One of the few things about being unable to sleep when everyone else can is you get to pick out a movie without argument. My pick two nights ago was an old favorite, 9 to 5.
I first saw this movie on a weekend with my dad and stepmother when I was around 9. This much I got from the movie then: it sucked to be a secretary, the boss was an asshole, it sucked to work for an asshole. Then and now, I did love this fantastic idea of taking over the workplace, having it run by women, and it actually being better as a result.
I’ve only taken a real interest in women’s history – and more particularly the history of the women’s rights movement in America – in very recent years. Maybe because I grew up around women who I thought showed themselves to be tougher then the men (Sorry Dad! Sorry PawPaw!), I kind of assumed a female’s place was dominant in most situations. I mean, even all my teachers were women up until middle school and nobody messed with these ladies.
It wasn’t till I was older that I began to see that being a woman – especially a tough women – was really difficult. College became an interesting time of both understanding and compromising my views on the subject of women’s equality. I’m now at a place where I can confidently say that I embrace what I see as the contemporary women’s movement and am appalled at all the injustices that still exist for women worldwide.
The saddest part about 9 to 5 – which was released in 1980 – is that I can see troubling elements from that movie – sexual harassment, lack of “management opportunities”, the extra burdens of the single, working woman – that I could relate to as a woman in the workplace nearly 30 years later. The best part? Probably the sincerity delivered in these lines :
P.S. – This post was inspired by today’s Post-a-Day prompt “Write a Review of the Last Movie You Saw”
