We've had this debate on women before. I won't get back into it, but suffice it to say Nolan writes and directs films about emotionally messed up men. That's the consistent thread present in all his films and if that results in a gender gap then so be it. Perhaps it should bother me, but it doesn't.
Furthermore, I think there's a lot of silly generalizations being made about the way Nolan portrays women in his films. Take hegele's post for example:
Mememto:
Carrie Anne Moss- exposition sound piece on Guy's condition.
The Wife- idea of love told to us, but never shown. she dies. man angry.
I think everyone can agree that Natalie was more than simple exposition sound piece on Guy's condition. She uses Leonard for her own ends one moment and then falls for him the next.
As for the wife, 'the idea of love told to us but never shown'...come again? You must have missed the scenes in which Leonard gets a prostitute to roleplay the last memory of his wife and burns her things so that he can purge himself of his own memories of her, which were, due to Leonard's condition, just as fresh then as when she was murdered. And I'm sorry, but Leonard puts himself through all that he did only because he wanted to avenge his wife. If that isn't a blatant sign of his intense love for her, then please, by all mean, tell us what is.
Insomia:
Hillary Swank- an exposition sound piece on how cool Pacino was back in the day.
Really? Because in the film I saw, she was the second major threat to the main character. Of course, she idolized Dormer, but the conflict in her character was that her sense of duty was now forcing her to suspect and implicate the very man she looked up to all these years. That's a lot more than mere exposition.
Batman Begins:
Katie Holmes- exposition sound piece on justice and how cool bruce's parents were.
OK, you got me here. Even though I don't agree with your assessment of her character, Rachel Dawes (
in BB) deserves all the flak she can get.
The Presitige:
Jackman's wife- idea of love for Hugh, told but never shown. she dies. man angry.
He loved her, as evidence by the scene in which he is trying to drown himself over losing his wife. But his obsession with one-upping Borden was greater.
Bale's wife- the closest thing to a fully realized woman in a Nolan film... alas... she dies. man angry.
When was Borden angry over his wife's death? Fallon was the one responsible for Sarah hanging herself, and it was only during Fallon's confession before his own hanging did Borden find out about it. But Borden was never shown to be angry with Fallon or Angier or anyone for that matter. Borden knew well that her death was a consequence of living a half life with his twin brother and not sharing his secrets with his own wife.
The Dark Knight:
Maggie G- she dies. Both men angry.
Correction.
One man angry. The back-to-back scenes of Bruce's and Harvey's reactions to Rachel's death was meant to highlight this very difference. Rachel's death strengthened Bruce's resolve to take down the Joker. Harvey, on the other hand, snapped.
Inception:
Juno- exposition sound piece on what the hell is going on. nothing more.
Marie Coltiard- idea of love for Leo, told but never shown. she dies. man angry.
Page's character of course had little more to do other than exposition, yes, but Marion? "Idea of love for Leo told but never shown"? I'm not going to bother mentioning examples from the film (because there are too many and I've already said enough) but instead, please, do enlighten us on how exactly is love supposed to be 'shown' in films. Perhaps you want to see them making out in steamy sex scenes? Or maybe the filmmaker should show us elaborate song-and-dance routines ala Bollywood?