Sisters in Law & Friends with Money

I saw both these movies last week, and their comparisons are so stark, their differences reveal the debates between feminists in the first and third worlds.
Nicole Holofcener is the writer and director of the independently made movie Friends with Money. The central issue being how could three well-off married women (Catherine Keener, Frances McDormand and Joan Cusack) living in Los Angeles sustain a friendship with a younger woman (Jennifer Anniston) who is alas, aghast single, broke and working as a maid. The basic premise of the movie was weak and insubstantial.
Sisters in Law, is a film by Florence Ayisi and Kim Longinotto and set in the Cameroons.
In the English speaking town of Kumba, Cameroon, there have been no convictions in spousal abuse cases for 17 years. But two women determined to change their community are making progress that could change the world. This fascinating, often hilarious documentary follows the work of State Prosecutor Vera Ngassa and Court President Beatrice Ntuba as they help women fight often-difficult cases of abuse, despite pressures from family and their community to remain silent. Six-year-old Manka is covered in scars and has run away from an abusive aunt, Amina, a Muslim woman, is seeking a divorce to put an end to brutal beatings by her husband, the pre-teen Sonita has daringly accused her neighbor of rape. With fierce compassion, the two feisty and progressive-minded women dispense wisdom, wisecracks and justice in fair measure, handing down stiff sentences to those convicted.
Friends with Money is mired in upper middle class rich womens depressions, obsessions about sex, weight and aging. Frances McDormand, the fashion designer is so angry that she refuses to wash her hair, she also screams at parents, customers at old Navy, and her husband, because she is concerned that she is aging. Catherine Keener, is unaware of how her extension to her house is affecting her neighbors view. She and her husband seem to be unaware of each others needs, presence and often deliberately hurt each other with their words. Joan Cusack is a super rich woman who can’t find any cause other than her children’s school, to donate her millions, and is too stingy to part with money to help her friend take a class, she needs to ask her husband first!
Jennifer Anniston who these three women feel so sorry for, seems quite similar to them, looking for the security that they have, i.e. husband and money, by the end of the movie she gets both things.
None of these women look beyond themselves, to reach out and help others, even with all the means in the world, the world does not disturb their consciences.
The women in Sisters In law have much less, but give so much of themselves to actually help other women who are suffering from domestic violence. They are confident and wise, not obsessed with their bodies, their hair or how much other women had sex, or how rich their husbands were. All the women in friends with money had petty issues, that they were dealing with through psychotherapy or drugs. The women in Sisters in Law were dealing with issues of spousal abuse, rape and child abuse, but with the support of their families and communities they had not fallen apart but were empowered and strong in struggling for justice and equality.

Comments

Anonymous said…
interesting

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