'Disclosure' reveals War of the sexes

'Disclosure' reveals War of the sexes

Disclosure; Michael Crichton; Ballantine Boos, New york, 1994; 497 pages

JAKARTA (JP): We are in the middle of World War III and most of us don't even know it. The potent opponents maintain opposite tenements on the two sides of a magnet -- a love-hate ambitious cocktail -- which sometimes brings them together in an immeasurable, consuming passion for each other. Regardless of the outcome, this battle has always proved to have more surrenders than casualties.

This battle of the sexes forms the theme of the book Disclosure, now a blockbuster film. Written by Michael Crichton, the author of Jurrassic Park, and directed by Barry Livinson it promises to be The Fatal Attraction of the 90's -- or so scream the advertisements in Singapore movie halls.

The cover of the book displays a close-up of the classic contours of Demi Moore's profile and that of her victim Michael Douglas.

Tom Sanders (Douglas) and Meredith Johnson (Moore) are colleagues in a computer company called Digicom. The company designs CD Roms and electronic databases. Meredith is a virtual "square peg in a round hole" but becomes the head of technical divisions by plundering her physical faculties where her mental ones fail.

The snappy, expeditious flow of the book is further helped because the reader's imagination is facilitated by holding a clear image of what the principal characters look like. Moore's famous husky voice and Douglas's intense face bring the pages to life.

The story really gets moving when Meredith, a darling of the boss from the sales section, gets promoted as head of technical divisions -- a highly coveted position that Sanders was naturally thought to fill. The situation is further spiced-up when Sanders admits to having had a relationship with her about a decade ago. However, that's dead and buried. Sanders swallows his pill of disappointment and looks forward to the completion of his profitable project in Malaysia.

Now he must function with someone who is not only his ex-lover but also his boss. The crunch comes when Meredith suggests an after office hours meeting to gear up for the impending meeting with the buyers of his invention the next day. However, she has no intention to talk business but has merging plans of her own.

The Motion Picture Association Of America is perplexed about how to rate the film because, as actress Demi Moore says, "There is no nudity. It is raw and makes people uncomfortable. It is real, not pretty, glossy or romantic." According to statistics the percentage of sexually harassed male employees is just as large as their female counterparts.

Tom is a happily married man and does not desire complications in life. Although he still finds Meredith attractive, he spurns his boss and walks out leaving a vicious, embittered and humiliated woman.

She complains of having been assaulted by Sanders. When Tom reaches the office the next day he is suddenly catapulted into gossip headlines and brusquely informed of his "transfer of equal position". His world comes crumbling down when he is thrown off his project for assaulting his senior.

He wins his wife's confidence and sends the family out of the country, away from harmful gossip. With his female lawyer he sues and commences his one man fight against the unjust system.

The rules for men have changed and all men know that in their hearts. A very American theme: "Wonderfully entertaining," says Sunday Times.

In the end, one feels that a few aspects of this shrewd woman character were not essential. The vamp was made to be bad, or maybe it was a case of "when she was good she was very very good, and when she was bad she was very very bad." While possessing an ulterior motive for the seduction it was unnecessary to depict her as a risque, lusty tigress out on the prowl.

We all are constantly adapting, coadjuting and moving on while reacting this world. And there are very few incidents that actually tell us where we have really reached or show us the path we have traveled. This film is not just any courtroom drama, it tells us exactly where the war of feminism has reached.

A free ticket to the film is being issued with the sale of each book in Singapore. Theaters in Jakarta have had selective midnight shows and plan to run it regularly in two weeks.

The book and the film not only throw light on the state of the world but also expand the stance we must take on equality for men and women. For all believers in the aphorism "Feminism is the triumph of mind over mattress", the movie illustrates "Feminism is the triumph of getting the man to the mattress."

-- Pavan Kapoor