I'm not a Feminist

PLE

I did a lot of research in this class and learned quite a bit. I loved doing muddiest point assignments because they really made me do a bit of research.

Here are some helpful links I used in my essays. 

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/guides/horror_countdown_2011/ I am such a huge fan of Rotten Tomatoes.

http://www.bloody-disgusting.com/interview/630 As a Horror movie buff, I love this website! So informative!

http://www.aintitcool.com/node/38870

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2009/10/women-in-peril-a-look-at-tvs-disturbing-new-storyline-trend/

http://www.mvla.net/teachers/GalenR/Film%20Analysis/Documents/Class%20Readings/New%20Hollywood%20and%20studio%20system.pdf

http://youtu.be/Qc3eC-NbrBo

I also used many pictures which I could easily find with a Google image search.

I had lots of links I used in Muddiest Point as well. 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_Water_Wars

http://youtu.be/ILSbYH9pvjQ 

http://youtu.be/omGyvNxfmE4 

I had so much fun doing research for this class. It was fun to learn about a topic I was actually interested in. 

Thank Goodness for Rosemary’s Baby

   New Hollywood is the best Hollywood. So many amazing films have come out of the “American New Wave” and most of them are still referenced today. For instance, check out this amazing parody by The Simpsons. New Hollywood films would feature rock and roll music, sexual freedom and down with establishment political messages. The filmmakers were educated … not just people with money.

Most of these films were made in the Seventies and typically leave the audience with a feeling of uncertainty and sometimes even shock.

    I think one of the most influential directors of the New Hollywood craze was Roman Polanski. Polanski contributed many films to the New Hollywood era. One being my favorite, “Rosemary’s Baby”.

   I know that if I was shocked by Rosemary’s baby being on the list, then most everybody would be as well. This film is one of the most terrifying of all times and it is hard to believe it could be on the same list as films like “The Graduate” or “Dirty Harry”. When I take a closer look at this movie, the New Hollywood vibe really shows. 

   Polanski knew what audiences wanted. He saw what a success the New Hollywood film “Bonnie and Clyde” had. Audiences were shocked at the violent ending. And what kind of ending did Rosemary’s Baby have? A damn shocking one. 

   Rosemary’s Baby was fresh. What an opening sequence! The pink lettering at the beginning was something pretty new.

 

That little piece of art design left must have left audience members wanting more. Not to mention the music. It was extremely rare to find a movie before the 60’s that featured such unnerving opening music. And that music would go on to become the theme. And more fitting it could not be. 

   Nowadays, a good soundtrack can make or break a film. I think the importance of movie soundtracks originated out of New Hollywood. Rosemary’s baby is a perfect example of how a soundtrack can build up suspense in a movie. Movies before the 60’s relied on visuals and scripts. 

   About eleven minutes into Rosemary’s Baby, Mia Farrow’s character, Rosemary, turns to her husband and says, “Let’s make love.” They then proceed to have sex ON THE FLOOR with no furniture. On the floor? That was unheard of in earlier films. Sex had just been implied. Characters were rarely seen even in bed together. Now, following in the footsteps of Bonnie and Clyde, characters are just doing in everywhere and sex is no longer so taboo. Sexual freedom is yet another characteristic of New Hollywood films. 

   Rosemary’s Baby really plays with color. Rosemary spends a lot of time in her apartment. The color scheme is a very oblivious white and yellow. It is almost as if Polanski didn’t want us to see any red. We saw the occasional red rose or something of the sort almost to remind us that this movie is indeed an occult film. I don’t remember many movies playing with color before New Hollywood. These film school graduates really knew what they were doing. 

   On the night that Rosemary is impregnated, she has a very crazy dream. The art and camera angles in the dream were something extremely new. That was no ordinary rape scene. People must have loved it in spite of the eerie rape scene because this film received two Academy Award nominations. 

   The main theme that continues to surface in this film is greed and gender roles. The Guy character shows extreme avarice and comes off as abusive. Rosemary’s Baby refused to give in to the norm for pregnant females. As Rosemary spirals out of control, we are forced to wonder, “Is she just experiencing hysterical pregnancy?” By the end of the film, Rosemary has given in to her fate and becomes a helpless female. Does this send us a different message about gender roles and pregnancy? Could they have made these statements pre-The Graduate? 

