One of the things I do when looking up films I am about to review is to glance at what some of the critics have said about them.  A comment about Ladies First from The Guardian stood out, calling one Netflix’s newest offerings “laughably earnest.”  With respect, this Christian has a difficult time understanding how those two words can be put together in a sentence.  Does the movie have problems?  Yes.  It is supposed to be a comedy, but given the subject matter I am about to describe, you will see why it is imminently unfunny.  In short, it is a little too stereotypical, even if it is addressing a subject, sexism, that still plagues modern society.  As you read this, understand that God did not make the sexes unequal.  We are different, but one is not better than the other.  Please keep this in mind as you continue to read.

The furthest thing from rising advertising agency executive Damien Sachs’ (Sacha Baron Cohen) is Ladies First as he continues his misogynistic advancement.  He and the current chief executive officer (CEO) of Atlas, Fred Powell (Charles Dance), are making their pitch to land a new account with Guiness beer, which is branching out into wines.  Because the stereotype is that women prefer the vintage, Guiness head, Louis (Bill Paterson), wonders about the lack of females in leadership positions.  Damien steps in, saying that they have recently hired Alex Fox (Rosamund Pike) as a new creative lead.  It is a lie, though her ideas had been instrumental in getting Damien and Fred in the door.  Upon being questioned, Damien admits to the falsehood, but then calls his assistant, Ruby (Weruche Opia), to make the necessary arrangements.  Damien then continues being a chauvinist, especially when Fred reveals that the up-and-comer will become the new CEO once the present one retires.  Back in the office the following day, Alex is excited to get started even though it is evident that Damien is unaware of her existence.  Indeed, he had been hitting on her, which makes it awkward when they sit down to go through ideas for the Guiness campaign.  During the meeting, Alex is virtually ignored while the men give all the ideas, many of which are offensive to women.  Any attempt by her to speak is taken as her being “emotional.”  Later, Damien and the other guys are talking about Alex’s so-called “odd” behavior, with him adding that she is basically only there to fill a quota.  Understandably, she is angry, and he does nothing to help the situation, adding that it is actually him that is the victim since males have to work harder these days to impress.  With this last insult, Alex quits and leaves.  A stunned Damien follows her out the door, still not understanding what he had done wrong.  When an attractive woman catches his eye, he loses track of where he is going, runs head-first into a pole, and falls backward on the back of his skull.  He comes to with two female emergency medical services (EMS) looking after him and asking questions about whether it is his time of the week.  He claims that he is fine and returns to Atlas.  Striding through the cubicles, people are looking at him in confusion as to why he is dressed in such a business-like manner.  He is also confused.  Alex is in his office, and the person occupying the CEO spot is Felicity Chase (Fiona Shaw), who Damien knows as the receptionist.  To top it all, the head of Atlas’ board in this reality is Glenda Cartwright (Kathryn Hunter), who is the diminutive cleaning lady.  Damien’s attempts at making sense of the situation are dismissed as just another man out of control.  A visit to his family does not clear up matters.  Upon entering his parents’ house, his sister and mother, Sunny Black (Emily Mortimer) and Mrs. Sachs (Deborah Findlay), are slumped on the couch while Mr. Sachs (Ron Cook) has to comfort Damien in the kitchen.  I wish this Catholic did not have to talk about gender specific roles, but such is this film.  After all this is over, Damien meets Pigeon Man (Richard E. Grant), who makes Damien understand that this is an alternative world in which women occupy the cultural and social roles that men did.  Pigeon Man does offer a path back to what Damien is used to, and it involves attaining the position he had been about to get before the switch.  Damien believes this will be easy, but in a repeat of the meeting from before, his voice is largely ignored by Alex.  Instead, Damien tries schmoozing with Felicity, particularly after he gives in and conforms to the beauty standards of the day.  This leads to him being invited to her apartment for a night that is turning wildly inappropriate before she dies of ecstasy . . . I guess?  Though her passing is unfortunate, it does mean that Atlas needs a new CEO.  Finding a way to be invited to a leadership meeting at Glenda’s country estate, he delivers a presentation that he thinks will get him to his goal.  It is impressive, and it earns him a night out drinking with Alex and Glenda.  Alex and Damien carrying in a passed-out Glenda proves a bonding moment between the two aspirants, and they have an adult night together.  In the morning, though, Alex gets the call from Glenda saying that Damien’s rival has secured the promotion.  Damien is furious, accusing her of getting the job only because she is a woman.  With that, Alex fires Damien.  His first inclination is to file a lawsuit, and Atlas is worried that Alex’s philandering will make Damien’s case for him.  However, the affair is not mentioned.  Instead, Atlas moves to make Damien the CEO, and Alex essentially delivers the news personally.  It is what Damien had been wanting for, but he tries to make it stop before he slips and bangs his head.  Waking up where he had his first accident, he undoes all his terrible policies and gives Alex everything she wanted.

What Alex wants at the beginning of Ladies First is to be treated equally.  Unlike what some protestants might tell you, there is nothing threatening about such a desire.  As I said in the introduction, God did not make one sex better than the other in any way that matters.  If men are, statistically speaking, able to dead lift larger weights, such factoids are meaningless.  One might argue and say that this means that females should not be in certain positions, like working in waste disposal.  I am not sure of this logic regardless of your religious beliefs.  This film bears out the absurdity of such gender dynamics, even if it is not speaking to physical traits.  I will also grant you that its point is to show that the system is the problem, which rewards these meaningless traits.  A fair criticism of the movie is that it goes overboard with its presentation of these stereotypes.  At the same time, we have a long way to go before we can call the battle against misogyny won.  For example, the founder of the Communion of Reformed Evangelical Churches, Douglas Wilson, who is also Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth’s pastor, believes that women should no longer be allowed to vote.  Instead, he advocates for a supposedly Scripturally accurate view of society with men making all the decisions.  This is the sad stereotype on display in the film, and it is not one to which Catholicism subscribes.  Unfortunately, we see female popes in the story, as well as proclaiming the “mother, daughter, and Holy Ghost,” as a way of furthering this agenda.  Such appellations are more for form’s sake, and the Church teaches that God is beyond gender.  That we call Him (or Her if you prefer) is because that is what Jesus called God.  At the same time, Catholicism has always had women working alongside men, perhaps in different modes, all for the building up of God’s kingdom.

In other words, society is a little more complicated than Ladies First would have you believe.  Nonetheless, we need to be sensitive to gender inequalities and combat them.  To keep a person from doing something solely based on their sex is wrong, at least in the work place.  Unlike what we see in the movie, we may never have a female pope, but we will always have Mary.