Made in Dagenham discuss

[Ihavewelliesbuttheyrenotgreen]

Is this a good film for feminism or not?

[DontCallMePeanut]

makes note to watch it

From what I've heard it sounds like it has some very feminist ideals.

[Bue]

I've been meaning to watch it. I've heard nothing but positive things though - is there a reason it wouldn't t be good for feminism?

[BelleCurve]

I thought it had a good message and was mostly well done. Shame the equal pay act still isn't enforced, but that is hardly the fault of the film!

My colleague commented on it as "Bob Hoskin's latest film"

[BelleDameSansMerci]

I loved it. I'm old enough (just) to remember a lot of this happening and I thought it showed the mood of the time very well. There were parts I found a bit irritating but have no way of knowing if they were accurate or not.

I think it (or something like it) should be required viewing for those who are clueless about why Feminism is important.

I'm not sure it's a Feminist film though.

[BelleCurve]

It definitely passes the Bechdel test as well

[Hullygully]

Yep, I liked it very much. Is it feminist? It certainly shows women fighting for women and to change things for the better. Depends on your definition (by no means a given, I have learned)...

[exoticfruits]

I enjoyed it-it showed that women have moved on a lot from those days. I wouldn't call it a feminist film.

[Einsty]

I thought it was cliched rubbish TBH - something more true to real life, more nuanced, would have been all round more constructive. Of course the main character had to be a babe whose husband supported until the going got tough. And the secondary character had to have a ailing husband and be punished when she followed her ideals rather than be a good wifey. Hoskins was great, though, and the pollie...

[Hullygully]

Einsty - you do know it wasn't fiction?

[exoticfruits]

The women who actually lived it came on at the end-they thought it accurate!

[RamblingRosa]

I loved it. I agree with Einsty that it was a bit cliched and shmaltzy but it was clearly aiming to make a very non-Hollywood topic accessible to mainstream cinema goers. And that's got to be a good thing. If a whole load of young people who don't know the first thing about feminism or equal pay saw that film and learned something, then that's good and I can live with it being a slightly glossy, glamourised version of events.

Those Dagenham women are/were bloody amazing. Truly inspirational.

[Hullygully]

So effectively you're saying that their lives were cliched?

wtf?

[mummytime]

I just wonder why when we were discussing the equal pay act in the 1970's at school in Dagenham, no one told us about these women?

Have to say now the film has been made it makes me understand some of the sexist comments I heard at the time (to go with the racist ones). It makes me really admire my Mum for being so liberal with her views and th ones she tried to teach me (even if she did have her faults sometimes).

[Einsty]

Hullygully, it's hardly documentary is it? It is an attempt at a blockbuster BASED on a true story. I was very much looking forward to but the day before I watched Balibo, a film also based on real events in which the main characters were imperfect and the conclusions uncertain... Difference? They were all men. Why should women's history have to be made all palatable to make it acceptable. Beehives? Check. Mini skirts? Check. Did none of the real life women have no more complexity than that? I reckon they did and am F-ed off they didn't get to show it.

[Hullygully]

I don't agree. Women did dress like that for starters, as did my own mother, and I think it did show the dilemma of the main character who didn't want to take on the role of leader, but did so, and also her r'ship with her family, and how torn she was. Also the woman with the husband who committed suicide, and her choices etc.

[BelleDameSansMerci]

My mum, and all her friends also dressed like that too. There are some great photos.

I think one the main things then is how much it took to fight against the prevailing attitude. That most of the population actually couldn't see anything wrong with women being paid less; doing all the housework; etc. The thing I found most unbelievable was the husband actually doing some chores and looking after the children. That wasn't common in the early 70s. Well, not in my upbringing anyway. I fully expected her family to fall to pieces as a result of her determination not to be swayed from her views.

[Hullygully]

yy Belle.

[ElephantsAndMiasmas]

I thought it had some flaws (as most low-budget indie films do, something to do with not enough money for editing I think) but found it an incredibly moving film. And as always it made me suddenly realise how stories of women fighting for their rights DON'T usually get told.

[ElephantsAndMiasmas]

"Why should women's history have to be made all palatable to make it acceptable?"

Er, have you never seen any glossy or cliched films about real life events featuring men? War films or spy dramas or anything?