Wednesday, December 14, 2011
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
Meat Fest
My siblings watching my Stepdad play at "Meat Fest", an annual get together near our house in Merton.
My Week With Marilyn
I just saw My Week With Marilyn at the Downer Theatre. I didn't think the movie was very interesting, but I thought Michelle Williams did a pretty good job portraying Marilyn. I think the most interesting part was when Marilyn says to the main character, Colin, "Should I be Marilyn?" and then she goes onto blow kisses and do a little dance for a group of people. I wished they would have explored that a little more. While the whole film was suppose to be based on the "real" Marilyn and her troubled life, I would have liked to see her "performing" for people off the camera more. Unfortunately, not much happened throughout the film, it really only got made because it was about Marilyn Monroe. Colin was not a relatable or likable character. I really didn't care about him at all and didn't understand how Marilyn could ever get attached to him. They also didn't take advantage of the beautiful sets and locations enough. The only nice looking scene was when they were at the lake and they used the light nicely. THe rest of the film had too many flat interior scenes and didn't use light to enhance any of the ornate furniture, props or Marilyn.
French Ban the Niqab
Several months ago, the French government banned their citizens from wearing the Niqab, which is a form of Muslim dress for women that covers their entire face and body. They claim it is for security purposes since when you are fully covered, nobody can tell who is under the covering, or what they could be carrying underneath their dress. Also, they claim that this is to help women's rights and that women wearing the Niqab are being contained and aren't free women. If women wear the Niqab, they will get charged a fine of $190. If it is found out that a man is making his wife or daughter wear it, he faces an extremely high penalty of over $30,000. The women who typically wear this dress, however, are outraged and say that them not being able to wear the Niqab is what is restricting. They say that it goes against their beliefs and is a step back from women's liberation. Them wearing the Niqab is liberating to them because they believe are not judged by how they look, but their personality and intelligence. Canada has also recently banned the Niqab and Australia is looking to do the same. While there are many news stories and articles being written about these recent happenings, I think that someone should really be documenting this as a film. While this may seem like a small issue, since not many women across the world wear the Niqab, I think it is telling of how the Western world is reacting to Middle Eastern people as a whole, by restricting their power. It is all part of the post 9/11 thinking. Middle Eastern Muslims aren't just a minority or a foreign people, but a source of fear. We fear what we do not know about, and now what we cannot see (the women's face and bodies). Muslim women's bodies have become sites of political conflict between the West and non-West.
LGBT Characters
I would like to see more films with gay and transgender characters without the film being solely about them being gay and transgender. Even at the LGBT Film & Video Festival, while I realize that's the topic, most of the films are only about that instead of being a "regular" film with LGBT characters. I just watched a documentary today, Paris is Burning, about drag queens and trannies performing at Balls, which I suppose would be the older, not quite so obnoxious Drag Shows. Where the contestants dress up as more "normal" people, and you win by convincing the judges that you're straight and are really a business man, or student, or whatever type of person you're trying to dress up as. But while watching the film, the people were so incredibly charming, I don't know why we can't watch everyday things with them in it, why it always has to be about their sexuality and how they dress.
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