We begin our celebration of Men We Love with Paul Feig, the director responsible for "Bridesmaids" and "The Heat," and the man whose commitment to the messy complexity of his female characters reminded Hollywood that, yes, women are funny, and, yes, their stories can be very big business. Why else do we love Paul Feig? Here, we count the ways...
Because he likes to clarify that he doesn’t make “women’s movies”; he makes movies with women in them that are for everybody.
Because he didn’t just direct the biggest female comedy of 2013, he directed the biggest comedy, period.
Because when he first found out about the Bechdel Test, an assessement of whether a film features two women discussing something other than a man, he realized it was a bar he had already set for himself.
Because when it comes to the longevity of his marriage (it’s his 20th wedding anniversary this year), he credits his father’s childhood lectures for convincing him to take the commitment seriously.
Because when we asked him what his mom taught him about women, he shared this: “To realize that nobody’s perfect. Guys aren’t a prize, we’re fun sometimes and we’re terrible other times. Women are fun sometimes and they can be terrible some times. It’s just what human beings are. Don’t look for absolutes. No Princes they say for women, well, there’s no Princesses either. The reason we like people is because they are complex.”
