Maid of Dishonour WOMEN BEHAVING BADLY IN BRIDESMAIDS
Right from its opening moments, Bridesmaids (Paul Feig, 2011) signals its intention to disrespect the familiar tropes and structural rules of the ‘chick flick’. As the camera slowly moves through a luxurious mansion, we hear a man and woman having sex; but the glamorous, erotic mood is quickly punctured when we see the troubled face of the film’s protagonist, Annie (Kristen Wiig), and realise we’re watching her have terrible, unsatisfying sex with a selfish partner, Ted (Jon Hamm).
The scene is deliberately ridiculous, veering from the tasteful representational codes of typical Hollywood ‘love scenes’. These are carefully choreographed sequences intended to transmute the physicality of real-life sex into sleek, concise montages that communicate emotional closeness between lovers. Love scenes conventionally feature silhouetted kisses, ecstatic faces, rumpled sheets and hands caressing bare skin – all filmed under tastefully warm, low light and edited together over suave music. But this scene just seems to drag on and on, without any background music to camouflage Annie’s and Ted’s grunts and moans. Ted’s handsome face contorts absurdly; Annie’s legs flop wildly in the air. A series of quick cuts follows the couple through various uncomfortable-looking positions. Ted’s breath blows Annie’s hair annoyingly into her eyes. He laughs, offputtingly, right in her ear. The Cary Grant–handsome Ted may look, superficially, like a romantic hero; indeed, Hamm was an international sex symbol in 2011 thanks to his starring role in the popular TV series . But Ted is clearly only interested in casual hook-ups with Annie, summoning and dismissing her when it’s convenient for him. She pretends that’s what she
