Hoarderline Syndrom

Hoarderline Syndrom

A curated compilation of movies, essays and other personal parafernalia, with a twist of gloom & doom.

Hoarderline Syndrom Thomas Stevens Minor Visual Culture 2011 Personal Book Part 2

Knowledge is Power Now imagine that knowledge being used properly

Minor Visual Culture 2010-2011 One of the foremost reasons I chose to participate in this minor, was that I was longing for a huge chunk of theory; craving even. Well, I got what I asked for and much more. Getting the theory is one thing, but how do you place it out of context and put your own personal spin on things? That is what this journal is for. A tangible product, containing six months of work. This ´work´ mainly consisted of analyzing the world and everything in it. Over the next 130 pages or so, you will enter a magical world, full of odd references, links and other symbolic structures. Not only to show you a glimpse of what goes down in that neurotic brain of mine but even more so to influence your own way of thinking. Besides all that, I also made a very conscious decision to try and create something that represents my talents and skills. That way I have something extremely relevant to present, when looking for an internship or even a job.

This encyclopedia, as you could call it, is not complete by any means. Nor could it ever be; I´d have to re-print it on a daily basis. It does offer a frozen slice of time and the idea is to create a complementary archive, which links to both Personal Book Part 1 as 2 but also to other topics and thought-processes.

That way I not only collect but also edit at the same time, plus being able to take out certain themes or common denominators and create special volumes. So enjoy and spread the word.

Thomas

Someone’s Junk Is Someone Else’s Treasure The starting point for this second part of the personal book, besides being assigned Director of Photography for the second part of the minor, came from a documentary. As an avid collector of all sorts of visuals and texts, my hoarding behavior sometimes reminds me of Little Edie. (Image on your right, one of my favorites) The first cousin of Jacky O. hoarded as if her life depended on it. In a way, we both do this to construct our own reality. Creating a bubble in which you can comfortably live, collecting all sorts of (un)necessary and (ir)relevant objects and information. “Look what I know, and you don’t”. And thus I’ve created an ecclectic compilation of texts and images, that allow you a sneak peek of how I see and analyze the world around me. Self-indulgent, as Simon Cowell might scowl? Yes, maybe a little bit, but it does make for an interesting read. So, don’t be alarmed by some of the content; I’m not a schizophrenic, though that might appear so in some instances.

I just see the world differently sometimes and this book allows you to take part in (some of) the journey with me. Bring a weapon and something warm, we won’t be back before dark.

p.7

Four Favorite Foreign Films

p.49 p.87 p.95 p.109

p.19

An Essay on Photography

Seven Favorite Book Adaptations

An Essay on Religion vs. Fashion

One Man, Two Favorite Biopics

Four Films, Three Words, In Your Face

p.29

Four Favorite Art Direction

p.43 p.71

An Essay on Publicity vs. Painting

p.79 p.99

An Essay on `Choix de Vivre´

Three Favorite Documentaries

An Essay on Gays in Cinema

p.115

Six Favorite Extracts

Four Favorite Foreign Films Anything Non-American Will Do

Ever since I was a wee boy, I’ve been fascinated with other languages. When I was done reading the Dutch section in the library, I skipped to English or French.

I must have been around 5 and though I couldn’t fully comprehend what went on, I had a vivid imagination and a fierce determination to keep reading. I started watching BBC at around age 7, because I thought the children’s programs were more fun. This is how language gradually became a big part of my life, and still is. On top of that, my mother is French and I’ve always overromanticized her being whisked away from a beach on Binic, to a Dutch suburb, giving birth to a baby boy, me. This could be the unconscious reason for me only meeting men that turn out to be tourists; leaving me to go back to their sunny homelands.

Before I digress and tell you about my love life in 7 different languages, let me introduce what awaits you on the other side of the page.

As an admirer of (foreign) language, I’ve selected four of my favorite foreign films. All completely different, yet all very characteristic to each director. My preference lies in French, Spanish and German cinema as you will see.

I have a great aversion against Asian films however, but that’s not solely for its language.

Overly poetic, über-slow and silent, it just doesn’t do it for me. Sorry. European filmmakers have a way of telling a story, no riffraffs, just a well-written story. And that is the difference with Hollywood, where boy meets girl, girl is taken, boy pursues, explosion, boy and girl run, car chase, boy and girl live happily ever after.

8

Todo Sobre Mi Madre Director:

Pedro Almodovar

Spain 1999 This film is one of the most colorful explosions in cinema: both literally as figuratively. What´s there not to love about a movie that celebrates women of all generations? These actresses (will) play in all of Almodovar´s films and that might be part of the charm.

The film revolves around Manuela (Cecilia Roth) who loses her son Esteban on his 17th birthday after chasing after actress Huma Rojo (Marisa Paredes) for an autograph.

She makes a trip to Barcelona to travel after her son´s heart and to find Esteban´s father, Lola. (Toni Cantó) Her son has never known his father is alive and Lola knows nothing about having a son. This is all before she, Lola that is, became a transvestite.

Along the way Manuela not only meets up with her old friend Agrado, a hysterical transsexual prostitute, but also meets several others. There is Rosa (Penélope Cruz in a fantastic role), the young nun who´s now pregnant by Lola and has contracted AIDS from him, Huma Rojo and the drug-addicted actress Nina Cruz (Candela Peña), who is Huma´s

lesbian lover. As you can tell, so far there hasn´t been a man in sight. A celebration of womanhood in all its glory.

Besides coming up with a story like this, Almodovar has the ability to actually make you believe it all. A nun who got AIDS from a transvestite? Yes. This is Almodovar´s world and we´re simply guests. Some more frequent than others perhaps.

What´s also intriguing, besides one of the only men dying at the beginning of the film, is that there is a play within a movie. So an actress playing an actress, that plays an actress.

