11/17/19
I don't know if I've seen this before. I also don't know if I liked this movie. I'm drawn to it as a The Poisonwood Bible as much as I do, you might feel that missionaries are putting themselves in pretty vulnerable situations. And then, on top of all of my lack of connection because everyone's rich and White and okay, they don't really have any major challenges. I mean, things are presented as challenges: Abrahms gets second place one time (to Liddel), and Liddel can't run in the 100m qualifying heats because they're on Sunday and he doesn't believe in work on Sunday (though I guess he does believe in watching other people work on Sunday as he watches the races), and then someone just gives up their spot in the 400m so he can run that instead and still win a medal... even though those are two totally different races with often totally different runners. So... everyone wins a medal. And then goes home with their White, blonde, light-eyed girlfriends. Because obviously, Jewish men are already super exotic, so we definitely can't handle any sight of Jewish women. There's just no weight to the story when you think about how the worst that happens to anyone is that they get second place; they all go home with Olympic medals, mostly gold; and they all find themselves happy in love. Oh, and the Olympics is only for White people. But they get lauded for being the fastest men in the world. I just... yeah, I guess I didn't like it. Also, how many takes did it take to shoot that opening/closing scene? Also, I think the song from the movie has more excitement than the movie itself. If at least one scene could have been slow motion running drama to that song, I might have been swayed. Nope. I like watching runners run. I like the drama of it. But also, I don't know that I cared much about any of the runners by the end of the movie. Both of the main characters were likeable. But then, it's also just a movie about rich, White people. I mean, Abrahms is Jewish and certainly there are undertones that things will get bad for Jewish people in the next 10-20 years. But also, spoiler alert, Abrahms ended up being some Athletic Minister, so... he was fine. And Liddel, spoiler alert, dies in China after WWII on a missionary trip--no other information given about how or why--but also, he was all super religious and decided he needed to go save people in China. So like, that's his choice, and if you enjoyed
12/13/19
I mean, it was 1966 and kind of exploring the dynamics of race, so I suppose I should have expected this film be a little cringey. It was also about a police force in a small town, so I suppose that should have clued me in even more. I think what made me the most uncomfortable, however, was that this same film is still getting made. White people are still writing films (and books and TV shows and other forms of media) about racist White people and how if the situation is right, sometimes a White person can unlearn racism thanks to a charming yet unemotional Black person who is unreasonably calm when along and threatened with violence. I mean, Greenbook won the Oscar THIS YEAR. I've refused to watch that film because the family of the Black man portrayed in the film does not support the film written by his White counterpart and produced by that White man's son. Just another story about how White people can be the hero by just being decent human beings toward individuals of another race. At least this film didn't really have a White savior thing because Sidney Pontier's character had a successful job in a big city, and that was never questioned. I mean, how bizarre is that? THIS film, in 1966, did a better job of not making the racist White guys the heros for "saving" the Black man. I mean, the main White guy was the hero and the actor won an Oscar for his role, but in the film itself, all he did was recognize the expertise and experience of a fellow professional... who then saved him from arresting the wrong person and letting a murderer go free even though Pontier's character really didn't have a valid motivation for doing so other than proving these racists wrong... at the risk of his own life. I was not surprised to read that the writer of the book and writer of the screenplay were White men. The racial aspects were obvious, and then also the toxic masculine ones where a 16 year old is pregnant and later physically controlled by a group of older men when she tries to get an abortion from a Black woman who is trying to make some extra money. I was surprised to read about the convoluted storyline created to introduce the TV show, one where Pontier's character MOVES to that town to work with his buddy? on the police force. Like, that guy almost lost his life multiple times just in a few days, and he's going to move his family there? Nah. Then, it's also been revived in 2010 and 2014-2015 in LA for stage productions. Ya'll, there are better stories to tell out there! Maybe if we're going to learn about race, we do so from people who have experienced racism? So overall, I dislike this film but mostly because it likely was important in 1966 and yet so little has changed 53 years later. Ugh.
3 - Tom Jones (1963)12/31/19
Oof. This film is terrible. Stupid, rich, sloppy drunk White men just do whatever the hell they want, hurting people along the way, and somehow we're supposed to find it charming, as supposedly every woman in the film does. Just gross.
This is the film that made me change my list item for next year to watching nominees because I just can't take much more of movies made by rich White men for rich White men. And that chicken eating scene... So effing gross.
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