Happy-Go-Lucky

"The End of Men," proclaims the July cover story of The Atlantic. The headline may be a bit hyperbolic, but it does appear that men are increasingly irrelevant in the Western world. Their primary advantage, physical strength, just isn't necessary for most tasks in a white-collar lifestyle. Men are generally less well-suited to office work, inflexible in adapting to the changing economy and less adept at child care. Which raises an interesting question: How does the previously dominant sex adapt to sudden marginalization?

"Happy-Go-Lucky" is a character study of a woman, but its greatest insights may be regarding men. "Lucky" stars Sallie Hawkins as Poppy, an English primary school teacher with an eternally optimistic outlook on life. She tries to turn everything into a joke or a smile, even laughing in the face of a sudden pain that shoots up her back.

Hawkins is terrific, and Poppy's persona is well worth exploring. But the character is most interesting when confronted with things that aren't so easy to smile about. When Poppy's bike is stolen (her reaction: "I didn't even get to say goodbye!"), she decides to finally take driving lessons. Her gruff instructor, Scott, at first appears to merely be a hard-ass, insisting on following the rules of the road to a fault. But it becomes increasingly clear that Scott is actually unhinged. He makes racist remarks, spouts off conspiracy theory hokum and develops a creepy attraction to Poppy. He becomes prone to flying off into a rage at his pupil.

Scott's childish, petulant anger is frightening on one level, but sad on another. Ultimately, there's nothing he can do about the changes that light his fuse: women's liberation, which gives them the freedom to wear provocative outfits while declining his pathetic advances, and immigration, which brings about the multicultural society that enrages a bigot like him.

A boy in Poppy's class presents another aspect of male stubbornness. The boy begins beating up his fellow students with rather disturbing gusto. We later learn that the child is being abused at home by his mother's boyfriend, which brings on the intervention of a social worker. One can only hope that such methods bring an end to the age-old passing-down of violent tendencies in men.

"Lucky" does offer us two women in distress, but their reactions to their struggles are instructive. Poppy's flamenco teacher has an angry meltdown in class over her cheating husband. Yet she composes herself and continues her instruction, showing much more emotional agility than that of which Scott is capable. In another scene, Poppy's sister Suzy is quite judgmental of her sister's carefree mentality. Suzy is clearly dissatisfied with her life, but unlike Scott, she still has someone on which to take out her frustrations: her hen-pecked husband.

The film does offer a couple of more benign models of male behavior. Poppy's chiropractor, a fairly gentle giant, and Tim, the social worker who assists the wayward boy, both show none of the violent tendencies of Scott or the student. Free of the anger which many men carry just beneath the surface, they are well-adjusted to suburban life.

But many men are simply incapable of this calmer outlook. In the middle of the film, Poppy encounters a homeless man. Clearly insane, the hobo spouts off meaningless noises and phrases. He attempts to caress Poppy's face, then abandons the effort and wanders off into a misty field. One hopes this is not a metaphor for the many Western men who can no longer find a purpose for themselves in the world.