   I can’t believe this movie places so much of the plot on a haircut. I suppose this is the emphasis on realism that New Hollywood movies possess. We as an audience get to see what Guy is capable of just by his mean-spirited comments at his wife’s first sign of independence with the haircut. I think Polanski wants the audience to wonder if Guy would really impregnate his wife with Satan’s baby. That is pure artistry and it is what good films are really made of. New Hollywood began this artistic craze and thank goodness for that because we are still using it in films today. 

   Rosemary’s Baby doesn’t end well. It is almost humorous when Rosemary’s neighbors nonchalantly say, “Hail Satan”. As Rosemary accepts her devil child, we are forced to remember films from the past. What kind of sick twisted ending is this? What happened to happily ever after? Polanski is a genius because this is a film that stuck with audiences long after they left the theatre.

   One thing has become very clear; without New Hollywood, films would still be purely make believe with storybook happy endings. Maybe Rosemary would have gotten away. Maybe she would have gotten an abortion. But then what? Would this movie be as memorable or as successful had that happened? Thank goodness for New Hollywood. 

A Film Festival for P-Town

A couple weeks ago, the humble town of Prescott had a film festival. I personally had never been to a film festival. I love movies so I couldn’t believe this was my first time experiencing something so incredible. 

   I volunteered as a ballot person. Basically, for two movies, when people walked in, I would hand out the ballots for them to rate the movies on a scale of 1-5. I think I was a major part of the film festival since at the end of the festivities, the movies with the highest votes would get the most recognition. 

   It was wonderful to hear all the filmmakers talk before and after their films. When I was allowed to go into the movie, I went in and sat in the back. The first film was a short called Blackout Roulette. I loved it. The music and the acting were perfect. The camera angles were amazing. The best part was that I got to ask the filmmaker a question. He was so young. I was not expecting that at all. I learned so much right then. The filmmaker was just a U of A student who did the short just for am assignment. It was mostly just his friends in his film so his budget wasn’t really anything. I learned that these independent filmmakers don’t really make any money from their films. It almost seems pointless. I would love to know how the filmmakers cast these low paying parts. “Umm… Hi. I need someone to play an AIDS patient. There isn’t any money in it, but maybe a studio head might see the film and want you.” Is that what the conversation is about? I never got to ask the filmmakers about their casting process. I clearly need to watch more IFC. I would love to watch an Independent film and then see an interview with the filmmaker where they answer all the questions that we were all thinking. 

   I think this film festival was one of the best events I have ever been to. I didn’t think Prescott was capable of something as cultured as this. I know how important this film festival was to the filmmakers. This is where an audience can see their movies. It astounds me that we can make eleventy-million Saw movies but a movie like “The Mulberry Tree” isn’t picked up by a studio. I would never have watched the two films I watched if it weren’t for this film festival. This festival was necessary for the filmmakers to get their movies seen by the public. They don’t have expensive trailers on television or advertisements on facebook so a festival is a necessity. 

   The need for the audience is simple. There is so much trash playing in the theaters. It was so refreshing for me to see something with substance. I cannot be the only one who feels this way. We need these types of events to remind us that there is more out there than movies about superheroes that cost more money to make than most people make in their entire life. 

   I never really watched a lot of Independent films. After Netflix came out, I got a lot of suggestions for independent straight to DVD movies. I started watching some of them and really enjoyed them. I can’t say I am an expert because I really have no idea how many of them are out there. I was able to watch two very enjoyable films while volunteering at the film festival. One was Fanny, Annie and Danny. This film was very powerful and gut-wrenching. Yet it all had this reliability to it. But it had some amazing acting in it. I had to step back and remember that I was watching a film and it wasn’t reality. The second film I watched was The Mulberry Tree. It was also a very thought-provoking and heartbreaking. I watched The Mulberry Tree from a whole new perspective after watching Fanny, Annie and Danny. I noticed small things; like the main characters face always being in the shadows. Was that purposeful I wondered. I never would have thought about it if I were just watching this film by myself. 

