#viewing 8

[jacobandthewhale]

Viewing 8: Jennifer and the Potentially Problematic Treatment of Female Characters

MASTER OF THE MASTER OF DISGUISE HAS ITS OWN BLOG AT 

THEMASTEROFTHEMASTEROFDISGUISE.TUMBLR.COM

One of the more complicated characters in the Master of Disguise is Pistachio’s love interest Jennifer Baker. Baker is Portrayed by actress (and 90’s Maxim model) Jennifer Esposito and her performance is surprisingly believable and genuine. This is a pretty impressive feat considering all of the absurdity surrounding her at almost every point in the movie. For example, when Pistachio is saying goodnight to Jennifer and their romance is beginning to blossom, she catches Pistachio slipping up by calling her a “fat cat momma with the red dress on” and somehow manages to make this seem sexy with her reaction. That’s no easy task. Even more difficult is serving as the logically grounding character in a movie that makes very little sense and pulling it off successfully. Esposito is at her best in the Turtle Guy sequence when her attempt to rationalize Pistachio’s insane behavior to the club members is what makes the scene so humorous. It’s very quietly a successful acting job. It took me eight times watching the movie to realize this.

However, despite Esposito's success portraying the character, Jennifer Baker is a very flawed human being, and a controversial woman in terms of how she balances her romantic, professional and motherly lives in the film. While her behavior can be described as pragmatic, it is also possible to view her as someone who compromises her dignity by allowing herself to be treated poorly and objectified for the sake of survival. Perhaps the film wanted to present Jennifer's scenario as such to promote discussion such as this. Somehow I doubt it though.

There’s no denying that Jennifer is very conventionally “hot.” Throughout the movie she serves as eye candy for most of the male characters. She uses her physical assets to her advantage throughout the film, particularly by using Devlin Bowman’s attraction to her in order to get invited into his home and rummage around for clues. She is also able to land her job as Pistachio’s assistant because he claims she has a certain “je nais se qua” despite not having a “mama caboose” (phat ass). When Pistachio and the Grandfather size her up she makes it clear to them that she can hear them and makes no further comment when they continue to gawk at her in Italian. If she was intimidated by this flagrant sexual harassment it didn’t show-- Jennifer seems solely concerned with “how much it pays” to be Pistachio’s assistant and whether there is good dental insurance for her and her son. She doesn’t even ask what duties the position will require of her! This comes back to bite her in her “tiny” ass later when she expresses concern over Pistachio’s plan of her feigning interest in super villain Devlin Bowman in order to have him invite her on a date to a gala at his mansion. Not only does this make Jennifer uncomfortable and force her to use her sexuality to Pistachio’s advantage, it is also potentially dangerous! Despite her concern, Pistachio pulls out the “Disguisey Way” handbook which has very (comically) specific guidelines for such situations saying, that at times assistants to level 1.5 Masters of Disguise may be required to “date creepy old guys.” Apparently the Disguisey way entails exploiting their female employees. Rather than quit or object further she goes along with the plan. A controversial decision indeed! It is her decision alone though whether she wants to use her appearance to further her professional life.

One could make an argument defending Jennifer that she is willing to take risks and use her sexuality in order to provide for her son—which is the noblest motive (not that she should need a motive to do so). However, throughout the film she also shows totally neglectful behavior to her child Barney. There appears to be no arrangement for nine or so year old Barney’s well being while she is away at work. Instead, he roams around the city on his skateboard with the dog that Pistachio— a total stranger at the time -– has given to him. Frequently Barney is shown wiping out while boarding and Jennifer seems to be completely oblivious to this. It’s Pistachio who actually purchases kneepads for Barney, a gift that Jennifer appreciates despite not having thought of purchasing them herself before. This seems to be a pattern in Jennifer’s behavior, relying on men to help raise Barney. While she hustles her ass off as a single mother, and while she is trying to make her and her son’s life better, it often seems to lead her into terrible relationships.

It is implied often that Jennifer has had many romantic partners, which would be totally cool if they didn't suck so much. She is able to lead Pistachio to the Turtle Club to begin their investigation because she “used to date a guy” who was in the Turtle Club.  It can be assumed that he was extremely wealthy and powerful if he was a member of this exclusive club. Her boyfriend throughout most of the film Trent is extremely abusive, and generally speaking, a total fucking prick but he is able to hide this from Jennifer with phony niceness and a paternal act that he puts on around her son Barney. In reality he laughs at little Barney when he falls of his skateboard and calls him a “loser” to Pistachio. Trent is also extremely possessive and right from the get-go is wary of Pistachio whom he picks a fight with saying that he is “horning in on his action.” Later in the movie it is revealed that Trent is (not surprisingly) cheating on her with a woman that Pistachio once had a crush on. This leads to a bar fight of sorts between Trent and Pistachio which Pistachio wins decisively using his slapping technique. Following the fight BOTH woman are now attracted to the macho and victorious Pistachio (oh please) and Pistachio ignores his earlier flame in favor of Jennifer. This scene presents woman as easily swayed by physical might that is associated with masculinity. Compounding this problem is the fact that THAT VERY NIGHT Jennifer and Pistachio make out and appear to now be dating. This is mere hours after her previous relationship ended and it is her second day on the job where Pistachio is her boss! How does she not view this as potentially problematic!?! Further, Bowman kidnaps her that night as a result of her new job, which leaves Barney home alone as Pistachio goes off to rescue her. This relationship has bad news written all over it. It's tumultuous just mere days into the relationships inception.

The film’s ridiculously rushed ending includes 4 seconds where the grandfather narrates that Jennifer became “Mrs. Disguisey and Barney gained a father.”  So I guess that is supposed to make everything ok and happy. The film could have explored the concepts of fatherhood a lot deeper, but it’s safe to say that Jennifer is entering a very patriarchal family.

Jennifer is not the only victim of the film’s questionable treatment of women. Mama Disguisey appears to be a rather cliché maternal figure who minds her business cooking and having a big ass as the Disguisey men have all the crazy adventures and talk about said ass (weird right?). To the Mama’s credit, she later kicks a henchman’s ass suggesting that maybe there is indeed more to her than meets the eye. One could conceivably say the same about Jennifer, who does appear to be very “in control” of her self despite not being in control of her fate. Maybe it’s less of a testament to her lack of female autonomy, and more about the film’s struggle between destiny vs. free will. This will be explored next time as I venture further into the subconscious of The Master of Disguise!

I am now a level 2400 journeyman yellow belt (level 8 realtime)! More than a 1/3 of the way through!

PS: A funny little illogical discrepancy-- Jennifer introduces herself as "Barbara" to Devlin when they meet at the antiques road show. Later at Devlin's mansion Pistachio arrives as Constable Muehler asking for Jennifer and Devlin seems to know who he is referring to? How? 

MASTER OF THE MASTER OF DISGUISE HAS ITS OWN BLOG AT 

THEMASTEROFTHEMASTEROFDISGUISE.TUMBLR.COM

[themasterofthemasterofdisguise]

Viewing 8: Jennifer and the Potentially Problematic Treatment of Female Characters

One of the more complicated characters in the Master of Disguise is Pistachio’s love interest Jennifer Baker. Baker is Portrayed by actress (and 90’s Maxim model) Jennifer Esposito and her performance is surprisingly believable and genuine. This is a pretty impressive feat considering all of the absurdity surrounding her at almost every point in the movie. For example, when Pistachio is saying goodnight to Jennifer and their romance is beginning to blossom, she catches Pistachio slipping up by calling her a “fat cat momma with the red dress on” and somehow manages to make this seem sexy with her reaction. That’s no easy task. Even more difficult is serving as the logically grounding character in a movie that makes very little sense and pulling it off successfully. Esposito is at her best in the Turtle Guy sequence when her attempt to rationalize Pistachio’s insane behavior to the club members is what makes the scene so humorous. It’s very quietly a successful acting job. It took me eight times watching the movie to realize this.

However, despite Esposito's success portraying the character, Jennifer Baker is a very flawed human being, and a controversial woman in terms of how she balances her romantic, professional and motherly lives in the film. While her behavior can be described as pragmatic, it is also possible to view her as someone who compromises her dignity by allowing herself to be treated poorly and objectified for the sake of survival. Perhaps the film wanted to present Jennifer's scenario as such to promote discussion such as this. Somehow I doubt it though.

