by Christopher Marlowe
Come live with me and be my love,
And we will all the pleasures prove
That valleys, groves, hills, and fields,
Woods or steepy mountain yields.
And we will sit upon the rocks,
Seeing the shepherds feed their flocks,
By shallow rivers to whose falls
Melodious birds sing madrigals.
And I will make thee beds of roses
And a thousand fragrant posies,
A cap of flowers, and a kirtle
Embroidered all with leaves of myrtle;
A gown made of the finest wool
Which from our pretty lambs we pull;
Fair lined slippers for the cold,
With buckles of th purest gold;
A belt of straw and ivy buds,
With coral clasps and amber studs:
And if these pleasures may thee move,
Come live with me and be my love.
The shepherds' swains shall dance and sing
For thy delight each May morning:
If these delights thy mind may move,
Then live with me and be my love.
*****
I'm sorry if this is an obvious point, but I wanted to say: in creative fields, advancements in equality are most important at the level of creativity. What I mean by that is that if I understand the facts correctly, the last decades have seen an increase in the number of women working at the administrative, financial or executive level, but the number of women in the chief creative positions barely improved, if at all. And that's a major problem, because the equality that matters in a creative industry, ultimately, is equality at the level of the artistic enterprise.
If I'm right in that women have increased their presence in the executive levels of Hollywood, that's all to the good. But what is most important is that we get more movies which have been crafted by women, woman directors, woman screenwriters, woman cinematographers. This is important not just because of a general preference for a multiplicity of voices, although that is important. It's also beneficial because I think many big movie buffs are more than anything tired of the repetitiveness and boredom of movies that are too often similar on the level of plot and thematically identical. More women in the creative process might represent a chance to break out of those stale conventions, and not just because they are likely to write more or better female characters, but merely because they are likely to have a fresh perspective.
So I'm jazzed Kathryn Bigelow is up for an Oscar. I actually am not the biggest fan of The Hurt Locker. I think, like the large majority of war movies I've ever seen, it is hampered by a tremendous amount of cliches, and is sort of hokey on the level of character. (The soldier who can only make sense of the world when he's at war is a pretty well played out trope at this point, right?) But those are complaints about screenwriting, not directing. The movie's strength is as a series of distinct set pieces, and while Bigelow's direction isn't my favorite of the year, neither are any of the other nominees, and direction is a great place to honor a movie that has largely deserved the recognition it has received.
Posts
6 comments:
"And that's a major problem, because the equality that matters in a creative industry, ultimately, is equality at the level of the artistic enterprise."
That's if you consider the film making process an "artistic enterprise." Or even a "creative industry." I refer you to Joan Didion, "In Hollywood," IIRC.
Philip
Maybe. Maybe not. Or we just might get a lot of mediocre films by women. As a point of justice, of course women must be represented and get paid the same (another issue).
But as to the hope that such justice would make the art better in Hollywood, I declare the jury out on that one.
Sure. But how little we have to lose, considering the quality of most Hollywood movies. And maybe we'll be pleasantly surprised.
Still waiting for Sofia Coppola's remake of "Triumph of the Will."
Philip
>The soldier who can only make sense of the world when he's at war is a pretty well played out trope at this point, right?
It reflects reality. It can't ever be played out until soldiers no longer feel this way. If you think it's handled poorly in the film, that's another thing.
That may be fair, hinkydink. Whatever else is true, though, I didn't think that it worked in the context of the film.
Post a Comment