It was mastered by the late great William Wallace in Braveheart. A moving cinematic achievement few have done as well: the lets-go-kick-their-fucking-asses-and-win-our-freedom speech. Back when Mel Gibson was a good filmmaker, he really pulled it off in a poignant moment on screen. One that I can still quote word for word!
But for perhaps the first time ever in mainstream cinema, a woman gave voice to the lets-go-kick-their-fucking-asses-and-win-our-freedom speech! I just saw Pirate of the Caribbean: At Worlds End and there it was. I was shocked and awed. Now, she didn't quite produce the emotional impact of Wallace, nor the more overt feminist overtones of Peter Jackson's crowd-cheering "I am no man", but I think the moment in Pirates worthy enough of mention, if perhaps for its own seeming mundanity.
That's all for now, I have to leave for work at an ungodly hour (you mean there's a 7:20 A.M.???)
But here's my favorite line from Pirates that I still cherish:
"You add an agreeable dose of the macabre to any delusion."
Monday, May 28, 2007
Monday, May 21, 2007
The Simpsons Still Got it!
The Simpsons still got it. I just watched the 2-part season finale and it proved that the show can still bring it home after 20 years. The first was a brilliant spoof of 24 with added production value and tight narrative that demonstrate exactly why we should all be excited for the movie coming out this summer! The second episode brought out the best of Simpsons cultural commentary with direct attacks on Fox News and claims of "liberal media". This is the kind of stuff the show is best at, and while I haven't followed it as closely the last several years, I know it's still what the Simpsons does best.
Sunday, May 20, 2007
Spider-Man 3.2 - "Vindicated"
I wrote most of this a couple weeks ago but it needed finishing and coherency so it got put aside during the tumult of moving. Here goes again:
OK, so I just finished watching Spider-Man 2 again and I can better describe why that movie works so well and can then by contrast clarify my thoughts on the 3rd.
“Vindicated” by Dashboard Confessional is the first song that plays in the end credits and serves as the central theme of this movie. So lets look at how vindication functions narratively and why it is able to produce such a powerful emotional response in us as audience members.
In Spider-Man 2 Parker is burnt out. He cannot succeed at both his personal/academic/professional life and his superhero life, and basically ends up not succeeding in either as a result. But the beauty comes in the form of secrets and control of information (I think there’s something to be said for Deleuze’s control society in this, but I can’t articulate it in those terms yet:) We know that Parker really does care about his friends, but is unable to be there for them because he is saving people across the city; they do not. The city is taking him for granted because they believe he is either a villain or at least just-and-only a superhero with powers and abilities they cannot ever hope to achieve; we know he’s just a teenager struggling to survive in a rough world in very relatable ways to everyone out there he serves.
Because of these secrets, Parker is seen in a “false” light in both circumstances. And since we know the “truth”, we build pent up angst rooting for him for 2 hours, which is also why when the people on the train start rooting for him too we feel vindicated in our unfledging support of him since his constituents agree once they know what we know (“he’s just a kid,” one of them declares), and more importantly why we get an ultimate rush when MJ finds out as well and he is vindicated for all that happened with her earlier in the film.
But the series as a whole still follows the central moral principle of “With great power come great responsibility”. That’s why parker feels responsible for his uncle’s death. In the situation he was in no normal person should feel responsible since they were not the one who pulled the trigger and would have put themselves in great danger in order to stop the guy not even knowing in advance what was to happen. But parker is not a normal person; he has the “great power” spoken of in the moral theme. That’s why he has a heightened responsibility for such things. This is why after he fesses up to Aunt Mae that she can say she loves him, but not that it wasn’t his fault. She doesn’t know he’s Spider-man of course, but she’s the voice of morality in the movie and we need her to lay the stakes for us on the bigger scale.
And that’s just it, there are personal and larger-scale issues in conflict. When Harry finds out Parker is Spider-man, Parker has to say that “there are bigger things happening here than me and you”. Vindication with Harry has to carry over to the next film, however. Needlessly in some respects, due to a conveniently timed butler confession… (seemed a bit contrived to me, but I’ll deal). So the themes of Two remain unresolved for Three, but they couldn’t just do Two again. That’s why I think it is an important step in the series as a whole. We explored the emotion of vindication in Two, now Three looks at themes of hubris and forgiveness.
OK, so I just finished watching Spider-Man 2 again and I can better describe why that movie works so well and can then by contrast clarify my thoughts on the 3rd.
“Vindicated” by Dashboard Confessional is the first song that plays in the end credits and serves as the central theme of this movie. So lets look at how vindication functions narratively and why it is able to produce such a powerful emotional response in us as audience members.
In Spider-Man 2 Parker is burnt out. He cannot succeed at both his personal/academic/professional life and his superhero life, and basically ends up not succeeding in either as a result. But the beauty comes in the form of secrets and control of information (I think there’s something to be said for Deleuze’s control society in this, but I can’t articulate it in those terms yet:) We know that Parker really does care about his friends, but is unable to be there for them because he is saving people across the city; they do not. The city is taking him for granted because they believe he is either a villain or at least just-and-only a superhero with powers and abilities they cannot ever hope to achieve; we know he’s just a teenager struggling to survive in a rough world in very relatable ways to everyone out there he serves.
