Today I am quite grumpy, as I didn't sleep well. We watched My Brilliant Friend last night and I think it carried over into my night and this day. The show reminds me, quite vividly and pointedly, of the relatively small shelf women and women's rights stand upon. Actually, it's more like we and those rights stand upon the head of pin, much like thousands of invisible and unreal angels.
Because the truth of the matter is, women are, every day, thrown around, mistreated, and married to be a man's sex partner, maid, cook, and baby carrier. All over the world. Even here.
In the current climate, and with the Republicans doing their best to make the vetting of Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson look like a roadside circus while she, being a woman, can't burst into tears and sobs like her predecessor in the process, Bret Kavanaugh. That's because if she did, she'd be called out for it in multiple ways and a single tear would disqualify her, while Kavanaugh's whiny ass histrionics were simply a reflection of a poor man who'd been unfairly raked over the coals because of his purported abuse of women.
And My Brilliant Friend shows how poorly women have been and continue to be mistreated. It also shows how to kill a spirit in someone who needs only a wee bit of support to become outstanding. Elena wants to be a writer, but no one supports her efforts.
It makes me sad.
The Gilded Age ended its season Monday night. That show is no Downton Abby, in spite of being written by Julian Fellowes, who also wrote the latter. The Gilded Age is American greed and capitalism in full display, complete with backstabbing, bitterness, lies, deceit, and merciless racism and again, gender inequality. It was a train wreck from the get-go, but again, one I watched because looking away didn't seem to be an option.
I don't know if I was waiting for Mrs. Russell to find her place amongst the old guard in high society, a position she coveted to the point of insanity, or if I was waiting for the old guard in high society to fall on its face, or for the servants and lower-class labor workers to rise up and proclaim the world belonged to them.
The characters were not likeable, except for Marian, the poor relative who came to live with the rich aunts in New York, and Ms. Scott, the Black woman who went to work for Marian's aunt and who wanted badly to be a writer. She also has a much more complicated life than one may have thought from the first few episodes.
(I note both of these TV shows have women who want to write in them. Perhaps that is the draw for me . . . watching these women who love what I love try to overcome.)
And then there's Spielberg's West Side Story. I may have seen the original at some point, but if I have, I don't remember it.
I disliked this version. I disliked it a lot. There wasn't a character to feel anything for, or time to feel anything for one, anyway. The dancing was fun to watch, some of the songs familiar, and it was certainly well done and spiffy, but I did not like it.
The character I most liked was the girlfriend of the Bernado. Anita (yep, that is her name) is all common sense and she understands the world. She also was a great dancer. I liked her best of all and not simply because she had my name.
This has been nominated for 7 Oscars and a bunch of other awards. I follow a few screenwriters on Facebook and they loved it, although from the comments I could see that not all of their followers liked it. I thought it was an incredibly shallow movie, however skillful the dancing. I felt nothing for the lead characters.
I knew the movie was based on Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, so I had an idea of how it would end. It seemed more like Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, if you ask me.
Even though this version did nothing for me, I would like to see the original in order to make a comparison. There must be something there I am missing, yes?
The original West Side Story is so much better in MHO. I know it was a sad story, but the remake seems so dark...as in couldn't they have turned some lights on in a lot of the scenes? I didn't feel the dancing or the characters like I did the original. Even "One Hand, One Heart" didn't seem as good to me and we had that one sung at our wedding when we lit the unity candle.
ReplyDeleteI saw the original West Side Story, but I liked the new version better. The actress that played the older woman, Rita Moreno played Anita in the original movie. My grandkids enjoyed the movie. I have been watching the vetting of Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson. I hope she makes it. There is such a double standard. I was upset the way Cruz and Graham behaved. No decorum at all. Luckily I was crafting while listening, so no wasted time. I did not watch it on any major news channels because I did not want to hear the personal input of the station. I watched the last two vetting's also. Amy C Barret did well in behavior, but Cavanaugh lost it. Enjoy the rest of your week.
ReplyDeleteI wanted to like the Gilded Age. But I just didn't. I love Downton Abbey (own the whole thing and watch it often), but The Gilded Age was exactly as you described. I gave up after about 4 episodes.
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