Themes like that are recurring ones in his films, just like religion, death and family. Or the color red, which I tried to highlight in the images. All in all, I recommend all of Pedro Almodovar´s work but this has to be my favorite.

cript, cast, s nd , m l fi a te Favori , film-poster r o t c . dire ection art-dir

Le Fabuleux Destin d’Amélie Poulain Director:

Jean-Pierre Jeunet

France 2001 Is there any way of telling the story of Amélie without giving too much away, or underplaying the fabulousness of it all?

Who would have thought a simple story about a sweet girl from Montmartre, trying to make everyone around her happy, would prove to have such an impact on the world? Well, the world needed a change after a slew of prequels, sequels and trilogies and Amélie offered just that.

Jeunet is a very distinctive director and it is quite easy to pick out his films. Like Almodovar there is always an element of color involved; lots of green’s, red’s and beige. Even more special is his tone of voice, which becomes evident from the first scene. A voice-over describes several parts of Paris all on the same day, introducing characters, places and situations, some for only a few seconds and are never to be seen again. By doing so, with the voice-over adding an intimate detail about that specific subject, the viewer visualizes this world and its inhabitants. They become familiar, identifiable. The scene ends with the birth of Amélie. By now, you’ve already become accustomed to the world she’s entering.

Now the same thing happens to skip the first 23 years of her life. The voice-over continues to describe Amélie and her parents with witty anecdotes. You’ll discover her Mom died when someone threw himself off a tower and landed on top of her and that her father has made Amélie believe there is something wrong with her heart. All this makes it very easy for you to befriend Amélie.

The plot actually starts with the death of Princess Diana, another ‘empty object’. Dropping the cap of her perfume bottle, she discovers a hidden package in her bathroom, filled with nostalgic childhood artifacts from a little boy. She decides to go out and re-unite the tin box with its owner. This is just the start of Amélie going out of her way to make everyone around her happy.

In her journey she meets some of cinema’s greatest characters; a man with bones of glass, a hypochondriac and her stalking ex-boyfriend and many more. Another thing I love is how the film exudes Frenchness, with a France that does not exist. (See images above) There were some that criticized the film for being French propaganda and for the lack of representation of minorities. Which is true, but then again Jeunet never claims that this is France. It’s his France. Or at least Amélie’s. A picturesque fairy-tale that will make you want to be a nicer person. And learn the French language. t, plot t, scrip ds a c , , soun te film Favori , film-poster n. r io o direct d art direct n a track

Funny Games Director:

Michael Haneke

Austria 1997 This is without exaggerating the scariest movie I have ever seen in my whole damned life. Pardon me for the harsh words but director Michael Haneke has managed to create a film that is able to both shock people as well as creating a dialogue with them. A tough job for someone who doesn´t play by the conventional film-rules.

The opening scene of the movie should already prepare you for a thundering ride.

A family in a car, classical music on the stereo playing, husband and wife lovingly steal glances. Out of the blue, the music changes into loud heavy metal screaming, all the while the seemingly happy family still en route to their holiday destination.

As they arrive and start to unpack, you as a viewer get to relate to them. Then, which is fairly early in the film, the shit hits the fan. Their little boy tells them there´s someone at the door. Mom, who´s preparing lunch in the kitchen gets the door and finds a fairly clumsy and overly polite teenager. This is the start of a thrillingly morbid day where the family is terrorised. And yes, people die. Like I said, Haneke doesn´t play by the rules but not solely for shock value. He is making a statement about our society, poisoned by celebrity and TV culture. Would this explain why the

(exact) American remake by the same director did not do it for me? Or have I become more numb to things such as violence? I don´t believe so, nor could it have been the American cast´s fault, which was sublime. I think the story made such an impact on me the first time I saw it, it’s hard to equal that.

Furthermore, the original version is shot over 13 years ago; giving a bit of a grainy look, something that only adds to the horror of the entire situation.

And, the German language might have ‘hardened it up’ a bit for me as well.

Michael Haneke’s ‘Funny Games’ and ‘Benny’s Video’ are not for the weak-minded. Nevertheless, they both communicate things on a deeper level that I’m fascinated by; what is the effect of media on young children? Or am I, as a viewer, already too corrupted to do anything about it? t

plo script, , t s a c , ster. te film Favori and film-po or direct

The only thing I find more intriguing about the remake, is the filmposter.

(See left page) Is it a painting? (If so, there is an essay further in this book describing what that would mean or symbolize.) A still from a video?

Either way, it captures the pure horror, exasperation and desperation the woman of the house has to go through. It also doesn’t conform to conventional film-posters; like the film itself . What it does conform to is the claustrofobia in the film with the tightly cropped image of the poster.

Also the staticness and confinement; almost the entire movie takes place inside the house, after all. With all that being said, I urge everyone to check out this movie. But maybe not alone. And preferably in a public space. It’s easier to escape that way, if needed.

Caché Director:

Michael Haneke

France 2005 The quiet life of a Parisian family is disturbed when they start to receive surveillance tapes of their own residence. Creepy? Yes, but since there is no apparent threat indicating the family is in danger, the police refuses to help them.

The first few videos seem passive and harmless; the footage shows their house’s exterior, shot from a distance with a camera which is never noticed or re-traced. Meanwhile, the marriage of the French TV-presentor Georges Laurent (Daniel Auteuil) and his wife Anne ( Juliette Binoche) is spiraling downwards.

One videotape leads Georges to the modest HLM apartment of an Algerian man named Majid (Maurice Bénichou), whose parents worked for Georges’ family when they were young. When his parents were killed in the Paris massacre of 1961, Majid remained with Georges and his parents, who intended to adopt Majid into their family. Georges confronts Majid about the tapes, but he denies involvement. However, the encounter intensifies his guilty flashbacks and recurring nightmares of a young Majid spitting blood, cutting off a rooster’s head, and menacing him.

When one day their son Pierrot does not return from school and Anne is unable to find him, they both draw the conclusion he’s been kidnapped

by Majid. Which as a viewer you

t, plot t, scrip s a c , ster. te film Favori and film-po r o direct

A film without hardly any explicit threat, yet leaves you nailed to your seat. Not just because of the story and the way it has been directed but also because of France’s biggest actors: Daniel Auteil and Juliette Binoche. The woman should get a freaking statue. automatically do as well. Like, who else could it be? They go to the police, who accompany Georges to Majid’s appartement. There they find Majid and his son (Walid Afkir) and both claim to know nothing about any kidnapping. Still, the police arrests them but releases them the next morning. At the same time, Pierrot returns home from a sleepover, something he forgot to tell his parents. Georges decides to go back to Majid’s. He also makes clear he had nothing to do with the anonymous tapes that were sent. He did ask Georges to come down though, wanting him to be the witness of the awfulness that follows.

Note

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Without giving away the entire plot, that would take the fun out of watching it for the first time, as a viewer you feel you’ve seen all the facts to draw a proper conclusion from. Yet director Michael Haneke is able to twist and turn the plot in such a way, that you never see what is coming, making the thrilling sensation even bigger.

P

hotography:

A crime of passion.

An essay by Thomas C. Stevens inspired by Susan Sontag’s ON PHOTOGRAPHY, Guy Bourdin, Kate Moss & POLAROID pictures.

“

“I

think I’m ready for my close-up ( Britney Spears in Kill the Lights )

My introduction to and affinity for photography has been awakened mainly by fashion photography. As a young boy flipping through magazines, this alternate planet, a perfect moment in time captured in front of the lens was something otherworldly, magical. What is it with photographs that make them universally accepted, unequivocally present? The only sense you need is sight and thus makes it an highly accessible form of art, to many around us.

For me personally, being the glass is half-empty-kind-of-guy, I have had issues capturing something photographically since I was about 16. Where most people can look at an image, full of nostalgia, and reminisce about what was, I on the other hand can feel slightly depressed looking at images of unforgettable nights; they can and never will be measured up to.

The photo is the absolute truth, providing you with evidence of something occurring. Without the tangible proof of that slice of time, the only thing that remains is a hazy memory which will only confirm it was a great night, but will not slap you around the face to say: You know

what, this was such a great fucking party. Nothing will ever come close to the feeling you had that night, so there, take that, in your face.

Thus, for the same reason you will hardly find any pictures of me after that certain age. Has that got to do with avoiding confirmation? For example, without the actual evidence captured on film nobody will be able to say: ‘You’ve never looked better there’. Or worse. Or even, ‘you look so different’. If so, it has everything to do with the way I see myself in my head and the actual representation of me, if there is any such a thing. This led me to think more about the predatory effect and beautification of photography.

...”My images are just accidents, I’m not a director, merely the agent of chance.”....

- Guy Bourdin -

Closely linked to (fashion) photography are models and after finishing Sontag’s insightful essays it began to dawn on me why these girls are being photographed by a Polaroid camera when they are first plucked off the street. The image will show the girl in its most pure form, yet shot through the most ‘ugly’ way possible; harsh lighting etc. Only if her features survive what the Polaroid picture does to her, will she get the chance to actually call herself a model.

Which is an odd thing, because she will be replaced by heavily made-up and computer enhanced model-like creatures; she will not look anything like the way they initially found her. Her hyper-real self becomes the norm. If there is truth-telling in photography, like Sontag claims, does this mean the Polaroid is closer near the truth or is it just an awful liar? This brings me to an avid user of the Polaroid and another one of my fascinations: Guy Bourdin. Maybe the fact that he used the truth-telling machine for his grotesque and often obviously ‘fake’ images is what made his work so strong.

All images belong to Guy Bourdin and can be found on GuyBourdin.org. It is quite astonishing to see his influence still palpapable in this day and age. For example, Kanye West’s new video Monster (2011), uses a lot of references to Bourdin’s work. Is there a photographer today, reminiscent of Guy Bourdin? No, not to my kowledge. The only one that seems to get close is Terry Richardson, or maybe even David LaChapelle. Then again, it must be hard re-discovering something new, when everything feels like it has already been done.

Exactly like Edward Steichen did in 1915 when he took the image of the milk bottle on the tenement escape. Before that no one had ever thought that could be worth photographing.

When Guy Bourdin took something like fashion photography, which in itself is an idolizing and beautifying genre, and combined it with the ‘gritty’, ‘real’ aesthetic of the Polaroid, he placed it out of context and pushed the boundaries for photography even further. In a way, he’s not too different from someone like Diane Arbus. How she photographed her subjects, void from judgement, is exactly the opposite of how they were seen and treated by the public.

The fact that her eccentric photographic topics are faced to the camera, full frontally, shows a clear intimacy between subject and photographer. Which is interesting since this full frontality in images often strengthen the predatory effect of the camera. Just think of the passport pictures or other images of official documents; clear and strict guidelines, no room for improvisation.

Favorite photographers and Stripped back from all glamour and models technique, this again reminds me of the Polaroid images taken from models at the beginning of their “career”.

Standing in front of the camera, often holding up their measurements the way inmates hold up their sheet of misdemeanors , you can’t get any more up close and personal than that, a violation of keeping one at arms’ length.

What I find intriguing about this ‘breach of privacy, if such a thing can ever be fully captured on film, is what happens if you are confronted with your own representation, or someone else’s representation of you for that matter, on a constant base? Does the model I discussed earlier above will be able to recognize herself in her own hyper-reality? Or does she adapt to that representation, slowly leaving behind what exactly made her photographically interesting to begin with?

Image above: One of Arbus´ mesmerizing portraits.

Image middle: Model ´go-see´ card.

Bottom right: Image of an inmate.

...’ Arbus’s work is reactive - reactive against gentility, against what is approved.

It was her way of saying fuck Vogue, fuck fashion, fuck what’s pretty ’...

(Sontag, 1977, p.44)

Personally, I do think the difference between one’s own representation and the actual end-result can have self-destructing effects.

Would Britney have lost it had she been an ordinary elementary teacher?

If not, and let’s assume this is true, it is probable that Ms. Spears started to put her hyper-real self on a pedestal.

If this flawless, picture perfect Pop Princess becomes something to live up to, one can only imagine how much

of a disillusion this can cause in one’s sense of self. That gives a double meaning when Susan Sontag mentions that the mere act of photography is one of non-intervention; prolonging the moment that is captured. It almost makes the photographer the perpetrator, its subject the victim of whatever the viewer wants to see, or keep seeing.

An interesting subject to look at to illustrate this is the prolific Kate Moss. This girl from Croydon burst onto the fashion industry at age 14. This short, freckled and waif-like creature defied all beauty standards. She IS Edward Steichen’s milk bottle of the 90s and became the face of a generation. Her provocative debut at Calvin Klein still had the camera as perpetrator; a dirty old man, preying on and taking advantage of an underage girl. But things can turn and the exact opposite happened a few years ago; a society being disillusioned by the cover of the Daily Mirror. The day Kate got snapped snorting coke, the fact the image was taken from a mobile phone only added to its voyeuristic nature, things took a turn for the nation’s public domain.

´No one has discovered the ugly through photography, yet it is more common to find beauty in something ‘ugly’ through photography´.

Image above: The milk-bottle of Edward Steichen. -1915 Image bottom right: `New Face` Lindsay Wixson, defying beauty standards in the 22nd Century?

Opposite page: Kate Moss, `the milk bottle of the 90s´, and a variation of her work.

Outraged, the world demanded an explanation from the model with mythlike proportions. This was not the creature they created! Would the same thing have happened, had it been an editorial photoshoot by Vogue Italia’s master Meisel?

Undoubtedly it would generate an extreme buzz and even more negative responses and insinuations of provocation, but Ms. Moss would probably also be applauded for her courageous commentary on the fashion industry. Does this say something about the development of photography, or of a society? One would be inclined to agree on the latter, since it is the outside world that isn’t satisfied anymore with a photo as absolute truth or proof. It needs more and it will only want more.

...”I like creating images... When people see an actor speak, they think they know him or her, whereas I’m just a face or a body to them... People don’t hear me talk, they don’t expect me to”....

- Kate Moss -

Sublime Art Direction Four Exemplary Films

A film is made up from several elements and one of the most vital ones is Art Direction. It has everything to do with a well-performed research, in order to avoid any in-continuity. You can imagine the anti-climax of making a 50´s movie, when all props that are used are evidently 70´s objects; a fulltime job for some people, who make it an art-form to find as many ´flaws´ as possible.

Obviously, period-pieces require factual consistency; before putting Keira Knightley in another corset, it is vital to find out if women actually still wore them, and if so, what did they look like? Enfin, I think I made my point and so I´ve selected four of my favorite examples, where everything from location, set-design, hair & makeup, to casting, props and costumes, come together and elevate the entire movie.

30

8 Femmes Director:

Francois Ozon

France 2002 A murder mystery, Technicolor, Dior’s New Look, chansons, Hitchcock and three generations of France’s finest actresses. What else could you ask for? Mind you, you either completely love or absolutely hate this film. But there is no way around it. It is special.

Partly because the clothes play maybe an even bigger part than the actresses themselves.

The movie is set somewhere vaguely in the 50s, in a large country-side residence. Like the original play it’s been adapted from, most of the movie takes place in the living room, or grand foyer. As a family and their two maids are preparing for Christmas, the man of the house is found dead in bed, a dagger stuck in his back.

This is the beginning of an Agatha Christie-like plot, where one of the eight women is the killer. All of them have a different story to tell and secrets to hide. But since they are homebound because of a raging snow-storm (check the obviously fake backgrounds in the window-panes), they have to stick it out and uncover the truth themselves.

The word ‘fake’ not only comes to mind upon seeing the backgrounds.

It is subsequently implemented throughout the entire movie. From the outrageous over-acting and spontaneous bursting into songs to the stereotypical characters. Even the Technicolor feel is fake. (See next spread. Instead of coloring in each frame, like they did in the old days, Ozon uses bold and clashing colors to achieve the same effect.)

So none of what you see, seems to be real. Which is a recurring theme in Ozon’s work. (Swimming Pool, for example) Over the course of the movie, each character literally sheds some skin; revealing a different, hidden self, often having something to do with what they wear. When one of the maids, the sexy one,

the other one turns out to be a butchy lesbian, is revealed to be the dead man’s mistress, she takes off her maid’s cap and apron, as to show the other women she’s equal to them. At the same time, the camera allows you to see she’s also wearing thigh-high boots under her uniform. Soit, I could go on and on.

But if you feel like an old-fashioned murder mystery, filled with fashion and kitsch, this the one.

plot script, t, t s a c , and ar te film Favori , film-poster or direct n io c dire t

Changeling Director:

Clint Eastwood

US 2008 Ok, I’ll admit it. The reason it took me so long to see this film, was because I’d already decided to never watch something with Angelina Jolie. Don’t ask me why, it was just something that gradually happened. Boy, was I pleasantly surprised. Maybe Clint Eastwood was right. The reason he cast her, was because he thought her face would fit the period they were filming.

That period is 1928 and fashion-wise one of my favorites. Not only that, but the story is based on true facts.

One night, single mother Christine Collins (Angeline Jolie) comes home from work to discover her son Walter is gone. Frantically, she goes to the police, but nothing happens.

After a few months she is contacted that they’ve found her son alive.

The LA police department has some serious image issues and arranges a public reuniting. Yet when Christine arrives, she claims that the boy they’ve found is not her son, despite the boy claiming she is his mother.

The LAPD head officer pressures Christine to take the boy home ‘on a trial basis’. Emotionally beaten, she agrees. But at home, the physical discrepancies between the boy and her son become evident. When she tries to return the boy to the police, they refer her to a doctor.

You´d think the poor woman would get some help from someone with a degree. Yet she is a single mother, slightly frantic and the police has given their orders. The conclusion is the boy shrunk during his time separated from his mother. When a newspaper runs a story on Collins being an unfit mother, she discovers the police is trying to discredit her.

Upon seeking help in the media, she is ordered to a psychiatric ward and forced to take ´medications´.

