Feminist Film Moment - I Like It Like That

I LIKE IT LIKE THAT (1994

(Note: If this post is your first encounter with my Feminist Film Moment postings, kindly read the rules of engagement before reading, commenting, etc.)

Written and Directed by Darnell Martin

Cast:  Lauren Velez, Jon Seda, Griffin Dunne 

Synopsis:   When her husband gets arrested, stay-at-home mother Lisette finds a job – and a new sense of herself – that shakes up her family.

Moment: Chino defies his homeboys when they urge him to hit his wife.

Rationale:

I’m undecided as to whether or not an ultimate goal of feminism should be to eradicate all gender constructions such as femininity and masculinity. I’m pretty confident, however, that part of the feminist enterprise is to recreate masculinities that are not predicated on patriarchal pillars. One such pillar is violence, and that brings me to today’s Feminist Film Moment. When Chino suspects that his wife Lisette cheated on him with her boss, his boys are quick to suggest that he regulate her with a public beating.  Chino’s flawed, no question, but he doesn’t get down like that.  The fact that he resists the pressure to hit his wife at all – never mind in front of crowd of men that believes she has it coming – is a profound act of resistance.  And given the dangerously pervasive myth that Latino and working-class men are somehow more violent than those of other socioeconomic backgrounds, this moment is full of intersectional win. Daps to writer and director Darnell Martin creating this image and one of my mentors Lillian Jimenez for pointing it out to me. 

Oh, and on another note, nice to see a movie where the gossips are men because, you know, they're not beyond it. They just call it networking or some shit like that. 

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