Coifed hair, bitchin’ tattoos, and hipster beards are all adjectives used to describe the boys’ club that is associated with the on-the-rise craft beer scene. Now, there isn’t a “No Girls Allowed” sign posted on the door of every bar and brewery, but one thing is for certain: women are few and far between. For centuries beer has always been a “man’s drink.” Even today, our marketing and movies maintain the idea that “ladies don’t drink beer,” and if a gal does enjoy a pint or two she needs to be snatched up immediately, because she’s every man’s dream come true.
Joe Swanberg’s Drinking Buddies doesn’t help with this perception in the slightest. Although the amount of women may be small in the craft beer industry, they are a fast growing minority. Drinking Buddies neglects to acknowledge all the other women working in the industry, and channels just a fraction of what goes into the trade into to one passive-aggressive, close-minded, and whiny stereotype.
Kate (Olivia Wilde) is the only woman working for a local Chicago brewery. She spends most of her days on the phone scheduling beer tastings and arguing with local distributors. When the cord of her phone doesn’t tie down Kate, she passes the rest of her day by flirting with her (very) close friend, co-worker, and “work husband,” Luke (Jake Johnson). Aside from the two being romantically unavailable, the two seem like a perfect match. They both love drinking beer and getting drunk together. They both love doing stupid things, and they both seem to not be terribly interested in the their significant other. It’s extremely apparent that these two have a thing for each other, but they both insist that they’re just friends. You know what really can blur the lines between a friendship? Beer. And that’s just about where any mention about brewing and beer end: Luke and Kate’s friendship.
In addition to our main characters, Drinking Buddies is a completely wasted opportunity to shed some light on an exceptionally interesting and growing industry. The setting couldn’t be more perfect to educate viewers about craft beer. Set in one of Chicago’s largest breweries, all we get to see are some fermenters, kegs, and hops. But besides squandering the chance to teach viewers about the process and varieties of beer, the film also perpetuates the incredibly annoying stereotype that beer is meant for one very specific type of consumer, and that’s men.
The film claims to be set at a non-descript Chicago brewery, but anyone with a set of eyes and no knowledge of beer could tell it takes places at Revolution Brewing in the Logan Square area. From labeled boxes stacked up to the ceiling, to their glassware and tap handles no one should be fooled about the where this is all taking place. The film is very loosely based off an employee by the name of Katie Coggins, so knowing the film obviously takes place at Revolution; we can do a little research. In addition to Coggins, there are thirteen other women who work for the brewery. So why didn’t we see any of these other ladies in or mentioned in the film? Everything is all about how Kate is a special snowflake. She’s different than all the other girls out there. She drinks craft beer, not margaritas and sangria. She’s the cool girl. Throughout the movie we see a few other women, but they all seem wholly uninterested in the beverage in their hand (or anything for that matter) and the few times we get to encounter them, it is brief and heavily yawn inducing. The only other main female character, Luke’s longtime girlfriend, Jill (Anna Kendrick), doesn’t really care about craft beer and clearly isn’t interested in learning about what her longterm beau does for a living.
Now, it should be made crystal clear that no one is saying that if you are a woman, it is your duty to savor a snifter for the sake of womankind everywhere, but it is important to remember that everyone has different tastes, including men. There are plenty of guys out there who don’t enjoy beer at all, but the biggest problem with this movie is that the film consistently perpetuates the idea of what you enjoy drinking determines who you are as an individual.
As a recently turned 21 year old woman, I enjoy craft beer. As a woman, I also make up 15% of total craft beer consumption. I can tell you upfront, however, I am not a cool girl. If anything, I look like the antithesis of what a craft beer drinker would probably look like. I dress similarly to Anna Kendrick’s character, I’m rather girly and quiet. The thing is it doesn’t matter what I look like. I frequent breweries such as Three Floyds and 18th Street, but guess what? So does everybody else. I’ve seen plenty of the “typical” brewery frequenters with tattoos and beards, but I’ve also seen plenty of different types of ladies in these breweries too. Some girly, edgy, sporty, and weird, because there isn’t a normal beer drinker.
