Having just read a section of the book Camera Politica, the idea of reaction against feminism has been on my mind. Some of the movies of the early eighties was much a reaction against feminism and the rebuilding of the patriarchal society. Guarding Tess is a movie that falls into this category, though it was released in the early 90's. Guarding Tess is a reaction to is the woman's desire for individuality.
Guarding Tess is about a former first lady Tess Carlyse (Shirley McClaine) and a secret service agent (Nicholas Cage). The agent finishes his duty looking after Tess and returns to Washington but is pulled back straight away because Tess trusts him. Tess is a very strong willed, dominant woman that does not like people pushing her around. She has mostly male servants and secret service agents, and likes to try and break away from their watching every so often. Tess is portrayed as a typical feminist who wants to be independent of male support.
Tess' character goes deeper though for she also takes the role of the dominant gender. She is not happy unless she dominates the male sex, such as the seven secret service agents in her employ. The President, who sounds like a cowboy, is also very much dominated by her, and we see from the couple of phone calls she has with him (actually only one at the end) that she has him under her control.
This movie though goes to undermine this dominance of the female to show the need for the woman to rely upon the male. Tess is not only dying of a brain tumor, but she is placed in a position of helplessness that without her secret service agent, she would die. She is a very strong woman, but she needs a male to survive. This is played out in the kidnap scene, where Cage digs her out of her grave.
Tess treats Cage like a son. This becomes apparent when we meet her son, an ambitious, but failing, real estate salesperson. He comes to visit her but only to try and win her support on a development program. We realise that what Tess really wants is a relationship, one of equals and friendship rather than business associates.
In some ways this is a relationship movie, and the theme music reveals this. The break in the relationship caused by the kidnapping is a sorrowful part of the movie, not an exciting part. It is about relationships and dependence. It is a lash at feminism to say that even if the male cannot do anything else, we need them for companionship for that is the fundamental aspect of our nature: relationship.
Guarding Tess is about a former first lady Tess Carlyse (Shirley McClaine) and a secret service agent (Nicholas Cage). The agent finishes his duty looking after Tess and returns to Washington but is pulled back straight away because Tess trusts him. Tess is a very strong willed, dominant woman that does not like people pushing her around. She has mostly male servants and secret service agents, and likes to try and break away from their watching every so often. Tess is portrayed as a typical feminist who wants to be independent of male support.
Tess' character goes deeper though for she also takes the role of the dominant gender. She is not happy unless she dominates the male sex, such as the seven secret service agents in her employ. The President, who sounds like a cowboy, is also very much dominated by her, and we see from the couple of phone calls she has with him (actually only one at the end) that she has him under her control.
This movie though goes to undermine this dominance of the female to show the need for the woman to rely upon the male. Tess is not only dying of a brain tumor, but she is placed in a position of helplessness that without her secret service agent, she would die. She is a very strong woman, but she needs a male to survive. This is played out in the kidnap scene, where Cage digs her out of her grave.
Tess treats Cage like a son. This becomes apparent when we meet her son, an ambitious, but failing, real estate salesperson. He comes to visit her but only to try and win her support on a development program. We realise that what Tess really wants is a relationship, one of equals and friendship rather than business associates.
In some ways this is a relationship movie, and the theme music reveals this. The break in the relationship caused by the kidnapping is a sorrowful part of the movie, not an exciting part. It is about relationships and dependence. It is a lash at feminism to say that even if the male cannot do anything else, we need them for companionship for that is the fundamental aspect of our nature: relationship.