At the same time there is a parallel storyline about a detective trying to solve a crime. In his investigation he finds out Christine´s son has been kidnapped and most probably murdered.

plot cript, s , t s a t ,c and ar te film Favori , film-poster or direct n io direct

Running these separate storylines actually strengthens each of the parts: they complement each other.

Besides that, you can tell they´ve put a lot of emphasis on the period they are filming in. The scenes at Christine´s workplace (See film poster on left page) are amazing: all these female telephone operators are wearing heels and rollerblades. Overall, the art-direction is exquisite. Admittedly, it did cross my mind while watching this film how believable it was for a single woman to own so many fabulous garments. But hey, I´m a sucker for a flapper dress, so who´s counting.

Far from Heaven Director:

Todd Haynes

US 2002 Julianne Moore and Dennis Quaid, you can hardly go wrong with a pair like that.

It can though, if you find out your husband is having homo-erotic encounters. But, this the 50s after all. So you stand by your man, just like Tammy Wynette once wailed. Moore is cast perfectly as the suburban housewife who seems to have it all, but is slowly starting to lose grip on her picture perfect life. s, and

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te Favori n. io t c dire

art-

As I mentioned before, Cathy Whitaker ( Julianne Moore) is confronted with her husband´s sexual escapades. Quite a taboo in the 50s, let alone when she discovers he´s doing it with men. As he´s trying to be `converted´ back to a straight man by some psycho-therapist, she is confronted with a man of color roaming through her backyard.

He turns out to be the son of her late gardener and they develop a friendship, a kinship of some sort. She is ostracized, just like he is and they find comfort in each other´s company.

But not everyone is as content with this blossoming friendship. Their home is vandalized and their daughter is attacked by three white boys; whom are never charged for the crime.

This director uses the same trick as Francois Ozon does with ‘8 Femmes’; inspired by Technicolor, he emulates that in his costumes and lighting.

This only strengthens the ‘fakeness’ of keeping up appearances, behind all that facade there must be a beating heart.

What I find fascinating is that all these elements combined, make this a very camp movie. Why is that? I believe it has something to do with a ‘less is more’ type of dilemma. There is a thin line of going over the top when you reference the past, and if you keep on adding it can become somewhat of a farce. Sod it, camp or kitsch, to pull that off is pretty amazing. Almost like telling a toddler he can only draw outside the lines a bit, odd chance of that actually happening right?

Note

there s film, ed to i h t e l dicat goog If you s of clips de ity in this d u a are lo the incontin f o some . movie

Ah, Tom Ford. The man with the Midas touch. The man who came up with the infamous Gucci ad, where one of the models had shaven her pubic hair into a G. The man who in the midst of a cultural shift, took the lead and showed others how to do it. The man with a nose for publicity. And now, the man with an eye for film. I bet there were loads of people waiting for him to mess up, receive some Razzies. But he did not. On the contrary. He´s made one of the most exciting films of the year.

Taking place over the course of a single day, 30 November 1962, A Single Man is the story of George Falconer (Colin Firth), a middleaged English college professor living in Los Angeles. George is dreaming about his partner of 16 years, who lost his life in a car-accident eight months ago and when he wakes up, he has decided to take his own life that night. As he receives a phone call from his dearest friend Charley ( Julianne Moore), it becomes evident Georges is trying to take everything in for the last time.

Blurring past and present with flashbacks, you uncover what has made Georges come to his decision.

cript, cast, s ter, art, m l fi te os Favori ctor, film-p ack. e tr r i d n t sou d plo n and o i t c e dir

‘‘We have the Terminator as governor, and we had an actor as president, so why shouldn’t we have a fashion designer as a senator?’’

- Tom Ford -

C

hoix de Vivre

Desensitizing a Society?

An essay by Thomas C. Stevens inspired by Marxism, Post-Modernism, (Post) Structuralism & ‘‘Choix de Vivre”.

How a short Fashion Film, made by students within a week, can be used to analyze a society´s culture.

Choix de Vivre is a short film about a girl, seemingly content with her life. We see her get up and prepare herself to go somewhere. A structured and systematic life, with one of each object, dressing herself in the same drab way on a daily base.

Then we see her sitting in an office, leafing through a contract of freedom after which we see her same routine yet filled with

more options. The aim of this essay is to analyze what happens in the movie and to place it in the context of today’s society.

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We can look at Choix de Vivre in a multitude of ways. But before doing so we need to make some assumptions and distinctions.

Firstly, the flashes (whether forward or backward) suggest she is thinking of something or it’s showing her the effects of her decision. In case of the first, the girl is apparently longing for a change and envisions how she would like to live. In case of the latter, the whole movie becomes a commentary on how people think they ought to live their lives. As Lévi-Strauss put

everything into binary oppositions, the same applies to Choix de Vivre.

In the example of her thinking of her life, as it should be, they can be divided up into *The Real World and * The Aspirational world. The example of her being shown the effects of signing the contract, in a slightly negative way, could be also divided into two binary oppositions: Fast Fashion vs. Slow Fashion; a conscious dresser and decision-maker being confronted with the overwhelming effects of the constant replenishment of her wardrobe.

”…the thesis which claims autonomous, bourgeois art is what sustains the universality of the oppressed, while the art produced for the masses, which is quite other than an art of the masses, is critiqued as the reproduction of the alienated needs of mass society…” ( Adorno, 1991, p.7 )

So, we can establish that the world she lives in, is the one of the oppressed. No more than 1 option, no excess or luxury. She seems quite content with that routine, so what makes someone consider signing such a contract? The man offering her the contract would seem to represent society’s strain on her, the pressure to conform, to belong.

”… Today anyone who is incapable of talking in the prescribed fashion, that is of effortlessly reproducing the

formula’s, conventions and judgments of mass-culture as if they were his own, is threatened in his very existence, suspected of being an idiot or an intellectual”... ( Adorno, Marxisms, p.88 ) In the case of Choix de Vivre we can assume the girl is taken for an idiot, forced to sign a contract in order to be seen as normal, or as the norm itself. What this entails, is that something that is seen as a Utopia, that which she is signing for, becomes a commodity.

