Movie Review – No Strings Attached

No Strings Attached is an American light comedy directed by Ivan Reitman. Ashton Kutcher won the Choice Movie Actor: Romantic Comedy at Teen Choice Award 2011.

Adam(Ashton Kutcher) is a very attentive and sensitive man. He is tall and muscular but easy to be sentimental and cry. Emma(Natalie Portman) is a workaholic woman. She works 80 hours a week, doing 36-hour shifts. She prefers to be friends with benefits with Adam and is busy at work. When they meet, they just want to be an animal in bed. The audience’s eyes are glued to the sexual scenes. Through long-term gatherings, they start to date formally.

This comedy breaks the stereotype of gender. In a society, people have certain expectations about gender. Only well-developed places embrace the diversity of people. People are not binary creatures. What are the main gender stereotypes? Gender stereotypes are like unspoken rules. There are certain gender-based discrimination and bias. In terms of personality, males are expected to be assertive, muscular and responsible. Females are expected to be tender, nurturing and domestic. The man works and the woman takes care of the children and the house. Women are good at communication and like talking. However, not all women say one thing and mean another. Not all women are bitches.

In No Strings Attached, Adam is more like the caregiver as he takes care of Emma when she is in her menstrual cycle. Emma is a doctor that she can take good care of herself. She avoids falling in love and drops into the swirl of a love relationship. The male protagonist Adam acts like a girl and Emma acts like a man. This contradiction in common gender stereotypes catches the eyeball of the audience.

In Hong Kong, people are not strange about gender studies. Overall, people live in a patriarchal society. However, the academic level of Hong Kong people is relatively high compared to other Asian countries. In the 1980s, Hong Kong people have been advocating for gender equality and women’s rights. Male and female workforce engagement in a workplace is nearly the same. To a certain extent, mass media helps to shape the stereotype of gender. If the audience does not think about the message, they will just follow. A group of Hong Kong female scholars holds a series of activities to raise gender consciousness and diversity to the public. For example, Dr. WONG Yuk Ying, and Sonia held Reel Women HK and Women’s Festival HK. The artist WONG Ka Ying also held a talk There is no Textbook Feminists: Real Faces of Feminists which discusses progressive women. The Hong Kong writer Milo Tse also wrote books about females and the sensitivity of women. She voices the opinion of females. Sometimes, females are considered to be timid to do things even just raise their hand in the class or meeting. The illustrator Canaan Fong draws the body of females to show that females should know your body and embrace the natural size of your body. Desiring to be beautiful is the female’s nature. Being too extreme to chase the ideal body size only leads to the negative result.

The only way to optimize and improve female individuals is to broaden their horizons. Marrying a rich man can offer you a superb living condition. But it cannot change your mindset and temperament. In Blue Jasmine, the socialite Jasmine reports her husband’s financial crimes due to marital infidelity. Does Jasmine collude with her husband? If a husband loves you, he would not put you in a dangerous situation like doing crimes together.

Males, they are easy to suffer from the expectations of society as males care about their prestige which affects their self-esteem. The criticism and the prejudice of being different strike their confidence and impact their well-being. For instance, the body shape of males would be judged. If men are too strong, their sexuality will be suspected. If they are too thin, they are considered sissy and weak. If they are put in the forest, they do not know how to survive. When females strive for their rights in a patriarchal society, females supporting feminism do not just focus on females. Feminists strive for equality for both genders. 

In addition, Portman and Kutcher this couple make a great combination. First of all, their height difference is very obvious. If men are tall, they look more protective. Portman is relatively short and looks like a doll which is cute for men. The couple complements each other like Hong Kong DJ Sammy and Kitty Yuen. The complexity of the protagonists enriches the plot.

There is a dining scene where Adam and Emma have dinner with Adam’s father and his girlfriend. Adam’s ex-girlfriend becomes his father’s girlfriend. The relationship between Adam’s father and his girlfriend shocks the reserved audience. People do not emphasize ethical relationships in Western culture. Their attitude is more open and casual compared to Asians. They always hold parties at weekends. In a positive way to see their attitude, Asians can be more open to embracing new things. The book Sex and Desire in Hong Kong written by Ho Petula Sik Ying and Tsang Ka Tat also explores the bold love relationship. Their research area is related to sex, gender roles and sexual nature.

She encourages middle-aged housewives to have a better self-development. Usually, they do not talk about their desires or eros which is taboo for old people. Most of the middle-aged housewives do not have this sense and oppress their needs. Housewives just focus on their domestic duties. In their leisure time, they would enjoy life rather than improve themselves. Her study aims to celebrate the desire, eros, and sexuality of females through understanding their own sexual and erotic being. Females can enjoy sex as part of life and be human by facing sexual and erotic content intellectually. Petula is kind of liberating middle-aged housewives.

In conclusion, vulnerable relationships are everywhere in the modern era. If you like it, keep it. If you don't like it, delete it. People do not treasure things that they get easily. The stereotype of gender is easy to break when people promote more about individualism.