Just as nothing is worth doing unless somebody is watching, nothing is worth feeling unless somebody knows about it. When Brenda's feelings are hurt, syrupy strings underline the fact, as does the melting expression on her friend's face. The success of The First Wives Club rests on the way it makes the audience feel like insiders, like part of a glamorous Hollywood club. The screwball comedies of the Great Depression were pure fantasy and completely escapist, but today we share in the affluence onscreen by identifying wit h the rich and famous, sharing the language, the references, the hip insider's humor. Nowadays people actually read about the box-office gross of films as if it means something personal to them.
Premiere publishes an annual list of the most powerful people in Hollywood.
Apparently the general public actually cares about Jeffrey Katzenberg, David Geffen, and Don Simpson. We audience members may not have enough money to buy one of Jackie O's used Kleenexes, but we can all laugh when the auction of her stuff is used as a punch line. In this archetypal film of the 90s, its preoccupations with the actors' world, the act of performance, and self-consciousness are summed up perfectly in the women's climactic dance through the streets of New York. They're not just having fun, grooving, g oofing around, improvising, discovering steps, or expressing themselves. Edited to conform to our notions of how perfect we can look being ourselves, the scene isn't human.