Not perfect, but very enjoyable, Tootsie is one of my favorite films. It's fun, funny, touching, never boring and confronts gender roles; though it is a bit cloying and brushes over scenes that shouldn't be brushed over, such as Michael's/Dorothy's co-star forcing himself on her. That scene in particular was a missed opportunity. Michael tells his roommate "Rape is not a laughing matter" and I applaud them for calling it what it was, an attempted rape but it was used it for laughs. Maybe at the time this film was made that seemed like progress, but if that scene were to unfold today I would hope they expand on the commentary of men using their position of power. Indiewire expands on these thoughts much more clearer than I could here; including the now infamous comments from Dustin Hoffman about when he went through make-up testing for the role and went through an "epiphany" that he had been brainwashed to essentially judge a woman by her looks. Though my initial reaction was "good for him!" it quickly turned to "wait, he had to feel sorry for himself before realizing that sexism does exist?"
The A.V. Club has a great interview with Teri Garr (who plays Sandy in the film) from 2008 where she talks about her career and the sexism within Hollywood.
Now onto the locations...
Now onto the locations...
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Living in New York City means you're living on a movie set and of course I have to take advantage of that. On a free and lovely day I decided to wander around the city and find some of the filming locations that were used in the film. See below for the movie stills (top) of the locations and what they look like now (bottom)
150 West 57th Street
781 5th Ave, New York, NY 10022
Michael and Jeff's apartment
15-17 West 18th Street
Pour Moi
1181 Second Avenue
Pour Moi was one of the shops Michael stops in to buy new outfits for Dorothy. Turns out the shop closed a while ago and according to Google maps it is now an empty lot so I didn't even bother going. But I did find an old ad for the store!
Bonus behind the scenes videos:
