Xx..Mr and Mrs Smith..xX: http://www.sensesofcinema.com/contents/02/22/power

Tuesday, 9 October 2007

http://www.sensesofcinema.com/contents/02/22/power_chicks.html

Over time and across the generations, celebrity worship by young females between 10 to 20 years of age has changed. As Hopkins points out, “Male teen idols are secondary - the primary fantasy object in contemporary girl culture is the celebrity female.” (Hopkins, 4) Large posters of the Beatles, Bay City Rollers, Skyhooks, Duran Duran… in the bedrooms of girls growing up in the '60s, '70s and '80s, are now substituted for large posters of favourite girl heroes. Whether these girl heroes are their fantasy mentors or virtual older sisters, there is a yearning and desire fostered to become as famous and as powerful. On a mass scale, this is a tendency of the younger teenage girl. Perusing the audiences of Spice Girls and Bardot, for instance, will show that the median age is 13, if not younger; the age when fantasy and reality are merged and possibilities are infinite. But isn't this a passing phase, like playing hopscotch, nurses and doctors, hide and seek? Will a 13-year-old continue to model her life on the amorphous illusion of her girl hero, or will she wake up one day, nearer to adulthood, searching for the every day conversation, the basic ordinariness of life and its subsequent fundamentals? Unlike her girl hero who, in celluloid, never ages, never stops and reflects, never grows with the advent of daily responsibility, the 13-year-old does and so, at 23 and 33 far outgrows the girl hero of eternal youth.

“They're great role models, and they're much prettier in person. Oh my god, Sophie's beautiful”

Still 'girl heroes' or 'fame babes' may be reflective of, and banking on, the modern day girl's overriding desire for grand success. As Hopkins states: “Fame is replacing romance as the dominant female fantasy (…) Love and marriage is no longer the final answer to youthful feminine desire” (Hopkins, 189-191).

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..Reveiw from about.com..

Jane and John meet while down in Columbia where they’re both on assignment. Neither has a clue what the other one’s up to and after much alcohol and a night of what we can assume is passionate love-making, they become a couple. Fast forward a few months and now they’re Mr. and Mrs. Smith. He believes she handles computer problems for major companies; she believes he’s a big shot in construction. Fast forward even further and now they’ve been married five or six years and they’ve got problems, major relationship problems that necessitate visiting a marriage counselor.
After being together for all those years, you’d think they would have figured out that something doesn’t add up. But no, neither figures out the other’s an assassin until they’re both sent out by their competing companies to take out the same target. The cat’s out of the bag and all bets are off – toss in your own cliché here – as those marital problems they were suffering from before suddenly look like small potatoes. Never forgetting it’s a romantic comedy at heart, the action sequences take over once Mr. and Mrs. discover what their partner really does for a living.
Simon Kinberg’s script is saucy and engaging and director Doug Liman (“The Bourne Identity”) adeptly handles the action and comedy. We don’t often get to see a man and woman engaged in an all-out brawl, but Liman lets the fight scene between Jolie and Pitt get as physical as possible without cutting away too much or cute camera tricks. And while it's a little unnerving to watch their hand-to-hand combat, it makes sense. She’s an assassin, why would her opponent need to hold back?
Fighting, making love, clinched in each other’s embrace on the dance floor, verbally fencing, whatever the circumstance or scene, the pairing of Pitt and Jolie works. They physically match up. Jolie plays Mrs. Smith just as physically capable – and lethal – as Pitt does Mr. Smith. In fact, the female is actually the better of the two assassins. Her moves are planned out meticulously; her actions follow a logical path. He relies more on his instincts and isn’t as fast on his feet as his female counterpart. It’s refreshing to see a female character be allowed to get the upper hand mentally and physically on her male costar, especially in a movie where the leads are portraying professional killers.

From reading this review i totally agree with it as they are chalenging the sterotypes and they are reveiwing that it's the 21st century romance relationship and they are making the whole relationship seem as if it's going to be the one that is going to be nowerdays. so they are chalengeing the sterotype for the perfect couple where the man is in control.