Because of these secrets, Parker is seen in a “false” light in both circumstances. And since we know the “truth”, we build pent up angst rooting for him for 2 hours, which is also why when the people on the train start rooting for him too we feel vindicated in our unfledging support of him since his constituents agree once they know what we know (“he’s just a kid,” one of them declares), and more importantly why we get an ultimate rush when MJ finds out as well and he is vindicated for all that happened with her earlier in the film.
But the series as a whole still follows the central moral principle of “With great power come great responsibility”. That’s why parker feels responsible for his uncle’s death. In the situation he was in no normal person should feel responsible since they were not the one who pulled the trigger and would have put themselves in great danger in order to stop the guy not even knowing in advance what was to happen. But parker is not a normal person; he has the “great power” spoken of in the moral theme. That’s why he has a heightened responsibility for such things. This is why after he fesses up to Aunt Mae that she can say she loves him, but not that it wasn’t his fault. She doesn’t know he’s Spider-man of course, but she’s the voice of morality in the movie and we need her to lay the stakes for us on the bigger scale.
And that’s just it, there are personal and larger-scale issues in conflict. When Harry finds out Parker is Spider-man, Parker has to say that “there are bigger things happening here than me and you”. Vindication with Harry has to carry over to the next film, however. Needlessly in some respects, due to a conveniently timed butler confession… (seemed a bit contrived to me, but I’ll deal). So the themes of Two remain unresolved for Three, but they couldn’t just do Two again. That’s why I think it is an important step in the series as a whole. We explored the emotion of vindication in Two, now Three looks at themes of hubris and forgiveness.
Friday, May 04, 2007
Spider-Man 3.1
Labels:
movies
Ok, so I'm rewatching Spider-Man 2 tonight to help clarify my thoughts on the new movie. I think I see even more parallels of consistency between them than I did initially last night. Both movies deal with individual choice, both with great power, and both with great responsibility. Yet they do so in near mirror images of each other.
In 2, MJ, not Parker, is on top of the world. A top theater gig, a great boyfriend. Her success is what allows us to read a high against Parker's low, stressed life where he is unable to meet all the responsibilities he (must) takes on. In 3, they switch. MJ is plunged into a lower existence and Parker is flying high on his hubritic success. But this is no simple switch on the level of thematic message.
In 2, the message is one of choice fed through the lens of the great power/great responsibility mantra. Peter can choose whether or not to be Spider-Man. He can choose whether or not to be there for MJ. The scene where he goes to the doctor is the first push to this message of choice. (Followed by a scene nearly mirroring one in 3, where he walks down the street to music, and stumbles. Where in 3 he struts down the street.)
In 3, the the power/responsibility message is fed (far more subtlety than the first two) through a lens of choice. Peter has heightened power with the venom suit. He may choose to use it. But the problem is that the second half of the mantra is missing. Responsibility. It's telling that Ben Parker (the embodiment and source of the power/responsibility statement in both previous movies) does not utter those words in this one. His only role is as victim, and thus foil for the irresponsible actions of one of the villains. Instead of power meeting responsibility, it is tied to forgiveness. (see my previous post for more on that)
So what we have is a failure of accountability. We're meant to forgive at the drop of repentance. I won't even go into how much this drips of Christian/Catholic ideology. Where we can feel sorry for Parker in 2 because we know the truth, that he's juggling impossible/incompatible responsibilities, in 3 we can only feel the disappointment that was restricted to the realm of his close friends in Spider-Man 2. But since it is a failure on the level of both personal (as in 2) and systemic responsibility (he failed in his Spidey duties), there is no nowhere left for sympathy. Yet we're meant to forgive him in the end and either blame it on the suit (I don't think it's reading too much into it that the black suit can be taken as the cause of his problems/failures) or sympathize with his situation. I just explained why I cannot feel sympathy, and I'm certainly not comfortable blaming it on the suit, afterall, as they say in the movie, it only accentuates traits that were already present.
That said, I feel I should reafirm that I did like the movie. I think most of the criticism I've read is acurate, if overemphasized. It is ultimately a fun movie. Nonetheless, I'm not comfortable with the thematic implications that I'm still trying to work out in these posts.
In 2, MJ, not Parker, is on top of the world. A top theater gig, a great boyfriend. Her success is what allows us to read a high against Parker's low, stressed life where he is unable to meet all the responsibilities he (must) takes on. In 3, they switch. MJ is plunged into a lower existence and Parker is flying high on his hubritic success. But this is no simple switch on the level of thematic message.
In 2, the message is one of choice fed through the lens of the great power/great responsibility mantra. Peter can choose whether or not to be Spider-Man. He can choose whether or not to be there for MJ. The scene where he goes to the doctor is the first push to this message of choice. (Followed by a scene nearly mirroring one in 3, where he walks down the street to music, and stumbles. Where in 3 he struts down the street.)
