In December 1982, America had Tootsie fever. This comedy-drama about acting and the entertainment industry was an undisputed blockbuster, earning over $177 million at the box office. Additionally, the film was an acclaimed critical hit, garnering 10 Oscar nominations. The film, starring Dustin Hoffman, Jessica Lange, Teri Garr, and directed by Sydney Pollack, dealt with issues surrounding the social politics of gender and the inherent bias against women in the entertainment industry within the prism of its genre. The gender dynamics have not all aged gracefully 40 years later, but to disregard it as problematic art is a disservice. At its core, Tootsie is an endearing film featuring top-notch acting, a quick-witted script, and an unexpectedly sharp visual pallette that deals with serious subjects with maturity, even if its ideas are misguided.
What Is 'Tootsie' About?
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Tootsie centers around Michael Dorsey (Hoffman), a struggling actor who has developed a reputation of being difficult, causing him to be blackballed by the stage, movie, television, and even commercial industry. In order to land a part on a T.V. soap opera, Dorsey poses as a woman (in a full wardrobe featuring women's attire, a wig, makeup). Under the name Dorothy Michaels, she becomes a hit, and generates a romantic interest with his co-star, Julie Nichols (Lange). Throughout the film, Michael discovers the ongoing mistreatment that women receive in entertainment as Dorothy, and has his own personal enlightenment along the way as a man.
Elements of 'Tootsie' Have Aged Poorly
Perhaps nothing in general has aged quite worse in 2022 than the act of cross-dressing for insincere purposes. A man forming himself as a woman with the stereotypical characteristics of a woman, the big hair, long dress, heavy makeup, in order to advance in his career is very much true to the gender dynamics of the 1980s. For someone experiencing real gender identity crisis, watching a movie centered around a temporary gender swap for business purposes could be flagrantly insensitive. Since the film was a vehicle for Dustin Hoffman, a box office draw of his time, the film is undoubtedly from his perspective, which is another damning misstep on the film's ideas. Ultimately, the audience follows the story from the viewpoint of a man, along with the method in which he processes the sexist treatment that persists in his business. Tootsie wants to lead the audiences into believing that this light-hearted Rom-Com, unbeknownst to itself, has broken new ground in shining a light on Hollywood/entertainment sexism, but because Michael/Dorothy identifies as a man in actuality, the film operates from an outsider's perspective.
The film's ending is one of the weaker aspects of the entire picture. It seems to be purposefully avoiding challenging audience expectations, and is instead desperate to find a bow to tie all the questionable actions in the film together into one dénouement. This is where the most iconic line of the film reveals itself. "I was a better man with you, as a woman... than I ever was with a woman, as a man," says Michael to his soap opera co-star, Julie. This moment is in the aftermath of Michael removing his Dorothy wardrobe during a live recording of the soap, Southwest General, shockingly revealing to the public and his newfound love that he is a man. Despite his deceitfulness, Julie accepts him, and the film closes with the two of them engaging in extended conversation on the street. Sure, this was the 1980s, and the gender politics were always questionable at best, but 1982 is at least still in the last gasp of the consistently dark and cynical New Hollywood era where happy endings were a far cry in cinema. Either way, an ending like this that doesn't punish or reconsider the character of Michael at all is a disservice.
Ways 'Tootsie' Has Aged Well
Tootsie, while a film from 1982, plays more like a Classic Hollywood romantic comedy. The late great Roger Ebert wrote in his four-star Tootsie review that the film "is the kind of Movie with a capital M that they used to make in the 1940s, when they weren't afraid to mix up absurdity with seriousness, social comment with farce, and a little heartfelt tenderness right in there with the laughs." From this angle, the film is quite powerful. If the goal is to teach the audience something, don't lecture them, entertain them. For as much as the act of cross-dressing on Michael's part is a move born out of eccentric desperation, Sydney Pollack never directs the film's tone to total buffoonery. He has a steady hand behind the camera that causes the film to be lacking manipulation. There is emotional maturity in this film that is lacking in so many other 80s comedies. Tootsie featured numerous credited screenwriters, but uncredited work from Barry Levinson and most notably Elaine May lend the film its quick-wit and credence as a work of art that is curious about the world. The film smartly dissects the complicated gender politics of Hollywood through the limited context of the set of a soap opera.
The casting of Dustin Hoffman as an actor who is a headache for the cast and crew on every set he steps foot onto allows for easy accessibility for interpreting this text as meta-commentary. Being notoriously difficult in real life, the film contextualizes his "struggles" as an actor with that label in relation to the everyday struggles that women receive in the business. Michael's issues pales in comparison to the unprofessional behavior from directors and producers towards other women in his life, such as the tormenting expedition that Sandy (Garr), Michael's other romantic love interest, goes through to get cast for a part. She is sent away from the director of Southwest General, Ron (Dabney Coleman), in the blink of an eye just off of her appearance. Michael also learns the punishing nature of a being an actress while posing as Dorothy. In his first day of shooting, he discovers that he has to kiss one of his co-stars. A seemingly simple piece of acting works up Michael. This is a sly way to forcing the viewer to evaluate what it must be like for women, who are constantly asked to be of a romantic interest to a male character. While there are some homophobic implications surrounding Michael's fear of kissing this man, the anxiety is reserved enough to make the situation more in relation to the main commentary on women.
The film also features sharp criticism on the societal archetypes of women and how they are recognized by the public. Dorothy Michaels becomes an overnight media sensation after her first appearance on Southwest General. However, the media fixation surrounding Dorothy stems from her archetype as the strong, independent woman rather than her as a person. This speaks to the fallacy that the only kind of woman worth idolizing is the one that is "tough" through the context of masculinity, similar to the present day phenomenon of the "girlboss." As Dorothy is secretly a ruse for a man, it argues, inadvertently or not, that the public ultimately is seeking out for the personality characteristics associated with men in women. Throughout the film, ideas of physical appearance are confronted, with Dorothy advocating that herself and her co-stars be viewed as people and not women. Michael is put into the shoes of women when he is faced with the inherent pressure of living up to female beauty standards. Dorothy awkwardly revealing to Julie that she has a "mustache problem" as the reason behind her use of heavy makeup is quietly indicative of these issues.
'Tootsie's Male Gaze Ultimately Dates It
All the examinations or reexamination of Tootsie is certainly worthwhile, but unfortunately, every cohesive point in favor of the film as a progressive text of feminism can be erased due to the objectionable reality that this story is told through the perspective of a man. The fact that, in this film, it requires the selfish endeavors of a man looking for work because of his troublesome work behavior to identify the problems of women is a dagger for the film as a feminist text. Having said that, because of the ways it blends traditional Rom-Com beats with a message and the exceptional acting and writing, the film is still great and a fascinating object of its time, but regarding its depiction of gender dynamics, it certainly belongs to 1982.
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