by Mark Blankenship
Look, I'll level with you: I enjoyed The Proposal, that Sandra Bullock-starring, Betty-White-and-naked-Ryan-Reynolds-featuring romantic comedy that opened as a box-office winner.
I laughed several times. I got manipulated into tears, thanks partially to Peter Chiarelli's script and partially to the indestructible charms of Bullock herself. In fact, Bullock is the reason I was excited to see the movie. When she opens the refrigerator door to my heart, the light always comes on.
That said, The Proposal troubled me. Underneath all the superficial laughs and charmy-charm-charm reaction shots, the film suggests that a woman will be much happier if she cedes her power to a man.
After the jump, our heroine's journey into total, blissful passivity. There will be many spoilers.
Before we get going, let's look at The Proposal in terms of comedic structure. Here's the basic flow of most comedies:
--- The world begins in disorder
--- The disorder is linked to a problem
--- One or more characters addresses the problem
--- The problem is solved
--- Order is restored, usually in the form of a literal or metaphorical wedding
The Proposal is such a formulaic genre film that it perfectly adheres to this structure. To wit:
(1) Disorder. We see disorder in the opening scene, when high-powered editor Margaret Tate (Bullock) storms through her office making everyone miserable. She behaves like a monster, firing, insulting, or ignoring everyone around her. Clearly, it's a problem for someone like this to be in control, especially when someone like her good-hearted assistant Andrew (Reynolds) can be forced to take constant verbal abuse.
In fact, the movie is careful to present Margaret as a Bitch and Andrew as a Doormat. It's obvious what we're supposed to dislike about them. We're not supposed to dislike them completely, of course, but we are supposed to recognize what's wrong with them.
But what's causing Margaret to be a Bitch and Andrew to be a Doormat? That leads us to...
(2) The Problem. The last line of the movie's last big scene tells us exactly what the problem is. After Andrew stands in the middle of the office and demands that Margaret marry him, he grabs her for a kiss, bending her back as he gives her the tongue. Co-workers applaud. Several women cry. And off-screen, a male voice yells, "Yeah, Andrew! Show her who's boss!"
So that's it! Everyone's happy because Andrew is in charge now. Margaret may have a better title, but Andrew, who did just get promoted to editor, is making the decisions.
Retrospectively, then, we can see that Margaret was a Bitch and Andrew was a Doormat because she he had too much authority over him.
So how did we get to this happy conclusion? Well, that's part of...
(3) The Solution. The movie is a series of events that take power away from Margaret and give it to Andrew. Consider this evidence:
-- Margaret, a Canadian citizen, can't stay in the country unless her American assistant agrees to marry her. Her destiny rests on his whim. The plot even bends to the point where Andrew won't even go to jail if he admits that his engagement is a fraud. She'll get deported. He'll get to go free. He's totally got the upper hand.
-- As part of a plan to get to know each other better, Margaret and Andrew go to Andrew's family home. In Alaska. Margaret doesn't know anything about Alaska or the wilderness in general, but Andrew is as comfortable there as he is in New York City. Margaret tries to sleep in a hotel, but she's forced to stay in Andrew's house, where only he knows how to operate the blinds and find the towels. Margaret can't swim, but she's forced to travel in a boat that Andrew knows how to operate.
-- Margaret attempts to call off her sham wedding to Andrew, because she loves him too much to lie anymore. She goes back to New York, ready to be deported the next day. Andrew shows up in her office, refusing to accept her decision. In front of their co-workers, he declares that he loves her and wants to marry her. When she tries to resist, he shouts at her to stop talking, then kisses her.
In other words, Andrew commands Margaret to follow his orders, and she agrees.
(4) Order. Now obviously, love is about give and take, and I'm not saying there's anything wrong with a couple trading power. But at the end of The Proposal, Margaret doesn't have any power left. She promotes Andrew, so she isn't his boss. In fact, as we've noted, her employees cheer Andrew as he kisses her for having become her boss. The only reason she still has her high-ranking job is because Andrew has agreed to marry her. And of course, in the climactic moment, he gives a command and she follows.
Did it have to be so drastic? Wasn't there a way to let Margaret fall in love without stripping her of her will? I mean, like I said: I liked this movie for the trite rom-com that it is, but you can follow the formula and let the couple remain equals.
Mark Blankenship blogs daily at The Critical Condition.
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