Amu Hossein’s words of wisdom

Is it fun, to ruin the film?

I think he would agree that movie talking is a NO.

Girlcat gets aggressive

Come on in the water!

Just gonna squash this bunny into place.

Don't let me interrupt.

Tim Burton

Went to the Tim Burton exhibit at the MoMA yesterday with Sadiqeh, Matt R., Ivan, Will, and Chris. I have every intention of going back a few more times. I am lucky enough to get into the museum for free with my Newschool ID, and will has a friend who works there that got us into the Burton exhibit without those tickets. Pretty sweet deal.

The exhibit is made up of a lot of doodles, sketches, drafts, short films, ideas, models, costumes, set pieces, a wide variety of things from Burton’s personal collection to films he has made. Of course, the most breathtaking for me was the statue of Edward Scissorhands on display. I knew it would be there, but as soon as I caught site of it, standing in front of some Nightmare Before Christmas drawings, my tugged to the right…I started to tear up.

And so, I just watched the move again with Sadiqeh. I wrote a paper about it about five years ago for a class on Jesus in literature and film. I compared Edward to Jesus, that is the Christian Jesus story. Funny how watching it again made me look at the movie from another perspective. I always read the townsfolk as sort of blindly kind and not really understanding, but sort of operating with a herd mentality. Watching it again, I read this more to the point of here is a group of white liberal do-gooders who think they are helping the poor Other from some sort of personal damnation/isolation. What these do-gooders end up doing is almost completely destroying the integrity, innocence, culture, language, knowledge, etc of this Other. Edward, for the most part, got lucky. And Edward, like the modern day Jesus he can easily represent, does not maintain hatred or anger, rather continues to give to the very people who alienated and almost destroyed him.

It was wonderful to see the evolution of Burton’s artwork, his style slowly developing and perfecting into the bizarre dark and often fragile art he is known for. I recommend going to the MoMA. I know $20 can be a lot to drop, but if you can, even if it means skipping a few morning coffees or not buying someone a birthday or Christmas present – hell, make this their present -  go check it out.

Girlcat and JWitt

Girlcat must stay in a bubble...for fear of deer ticks.

Girlcat does not approve of your smiles.

Hold on JWitt...my tiny legs can't keep up.

Girlcat gives Jahnke a proper goodbye

Girlcat wants that icing...real bad.

Girlcat ripped your cat's face off.

Girlcat finds your behaviour crude. And exciting.

Turn up that Kobe Daniels!

Judge not, lest ye be Boycat

Boycat judges your joy.

Even Boycat can find a way to hate the Indian national anthem.

This time, Boycat dances.

Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire

Sadiqeh and I just saw Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire, which I will hence forth refer to as Precious. I am still processing the film, and as Miss Rain says, “write.”So, I want to write about this. I want to process it here.

When I first heard about this movie months ago from a friend who saw it at Sundance I was hesitant. My friend talked to me about the plot, as I had not read the book, and I wondered if this was going to be a movie that exploited African-American and poor folks. I forgot about the movie. Then in the summer I heard about Precious all over again. This time I heard that Oprah Winfrey and Tyler Perry had signed on to produce the film, and that the director is African-American. I felt good about this, that here are African-American folks supporting and creating this film, as opposed to a project created, produced, and directed entirely by folks on the outside, and in true Hollywood fashion: a white/privileged look at the Other.

I decided to read the book this summer. I found it to be extremely intense, and despite its short length, the book took a lot out of me. On one hand I was reminded of reading Cormac McCarthy’s All the Pretty Horses and Anthony Burgess’ A Clockwork Orange. Several passages are in Spanish with no translation. As I read the book I had decided to not look up the translation. I liked not knowing what was being said and sometimes understanding words here and there. I felt like maybe part of the point of McCarthy’s work was to leave readers just as lost as his hero. A Clockwork Orange is a mixture of English and Russian in a futuristic language Burgess invented, one I was proud to decipher as I read the book. Reading Push reminded me of these two novels because when Precious writes in her journal it is in broken English as she learns to read and write.

For the most part, Precious’ words are “corrected” by Miss Rain. The lazy part of me appreciated the translations, but I also liked reading Precious’ words. I liked reading it in her voice. I could not help but be reminded of my father’s older sister who learned to read and write well into her sixties. Precious’ words, viewed traditionally as incorrect, are just as valid as those of Miss Rain’s and those of anyone else. Language is a fluid communication. Literature is a malleable medium.

After reading the book and then seeing previews for the film I decided that I had to see it. And in the theater. The cast alone was reason enough for me to be drawn in. I have frequently said that there is something terrifying about comedians playing villainous characters. Seeing someone like Mo’Nique out of her known element is not only intriguing, but unnerving. And it is an opportunity to see how brilliant of an actor one truly is.

