Tootsie

I took a TV break from researching a paper topic for another class, and, of course, found something fun on TV to distract me for longer than the planned 1/2 hour... maybe it's indicative of poor discipline or maybe (and hopefully because it sounds better) I really like my Women and Law class! Tootsie is on TCM! What a classic! I haven't watched this in years, but I was suprised and delighted to find references to class discussions in just the first 15 minutes of my viewing.

For anyone who hasn't seen the movie (I highly recommend it), Dustin Hoffman plays an out-of-work, desperate actor who dresses as a woman to land a part on a soap opera. He learns of the part through a girl friend who was denied the part for looking too feminine. He was nearly denied the part on the same basis (oh, the irony!) He procures a reading for himself by bringing out decidedly male manners during a speech where he asks whether a woman in power (referencing the acting role) must be a masculine woman. In other parts of the film, he finds even getting a taxi dressed as a woman is easier when he uses his male shout and male physicallity to stand up for "herself."

He is trying to play a woman, but finds that his natural maleness is an advantage in that role on and off the set. "Dorothy" becomes popular and he must carry out her portrayal more and more off-set, convincing press and colleagues alike that Dorothy is real. It is interesting to see how people react to his male characteristics versus the female characteristics in the woman costume and what advantages/disadvantages come from the different characteristics. He sympathizes (even empathizes?) with women when he begins to understand the power disparity between the sexes and how the empowered sex treats the other (take sexual harassment, for example. The "Tootsie" title is a reference to the cute nickname Dorothy's boss gives her.) After gaining celebrity, Dorothy becomes a symbol of female power looked up to by real women, but of course Dorothy is really a man. With ego brimming, Dorothy's male alter-ego seeks PR opportunities where "she" can inspire women to stand up for themselves, but he is reminded by a knowing friend that he doesn't know anything about what it is like to be a woman... he is, after all, a man.