11/11/2024
𝐆𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐌𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐌𝐨𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐖𝐈𝐓𝐄 𝐅𝐚𝐧𝐬!
I wrote this "Musings" column a year ago today about older women in movies, mostly Jane Fonda. At some point, If I can convince Tess, I would like to tackle the portrayal of women's friendships in movies in the podcast - although "Grey's Anatomy" inspires that thought, so it might need to include television. Anyway, here are some thoughts on older women in movies.
Be sure to check out this week's podcast on the first two Terminator movies:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1gfKjH8UZiY
𝐒𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐌𝐨𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐌𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬
𝐉𝐚𝐧𝐞 𝐅𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐚 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐎𝐥𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐖𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧 𝐢𝐧 𝐌𝐨𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐬
from November 11, 2023
I have now watched four Jane Fonda movies over the past week. I started this journey with “The Electric Horseman” (1979) a week ago last night because it popped up as a suggestion on Netflix. The next night, I watched “Comes a Horseman” (1978) because I had just read an article about James Caan and realized I had never seen it. Caan gets top billing, but this is Fonda’s movie.
Setting aside the peculiarity of Fonda’s two “Horseman”-titled movies in two years, “Electric” is enjoyable because who doesn’t love Robert Redford (he and Fonda have made four films together), but “Comes a Horseman” is the better film. (Spoilers coming.) Fonda is amazing in both, and in their own ways, each film embraces the at-that-time burgeoning notion that a woman might need a career as much as she needs a man. At the end of “Electric Horseman,” Fonda’s character walks away from a future with Redford to pursue one as a journalist. In “Comes a Horseman,” set in the 1940s, Fonda partners with Caan in a battle for her land and literal survival against a menacing, murderous Jason Robards and wins (both her land and a life with Caan).
The late 70s were a defining time for Fonda. She stretched herself as an actor (she wore no makeup in “Comes a Horseman” or at least is made up to look that way), won a second Best Actress Academy Award for “Coming Home,” and was nominated for “Julia” and “China Syndrome.” She made 12 movies in the 1970s, most of them critically acclaimed (as opposed to “Barbarella”), six in the 1980s, when she also launched her exercise video business (I am not mocking that - I had all her videos), and only one movie in the 1990s. Her movie career seemed to be stalled, and she wasn’t alone. Many older actresses have complained about not being able to get roles.
But something changed. Since 2011, Fonda has made 14 movies and starred in two television series (“The Newsroom” and “Grace and Frankie”) while also enjoying a successful voice-acting career (including a role in “The Simpsons”).
Fonda’s best work in recent years was surely “Grace and Frankie,” a 7-season Netflix series that started off in the wrong place - shouldn’t a show with two women’s names in the title be primarily about those two women and not about the men who screwed them over (as much as I love Martin Sheen and Sam Waterston)? - but eventually found its footing. Friendship among women is not always celebrated or even accurately depicted in film and television, but “Grace and Frankie” explored all the ways it can be both complicated and rich.
The trend in awful, sentimental movies about older women played by fabulous actresses can be depressing. I could tell just 10 minutes in that “80 for Brady” was going to be terrible. I held out as long as I could because I love these women (Fonda, Lily Tomlin, Rita Moreno, Sally Field), but ugh. “Moving On” offered better acting (Fonda, Tomlin) and somewhat better writing (plus Richard Roundtree in one of his final roles), but overall was a sad indictment of what living with a terrible wrong can do to someone over a lifetime. (So watch it if you’re not already depressed.)
Which brings me to the final two Fonda movies this week - “Book Club” and “Book Club: The Next Chapter.” I was drawn in because of the four women - Fonda, Diane Keaton, Mary Steenburgen, and Candice Bergen - as well as the men (Don Johnson, Craig T. Nelson, Andy Garcia, and Richard Dreyfuss in a small role in the first movie). Fortunately, these movies are not your typical “Oh let’s get the old folks together” films, and “Next Chapter” is surprisingly the better of the two. I remember when it came out that it got great reviews, but I assumed it was just another Hallmark moment. It’s not.
Of course, difficult questions about aging and purpose and love are not always easily asked nor answered in a two-hour movie, but “Next Chapter” gives it a good try. And once again, it’s Fonda who gets to deliver the message at the end. Keaton has top billing in both movies, but Fonda is the reason to watch “Book Club: Next Chapter.” (Eh, Bergen is pretty good too.)
And at the end of “Next Chapter,” make sure to watch the credits and give a good listen to the song that’s playing - “Anywhere With You,” which was written by Ms. Steenburgen and sung by all four women. Find it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IfcrN9n8U6c
I was determined not to write something depressing this week. I hope I succeeded. Have a great week!
Beth
Woman Inherits the Earth: Terminator 1 & 2In this, the Terminator episode of the pod, Beth and Tess discuss the feminist legacy, such as it is, of Sarah Conn...
