frequently worse than his women. If you remember Jason Patric's speech in Your Friends and Neighbors regarding the greatest sex of his life (ahhh...locker room rape), you'll know what I mean. And what about Nurse Betty? Greg Kinnear is the supreme asshole in that scenario, not poor confused Renee Zellweger. And I tend to agree with HL Mencken when he said, "a misogynist is a man who hates women as much as women hate each other."

But The Wicker Man? Well...wow.  The women making up the matriarchal community Nicolas Cage finds himself stuck in are bad. They are bad-bad. These women will break every man's spirit to the point of not allowing them to speak. Even the cute little blonde girl-children are pint sized bee-otches.

Which is why the picture is intriguing, bizarre and downright daring. Casting Cage was one weird move. Try as he might, there's nothing regular about Nicolas Cage and I think that's the point. When we first see his cop, he's checking out a self-help book in a diner. He's not drinking a cup of Joe or flirting with the waitress, he's thinking of ways to improve his  beaten down life. After he witnesses a car accident, he's traumatized, eating psychiatric medication and sitting around his house in a daze. Soon he's searching for the lost daughter of an ex girlfriend on a remote PNW island inhabited by a bunch of severe, hippie dippy/Amish-looking women who aren't friendly and treat their few men folk like slaves.  At times their community reminded me of certain gals (sorry, womyn) who taught Women's Studies at my old college, The University of Oregon (sorry, that was so easy but so true). It also recalls all those ladies who run goddess shops, wear lots of purple and glare at anyone not shopping with a cotton sack.

Or is this community of bee-keeping, white-wearing lasses an exaggerated portrait of what all women secretly desire? To tame and control their men? Is this LaBute's wickedly funny point?

Again, I don't know. Or rather, maybe I'm choosing to believe that, instead of a bad horror re-make of a cult classic (the original I won't get into), he's crafted a subversive comic polemic concerning militant feminism. I'd like to think the latter because, well, that's just a lot more interesting.

And again, a lot more amusing. Truly. Because, are we not supposed to laugh when, near the end of the film, Cage delivers a roundhouse kick to Leelee Sobieski's face? This nice man (and Cage gives us no reason to think he's anything but) is reduced to his most primal instinct by first punching a woman in the face (shades of Steve McQueen socking Sally Struthers in The Getaway) and in the film's second moment of shock (and humor), pulling out the karate on Sobieski. Please don't misunderstand, I'm not for smacking the ladies, but in this instance, I laughed. I laughed a lot.

And please, Mr. LaBute. You meant for me to laugh. Right? Because I strangely enjoyed your movie and I'm not sure if I want to discover even more flaws within myself.

But hey, I am a woman after all.

*Note: Another amusing bit of weirdness. The film is dedicated to Johnny Ramone.

Comments

[Matthew]

LOL -- yeah, I laughed too! Heartily!

[Theron]

I agree with you on LaBute. I've always thought of him as a "brave" writer telling unpopular (but fair) tales.
This weekend, I chose "Little Miss Sunshine" over "The Wicker Man." I was happy with that choice...now I'm not so sure. But I'm not sure about that either...

[click clack]

I'd be interested in your thoughts on the original...

[Theron]

Thoughts on the original? Christopher Lee as a cult leader and an overdubbed Britt Ekland prancing around naked - what's to think about?

[click clack]

Sorry, I meant Kim's thoughts.
And I really think you are underselling the original in a big way, but whatever.

[Theron]

No, I was saying those are GOOD things. I love the original!

(And I knew you meant Kim's thoughts, but I love the original so much, I couldn't contain myself. That's a problem with me...)

[Brennan de Soto]

Ahh, the “Wickerman”, the remake was unimpressive, but the original was the one of the best Pagan feel good films ever made.