The What's Eating Leonardo DiCaprio article's teaser made it onto the front cover of Newsweek this week, so I flipped to page 54 and got halfway through without even looking at the byline. But by then I had pretty much figured out who wrote it."DiCaprio’s career has been engineered to make audiences forget Titanic, but he has swung so far in the other direction that he has alienated the female fans who made him a star."
OMG you guys I'm alienated! Sorry for the overreaction, but I guess I was too busy buying tickets to see The Departed, Revolutionary Road, and Shutter Island to even realize that I didn't like Leo anymore.
I'm willing to admit that I'm overly sensitive to men who generalize about women, and what they want, because in my experience they're always so insistent that it's the opposite of what I actually want every single day. But let's assume for the sake of argument that I'm just a hormonal PMS-er: The Departed grossed 289 million worldwide and won four Oscars. Shutter Island? 166 Million. Even if not a single woman who wasn't me saw those films, that's still a loooooot of dudes. Is this really the resume of someone who's career needs reviving? I know it isn't Avatar money, but let's be honest, alot of that was repeat business from nerds who decided they could no longer live anywhere but inside their friendly neighborhood IMAX theater. Revolutionary Road, the third film mentioned in the triumvirate of flops, only grossed 52 million worldwide. But isn't it safe to assume that most of those audience members were women? I still cite an ex's reaction to RR as the credits were rolling as a major reason for breaking up with him; is it really a stretch to say that there probably weren't alot of bros hi-fiving it at the end?
Much is also made of the Dead Wives Club: in Revolutionary Road, Shutter Island, and now Inception, "DiCaprio's crazy wife suddenly dies," and ergo, women suddenly flee. Has Setoodeh never seen that episode of Sex and the City where Charlotte dates the widower?
All jokes aside, though, the thesis here seems to be that women aren't interested in anything except happily-ever-after romances starring Reese Witherspoon, that are bathed in soft pink and name-check Manolos. But what does that really mean? We underestimate the intelligence of the female audience when we label it a group with Special Needs. How different is saying "women won't see a movie where Leonardo DiCaprio scowls too much" from, "children's movies shouldn't be too dark for kids to handle." In the end, it would be easier on everyone if when people ask "would women enjoy this" (Ramin Setoodeh included--who by the way I thought was quitting), the answer could just be: would you?
When "Straight Jacket" started causing a stir, I was willing to chalk it up to a poorly-explained-to-the-ignorant-masses hypothesis, and just let it slide as a mistake. An unfortunately offensive mistake, but it didn't seem like there was malice in there. This isn't on the same scale as the other, but it IS the second time my gut reaction is to balk at unfair generalizing. And give Leo a break for growing out of the swoony teenage heartthrob. He's grown up. And all the little girls who kept going back to see Titanic? The ones who "made him a star?" We're all grown up, too.
Can't wait to see Inception.
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