“... The Culture Industry, in its search for profits and cultural homogeneity, deprives ‘authentic’ culture of its critical function, its mode of negation devalues ‘authentic’ culture, making it too accessible by turning it into yet another saleable commodity…” ( Marxisms, p.88) What is interesting is the music that is playing while she is in the office.

Classical music, which refers to high culture would suggest she is ‘put under a spell’. The tunes of high-culture influence on her signing the contract. This in itself seems an anomaly in the film, since popular music would have this effect.

“…Popular music operates in a kind of blurred dialectic: to consume it demands inattention and distraction, whilst its consumption produces in the consumer inattention and distraction…” (Marxisms, p.92) But, with the latter extract suggesting a commodifying of the unobtainable, this does have a proper function in “depriving ‘authentic’ culture of its critical function”, as is shown in the graph of the Frankfurt School. (Marxisms, Table 5.1, p.89)

Classical music is by no means popular music but what if the reasons behind choosing this particular extract have ulterior motifs? The makers of Choix de Vivre did not choose this piece of music at random, but for them it had another reference. The piece originates from Kubrick’s 1980 classic movie The Shining. So, in that case can it then be classified as popular music? If for some people the connotation does not

lie with high or ‘authentic’ culture anymore, can it still be referred to as such? Again, if we look at Choix de Vivre and state the music refers to high culture, then we can also state that ‘they’re’ trying to brainwash the girl into signing the contract, putting her under the spell of Haute Musique.

If not, then we classify the music as pop music. Pretty much the same is implied then, yet then the girl is numbed with mundane tunes, an attempt at desensitizing her.

Still, when the piece of music is classified as pop, then there is a certain intertextuality involved. The concept of intertextuality reminds us that each text relates in relation to others; texts owe more to other texts than to their own makers. Thus, the same counts for music and songs when Foucault declared,

“ The frontiers of a book are never clear-cut: beyond the title, the first lines and the last full stop, beyond its internal configuration and its autonomous form, it is caught up in a system of references to other books, other texts, other sentences: it is a node within a network... The book is not simply the object that one holds in one’s hands...

Its unity is variable and relative”. ( Foucault, 1974, 23) What we can conclude from all this is that the makers of Choix de Vivre haven’t been clear in the choices they’ve made to convey its message, or they’ve deliberately set out to do so. What does become clear is the commentary on consumption, whether or not preferred by the girl in the movie. More importantly, the

movie is a product of the time or era it’s been made in; the ‘luxury’ of over-consumption and the slowfashion debate are issues that simply had no relevance 60 years ago. In a way, this film could be put in a time capsule and 120 years from now, one would be able to get a view on how we lived; figuring out our culture and its accompanying issues.

References Adorno, Theodor W. (1991) ‘The Culture Industry’, London: Routledge.

Barthes, Roland (1990) ‘The Fashion System’, London: California Press.

Kurzweil, Edith (1996) ‘The age of Structuralism, from Lévi-Strauss to Foucault’, New Jersey: Transaction Publishers.

Laxer, Gordon and Soron, Dennis (2006) ‘Not for Sale, Decommodifying Public Life’, Ontario: Broadview.

Nayar, Pramod K. (2010) ‘Contemporary Literary and Culture Theory: From Structuralism to Ecocriticism’, India: Dorling Kindersley Nichols, B. (1985) ‘Movies and Methods: An Anthology, Volume 1’, London: California Press.

Stam, R., Burgoyne, R and Flitterman-Lewis, S. (1992) ‘New Vocabularies in Film Semiotics: Structuralism, PostStructuralism and Beyond’, London: Routledge.

Semiotics for Beginners http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Documents/S4B/sem02a.html Both texts about Structuralism & Marxism that were posted on intranet.

This DVD cover was part of the press-package, that was sent out to all different contacts. In hindsight it does not do the film any justice.

To me, it feels like an anti-bullying poster for high-schools, instead of a short fashion film. Of course, I came up with the name, since I love a good play on words. Originally ‘joie de vivre’, joy of living, I changed it into ‘choix de vivre’, choice of living. To check out this film, and all the others, go to Youtube and type in Amfi MFVC 2010.

7

Favorite Book Adaptations Seven Films That Were Better Than The Book Or At Least As Good As.

Films

There are two things I love; books and movies. But sometimes the two get mixed up and neither one of them turns out to be great. On other rare occasions both are as good. Over the next few pages you´ll be given some examples of movies that turned out to be better than the original book or screenplay. Which is a hard thing to accomplish. How true do you stay to the book? Or can you loosely base upon the original story? And what about the casting

of characters? I mean, I´ve never heard anyone say: ‘ Wow, that Da Vinci Code was way better on screen than in print!’

Thus, this chapter is an ode to great authors and their books and the directors that managed to adapt that story to the big screen.

50

Atonement Joe Wright Based on: Ian McEwan’s novel-2001 Director:

US 2007 Ok, so I started on the book first but I had to put it down halfway because I couldn´t get through it. To me, the film filtered all elements and ended up with the most valuable ones. Plus, it has one of the most sensual love scenes ever made. And that between a man and a woman. How perverse. Alas, set in 1935, Briony (Younger version is played

by Saoirse Ronan) is a 13 year old girl, coming from a wealthy family. She has a schoolgirl crush on Robbie Turner ( James McAvoy), who in turn is madly in love with her older sister Cecila (Keira Knightley).

Briony witnesses the sexual tension between Cecilia and Robbie, something which is rather sensitive since Robbie is is poor. His parents worked for Cecilia´s parents and they’ve financially supported Robbie.

Robbie writes Cecilia letters and one of them, rather sexually explicit, is given to Briony per accident to hand over to her big sister. Briony reads the letter and becomes more suspicious.

After she witnesses Cecilia having sex with Robbie, she mistakes it for rape.