   These films made me wonder if all Independent films were so dismal and dark. I only had the ability to see these two films which was really too bad because I heard there were a couple comedies that were pretty good. 

   Comedies must be harder to get noticed in the Independent filming genre just like in the studio film genre. It is all about the dramas for the Academy Awards. Was that the inspiration for these two depressing films? I would love to watch more Independent films and I plan on checking IFC daily to see what movie they are playing. 

Less Violence and More Sex Please

 I have to be in a particular mood to watch a foreign film. I used to shy away from them thinking they were very strange. The first one I watched was “Pan’s Labyrinth” and I loved it. So when I was checking out a list of the “75 Best Horror Movies Ever” on rottentomatoes.com and saw “Let the Right One In”, a Swedish vampire flick at number 16, I was a bit hesitant. Check out the awesome list here. But I ended up watching it. And I loved it. 

   It wasn’t just a horror film. It was a beautiful story of friendship and love. When I found out there was an American remake, I was skeptical. Us as Americans just LOVE to remake foreign horror films. Especially Japanese horror films. The Ring, Dark Water and The Grudge come to mind. But I thought I would give it a chance.

   I wasn’t surprised when “Let Me In” was missing quite a bit of story compared to “Let the Right One In”. For starters, “Let Me In” takes place in a small town in New Mexico. “Let the Right One In” takes place in a bigger suburb of Sweden. That change is understandable. After all, one is American and the other is well… Swedish. But the changes in the two got a bit more substantial.

   The child vampire, named Eli in the Swedish version and Abby in the American version, was a completely different age in both movies. In “Let the Right One In”, she was clearly about 14-years old. In “Let Me In”, she didn’t look a day over 9-years old. What was the point of America changing her age? Were they motivated by the cuteness factor? After a little bit of research, I found out that the director of “Let Me In” Matt Reeves,  was asked to change the ages of the characters from the original stories but he refused. He stated that it “would ruin the essence of the story and change everything completely… we need that childlike innocence”.  So I guess it was okay to change the characters to be younger but not older. I think because Americans enjoy watching children so much and I think it adds to the romantic elements of the story. 

   The other dramatic change I noticed right way was the role that Eli/Anna’s guardian took. In “Let the Right One In”, his character, Hakan,  is pretty obviously molesting Eli or at least had done so in the passed. However in “Let Me In”, the father character, Thomas, is just as awkward however, it is not assumed that he and Abby are having a sexual affair. And I think I know what the purpose of this change was. 

   Here in America, sex is such a sore subject. After having many conversations with my German co-worker Veronika, it became clear that Europe does not hold the same social restraints about sex that America does. But what about molestation? In America, these things are so taboo to talk about. However, according to Veronika, Europe has no issue putting sex out there for everyone to see. It is hard to imagine porno being on television at two in the afternoon on a Wednesday but apparently that is a normal occurrence over in Europe. That is why I think the two films differ in that department. The filmmakers are targeting a different audience. Americans seem to hiss and boo at anything that makes them just a tiny bit uncomfortable. Molestation and sexual themes are two topics that seem to make most Americans squirm in their seats.  

   That isn’t the only dissimilarity regarding sex between these two movies. There is also a very understated line in “Let the Right One In” that indicates that Eli used to be a boy. There is not one mention of that in “Let Me In”. Why? Does it all come back to the difference in views about sex between the two countries? 

   No matter how much research I did, I could not find any information about the change in the American adaptation. Why not make any indication about leaving such a huge plot point out of the movie?

   I did find out however, that the director for “Let the Right One In”, Tomas Alfredson, was not at all thrilled about the American Version. “If one should remake a film, it’s because the original is bad. And I don’t think mine is”. He continued, “I call it his [Reeves’] version. I don’t call it his remake or his re-imagining of it.”

   I can see his disappointment. I much prefer the deeper plot line of “Let the Right One In”. 

   There were many more mild changes in the two movies. For instance, in “Let the Right One In”, there is a suicide. In “Let Me In”, that same suicide has become a murder. And from what Veronika has told me, I think I can make a conclusion as to why. 

