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April 9, 2019 at 3:26 pm #1375Jessica DrechslerParticipant
I completely agree with you that Jennifer Jason Leigh’s performance in this film absolutely blew me away. Her ability to convey these themes of addiction and passion in such a compelling way was absolutely amazing. I also agree with you in the fact that I do not see a hero in this film even though I desperately want to. I believe it is obvious to think of Georgia as the hero in this film for being the one that constantly is saving her sister however, I strongly believe she is not the hero. In the end of the film Sadie is shown with a drink in her hand, this shows that Sadie truly was not saved by her sister and that addiction has a power over her that is stronger than her passion in which she has for music. Sadie was not even able to save herself in this film from addiction therefore she is also not the hero. I am not however, denouncing Sadie’s struggle and her journey through drug addiction and how she was able to overcome it. Sadie is a strong willed person but in the end she begins and ends the film in very similar ways, in a deserted bar doing what she loves to do which is perform. She has not made any true progress in improving herself as far as her vocal ability but she has improved in the fact that she presumably isn’t doing drugs anymore? But then again she is still drinking so it is hard to say if Sadie has truly improved or not as a character. One thing I admire about Sadie is that even with her sisters criticism she still sings in the exact same way and doesn’t try to change herself. Sadie is brutally and authentically herself until the very end and I find this admirable. I absolutely loved this film and I am glad to see you did as well!
March 11, 2019 at 11:35 am #1346Jessica DrechslerParticipantI myself am not very educated in the topics of “Jesus” and “The Bible” but I find the parallels you make between Luke and Jesus to be quite striking and one that I myself picked up on throughout the film. Luke through being put into the role of “the savior” rejects it when he is brought back after attempting to escape for either the first or second time (I am not sure) but he tells all the men that the picture he gave to them of him was fake and that they should worry about themselves. He however embraced the role of Christ in the end when he decides his own fate by choosing death over submitting himself to the prison system. Luke could have easily gone quietly with the prison guards but he instead chose the way in which he could attain true freedom through death. You could even tell he was happy with his decision and that he was very much aware of it when he gave that iconic smile to Dragline as he is driven away. I also find it significant that the image of Luke grinning with the two women was taped back together because that is how the other prisoners would like to remember him. To put him on this sort of pedestal and to make their time in prison a little easier knowing that Luke was possibly living a life of leisure and that he was able to “escape”.
March 4, 2019 at 1:10 pm #1340Jessica DrechslerParticipantI definitely agree with you that this film was very predictable in the story line and it was something I have seen before in many different forms. I however found the plot in this movie to be rather slow moving compared to modern day hero films such as the marvel films. I myself am not a huge fan of the western but again that is just my taste. Going back to the topic of discussion last Monday which was the Mulvey article on the “Male Gaze” and Scopophilia. I was looking for this in the film and I could not find any examples of it, did you see any that I might have missed? The female character in this film was not objectified in any way that I can think of besides the betrayal at the end but I could be wrong! Let me know your thoughts! I also thought the beginning of your post was hilarious because it is so true about movies such as this and the predictable story line.
-Jess Drechsler
- This reply was modified 5 years, 1 month ago by Jessica Drechsler.
February 17, 2019 at 3:02 pm #1303Jessica DrechslerParticipantI agree with you that Rick was definitely selfless throughout the film. He could have easily sent Victor Laszlo on the plane by himself and stayed in Casablanca with Ilsa but instead he sent them both on the plane to safety so Laszlo could continue his fight against the Nazi regime. I however interpreted the role of the hero in this film to be different than your interpretation. I see Victor Laszlo as a hero in the film and Rick is the “supernatural aid” who helps the hero along his journey. I recall a scene in which Rick and Laszlo are conversing at the bar and Rick asks him “Don’t you sometimes wonder if it’s worth all this? I mean what you’re fighting for.” and Laszlo replies saying “You might as well question why we breathe. If we stop breathing, we’ll die. If we stop fighting our enemies, the world will die.” This conversation between Laszlo and Rick is what caused me to believe that Rick is the supernatural aid who is destined to help Laszlo continue his hero’s journey to stop the Nazi’s. I agree that it can also be viewed that Rick is the hero in this film and that is probably the more accepted interpretation but the sacrifice that Rick made at the end of the film allowing Laszlo to continue his journey made me believe that he was the hero and Rick was the aid.
February 5, 2019 at 8:44 pm #1259Jessica DrechslerParticipantI completely agree with you, I believe that Clarissa was better at aiding the hero than the female role of “Annabelle”. Annabelle had many moments in which her helping of Johnnie wasn’t actually helping at all and instead put their lives in danger whereas Clarissa genuinely helped Jeff. You can see this in the instance during the filibuster Clarissa whispers down to Jeff directions on what to do. Without Clarissa Jeff would not be the hero in the film at all and he would have left Washington framed for a crime he did not commit. I come to disagree with you on the idea that “I suggest that despite the decade in between “The General and “Mr. Smith”, the roles women are playing are not changing much.” I believe the two female characters we have seen are drastically different from one another. Clarissa is an independent woman working in Washington D.C and based on her own intelligence of the Laws she is able to help Jeff by doing almost all of the hero work for him behind the scenes and completely differs from the “damsel in distress” seen in the General. Annabelle seems to be quite dependent on others and is unable to aid the hero as much as Clarissa. I found this film to be a step forward for the role of the female in film and seeing a strong female role was refreshing and wonderful to see.
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