Tootsie

The film “Tootsie” revolved around a central theme of feminism, especially with regard to the manner women were being treated by men. In the later stages, the film then showed women (who were influenced by the main actor/”actress”) converting from an initial meek and submissive state constrained by the hierarchical relations present in society to the strong and independent woman which Dorothy Michaels exemplified.

Right from the beginning, when Sandy was attempting for an interview, the director, Ron, was shown to be submissive of women and based his judgements solely on how a woman looked instead of how good an actress she was. Later, when Dorothy Michaels tried for the same audition, she was also rejected outright before she even read from the script. In the middle of the movie, females were once again shown to be accorded secondary status, such as when Ron takes advantage of Julie when helping her into a taxi, Dorothy Michaels and other females are called “Tootsie”/”Honey”/"Sweetie" on set instead of being called by name like the rest of the male cast/crew, Dorothy had two humorous incidents involving taxis with the only reason being she was a woman, females dared not complain about John Von Horne (the “Tongue”) for fear of losing their jobs, females were typically given rather weak roles in the television series, Julie was unhappy in her relationship but afraid to let Ron go for fear of losing perceived benefits etc. The movie then showed Dorothy Michaels influencing women around her to fight for their rights, such as her lengthy tirade against Ron when she failed to even make the reading and thereby “awakening” the rest of the female crew on the set to the fact that women have rights too and should not be trampled over by men (which resulted in Rita running after Dorothy Michaels to persuade her to try out for the role again without bias - which Dorothy managed to clinch easily) as well her greatest influence that was impressed on Julie, who finally had the guts to break off an exploitative relationship that was going nowhere.

Naturally, it is rather ironic that a movie that centred around power plays and feminism required a man dressed up as a woman to teach women how to fight for equal statuses with men, but the movie managed to pull this sensitive issue off successfully with rather humorous but poignant moments interspersed throughout. The ending was a bit of a stretch though, with a rather forced joyous outcome that was too quick to be played out. Nonetheless, it was still a movie that was worthwhile of catching, and Dustin Hoffman’s portrayal of Michael Dorsey as an ignorant and insensitive cad (towards Sandy) and as a feisty Dorothy Michaels was really pat-down and showed his true versatility as an actor, though there was an unavoidable slight exaggeration of the particular mannerisms of a woman’s characteristics (deciding whether a dress is flattering or not to Dorothy's figure) as well as a rather straightforward portrayal of a stereotypical man who is ignorant of relationships with women.

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Memorable moments from the movie:

1) The Stand Up Tomato:
Michael Dorsey: Are you saying that nobody in New York will work with me?
George Fields: No, no, that's too limited... Nobody in Hollywood wants to work with you either. I can't even set you up for a commercial. You played a “tomato” for 30 seconds, yet they went half a day over-schedule because you wouldn't sit down.
Michael Dorsey: Of course. It was illogical.
George Fields: You were a TOMATO. A tomato doesn't have logic. A tomato can't move.
Michael Dorsey: That's what I said. So if he can't move, how's he gonna sit down, George?

2) Taxi Saga Part (I):
Dorothy Michaels (in the matured-lady voice): Tax-i!
Taxi proceeds on without stopping.
Dorothy Michaels (in Michael Dorsey’s original voice): TAXI!
Taxi brakes to a halt.

3) Taxi Saga Part (II):
Feisty matured lady (Dorothy Michaels) clobbering a cad who stole her taxi

4) Well, he tried his best (this could refer to both parties):
A feisty Dorothy Michaels smacked Van Horne with a stack of folders to prevent the kiss in the scene.
For all his/her trouble, s/he got kissed by the “Tongue” after the take for a successful improvisation.

5) Jeff-in-the-know:
Jeff the roommate (waking up to see Michael Dorsey in full Dorothy Michaels “regalia”): Mom?

6) Dorothy Michaels’ first on-tape try-out:
Rita: I'd like to make her look a little more attractive, how far can you pull back?
Unnamed cameraman: How do you feel about Cleveland?

7) Sandy confronting Michael Dorsey over the fat woman (Dorothy Michaels) who entered his apartment:
Michael Dorsey: Sandy, I'm not having an affair with the woman who went into my apartment earlier, alright? It's impossible.
And later…
Michael Dorsey: Did you really think she looked fat?

8) The Hunter and The Hunted:
Les gazing fondly at Dorothy Michaels, who is looking lovingly at Julie (too bad Julie wasn’t shown looking at her baby Amy motherly in turn or it would have been a lot funnier)

9) And Finally… The Largely Peculiar Complicate
Michael Dorsey: You should have seen the look on her (Julie’s) face when she thought I was a lesbian.
George Fields: "Lesbian"? You just said gay.
Michael Dorsey: No, no, no. Sandy thinks I'm gay, Julie thinks I'm a lesbian.
George Fields: I thought Dorothy was supposed to be straight?
Michael Dorsey: Dorothy is straight... Tonight, Les, the sweetest, nicest man in the world, asked me to marry him.
George Fields: A guy named Les wants you to marry him?
Michael Dorsey: No, no, no - he wants to marry Dorothy.
George Fields: Does he know she's a lesbian?
Michael Dorsey: Dorothy's not a lesbian.
George Fields: I know that, does he know that?
Michael Dorsey: Know WHAT?
George Fields: That… Er… I don't know
*Men get lost in multi-tracked conversations*