Tootsie & Some Like it Hot - 2 of the Most Popular Comedies Ever

I have often wondered why these two movies are at the top of the list, and who really found them funny ?

Most guys I know don't go to drag shows or find women's clothing of interest so I assume its women who enjoyed these movies ? But Why ?

Has anyone ever had women they know refer to these movies and have a reaction to them ?

Other than the men in them looking pretty passable their motives are entirely different for cross dressing.

Related to this I only know women at work that would talk about how much they enjoyed seeing Flip Wilson playing Geraldine, never men. When I asked in that situation one of the ladies just told me she enjoyed the idea of him having to get made up and spend time trying to wear heels and dresses. It was if men were responsible for women having to wear these items and she enjoyed us seeing what it was like. Not sure if most women are like this.

I realize this might be the wrong audience for this but would like to get your thoughtsAttachment 299856

I think the cast has a lot to do with it. Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon are iconic. Dustin Hoffman's no slouch, either.

I think the story lines in the two movies were great writing. The plots to were not about men WANTING to be women but circumstances that involved men dressing as women to help some cause or get out of situations they were inadvertently involved in. I like both movies because of great plots and wonderful acting.

Sorry, I never saw the Flip Wilson show so I can't comment on why he was dressed as Geraldine.

I didn't realize that there were men that liked to dress in women's clothes before my husband started to CD a few years ago. I must have been very naive! That's why I would not overthink the correlation between CDing comedies and the real world. Just assume women like the movies the two movies you mentioned because they are funny.

My wife doesn't mention those movies, but has mentioned Bosom Buddies, the 80s TV series where Tom Hanks and Peter Scolara have to crossdress in order to live in a women's hotel in Manhattan which was cheaper than other housing. She always says how funny it was.

Robbie,

I think Some like it hot is just a classic funny film, great actors, well written and full of witty lines.One of my all time faves. Not so fond of Tootsie.

I believe that the success of Tootsie and Some Like it Hot were because of the casts and plots, not necessarily because of the crossdressing.
Jack Benny and Flip Wilson dressed in drag for the comedic effect, much like the occasional skits on Monty Python.
Boy, do I remember watching Bosom Buddies. I was so jealous of those guys. To get to dress, and to live in a women's only apartment building. What's not to like.

My ex liked Some like it hot.
Hated Tootsie or Mrs Doubtfire and Too Wong Foo.
She was fine when I came out to her after we had been split up for 8 years or so.
I never could figure that crazy woman out.

Started to over think this one … why ARE these movies so popular? Is it a simple case of 'let's laugh at the crossdresser(s)?, In the case of Tootsie and Doubtfire, is it a statement of men's diminishing roles and in their desperation turn to dressing as women? Is it a collective unconscious thing about how we perceive gender roles?

Then I thought, hang it all … they're just fun, funny movies :P … spoiler ahead:


Marylin Monroe doesn't care about lack of riches, crossdressing, or him being a sketchy sax player, she ends up falling love with Tony Curtis anyway. Jack Lemon tears his wig off and confesses to Osgood that they can't get married because "I'm a man!", undeterred, Osgood blithely responds "Nobody's perfect." Yeah, it's a comedy, but still pretty forward thinking for 1959.

Robbie,
" Some like it hot " has to be the classic . I admit Char is right that it wasn't about men needing to crossdress but finding it a convenient disguise . What I enjoy is how two very talented actors portrayed it , I'd love to know the story and history behind the making of that film .

I guess you missed Robin Williams putting his zany humour into Mrs Doubtfire .

I have to admit women do comment more than men on films about Cders , still proving hard for a guy to admit he has an interest and find them funny .

I missed out on a special screening of " some like it hot" in my old home town , it clashed with our Xmas party otherwise I would have gone .

Macey ,
I love that ending sequence , sometimes I feel it sums our whole situation up , " Nobody's perfect !"

One question , does anyone find this type of film offensive ?

Some Like it Hot is a good comedy, and Tootsie a later version in a similar vein works well, but rarely do I hearpeople talk about the cross dressing aspect of either movies.

I did find an interesting piece about Some like it hot in Tony Curtis's bio. Apparently Marilyn Monroe was terrible about remembering her lines and that he and jack Lemon had to spend way more time each day in dresses and heels than they had expected ! Also Jack had way more fun in drag and would flirt with the male crew.

I do think the movies showed how easily some men could pass as women

Oh and here is what Flip Wilson looked like as Geraldine
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The two movies mentioned are just comedies and none that happens can happen in real life .
It 's like Tom Hanks and Peter Scolari in "Bosom Buddies" which is total fantasy.

All those just reduce cross dressing to a a joke and the message is people cross dress just to deceive people for various reasons that in no way concerns being gender dysphoric.

Generally speaking, people don't have a problem with men wearing dresses: RuPaul's Drag Race is in its eleventh season, the movies named above get rave reviews and high school womanless pageants seen on the increase. But, they do have a problem with crossdressers (like those of us here) wearing dresses.


[edit] Yes, as Barbara suggests above: fantasy versus reality.

I crossdressed half a dozen times with my wife before we were married and she thought of it as good fun (fantasy). Then I told her I was a crossdresser. (reality) Not fun anymore.

There was a German version of "Tootsie" that was much more convincing, IMO....forget the name.

Rubbeldiekatz is the German film, not greatly hilarious but what a femulation. The Cage aux folles had my wife in stitches, the original French version that was remade as Birdcage.

When my wife and I went to see Tootsie (1982) she was very uncomfortable because of the cross dressing theme. The same with Mrs. Doubtfire (1993), She really does not to see scripts where men dress up as women. I think it brings up the fact her husband (moi) is a cross dresser.

At the heart of things, both films are romances. 'Some Like It Hot' was very daring for it's time, due to it's themes of cross-dressing, homosexuality and murder

There is going to be a Broadway stage version of 'Tootsie', opening in Spring 2019, at the Marquis Theatre in New York City

https://tootsiemusical.com/

"Nobody's perfect!"

My wife always loved Flip Wilson dressed as Jeraldean but the idea of me as Miss Judy sickens her.

I've always thot Marilyn was something special, Robbie! Of course, I saw "Some Like it Hot" before I began dressing out of the blue!

I've tried a few looks to copy her. Including a very cheesy "blows her dress up" shoot!:brolleyes:

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