Gender in the Ugly Truth

Rating: 4/10 (1 January 2010)

The only reason this movie is not as bad as it could have been is that Butler's character comes to the realization that his gender doctrine is inaccurate, e.g. "men are simple," "men only care for women who look hot." One of the deleted endings shows Butler confessing the partial truth of his soapbox, and this is point of the running theme in which Butler's personal history of letdown is revealed and his final hypocrisy when he realizes that he is in 'love' with Heigl's character, that is 'love' not 'lust' as the distinction is made by Butler himself on the Ferguson talkshow. My worry is that instead of a shift to something better, Butler's gender doctrine regresses from bad to worse. The conclusion of the movie, adapting the title, would be the truth is not ugly, but actually what Hollywood thought all along: bachelor sexuality is OK for a little while until monogamy and family obligations triumph.
What does Butler's character represent? He is an archetype for a very real masculinity although he is simply more articulate and blunt than his fellow machos about the premises of hegemonic masculinity. So Butler's character is somewhat separate from your average joe: he represents a liminal space of sexuality, neither conservative but nor is he a radical in any sense since his views conform to the heterosexual matrix. He is full of contradictions: an irresponsible womanizer yet also a traditional dad-figure--maybe there is no contradiction though...it seems the reason it is hard to pin down Butler's archetype is because he is simultaneously a provocateur who challenges social norms AND a sexist. Yet this is a position that more of us may be in, of all genders, than we like to admit.