GUIA READING 2

INSTITUTO ASUNCIÓN DE QUERÉTARO

Secondary          READING  LEVEL 2          2012-2013

5^th Period  GUIDE   -    Reading 2    

NAME:________________________________________               DATE:_______

Sex role reversal in the movies

Plots based on mistaken identities are at the heart of many great comedies. Just think how many of William Shakespeare's plays feature women dressed as men, or men dressed as women! In more recent times, Hollywood has continued this trend.

One of Robin Williams' best movies is, without doubt, Mrs. Doubtfire. In this hit comedy, Williams plays Daniel Hillard, an out-of-work actor whose marriage to Miranda (played by Sally Field) fails. After the couple separate, Daniel is desperate to keep in touch with his three children. Seeing an ad placed by Miranda for a housekeeper, he dresses up as a 60-year-old widow from England, and gets the job! Throughout the movie we see Williams performing domestic tasks while also learning how to relate to his kids. He soon picks up some parenting skills, and proves himself to be a loyal and loving father. Audiences warmed to this delightful movie, with its amusing complications and great dialog. Released in 1993, it won an Oscar for Best Make Up, a Golden Globe for Best Picture, and Williams also picked up a Golden Globe award as Best Actor.

But this wasn't the only time Hollywood chose to challenge sex stereotyping in this way. In the 1982 comedy Tootsie, Dustin Hoffman stars as Michael Dorsey, an unemployed actor looking for work. In desperation, Dorsey dresses as a woman (renaming himself Dorothy Michaels) to audition for a female role in a soap opera ... and gets the part! As the movie progresses, we see Dorothy becoming an ever-more confident and assertive woman. Hoffman plays the part very convincingly, thrilling the audience in scene after scene with his comic genius and excellent timing. The movie makes serious points too, highlighting the sexism of the soap opera's director (brilliantly acted by Dabney Coleman). Hoffman's growing affection for another actress on the show, Julie (played by Jessica Lange), is another strand in this engaging comedy.

Go a little further back in time and you will find another classic 'men dressing as women' movie; Some Like it Hot (1959). Long recognized as one of the greatest comedies ever, this charming tale follows two musicians who try to escape from gangsters by dressing as women and joining an all-girl band. Lots of tricky situations follow as Jerry (played by Jack Lemmon) and Joe (Tony Curtis) travel together, calling themselves Daphne and Josephine respectively. Marilyn Monroe provides the love interest. The movie is a timeless classic, frequently hilarious, with a strong plot that continues to thrill audiences even now. Very daring in its day, the movie challenges our perceptions of what it means to be male and female. Oh, and watch out for the legendary final line of the movie!