In 3, the the power/responsibility message is fed (far more subtlety than the first two) through a lens of choice. Peter has heightened power with the venom suit. He may choose to use it. But the problem is that the second half of the mantra is missing. Responsibility. It's telling that Ben Parker (the embodiment and source of the power/responsibility statement in both previous movies) does not utter those words in this one. His only role is as victim, and thus foil for the irresponsible actions of one of the villains. Instead of power meeting responsibility, it is tied to forgiveness. (see my previous post for more on that)
So what we have is a failure of accountability. We're meant to forgive at the drop of repentance. I won't even go into how much this drips of Christian/Catholic ideology. Where we can feel sorry for Parker in 2 because we know the truth, that he's juggling impossible/incompatible responsibilities, in 3 we can only feel the disappointment that was restricted to the realm of his close friends in Spider-Man 2. But since it is a failure on the level of both personal (as in 2) and systemic responsibility (he failed in his Spidey duties), there is no nowhere left for sympathy. Yet we're meant to forgive him in the end and either blame it on the suit (I don't think it's reading too much into it that the black suit can be taken as the cause of his problems/failures) or sympathize with his situation. I just explained why I cannot feel sympathy, and I'm certainly not comfortable blaming it on the suit, afterall, as they say in the movie, it only accentuates traits that were already present.
That said, I feel I should reafirm that I did like the movie. I think most of the criticism I've read is acurate, if overemphasized. It is ultimately a fun movie. Nonetheless, I'm not comfortable with the thematic implications that I'm still trying to work out in these posts.
Spider-Man 3
Labels:
movies
I just got back from the midnight showing of Spider-Man. I'm going to make some intentionally vague comments now so not to spoil anything for people who have yet to see it. Either way, if you prefer your super hero movies not critically analyzed, stop here.
It's no match for Spider-Man 2, I'll start with that. But yet it was an appropriate thematic step for the series, so I appreciate the overall connections. The reason I believe will become clear after seeing the movie. In 2 the thematic sentiment positioned us to feel sorry for Parker then give us catharsis when he pulls through and overcomes the obstacles. When the people on the train see his face and say they won't tell, tears are streaming from my eyes like nobody's business.
But that's where feeling sorry for Parker ends, for in number 3 sympathy is an afterthought to the main plot theme of anger. The movie begins with Parker riding high on the emotional peak he (and we) worked through 2 to achieve. We're excited for him still, but then the new movie turns it around on him. Pride, hubris, anger. These are the emotions of the 3rd Spider-Man. Instead of feeling sorry for Parker, we're made to be mad at him and what he does.
This leads to a wholly different audience experience. No longer a story of great power and great responsibility, we're now in the realm of redemption. The central moral message of this movie (as best conveyed by Parker's aunt Mae and his own voicover at the end) is that the most important thing is forgiveness. What this does thematically is to move away from systems of power and into personal choice and agency. It also comes across to me as a bit over moralizing at a few moments, but that's another issue. I have a problem with this move to the extent that I believe the systems do matter and it's not all/only/inseparably about personal choice. I believe we should feel sympathy, but it shouldn't stop there, and this movie does (perhaps too suddenly in my case as our projector apparently neglected to load the final reel and we were left without the credits...).
I don't want to forgive Parker at the end of this movie. And that's problematic because it's clear the filmmakers expect me to.
I'd be interested to hear other people's thoughts on this. I also have some interesting thoughts on gender in the movie/series, but I'll need to divulge specifics so that'll have to wait a few weeks.
It's no match for Spider-Man 2, I'll start with that. But yet it was an appropriate thematic step for the series, so I appreciate the overall connections. The reason I believe will become clear after seeing the movie. In 2 the thematic sentiment positioned us to feel sorry for Parker then give us catharsis when he pulls through and overcomes the obstacles. When the people on the train see his face and say they won't tell, tears are streaming from my eyes like nobody's business.
But that's where feeling sorry for Parker ends, for in number 3 sympathy is an afterthought to the main plot theme of anger. The movie begins with Parker riding high on the emotional peak he (and we) worked through 2 to achieve. We're excited for him still, but then the new movie turns it around on him. Pride, hubris, anger. These are the emotions of the 3rd Spider-Man. Instead of feeling sorry for Parker, we're made to be mad at him and what he does.
This leads to a wholly different audience experience. No longer a story of great power and great responsibility, we're now in the realm of redemption. The central moral message of this movie (as best conveyed by Parker's aunt Mae and his own voicover at the end) is that the most important thing is forgiveness. What this does thematically is to move away from systems of power and into personal choice and agency. It also comes across to me as a bit over moralizing at a few moments, but that's another issue. I have a problem with this move to the extent that I believe the systems do matter and it's not all/only/inseparably about personal choice. I believe we should feel sympathy, but it shouldn't stop there, and this movie does (perhaps too suddenly in my case as our projector apparently neglected to load the final reel and we were left without the credits...).
I don't want to forgive Parker at the end of this movie. And that's problematic because it's clear the filmmakers expect me to.
I'd be interested to hear other people's thoughts on this. I also have some interesting thoughts on gender in the movie/series, but I'll need to divulge specifics so that'll have to wait a few weeks.
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