The Pathos of Penguin Masculinity

[lavendertook]

OK, I just came back from watching The March of the Penguins. You know, gotta hand it to these penguins--they do a nice job of egalitarian parenting across gender under horrific conditions--yeah--go penguins! But Cripes!!! The absolute pathos in Morgan Freeman's voice and narrative emphasis on the "father" penguin's plight! OMFG! Geezus guys, give it a rest! The birds look fucking identical, but oh, the plight of the male penguin! The female penguins loss of a third of her body weight and dropping of the egg and waddling back to sea after this task is mentioned all matter of factly, as I would expect in a documentary, but the male penguins waiting while she went to feed is presented like the Greatest Story Ever Told--they're fucking penguins, guy! A fine display of male interest in only what other males do, but doesn't this look ridiculous to anyone else?

Am I the only one who noted this or is it just my homicidal lesbian tendencies surfacing again?

It's a good Discovery channel movie, but now I know why reviewers I heard and read who gave it such rave reviews were male. Patriarchy is sooo stupid. I'll go back to my grotto now.

Comments

[hothead.livejournal.com]

I definitely leaned over to Ann and whispered something along the lines of, "I love how when it's a father taking care of the young, it's an endeavor in strength and endurance of heroic proportions..." And he said "role reversal" once or twice. Hello. Penguins are not following human gender stereotypes.

Also, did you notice how every penguin was referred to as "him" when they were not clearly sex-segregated? For the whole beginning of the film, I thought the males were marching out to meet the females who were waiting for them in an undisclosed location.

[http://users.livejournal.com/lucid_dreamer_/]

They're hiding in the same location that our vice president hides in....O_o