If you observe Judd Apatow's pervy rom-com assembly line with even casual frequency, you probably don't need a Wikipedia entry to remind you how accusations of sexism and misogyny have plagued the writer-producer-director over the years. At least we hope you don't, because an eagle-eyed Defamer reader points out this morning how a loyal defender / relative / Universal publicist has spent the better part of the last week expunging the dirty little non-secret from the Wiki record. From Katherine Heigl to Mike White, follow the jump for a few of the latest line edits.
On April 15, a pro-Apatow operative yanked the details:
On several occasions in his movies, there are loud, expletive-filled arguments and frequent sexual-related discussions, which are a trademark.His male characters tend to be immature, lazy, misogynist, sex-crazed and drug-consuming slackers.
We guess that's not so bad; they're vague, and they do sort of violate Wikipedia's "neutral point of view" guidelines. But then someone dropped by Sunday night to cut some far less-arguable context:
New York Magazine noted that [former Apatow associate] Mike White ... was "disenchanted" by Judd Apatow's later films, "objecting to the treatment of women and gay men in Apatow's recent movies," saying of Knocked Up, "At some point it starts feeling like comedy of the bullies, rather than the bullied."Apatow has claimed to strive to avoid marginalizing women in his work and to develop authentic female characters. Following many of these accusations, in a highly publicized Vanity Fair interview, lead actor Katherine Heigl admitted that though she enjoyed working with Apatow, she had a hard time enjoying [Knocked Up] itself, calling the movie, "a little sexist," claiming that the film "paints the women as shrews, as humorless and uptight." In response to accusations of sexism ... Apatow did not initially deny the validity of such accusations, saying flippantly, "I'm just shocked she [Heigl] used the word 'shrew.' I mean, what is this, the sixteen-hundreds?"
This isn't nearly as fun as the revision that had Apatow dying April 7 after "stealing a bucket of mythical walrus," but it seems a fair enough concession to the historical record. But you tell us: Should it stand?
[Photo Credit: Getty Images]
- Judd Apatow [Wikipedia]









Comments
Apparently, all the comments here have been excised as well. That Apatow system is a well oiled machine.
All of his misogynistic tendencies in film are in sharp contrast to his habits in the bedroom. As his former lover once told me,
"He wanted me to spit on him and call him worthless."
He's just trying to assert his manliness before being dominated.
i'd always figured Apatow was secretly Orthodox and that explained everything...
Linda Cardellini and Busy Phillips characters on "Freaks & Geeks" were amazing -- complex and well-written -- but it's hard to say how much Apatow had to do with that.
@icallthebigonebitey: that was more paul feig.
perhaps apatow and scorcese should take a class together on how to write and present well-rounded female characters. the more you know...
@bess marvin, girl detective: Can we invite the writers of "Lost" too?
@tell Dolly Parton again:
and honestly, as much as i love them, you really have to add:
"The Wire"
the last season of "The Sopranos"
and "The Simpsons"
to this list
@tell Dolly Parton again: sure. first teacher: joss whedon
now if this guy could just learn how to END a movie, I might give him more of a chance
@bess marvin, girl detective: Really, even Scorsese? I thought that Bracco in The GoodFellas was one of the awesomest bitches on film ever. Is it mysoginist if he's writing women the way he knew them in his 50s Italian-American neighborhood? Sometimes it seems that the is only so much a male writer can get right about women, without having an actual female writer there with him. I would definitly not call Scorsese and Apatow mysogist.
@Jaguares: you see, i thought about that but then i'll be forgetting all the great movies written by men with strong female characters. so no, scorcese and apatow don't get a pass. if they haven't encountered well-developed women in their lives (which is HIGHLY doubt), then they need to change their social circles.
The writers of Sex and the City could have used a lesson too. There. I said it.
I nominate Tina Fey as teacher. Maybe she can give Apatow some tips on how to actually be funny, too!
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