The Rundown

So, often the Professor and I sit around and discuss whether there are essential differences between the sexes, if there's some thing that is just so unique to either gender that it remains unknowable to the other gender. Most scholars are not essentialists. . . about anything. . .especially not about gender. But some, who are or know transsexuals wonder. If there's not something essential to your gender, how do you know when you're born into the wrong body? I think it's obvious that there are differences between men and women, just in terms of how our reproductive capacities affect us. But I get quickly irritated with the "men can't be nurses," "women can't fight on the front lines" crap, because it relies too heavily on sweeping generalizations that don't hold up in the specific. Even if most men are not as nurturing as women (and I don't believe that), some men make excellent nurses and should not be dissuaded from that line of work. And I would never want to be on the wrong end of The Shill's wrath and her in-laws' gun collection, because she's mean. But last night, as I was eating the Redheaded Kid's brownies* and watching the best movie I've seen all year, I was once again pondering the differences between the sexes. I was watching The Rundown starring Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. When the Butcher and the Redheaded Kid came in from work, they both asked me what I was watching, I told them, and they both said, "Oh, it's okay." Just okay?! Holy Jesus, were we even watching the same movie? I was enthralled through the whole thing and they got distracted and started playing chess. I'm still flummoxed as to how this can be. Is it a gender thing? Is The Rundown the perfect action movie for chicks? Is it an age thing? Is it a wrestling fan thing? I can't explain it. It's strange to me. But here are all the ways in which The Rundown is awesome.

1. The Rock. He's a fine man and a not-to-shabby actor. I mean, compared to Dolf Lundgren, he's practically Shakespearian.
2. The bad guy seems like he's going to get away, but he dies.
3. The Rock's character has some tragic backstory, but instead of spelling it out, they just assume the viewer is smart enough to get that it's there and affecting him.
4. That other guy repeatedly gets the shit knocked out of him.
5. The female lead is a rebel leader and, though they rescue her, I didn't for a second believe that she really needed rescuing just because she was a woman.
6. Christopher Walken's pants continue their journey towards his armpits.
7. There's a bagpipe.
8. There's enough homosocial bonding, homoerotic subtext, and masculine anxiety to write a thesis on. Think of how the other guy wants the Rock to touch his penis and then how the Rock refuses to use the phallic guns because he doesn't want to hurt his loved ones, and how the other guy tells the Rock he loves him right before they head off into the sunset.

It's awesome and I love it and I recommend it to y'all.

*I should say that there's a possibility that the brownies lead me to love this movie, but I think they were just tasty brownies and not an alternative to stinking up the couch.