Whiteout

Whiteout
Kate Beckinsale, Gabriel Macht, Tom Skerritt, Columbus Short
Dominic Sena

About twenty minutes into this movie I had already witnessed a crowd of men running in below-freezing weather completely nude, and the main character, Carrie Stetko (Beckinsale), stripping completely before a stereotypical steamy silhouetted shower scene. The comparison of the two scenes made it obvious which was more intended for the audience’s enjoyment: the male nude scene lasted about ten seconds and barely left time for me to realizes that penises were blurrily jiggling across the scene; the female nude scene, however, lasted a good three or four minutes and consisted of Stetko stripping slowly and thoroughly and, when down to her underwear, bending her ass politely towards the camera as she turns on her shower.
Despite this irking beginning, the basic plot and cinematography was interesting. I greatly enjoyed the use of complete white as an instigator of fear, rather than dark. The name, “whiteout,” is a term meaning when there are such strong winds and snow that it is impossible to see anything. That holds true to the movie. In some scenes, I sat in the theatre completely confused by the white coating everyone: I couldn’t tell who was the hero and the villain.
Again, though, I come with a complaint. There is only one female in the movie with a name. We hear a couple female scientists chatting occasionally, but never saying anything substantial for the plot and never naming each other. Stetko, of course, has a couple “I’d like to kiss you right now” scenes involving other males on the conspicuously one-sided scientific base. She also cries, which no one else (all being macho attractive manly men) does, despite the horrifying conditions they’re dragged through.
And, in the end, it leaves us with a big question mark on Stetko’s assumed relationship with another man, and her gazing at the Northern Lights with an excessively makeup-covered face (especially for a scientist living in difficult conditions) and a beautiful fur coat.
I give this three vagenises.
The Goods: the representation of a woman as a strong US Marshall (Stetko) and a couple scientists.
The Bads: her oversexualization and the lack of any apparent weaknesses in the male characters.