   While Americans are less open then Europe about sexual references, Europe is less open than America when it comes to violence. Americans are much more tolerable of violence.  In fact, I think a lot of Americans prefer over the top violence.  In fact, the trend of television and movie violence is increasing daily according to a study conducted by the Parents Television Council.  

   So did “Let Me In” just need more sex and less violence? Would that have made Alfredson happy? 

   Personally, I don’t care about the amount of sex to the amount of violence. I just want to make sure I am getting the film exactly as the original filmmaker intended it. Because after a long day at school or work, I don’t want to read a movie, I just want to listen to it. However, I will not sacrifice the huge plot points as “Let Me In” left out in the remake of “Let the Right One In”.

There are no such thing as feminists in the silent era

 When I signed up for my History in Film Class, I wasn’t sure what to expect. I knew we were going to be watching old movies but it didn’t even cross my mind that we may be watching films from the silent era. 

   The first film we watched was The General. I was astounded. The blatant sexism took me by surprise. Now when I watched the movie, I had no idea what to expect. But I did not expect this. The main character, Annabelle Lee, waving her arms around, serving as absolutely no help as Buster Keaton fought through countless enemies. I had taken for granted the fact that when I see a woman in a movie today, she wasn’t always adventurous and bold. 

   What came to my mind instantly was Quentin Tarantino. His “Bride” character in Kill Bill was amazing. She took on 88 men with a samurai sword and then even more ass kicking women to follow. That was the exact opposite of Annabelle. I found myself groaning when watching her and yelling, “Hit him with your purse or something! Don’t just stand there!” 

   One thing was clear to me. Women in silent films are portrayed very differently then women in movies today. I was really hesitant to watch the next assigned movie. 

   To my surprise, the main female character in Metropolis was a lot better than Annabelle. Her name was Maria and she basically served as the motivation for the transformation of the main protagonist. I was also very happy to see the amount of clothes on these women.

I just don’t understand the need for movie stars to get naked to get some play. Supposedly, according The Cutting Edge: The Magic of Movie Editing, Sharon Stone didn’t want her vagina to be shown in “Basic Instinct” but the editor told her it would make her a star. So I couldn’t believe it when I saw Maria, the object of every characters desires in Metropolis was wearing so much clothing. It didn’t last though. Because even back in the ‘30’s, film makers knew what everyone wanted to see. That was the beginning of the change in the portrayal of women between the silent era and the talkies.

   I didn’t notice the change immediately when I watched the third assigned film. It was It Happened One Night and the main female character was stuck up and once again, wore A LOT of clothes. As the movie progressed, she started to change. She started to make jokes and at one point she even lifted up her skirt to reveal… her leg! Oh my goodness! 

   The next movie was like taking a step back. It was the French version of “Beauty and the Beast”. Belle, the main character seemed vapid and for lack of a better word, dumb. It has been a while since I have seen a movie here in modern times that portrayed females as stupid. Film makers know better now. They know that nowadays women rule the world just as much as men. I think film makers actually figured that out within the timeframe between silent films and talkies. I can’t believe that some of the women in early film making would allow some of these misogynistic films to circulate as much as they did. Didn’t they have any pride? 

  I personally really enjoy watching films that I can relate to. I like to see powerful women like Erin Brockovich and Madolyn from The Departed. I think most people including both men and women, enjoy watching movies with a strong female lead. 

   I don’t want to discredit old silent films. They can be enjoyable. However, I think the portrayal of women could turn away many viewers. Myself included. Sure, The General is a great film in most peoples opinions  but part of me just couldn’t get passed the horrible part written for Marion Mack.

   As a female, I know how I would react when someone was beating up on my man. And I wouldn’t care if he was an engineer or a soldier. Women care more about the substance of a man than his money. “It Happened One Night” was a perfect example of a woman in her right mind with a good head on her shoulders. She falls for the broke guy instead of the uninteresting well to do fellow. 

   So what if we went back to silent times today and made a movie with an uninteresting, unlikable and timid female protagonist? Would feminists be outraged? I don’t consider myself a feminist, (just look at the title of my blog) but not only would I lack the enthusiasm to watch the film, I would prevent others from watching it as well.