Male-Centric fantasy land

Rating: 7/10 (1 November 1999)

Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the film. But on it's second viewing I started to question the content behind the stunning art direction and the ever brilliant direction. I started to think that this film was targeted towards the 15 - 25 year old males out there that are struggling to find themselves in this world, MEN-X if you will. Not that that's a bad sector, who says any other demographic has found themselves, and certainly the social messages that the film is addressing pertain to every one of us.
But...
If this film is indeed targeting that specific group, young men, then what can be said about how the film portrays their would be female partners? Certainly Helen Bonham Carter's character is just as screwed up as Edward Norton's but we never delve into how she tries to resolve things. She is merely the punching bag for his characters emotional outburts, his lust, his basest desires and tirades. She comes back to him time and again though he treats her with no respect. Is that the best message around? Certainly she states that he is 'the worst thing to ever happen to her' but Nortons character laments the fact that he hadn't gone to watch her die, which of these is the stronger statement and which is the audience lead to sympathize with? The latter of course.
Looking back on Fincher's other films, all of which I have loved and count 'Se7en' as one of my all time favorites, I have to say I am a little disturbed about his portrayal of women. Certainly Sigourney Weaver was a strong character but that was a franchise film that was based on Ripley being a strong character. Then we have Gwenyth in 'Se7en'. The sad powerless howsewife whose brutal death leads to the Pitt's main characters ultimate confrontation. In the game the lead female is certainly part of the 'crew' but when we meet her she is playing the role of a waitress. Her character does possess some bravado but she never the less is relegated to a subservient role in the film.
Now, I'm certainly not calling Fincher a misogynist, and I'm definitely not trying to create a feminists 'operation mayhem' against this brilliant directors work. I just find it a little distressing that a director as in touch with the psyche of the times as David Fincher is can, in one of the best films of the year, portray a woman with a 1950's sentiment.
Again, I loved the direction and art direction of this film. I think David Fincher is one of the most creative directors working today. It's just that in this film, a film that is destined to be viewed as a rallying point for allot of young men, he grossly abused his female character, to the detriment of all of us who truly admire his work.