OK, I can't hide it any more, the deep, dark, shameful secret that I carry in my soul, that I can't reveal to friends for fear of shame, ridicule, or being locked up by Alberto Gonzales as a "liburrel" traitor to all that America stands for. It's gnawing at my conscience and I can deal with it no longer. You see.....
...I'm a movie snob. Yes, I am a cultural elitist when it comes to cinema. Yes, I am namby
and pamby, hoity
and toity when I check the movie listings and decide what I want to see at the movie theatre. To wit, as an example, the last three movies that I've seen in theatres, and perhaps what they might tell about me:
(A) Friends with Money: I had heard of Nicole Holofcener's prior work (e.g. Lovely and Amazing), but hadn't seen it. So I made up for that by seeing the newer movie. In its kind of ramshackle way, it reminded me of one of Roger Ebert's favorite quotes: "American films are about plot. French films are about people." This is one American film that is definitely about people, and not so much plot. (This is also the first Jennifer Aniston movie that I've ever seen.) So this goes on the "trendy radar" category of movies/filmmakers.
(B) Water: I'm sure you know this is the film by Deepa Mehta where she had to move the production to Sri Lanka because fundie Hindu bigots (sadly, India/Hindustan has their fundie bigots too, just like us) shut down the production. There's a nice interview with Ms. Mehta by Michael Wilmington, where she has this sobering quote about how powerful movies can be, but at the same time not:
"I didn't sit down and say `I'm going to make a film that's going to change society.' I'm not that naive. I don't think that films change anything."
But she also says this, which is also as good a statement as any about movies, and all art:
"The idea of Water isn't for you to feel sorry for someone halfway across the world. It's for you to look in your own back yard."
The movie is indeed visually gorgeous, which contrasts all the more with the oppressive treatment of the women in that society. That even extends to women in the ashram exploiting others in the same environment, i.e. the character played by Manorama (the head widow) who sells Kalyani's services into prostitution (Kalyani is played by Lisa Ray, and forgive the comment, but Lisa Ray is absolutely beautiful).
It's also interesting in how the narrative focus and focus on particular characters shifts turing the narrative. The first focus is on the 9-year old widow, Chuyia (played by Sarala) who is deposited, very much against her will, at the ashram, and makes mischief there as you would expect a 9-year old kid to do, which makes her confinement there all the more appalling to behold. Then the plot shifts emphasis to Kalyani, but by the final section, has shifted to another widow, Shakuntula (played by Seema Biswas).
Perhaps what seeing this film most reveals about me is that non-English language films don't put me off, and that "reading a film" doesn't bother me at all. Contrast that with other "real Amurrikans" that you might know.
(C) Shakespeare Behind Bars: this is the documentary by Hank Rogerson about the Kentucky inmates who participate in productions of Shakespeare plays in prison, in the case of this film, The Tempest. The filmmakers pull a neat trick, in that you get to know these people and to like them when you see how well they express themselves on film. Then you slowly learn their stories and their horrible crimes that got them locked up. You cannot really forgive those terrible acts.
But there is also that element of "there but for the grace of God go I", in that if some of them had had less oppressive upbringings or gotten a break here and there, they might not be there. One case, especially in light of the moron-in-thief drumming up the latest exercise in Republican bigotry that is the marriage amendment, is of the one inmate who realized at some point that he was gay, but grew up in a fundamentalist environment where homosexuality was unacceptable. So he ended up marrying a woman, and siring children, and he says that he did love her and their daughter. However, at one point, after he learned that his wife was pregnant again, in one monent, he lost it, and ended up killing his wife. He covered it up to make it look like an accident, but of course he got caught and was convicted. (His daughter is still alive and well.)
The movie choice reveals obvious interests in Shakespeare and documentaries, not exactly big box office (although the pending release of An Inconvenient Truth will be the exception that proves the rule, one hopes). In addition, because I am SO-less, I can see movies on weeknights, which meant that for all of these movies, there were less than 10 people in the theatre with me. So, overall:
- I see movies based on whether the subject interests me, not because of commercial hype.
- I don't go to the multiplex, as a rule. (The last movie I saw at a major multiplex was Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit. Go figure.)
- I never buy popcorn or drinks for myself at the movies. All my attention goes towards the screen. (Of course, I use the facilities in advance.)
So, of course, based on all this, I vote Democratic.