While most of my ass was aching during the dull and uninspired Red Riding Hood, there was a chunk on one cheek that knew to thank this picture for the inevitable wymyn's studies essays it will inspire. Indeed, this studio driven cash-in on Twilight (from the director of Twilight!) has more sexual signifiers than a semester at Bryn Mawr.
When I was a kid my older sister told me that the "Little Red Riding Hood" fable had something to do with getting your period, and when I went to my mother to demand an explanation she said, "you'll understand when you're older."
Well, now I'm older and I grasp the tenuous symbols to the dangers of unfettered sexuality - and so do the authors of Red Riding Hood. Bodice-wearing Amanda Seyfried dons her crimson cloak and is reminded by her mother, father and grandmother that she is a "good girl." And told to be remain one. She has two friends, the sturdy Prudence and the lusty (budding?) Rose. Our heroine almost loses her grip on reason due to her lust for peter. I mean, her lust for her boyfriend named Peter.
Okay, so we have our symbols set up, and we've even got Gary Oldman as a scary, violent church figure warning of the dangers of animal behavior. There's a twist involving Dad that just sends things over the edge.
While following the semiotics is a droll affair, I must also tip my hat to the somewhat tempered use of CG. Red Riding Hood is a gorgeous film, and not just because I like seeing Amanda Seyfried near a well in a field with colorful flowers.
Sadly, the story offers no satisfaction. On a fundamental level, it is too passive. There is no adventuring - there is staying back in the village and letting stuff happen. Cue the profs again to argue that wymyn don't quest, they nest.
I saw Red Riding Hood with a theater full of high school girls. I think they liked it, because there were whole three minute stretches when they weren't texting. But I do not accept that movie should only be for one demographic. Tell it to Pixar. Tell it to James Cameron. In this regard, Red Riding Hood is mostly all huff and all puff.
