Women Wear Pants Too: The Ladies of "Man Stroke Woman"

From time to time, I'll highlight a lady that gets to do more in Hollywood than just play the wife/girlfriend/romantic interest.

THE LADIES OF “MAN STROKE WOMAN”

Amanda Abbington

Daisy Haggard

Meredith MacNeill

First, let me clarify that this show isn’t as risqué as the title makes it sound.[1] It airs on BBC, and in American terminology it would more accurately be described as “Man Slash Woman,” that is, men & women and their various interactions. It’s a sketch comedy show featuring the three women above plus three men. The most famous of the bunch is Nick Frost, costar to Simon Pegg in both Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz.[2]

The show has a number of things going for it, all of which have to do with keeping things small. Each episode is only a half hour long, so you can race through a few episodes (or the entire disc) without feeling too guilty. The first series (as “seasons” are called in the UK) is only six episodes, so while all of the sketches might not be hilarious, it never feels as if they ran out of ideas. And perhaps most importantly, the sketches are only as long as they need to be. Some are only a few seconds, while others are longer, but rarely does one go past two minutes.[3] No one can accuse the Brits of overstaying their welcome.[4]

I rented it from Netflix and promptly went through it in two sittings. Though my roommate and I repeat some of the lines from time to time, and I would love to show many of the sketches to other friends, I can’t advocate buying it because I felt it was a bit uneven.

Still, it’s an impressive feat for a cast of six, another aspect that makes the show so interesting. Only when it’s essential to the sketch do any of the performers change appearances, so sometimes it’s fun when a recurring character makes a surprise appearance in a sketch that you thought was going to be about something else entirely.[5]

Having such a small cast could be a negative factor if there was a performer you just couldn’t stand, but I seriously doubt that will be the case, as each person more than pulls his or her own weight. Since I’ve talked before about how a number of people think women aren’t funny, let me just say that the women on this show are INCREDIBLY funny. Each one is equally adept at playing the “straight man” or the comical centerpiece. And it doesn’t matter if it’s a pair, the three ladies, or the whole group on screen…no one gets pushed to the background.

There are a number of sketches to be found on Youtube if you care to peruse. In fact, many of my favorites from online turned out to be from series two, which already aired in Britain but has yet to come out on DVD. I’m eagerly anticipating its release.

Every episode of the first series ends with the same sketch, the three women playing rude, annoying workers at a make-up counter in a department store. Each features a customer that grows impatient with the juvenile antics of the two workers and asks to speak to their manager. The third woman comes over and pretends to show a real interest in the complaint before then engaging in the same child-like behavior.

Though they all follow the same pattern, each one is unique and produces a great deal of laughs. (At least from me.) So I’ll leave you with my favorite of the six (the moment 44 seconds in kills me every time):

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[1] That said, since it’s from the BBC, it does use language and discuss topics you aren’t going to see on “SNL.”

[2] One of my favorite comedies ever. If you don’t have a problem with the occasional gory death played for laughs, check it out immediately.

[3] It’s a benefit to being a single camera show filmed on location. No skits that are beaten to death, buried, dug back up, and beaten some more.

[4] If you ignore British Colonialism, that is.

[5] Some sketches/characters appear just throughout a single episodes, while some appear throughout a few (or all).

Women Wear Pants Too: Angelina Jolie

From time to time, I'll highlight a lady that gets to do more in Hollywood than just play the wife/girlfriend/romantic interest.

ANGELINA JOLIE

With the release of her latest action flick, Wanted, I figured it was high time that I talk about Angelina Jolie, perhaps the biggest female action star of the new millennium. The film opened with $51 million, making it the 7th highest debut for an R-rated film. This would be a great accomplishment at any time of the year, but considering it had to face-off against WALL*E, a G-rated family affair that took in $63 million, it's exceptional. (Wanted actually averaged more per theater than WALL*E, which kind of blows my mind.)

I'm sure some of the audience just wanted another chance to look at James McAvoy. And maybe others just wanted to hear Morgan Freeman drop the F-bomb. Finally, there was probably a contingent that just wanted a good action film, regardless of the stars.

Still, I have to believe that a large part of its success was due to the presence of Jolie. It helps that many consider her the most beautiful movie star in the world, but more importantly is the seriousness she brings to her action roles. People can argue about whether or not she's entirely convincing as an action star, but she never plays it with a wink to the audience, as if to say, "Hey look at all of this cool stuff I"m doing...and, I'm a woman!"

Yes, Jolie has played some girlfriend/wife roles, even recently. But lest we all forget, she also played Lara Croft in two Tomb Raider movies. While the films are largely forgettable, the significance of her embodying this character shouldn't be overlooked. Whether we like it or not, Lara Croft is one of the most recognizable female action characters of all-time. Action films featuring female leads are few and far between to begin with, and Tomb Raider actually had a sequel.

In recent history, the only other character I can think of that might be as famous as Lara is Trinity from The Matrix films. Opening it up to all time periods doesn't add many more characters. Sarah Connor from The Terminator films, obviously, though truth be told she was never really the star, plus she only kicked ass in the second one. And while I wasn't around for the popular "Wonder Woman" or "Bionic Woman" TV shows, from what I've seen they seem to be a little tongue-in-cheek.