At the same time, her cousin is actually raped by a family friend but Briony assumes Robbie is the culprit. She tells her parents and shows them the letter, after which Robbie is arrested.

Released four years later, he has to serve in the army.

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What follows is an epic love-story, that was doomed to fail.

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Notes on a Scandal Richard Eyre Based on: Zoe Heller’s novel-2003 Director:

US 2006 I was completely enamored with this novel when I read for the first time. Not only does it deal with one of the most taboo things in life, middle-aged female teacher falling in love with her under-age, male student.

It also does so in such a way, it is never just about making a certain choice, good or bad.

Better yet, you start to feel compassion for that same woman. Understanding where she comes from and what she´s longing for.

Cate Blanchett portrays Sheba in a way she is not just a free-flowing hippie (like she was in the book).

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More intriguing is the relationship that unravels between Sheba and Barbara ( Judi Dench). In a way, it is just as unethical as Sheba´s relation with her student is. Barbara develops an obsessive fascination for Sheba; wanting to be her friend and at the same time being repulsed by her unconventional way of living. Things really spin out of control when Barbara feels she´s being neglected by Sheba and hints at the inappropriate behavior that is blossoming between Sheba and her student. What´s excellent about the movie is it shows you all this, without ever giving you the feeling things are just black and white. Which they are not. No one can ever be claimed to be fully good or bad.

The Night Listener Patrick Stettner Based on: Armistead Maupin’s novel-2003 Director:

US 2000 Gabriel Noone is radio-host and writer and currently suffering from a writersblock. This might have something to do with his totally hot lover leaving him.

His personal issues take over and he has to step down from presenting the show. His book publisher gives him an unpublished book, written by a 14 year old boy, Pete Boland (Rory Culkan).

The book tells the grueling story of Pete´s childhood; sexually abused by his parents who would pass him onto their friends.

Gabriel´s contact with Pete intensifies when Pete is admitted to the hospital for AIDS-related complications. Pete´s legal guardian Donna Boland (Toni Collette), tries to keep Gabriel at bay; worried Pete might collapse upon meeting his writing friend. Or does Pete doesn´t exist? Is there just Donna pretending? No one has ever met Pete, after all. And all the proof there is, is given by Pete himself.

In short, Gabriel is set on finding out the truth. Just like you as a reader and as a viewer. Not only that, the story lingers in your head. How much of what we process everyday, fact-wise, is actually checked?

We just assume everything that´s being told by media, is the truth. I think that is a dangerous development and makes people lazy and ignorant.

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Normally I only gush about actresses.

But Ben Kingsley is one of the few actors that can make my heart race.

How is it possible for a caucasion man to pass as Gandhi and a Persian man at the same time? Simple Pimple, as Karen Walker once so eloquently put it, Mr. Kingsley knows his profession by heart.

He IS his character.

The film´s main character is actually the house itself. Kathy ( Jennifer Connelly) is a grieving divorcee who has lived in that house for years. The house is put up for auction, due to taxes that weren´t paid. But the city council made a mistake, one that cannot be turned right anymore. She is evicted and has no other means to fall back on. At the same time, another storyline shows you how Massoud Behrani (Ben Kingsley) and his family are able to buy a house for a small price at an auction. Behrani´s idea is to fix up the place and sell it for a huge profit, that way he´s able to take care of his family the way he did back in Iran. Kathy, not a stranger to self-destructive behavior sleeps in her car and watches the Behrani family move into her house. Filled with anger and out for revenge, Kathy seeks the help of the police officer who helped evict her and he ends up leaving his wife to be with the emotional wreck. They bring out the worst in each other and you can sense things are starting to spiral out of control. ashloo h Aghd lm, e r h o ess Sh k’ in this fi n actr c Persia er ‘comeba the theatre h r e d ffered te to mad retrea es she was o e h s r l afte y ro he onl since t terrorists. f were o

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The House of Sand and Fog Guillaume Canet Based on: Andre Dubus’ novel-1999 Director:

US 2003 ,

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Jennifer Connelly continues to impress me the way she did in Requiem of a Dream. Somehow she seems to excel in playing women who lose grip on their own life. Defeated, yet her desperation is palpable. This movie is another example of one that shows people aren´t necessarily just good or bad.

The first thing that caught my eye watching this film, was that there was finally a portrayal of a foreign family trying to leave the past and build up a new future. Shohreh Aghdashloo plays the role of a lifetime as Colonel Behrani´s wife, Nadi. The loving way she tries to negotiate with her stubborn husband is admirable. Never does she assume the traditional submissive role of women of her culture. There is more to them; their strength, courage and willingness to persevere.

Whereas in the beginning of the movie your sympathy lies with Kathy, a woman wrongfully evicted. You´ll want to help her, scream: You have no right to be here, this is her house! Yet before you know it, there is a shift. This refugee family, fleeing from all kinds of horrors with a longing for a better future. They should not feel guilty for a woman who supposedly forgot to pay her taxes, should they? Like Perelman, I´ll leave that up to you but don´t expect anything happy-go-lucky.

“

“The House of Sand and Fog” relates not a plot with its contrived ups and downs but a story. A plot is about things that happen. A story is about people who behave. To admire a story you must be willing to listen to the people and observe them, and at the end of “The House of Sand and Fog,” we have seen good people with good intentions who have their lives destroyed because they had the bad luck to come across a weak person with shabby desires.

And finally there is a kind of love and loyalty, however strange to us, that reveals itself in the marriage of Massoud and Nadi, and must be respected.

- Roger Ebert -

“

Ne Le Dis A Personne Guillaume Canet Based on: Harlan Coben’s novel-2001 Director:

France 2006

Academy Award winning British actor Sir Michael Caine said of the film it was the best he had seen in 2007 on the BBC’s Film 2007 programme. He also included it among his Top Ten movies of all time in his 2010 autobiography, The Elephant to Hollywood.

The script made several alterations to the book. A torture expert changed from an Asian male to a white female, and the identity of the killer was switched. The book’s author was quoted in an interview that the movie’s ending was better than his original ending.

