The cluster of us who sit around what might loosely be termed the Guardian's "film desk" have spent a fair bit of time over the past couple of months discussing Lars von Trier's Antichrist. Specifically: is it a masterpiece of confrontational cinema, stunningly shot, wonderfully acted; or is it a piece of misogynist nastiness, an expression of fear about female sexuality, with no greater purpose than the Saw or Hostel films?

I'm in the latter camp. Indeed, I thought it might be a contender for the coveted title of most hateful movie to women. Then, the other night, I saw True Lies on TV. Wow. If that was the only James Cameron film you had ever seen, you'd come away thinking he was a man who really, really, really hated women. Aliens and the Terminator movies are on hand to redress the balance, but True Lies is a whole lot of balance to be redressed.

You may know the plot: Arnold Schwarzenegger is an agent in an ultra-secret government agency performing wet ops around the world. But as far as his wife (Jamie Lee Curtis) knows, he's a computer salesman, so dedicated to his work that he has no time for her. In desperation, she begins a flirtation with a used-car salesman (Bill Paxton), who pretends to be a secret agent to impress her. Oh, the irony.

Here's where it gets unpleasant rather than just silly. On finding out about Curtis's flirtation, Schwarzenegger arranges a full military operation on the trailer park where she has gone with Paxton. She is snatched at gunpoint and taken for questioning – Paxton's posing as an agent providing the pretext for her to be treated like a criminal. Under interrogation, she reveals she was bored with her marriage, and craved excitement, whereupon Schwarzenegger – his identity disguised – offers her the chance to become an agent herself. Her first mission? To pose as a prostitute, and perform an erotic dance in front of a target (who turns out to be Schwarzenegger, identity still concealed). Let's recap: in order to spice up his marriage, the Schwarzenegger character pimps out his wife.

Maybe my wife's a bit fussy, but I reckon she'd divorce me if I did that.

I know it's just a film. I know it's not a serious film. I know it's an old film. But it's a staggering piece of work, awesome in its offensiveness. And it treats the deception and mistreatment of women as a joke. Say what you like about Von Trier, but at least no one comes out of his movies thinking his contempt for women is just a bit of a laugh.