There’s no denying that Jennifer is very conventionally “hot.” Throughout the movie she serves as eye candy for most of the male characters. She uses her physical assets to her advantage throughout the film, particularly by using Devlin Bowman’s attraction to her in order to get invited into his home and rummage around for clues. She is also able to land her job as Pistachio’s assistant because he claims she has a certain “je nais se qua” despite not having a “mama caboose” (phat ass). When Pistachio and the Grandfather size her up she makes it clear to them that she can hear them and makes no further comment when they continue to gawk at her in Italian. If she was intimidated by this flagrant sexual harassment it didn’t show-- Jennifer seems solely concerned with “how much it pays” to be Pistachio’s assistant and whether there is good dental insurance for her and her son. She doesn’t even ask what duties the position will require of her! This comes back to bite her in her “tiny” ass later when she expresses concern over Pistachio’s plan of her feigning interest in super villain Devlin Bowman in order to have him invite her on a date to a gala at his mansion. Not only does this make Jennifer uncomfortable and force her to use her sexuality to Pistachio’s advantage, it is also potentially dangerous! Despite her concern, Pistachio pulls out the “Disguisey Way” handbook which has very (comically) specific guidelines for such situations saying, that at times assistants to level 1.5 Masters of Disguise may be required to “date creepy old guys.” Apparently the Disguisey way entails exploiting their female employees. Rather than quit or object further she goes along with the plan. A controversial decision indeed! It is her decision alone though whether she wants to use her appearance to further her professional life.

One could make an argument defending Jennifer that she is willing to take risks and use her sexuality in order to provide for her son—which is the noblest motive (not that she should need a motive to do so). However, throughout the film she also shows totally neglectful behavior to her child Barney. There appears to be no arrangement for nine or so year old Barney’s well being while she is away at work. Instead, he roams around the city on his skateboard with the dog that Pistachio— a total stranger at the time -– has given to him. Frequently Barney is shown wiping out while boarding and Jennifer seems to be completely oblivious to this. It’s Pistachio who actually purchases kneepads for Barney, a gift that Jennifer appreciates despite not having thought of purchasing them herself before. This seems to be a pattern in Jennifer’s behavior, relying on men to help raise Barney. While she hustles her ass off as a single mother, and while she is trying to make her and her son’s life better, it often seems to lead her into terrible relationships.

It is implied often that Jennifer has had many romantic partners, which would be totally cool if they didn't suck so much. She is able to lead Pistachio to the Turtle Club to begin their investigation because she “used to date a guy” who was in the Turtle Club.  It can be assumed that he was extremely wealthy and powerful if he was a member of this exclusive club. Her boyfriend throughout most of the film Trent is extremely abusive, and generally speaking, a total fucking prick but he is able to hide this from Jennifer with phony niceness and a paternal act that he puts on around her son Barney. In reality he laughs at little Barney when he falls of his skateboard and calls him a “loser” to Pistachio. Trent is also extremely possessive and right from the get-go is wary of Pistachio whom he picks a fight with saying that he is “horning in on his action.” Later in the movie it is revealed that Trent is (not surprisingly) cheating on her with a woman that Pistachio once had a crush on. This leads to a bar fight of sorts between Trent and Pistachio which Pistachio wins decisively using his slapping technique. Following the fight BOTH woman are now attracted to the macho and victorious Pistachio (oh please) and Pistachio ignores his earlier flame in favor of Jennifer. This scene presents woman as easily swayed by physical might that is associated with masculinity. Compounding this problem is the fact that THAT VERY NIGHT Jennifer and Pistachio make out and appear to now be dating. This is mere hours after her previous relationship ended and it is her second day on the job where Pistachio is her boss! How does she not view this as potentially problematic!?! Further, Bowman kidnaps her that night as a result of her new job, which leaves Barney home alone as Pistachio goes off to rescue her. This relationship has bad news written all over it. It's tumultuous just mere days into the relationships inception.

The film’s ridiculously rushed ending includes 4 seconds where the grandfather narrates that Jennifer became “Mrs. Disguisey and Barney gained a father.”  So I guess that is supposed to make everything ok and happy. The film could have explored the concepts of fatherhood a lot deeper, but it’s safe to say that Jennifer is entering a very patriarchal family.

Jennifer is not the only victim of the film’s questionable treatment of women. Mama Disguisey appears to be a rather cliché maternal figure who minds her business cooking and having a big ass as the Disguisey men have all the crazy adventures and talk about said ass (weird right?). To the Mama’s credit, she later kicks a henchman’s ass suggesting that maybe there is indeed more to her than meets the eye. One could conceivably say the same about Jennifer, who does appear to be very “in control” of her self despite not being in control of her fate. Maybe it’s less of a testament to her lack of female autonomy, and more about the film’s struggle between destiny vs. free will. This will be explored next time as I venture further into the subconscious of The Master of Disguise!

I am now a level 2400 journeyman yellow belt (level 8 realtime)! More than a 1/3 of the way through!

PS: A funny little illogical discrepancy-- Jennifer introduces herself as "Barbara" to Devlin when they meet at the antiques road show. Later at Devlin's mansion Pistachio arrives as Constable Muehler asking for Jennifer and Devlin seems to know who he is referring to? How?