Searching for Debra Winger

[Lyta]

I don't suppose anyone else caught this movie on Showtime did they? It is a documentary about whether it is possible for women to have it all in Hollywood ... career, a long-term committed relationship and children. I was very moved by the movie and thought it was an interesting way to raise the question.

Rosanna Arquette (who directed and presented) is still searching for that answer but it seems that it is possible but not without a lot of hard work and delicate balancing of the three. Most people make sacrifices one way or another and it was intriguing to hear why some of Hollywood's top actresses have left the biz after they hit 40.

It just echoed some of the same frustrations that I have seen on the Internet about how people are frustrated about the decline of quality entertainment in the industry. I highly recommend it to anyone ... not just women although they might get more out of it since that is the focus of the documentary.

 

[dren1138]

I saw it and I have to say I didn't like it. On the one hand I think there should be more quality cinema for talented people, but on the other hand I don't think they are all talented. I think they were complaining about a system that they helped build and made them rich. They contributed heavily to a stupid system of eye candy and now they want more. (WHEN I SAY THEY I MEAN MOST OF THESE WOMEN NOT ALL.) They were rewarded for fitting into the systems model of beauty and fooled into a belief they had talent. They want quality roles for women their age, but most of them got famous by doing the exact types of roles they complain about now. They have been made wealthy by their looks or who they knew or who they are related to and I am suppose to feel sorry for them. I am supposed to pity them because society has taken them down a notch on their pedestal.

The system they helped foster is based on MONEY. The people who think they control that system think there is a model in the system for making money. The masses bring in the money and the masses don't really care about quality. FLASH IS CASH and that is the bottom line. Most of these people who think they control the system are men, but plenty are women. As long as the money is a factor the system will keep its model.

These women know the system and they know their time is up. They know how good they've had it and they don't want to let go. They all have physical beauty, but the system only cares about the model of beauty it follows. If they want to do quality work then they will have to do it themselves and be prepared to lose money. It is a shame because some of them have real acting talent, but most things in this world are unfair.

By the way, call me when you become a REAL working mother. THEY DO NOT WORK! They could make time for their children or could have made time for their children if they weren't so worried about falling out of this system. The only work they do is stressing over how to stay on top in the good life. When their young they make every movie they are offered. Now, they say I only get offered one movie a year or that is all they have time for. That movie takes me away from my kids for 3 months. Oh by the way, they don't mention that they are going to make anywhere from $100 Thounsand to $10 million for 6 hours in front of a camera and 3 months of sitting in a trailer on vacaction.

Don't get me wrong. The way women and men are treated and paid in Hollywood is night and day, but it is still better than being a real working mother. I wish there was more quality entertainment for a broader variety of age groups, but you know what, it is just entertainment. They had their runs and they got rich so see ya later. Yeah, I love some of them, but they really have talent and will always find work so I am not worried. Sharon Stone goodbye!

Sorry if this seems to negative and a little incoherent, but I used to work in the business and a lot about this movie made me angry! I loved Whoopi and some of the real talents in the film, but mostly it was pretty sad.

 

[GKarsEye]

Wow, nice rant.

I think acting can be a tough gig, even for celebs. It actually is a lot of work.

But still, it's tough listening to wealthy beautiful people complain about anything.

 

[Lyta]

Wow, I don't really know how to respond to a post like that.

I am not a huge movie/entertainment buff so I didn't know who some of the people highlighted in this movie were but quite a number of them I think are good. I think I liked most of them better as themselves than the roles they played but that could also be the fault of the way their characters were written or directed.

My point of bringing it up here was that a lot of comments said about the industry and quality entertainment in the film have been echoed here on these forums as well. I found it interesting that it isn't just us.