This isn't to say that a good action film can't also be humorous. It just has to achieve the perfect tone. I can't call it a great film (mainly because I read an earlier draft of the script that I enjoyed much more), but Mr. & Mrs. Smith mixes action, humor, and pure sexiness quite well. Not a great film, but definitely entertaining.

Whether she makes more films along those lines or decides to try straight action (something similar to the Bourne series, perhaps), I'm game as long as she doesn't wink at me.

Women Wear Pants Too: Jodie Foster

From time to time, I'll highlight a lady that gets to do more in Hollywood than just play the wife/girlfriend/romantic interest.

JODIE FOSTER

I know she's a pretty obvious choice, but that doesn't mean she's not worth highlighting. All the writing I've done about The Silence of the Lambs recently got me thinking: When was the last time Foster played a character that was just a romantic interest?

We're talking about a woman who broke into mainstream by playing a child prostitute in Taxi Driver. Her character's only slightly forgettable because she shares the film with one of cinema's greatest creations, Travis Bickle. But when they have scenes together, she completely holds her own with DeNiro. And she was only THIRTEEN when this was filmed. (Funny enough, Taxi Driver and the original Freaky Friday, in which Foster plays the daughter, were released in the same year.)

Admittedly I haven't seen any of her films that she made in the 11 years after this, and it's highly likely that she plays a character with little more to do than be a love interest. But in 1988, she won her first Oscar for The Accused in which she plays a rape victim enraged at the negligible punishment her attackers receive on account of her being a "questionable character."

The sad truth is, this mentality still exists today, though I'd like to think it's not at rampant. The film is still relative now, so I can only imagine the impact it created when it was released 20 years ago.

In 1991, she of course had The Silence of the Lambs. I don't think I need to say anything else about that.

Since that time, she hasn't made many films, but only once has she played a character that could be written off as "love interest," when she appeared in Maverick alongside Mel Gibson. He definitely takes the center stage in that film, but her character was still pretty fun.

But take a look at her other films. Nell. Contact. Panic Room. Flightplan. Inside Man. The Brave One.

While not all of these films are good, they all give her the chance to play tough, out of the ordinary characters. Of particular note is her character in Inside Man, which could just have easily been a man. The fact that it's not automatically makes the part unique, but Foster takes the character to a level even above that.

It should also be noted that Foster has directed two films in this period, one that she appeared in (Little Man Tate) and one that she did not (Home for the Holidays).

The latter film is arguably the most generic in terms of female characters associated with Foster during the past decade and a half. But she didn't appear in it; she directed it. Not to say that a film directed by a woman automatically gets a free pass (It definitely doesn't.), but there aren't enough female directors, let alone actresses that also direct.

Flora Plum, the film Foster has been trying to make for years, sounds more like the kind of material I'd expect her to direct. While the hopes of that ever getting made are slim, I hope she can find something else she's passionate about and bring it to the screen.

I'm sure there's another masterpiece left in her. I just don't know whether it will be a film she directs or a character she plays. Maybe both. Guess we'll just have to wait and see.

Women Wear Pants Too: Kristen Wiig

From time to time, I'll highlight a lady that gets to do more in Hollywood than just play the wife/girlfriend/romantic interest.

KRISTEN WIIG

There are a lot of people out there that think women aren't funny. I've heard it said a lot that the women on "Saturday Night Live" aren't funny.

After a quick look over the cast list, I can say that Kristen Wiig is EASILY the funniest female cast member the show has ever had. Gilda Radner is a close second. (Tina Fey, who happens to be one of the funniest women on the planet, was a writer, not a cast member.)

But that's only comparing Kristen to other women. I'll take it a step further. She's definitely the funniest and most talented member of the current cast. And I REALLY LIKE the current cast.

Before I barrage you with six million clips of her hilarious SNL characters, let's take a look at some of her other performances. While researching her, I was SHOCKED to discover that she appeared on the first season of Spike TV's "The Joe Schmo Show."

The basic idea for that show was that it was a fake reality show. Everyone was playing stereotypical reality show characters. Except for one guy (the so-called Joe Schmo), who thought it was all real.

Kristen played a quack psychologist who always tried to help people and talk about their feelings. While I don't remember specifics, I remember her being very funny. (Since I own it on DVD, I will DEFINITELY be checking it out again soon.)

As someone who's not a big fan of most reality shows, I loved the way it made fun of them. It easily had the best elimination ceremony in the history of television.

In Knocked Up, Kristen played the jealous coworker of Katherine Heigl's character. Her delivery of the "I was so surprised too" line in the beginning of the this trailer is one of the funniest things in the entire film.

What's great about her is that she can play such a diverse range of characters. And even when she's given a throw-away character, she totally owns it.

My favorite sketch featuring Kristen has her playing a woman who's VERY excited at the idea of throwing a surprise party. Never in my life did I think I would be left crying from laughter because of an SNL sketch that feature Christopher Walken as the straight man.

Okay, okay. I promise that's the last link I'll put in here.

Just kidding.

After seeing the full list of her credits, I realize that there's a lot of films I need to check out if for no other reason than to see her. I hope you'll do the same.