 Interior,
day, office setting, close-up.
A woman's lips fill the screen. They part and reveal bright teeth. Now the lips speak. "I love you, Phillip. (beat) But you're fired."A commercial for lipstick. Women in recent decades have gotten in the habit of using the word "threat." They relish the thought that an intelligent, educated, successful woman represents a threat to a man. Thus do women smirk at the interferences they encounter in business and industry, in government and education -- barriers in their path left by pitiable men caught in full retreat. Men find themselves menaced, according to women, by changing sex roles. Ever bent on protecting themselves, males cling to outdated stereotypes and engage in ill-mannered mischief to thwart the ineluctable tide of female progress. Now, the eighties gave us nothing if not reciprocal inquiry.For example, does an intelligent, educated, successful man represents a threat to a woman? I cannot say. What I have heard, however, is that women say they like a man to be "vulnerable." Not too much, though. Wimps are still despised by women, I think. Men like vulnerable women, but males are well advised not to say so. In the past, did men smirk at the interferences they encountered in business and industry, in government and education -- barriers in their path left by pitiable women caught in full retreat? Of course not. It was other men. We called the struggle competition, challenge. Men didn't smirk either; we scowled. A woman does not have to do that to become a threat -- to a man. Maybe to a woman, though. Exterior, day, middle-distance shot. A woman carrying an attache case bounds up marble stairs into an office building. The camera dollies in, lingers at a low angle focussing on her ankles. In the background men in three-piece suits take notice.A commercial for panty-hose.
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