Tuesday, March 07, 2006

But I Do Appreciate Stories!

Sometimes, I just have to respond. The following is a comment from my Oscar post, and my response to the comment.

juliep123 said...

With all do respect, sir, you forgot that "Brokeback" DID win Best director (Ang Lee), Best adapted screenplay, and one other award (best original score, was it?). It really saddens me that right-wingers have supposedly issued a full-scale holy war on the film industry. Hundreds of movies are made and released each year; truly there MUST be something out there that reaches your values. People need to stop acting so paranoid about the "worldview" of stories and start appreciating them. Maybe that's the reason why Hollywood is, apparently, dominated by so-called "Liberals".

Juliep123,

First off, thank you for agreeing with me. You seem to be suggesting that a film should not be judged solely on its world view, which is precisely what I state in my reasons why I am glad BROKEBACK did not win best picture. I feel that the category should go to the best movie of the year, not the good movie that happens to have a popular liberal/conservative/religious/atheistic/political/apolitical slant.

I’m not sure why you think I forgot that BROKEBACK won director, adapted screenplay and original score. I didn’t mention who won best animated short, and you didn’t accuse me of forgetting that someone got that award.

But as long as you brought it up: I won’t comment on original score, because I don’t know enough about scoring to feel qualified. I won’t comment on whether BROKEBACK should have won best adaptation, because I haven’t compared the original story to the script to know if it was a great adaptation.

I will say that best director isn’t a surprise. Several actor friends (who know of whence they speak) feel that the acting noms BROKEBACK got were all well deserved; and if at least three actors in one film give Oscar worthy performances, it tends to mean the director did his job really well. And Ang Lee is a good director (I really enjoyed SENSE AND SENSIBILITY even though I was prejudiced against it by not liking the novel), so, again, I’m not surprised.

You gave me a bit of whiplash by talking about being saddened by right-wingers and their holy war on the film industry, then following up by talking about my values. Surely you aren’t claiming that I am a right-winger engaging in the jihad you talk about? If so, wow. I think that may tell me more about the world you live in than it does about the one I do.

By the way, within just that one post, I gave positive notices to (and appreciate!) CRASH, GOOD NIGHT AND GOOD LUCK, WALK THE LINE, RAY, and THE CURSE OF THE WERE-RABBIT. And yet, because I suggested that BROKEBACK is a good film but not the best picture of the year, you claim I haven’t found anything out there that reaches my values. I can only respond by saying what I think should be obvious: of the hundreds of movies that are made and released every year, BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN was only one of them.

Just my thoughts,

-Sean

3 comments:

aliceb said...

One must assume that Julie123 saw the words 'Christian' and 'film' and made a flash judgement about you. If Sean is involved in a holy war, it is actually against the Christian culture that has said, 'Movies bad, run away.' Sean your non-violent ghandi like assualt on believers begging them to go to the movies and get involved in the culture is a good thing.

On the subject of Brokeback -- here's a story that I hate: My one true love is the person I can never be with, so I'll slog it out with you my spouse.
Hated it in Bridges of Madison County, and won't go see Brokeback because of it.
Hate that story! Because if your one true love was someone you could be with, chances are they would drive you crazy with the way they hang the towels or don't do the dishes. If someone is your one true love, generally you move heaven and earth to be with them. If they aren't, they are usually a one night stand who if you did live with you'd want to throttle.
Birdcage has a better message about committment and relationship, besides I scream at Hank Azaria's maid, and relive Robin Williams teaching of choreography ("you do an eclectic celebration of dance! You do Martha Graham, Martha Graham, Micheal Kidd, Micheal Kidd, Madonna, Madonna -- but you keep it all inside.)

Anonymous said...

On the subject of Brokeback -- here's a story that I hate: My one true love is the person I can never be with, so I'll slog it out with you my spouse.

Reminds me of the word "Soulmate". Ever notice that in practice My Soulmate (TM) is NEVER the person you're married to?

Gaffney said...

Whatever happened to "If you can't soulmate with the one you love, soulmate the one your with." I may have gotten that wrong...

You're on to something, Anon (may I call you "Anon"?) I think we (members of the human race) confuse "what I don't have" with "soulmate." Whether a person, or job, or object, we want whatever it is we don't have, and if someone says we can't have it (they're married, or the job is taken, or the object doesn't belong to you) all the better.

Willy said it with ROMEO AND JULIET. Romeo loved Juliet because he couldn't have her (he LOVED being in love with women he couldn't have, aka Rosalyn); Juliet was in love with Romeo because her parents told her she had to have Paris. If Romeo and Juliet lived, Romeo would have ditched Juiliet a week into their marriage for another forbidden object. (Think the song "Agony" by the Princes in Sondheim's INTO THE WOODS.)

I think that is why G-d told us not to covet; it's bad for our mental health.

-Sean