by Adam Ritchie, Contributing Writer
Growing up, I always heard a lot of talk about Tootsie as a film. I’m pretty sure it entered my atmosphere after watching and loving Rain Man as a kid because of Dustin Hoffman’s performance. As a 13-year-old, I wasn’t overly interested in the premise, and growing up in a small town in Tasmania, it wasn’t easy to get access to “older” films anyway.
Skip a few chapters to 2023 to me on my continuous, seemingly neverending waltz into classic Hollywood (including for 20th Century Flicks), and I finally hit play on Tootsie, because my Hoffman filmography is severely lacking.
Hoffman plays a struggling New York actor (Michael Dorsey), who is talented but with a reputation for being difficult. After being told no one will hire him, he dresses as a woman (Tootsie)and lands a role on a TV soap opera.
Based on the premise, and since it was made in the ‘80s, I assumed this would be a pretty lame and dated attempt at humor. “Oh, look! A man dressed as a woman. That’s funny!” A real step back for all women and comedy in general was on my bingo card. I don’t want to gloss over the fact there are a couple of issues in this area, mainly with the Bill Murray character who is mixing in his transphobia with a little homophobia. As much as we all love him, the movie could cut all of Murray’s scenes (after the surprise party) and it wouldn’t be any worse or better as an overall experience.
I was pleasantly shocked to find Tootsie not only being funny — brilliantly so in parts — but also relevant for the modern #MeToo movement. Michael literally walks a mile (or New York miles) in another person’s shoes. He faces all the chauvinism, systemic oppression, and expectations that women face. He carries his “difficult” demeanor with him as Tootsie, but it works to his advantage as a woman. He represents a strength that women didn’t know they could use at the time.
With Dorsey representing the audience and learning along the way as we do, he is quick to realize he is part of the oppression machine and a complicit part of this group of men that treat women unfairly. As Tootsie, he was continually fending off unwanted advances, and struggling with power plays that disable women’s voices.
Hollywood being Hollywood, though, it can’t help but fall into a romantic trap, as Dorsey falls in love with his co-star Julie Nichols (Jessica Lange) while he has been sleeping with his longtime friend and fellow struggling actor, Sandy (Teri Garr). His redemption arc isn’t a clean one, as he continues to mislead Sandy and avoid her contact without ever being honest and telling her his true feelings. Mainly because he is one of those “men,” and is embarrassed about it, but as predictable as taxes, the problem only gets worse the longer he puts it off.
Tootsie’s central theme is the empowerment of women who can stand up and share their voice against a world littered with chauvinistic men, taking advantage and using their power to control and oppress them. In 2023, society is now finally learning the lessons of this 40-year-old film, and allowing (nee demanding) a more equal and fair playing field. It took some tragedy to get there, but history has always dictated the sacrifices of others can improve the lives of future generations.
Overall, Tootsie unashamedly delivers on every trope it embraces, and I have to admit I loved the key moment at the end. I don’t care how far out you can see it coming, the reactions of the players in the scene are terrific and hilarious.
One aspect that might remain a little on the nose for some is that the problems the central women of the film face were in large part resolved by a man. It’s a very similar trope to the “great white savior” we have seen in so many other films. If Tootsie was remade for a modern audience (and I am by no means wanting this), it could easily be spun enough to be successfully played by a woman if the “walk a mile in someone else’s shoes” aspect was changed.
It isn’t for nothing that though that the film probably needed to be told through a man’s eyes, attempting to educate every man that saw this. However, being that it has taken 40 years for societal change to occur, we can’t really give any credit to Tootsie for changing the world. However, it was still an important conversation to start, and that, my friends, is exactly what art is for. The conversations has to begin somewhere.
You can read more from Adam Ritchie, and follow him on Twitter and Letterboxd