I AM grumpy about film reviewer Dougal Macdonald’s comments about a film, “The Wife”, that he reviewed in “CityNews” on August 9.

Why is it that, in general, women are relatively tolerant of “men’s movies” (and football), and that men are less tolerant, more condescending and trivialise women’s interests, in particular movies dubbed “chick flicks”?

Why are women’s interests less interesting to men? After all, they do or did have mothers. And sisters, perhaps.

In my opinion, even if one was able to guess what was coming next in “The Wife”, as Dougal indicates, that it was a movie with important issues for both genders in relationships.

The wife’s script was incisive. She has a brain and she used it. Not only was her self-conflict evident, she put it to good use in arguing and stuck up for herself. That is not to say I did not have kind regard for the husband or the son.

We all get a bit tetchy when we are confronted or under threat. We often strike out and the wife struck out, as long-suffering women do sometimes, which surprises men, because they are just so humdrum and take so much for granted, especially in long-term relationships, such as marriage. An excellent performance from all.

I am sick of men’s poor attitudes to women, fiction or real. Why can’t such a film be regarded as one of interest to both genders, not just women? Men could learn more about the positive attributes of women.

Grumpy is an occasional column dedicated to things that get up your nose. Readers are invited to vent (no more than 300 words, please) at [email protected]

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