I sat in the cinema at times feeling numb. I was completely drawn into the film and I also felt almost like shock hit me. I was silent, and not in my usual “don’t talk during movies” silent either. I was silent and zombified afterward for a good bit.

I have to be honest, I expected and still expect a lot of folks to walk away from this movie with stereotypes confirmed or built. I expect a lot of folks to be angry. And I am not specifying any type of “folks” here because I don’t think any one type or group will react this way, but folks from all backgrounds. And I will be completely honest and admit that part of me feared seeing this film, that some of my own records would surface, that I would react with prejudice. And I am happy to say that part of the brilliance of this film is that it does not operate on stereotypes (which, by the way, how I or anyone else react/s/ed cannot be “blamed” solely on the film. We are all accountable for our own selves). Precious is all about storytelling. Precious tells her story within a story and meets other folks who have their own stories, which they share. Everyone has a story. Miss Weiss, Nurse John, Miss Rain, Joann, Jermaine, everyone has a story to tell. Like the book, the film has multiple stories built into it.

You know movies that are about making movies or writing a screenplay, but it’s so blatantly in your face, as if you, the viewer, are in on some great joke like: hey, isn’t it funny how we wrote a movie about writing movies? No, actually it’s not. Try an angle like The Player or Mulholland Dr. Well Precious is not pretentious in that sense either. The fact that Percious is narrating her life, then narrates from her journal, layering her stories – because we as individuals are not made up of one narrative either  – is not the main focus of the film’s narrative. On the one hand the movie is about how her story is told, and it is not. It is about more than how, but also what and why.

I saw Mo’Nique on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson and she said that one thing that makes this movie/story different is that it deals with mental illness differently: not within the walls of an institution, but in the real world. Mo’Nique’s point was important for me to remember when watching the movie. It is so easy to think of mental illness as something easily treated and within walls safe and faraway from the rest of us apparently sane people. But the fact of the matter is, mental illness is too often ignored, and it runs deep.

Gabourey Sidibe and Mo’Nique were for me the most powerful performers in the film. Their honesty and emotion was so vivid in each scene. Mo’Nique had me in tears at the end. And I love her for that. Her character is so evil and so easy to hate. To be able to make me feel sad for her and not just see her as vicious and completely pathetic, is brilliant. I always love characters who are complex and created of multiple layers. Until the end her character, Mary Jones, was easily dismissed as pure evil. And my reaction did not remove accountability either. Not for me, and not for Precious. Precious had grown to know herself. She was now capable of walking away from her mother without ever needing or wanting to go back. And she was able to have sympathy, to understand.

I feel like it is too easy to walk away from a film like this and have an attitude of “well, that sucks,” or “see anyone can help themselves,” but those are not critical reactions. A lot is brought up in this story: racism, poverty, domestic violence, education, mental illness, and these only scratch the surface. There is some serious dialogue that can happen around this story. Imagine the conversations that could take place around internalized oppression; a government/society/system that full on abandons people without healthcare; the long-term emotional, psychological, physical, etc effects of racism; and the failure of our education system. Art has the power to create movement. Powerful art works beyond itself and is a catalyst. Maybe one book and movie can’t change everything, but they can definitely help.

 

 

Girlcat hangs with Ivan

Girlcat hangs out with Ivan and his dad.

 

Sadly, Girlcat did not have enough time to get her Roxanne 'Roxy' Pellegrini costume together.

 

Girlcat keeps warm.

Marriage Proposal and the Media

Imagine if he had said no! Ok, what they did is smart, proposing marriage during the hearing, but what I find fascinating is the gay marriage opponent interviewed: an older black woman. How about the media fulfill those stereotypes that black folks are all against gay marriage? I wonder how many opponents they interviewed? And the “concerned” white lawyer lady…even better contrast.

This news segment is the perfect example for me of who tends to be the folks seeking marriage: those in places of privilege; white men. Before you get all mad at me, I am all for equal rights, including marriage. What I am not for, is marriage being at the forefront of gay civil rights. There are larger issues that impact the entire community, and marriage is not something that everyone needs or wants or is most concerned with. For example, targeting black folks as anti-gay rights effects gay black folks. Things like homelessness, drug abuse, suicide, these seem like things that need quick attention and outreach. And these are not just issues that effect the gay community, but humanity. And it is not the responsibility of gay folks to fight for rights without outside support.

Anyway, this is about the construction of this news piece. It is a less than two-minute segment that illustrates the media’s hand in supporting stereotypes and  complete disregard for supposed “fair and balanced” reporting. And the thing is, I am apparently insane for reading into this. But everything is done with a purpose. Someone took the time to do the interview, set up the lights, the mics, the shot, the audio, edit, etc. Do not think these interviews are by accident. And do not think they are edited together without thought. But that’s just it too: it is possible that there was a lack of thought given to the impact of how it is edited on someone’s part. Because that is also how stereotypes and privilege work; one does not need to think about impact.

I miss teaching media literacy….