Kate’s character is a narrow-minded and pigeon-holed interpretation of women. She’s reckless, obnoxious, and totally selfish. Swanberg basically turns Kate into a bro-ish, inebriated plot device. Likewise, Jill is just as horribly troped up. All she wants to talk about is marriage and cooking. This is the most trite and overused dichotomy in the book, and it makes me want to gag.
As a girl who personally does not associate with either of these types of women, I find it so insulting that Swanberg compartmentalizes them in two polarizing “either/or” cliches. If you are a woman you either love beer with a craz passion or don’t like it at all. Nevermind your personal tastes or what styles you prefer compared to others. Where are all the normal girls? It’s hard to believe that these two types women even exist out in the real world, they are so banal and lack complexity.
What is also totally baffling, is how Kate is even coherent enough to even hold a conversation with anyone throughout the film. Swanberg is always showing us scenes of Kate, Luke, and all their guy pals downing pint after pint. Even when Kate is moving and her and Luke are sitting in the bathroom, there is magically a pint of beer available.
Although, craft beer drinkers do on average consume more types beer than the traditional beer drinker, in no way shape or form are these people alcoholics, such as Swanberg would show us otherwise. I have custody of a fridge that is always fully stocked with craft beer and home brews, and I share a couple of beers with friends a few times a week. I have the proper glassware, including glasses for tasting, which isn’t uncommon. The whole point of sharing though, or having only one or two beers is to taste the beer.
The way Kate and Luke drink in the film is jaw-dropping.With a pint always in hand, they are always stumbling around, slurring their words, and always looking hung-over the next morning, which would explain Kate’s love for her black Ray-Bans. What I also don’t understand is that these people work ar Revolution Brewery, a highly-rated brewery. There is plenty of beer to choose from around there, and probably at a discount or for free. Why do they waste all of their money at the bars and never hang around their own workplace?
Having my own small brewery family, I can honestly say that many of the employees come in on their days off to hang out. We bring home lots of beer from work, and there are fun trips as a brewery family. The workers in Drinking Buddies just seem to speak poorly of each other. Kate just leads her “brewery boys” around and they cancel plans on their spouses and significant others at Kate’s erratic and selfish demands.
The relationships in this film are completely awkward and flat. Filming in the newfound genre of “mumble-core” the actors have to improvise their lines on the spot, with a basic outline. But it leaves the story with strange holes and no explanation for motives. Swanberg can’t be one hundred percent to blame here because of the genre. He came up with these characters, but these actors came up with the dialog that worsens the stereotype. The problem is that these actors aren’t comedy veterans and are not experienced enough to pull off the genre without it sounding awkward and uncomfortable.
The film really tests my patience from beginning to end. I’d like to say craft beer is immune to this kind of annoyances, but there’s room to grow. Marketing for the beer industry has already failed its female customer base, and this film just adds to the failure. No matter if women are integrated into the industry, they’re still either largely stereotyped or completely looked past. It seems that in order to get some respect or recognition in the boy’s club of a marketplace or Swanberg’s film it is to be a cool girl, or one of the guys.
Typecasting women drinkers down to the lowest common denominator does not legitimize women’s presence in the industry. Knowing women who own their own breweries, manage production facilities, and run distribution services, women serve an integral part in the brewing industry. It used to be rare to see women outside of marketing, but the view from inside the industry looks decidedly more equal than ever before. In many ways beer is a great equalizer. Women are slowly but surely beginning to climb the ladder of the craft.
The “no girls allowed” sign needs to come off the doors of the beer industry. We don’t need beer ,or anything for that matter, “mansplained” to us any more. Cocktails and drinks with parasols aren’t for only one type of person. Men or women can kick back and enjoy a pint of beer or a glass of wine, and they should be able to sip on their drinks without a judgemental look or a preconceived notion about character. You don’t have to be a man or a cool girl to drink beer. Beer is for anyone, models, moms, and grandpas. The boy’s club should step aside because in the last 3 years there has been a major shift in the market and the ladies are making a dent in it. We love double IPAs, Russian Imperial Stouts and Barrel-Aged Beers just like the next craft lover. Who cares if we don’t don a caveman beard, pin-up girl tattoos, and a shirt displaying an intense love for High on Fire? Step aside and pour me a beer.
