My thoughts about misogyny and the 1999 film 'Election'- *SPOILER ALERT*

[luvMIdog]

In the film Election starring Reese Witherspoon and Matthew Broderick , Reese's character is called an 'over achiever'. Matthew Broderick's character is her high school teacher. He resents her because his close married friend ( another teacher) was fired for having a sexual relationship with the girl 'Tracy Flick' Witherspoon's character. It's very clear in the film that he is blaming the girl and not his adult friend for the relationship and it's consequences. In this film Tracy Flick is running for student body president and this teacher can't stand her enthusiasm and determination. In case you never saw the movie you can read about it here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Election_(1999_film)

During the entire film I was struck by the fact that the teacher does not seem to have any character or ethics though he is trying to explain ethics in one class and viewing the girl with animosity.

The girl in this movie is thought of as a driven over achiever because she has ambition, goals, and plans for her future which in her teachers brain must be stopped at all costs- not nurtured or guided, but STOPPED.

The girl is the daughter of a single mother and comes from a modest background. She has set goals for herself and works very hard to achieve them. This is described as an 'over achiever'. Her energy is all viewed as annoying and a sort of personality disorder.

The young man who he talks into running against Tracy is a nice guy but kind of clueless. He is a football player from a wealthy two parent family. In the end the teacher changes the votes to make the boy the winner, but is found out.

As I watched this movie all I could think was he hated this girl simply because she was energetic, strong, and ambitious. Females are not supposed to have those qualities according to many. It struck me that these are the exact same qualities Hillary Clinton has been hated for. When I went to read the commentary on the movie review site sure enough there were Hillary haters there comparing that girl to Hillary and making their usual comments. I just thought what a twisted world we live in where this girl is viewed as abnormal and obnoxious because she is hard working, strong, and has goals.

Though the teacher narrates the story and it is told from his misogynistic point of view I was very annoyed by the whole movie .

[cyclonefence]

1. Message deleted by DU the Administrators

[DetlefK]

2. The teacher was sort of an anti-hero.

You know he's a bad person. He holds a grudge against Tracy about something that's none of his business, he cheats in the election, he unsuccessfully tries to cheat on his wife...

But because he's the protagonist, Tracy is defined as the antagonist. That manipulates the viewers' emotional standpoint to define him as good and her as evil.

[RobinA]

3. Oh, Come On

Tracey Flick is ambition in politics run amok. Females can be just as guilty of this as males. I in no way equate her with Hilary Clinton, who has a track record to back her up. There are plenty of overly ambitious male politicians in movies and literature.