- Wikipedia -

Harlan Coben´s novels are incredible, in a league of their own. His characters are sometimes so over the top, they´re almost cartoons. Believable ones though. And I devour anything he writes but had never deemed it possible for such outrageousness to be adapted to the screen. Little did I know that Guillaume Canet, a French actor and director, had already filmed one of the books. And perfectly so, I must say.

Alexandre Beck (Francois Cluzet) is picking up the pieces of his life. His wife Margot disappeared 8 years ago, murdered by a serial killer. He seems to be doing fine until he finds himself implicated in a double homicide.

There is plenty of evidence pointing towards him as being the perp´, though he claims to know nothing. That same day he receives a mysterious e-mail, appearing to be from Margot, including a link to a surveillance video, which shows his wife alive. There is also a message, warning Alexandre that they´re both being watched. His sister and her wife hire a top-notch lawyer and gradually it becomes evident Margot might really be alive. What the f*ck? In the meanwhile, an evil bunch of henchmen come looking for Alex and hunt down his friends. This thrilling cat-and-mouse game makes you sit on the edge of your seat, the entire way.

Director Guillaume Canet, also an actor, is married and with-child as we speak, to Marion Cotillard. This brilliant French actress is best known for her ingenious portrayal of Edith Piaf in ‘La Vie en Rose’. Either that or from the Hollywood blockbuster ‘Inception’. Another favorite is Kirsten Scott Thomas, originally a Brit, but who has made a whole list of French films. Including another favorite film: ‘Il’ya longtemps que je t’aime’. In that film she plays a woman released from prison. Moving in with her sister and her kids, it slowly becomes clear why she ended up behind bars in the first place

All images are from either ‘The Reader’, or ‘Revolutionary Road’. In both films, Kate’s acting is very subdued. Nothing is over the top, everything is in the fine details. This gives her characters auhenticity and more importantly, humanity.

Especially in the case of ‘The Reader’, this was required to give ‘Hanna’ some dignity. The way she portrays her cold-blooded demeanor is sublime.

‘‘I wanted IN. I just wanted us to live again.

For years I thought we’ve shared this secret that we would be wonderful in the world.

I don’t know exactly how, but just the possibility kept me hoping. How pathetic is that? So stupid. To put all your hopes in a promise that was never made. Frank knows what he wants, he found his place, he’s just fine. Married, two kids, it should be enough.

It is for him. And he’s right; we were never special or destined for anything at all’’.

- Kate Winslet as April Wheeler in Revolutionary Road The scene in which she says this, made me bawl my eyes out. It’s not just whar or how she says it, it’s something in her eyes. And it’s through the entire movie, this secluded, numbed, wary look. April, once full of hopes and dreams, has been let down by life’s mundanity.

Some Recommendations Seriously, instead of hashing out horrible sequels and prequels, how hard can it be to take some inspiration from great novels? Not only is the adaptation from story to script extremely important, so is casting. People who´ve read the book have all made their own impression of its characters and all hell can break loose, when wrong decisions are made.

All of Harlan Coben´s novels

Apparently it took a Frenchman to take initiative and Guillaume Canet set the bar high. I want another one.

Preferably by David Fincher. (Fight Club)

All of Nicci French´s novels

I know, I know. There already have been books adapted, but they featured people like Heather Graham and had some random director. If Michael Haneke would do it, things would get really scary.

or Amanda Seyfried for the part of Blue van Meer, Jeff Bridges as her overbearing father and Cameron Diaz as the teacher with a secret.

Millie - Helen Walsh

This is a tricky one since it involves so many explicit sex and drugs scenes it can raise some questions. Plus, which actress is willing to go that far? I would love to give Megan Fox a chance to take on its lead character and to prove to the world she´s more than just a pretty face. If Mike Leigh directs the whole thing it should be a very gloomy, depressing result.

All of Karin Slaughter´s novels

Gwyneth Paltrow or Naomi Watts if she´s blond, Anne Hathaway for a brunette.

The Glass Castle - Jeanette Walls

Another tricky one because it is easy to become oversentimental and end up as some B-movie.

All of David Sedaris´ novels

A dream script written by the author, preferably helped by Shonda Rhimes (Grey’s Anatomy) and Todd Solondz (Happiness). Then it actually doesn’t matter who directs it or who´s in it.

Special Topics in Calamity Physics - Marisha Pessl

Ever since I´ve read the book I can´t stop raving about it and imagine if and how the book could ever be transformed into a film. Everything stands or falls with the casting of the characters. I say Mia Wasikowska

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night - Mark Haddon

Wow, turning this story into a well written script would no doubt make it rain Oscar nominations. Narrated by a 15-year old autistic boy obsessed with Sherlock Holmes. I would give my left arm for Jean Pierre Jeunet to direct this.

P P ainting

VS.

ublicty

An essay by Thomas C. Stevens inspired by John Berger’s WAYS OF SEEING, the Plus-Size industry and and other symbolic similarities.

Never had I thought that a book, and the complementary BBC series, originating from 1974, could still have such a current appeal. But it did and just as Susan Sontag did with photography, John Berger has offered interesting insights in visual seeing. The book was part of the lectures of the second part of the minor, where every group was responsible for a particular chapter. Me and my crew therefore presented the final chapter of the

book. Focusing on publicity images, this could not be more related to the 21st century. Imagine, if people already wrote about it in 1974, the speed of which we’re confronted with publicity images, nowadays is startling. It has become second nature, an unconscious ongoing activity. Surely this must have its advantages, as well as disadvantages, something we will get back to further in this article.

Let me first start by clarifying what is meant with publicity images. John Berger simply means advertising images. He also explains that because of the speed with which we’re confronted with those messages, we seem the static ones. Instead, it are these images that are in motion, flying past us.

Not only that, but their messages are hardly updated and if not to the past, they almost always refer to the future. Just think about it. All those products with signs like: `Since 1869`. Does this actually mean anything? No, by referring to the past, which holds something mysteriously authentic, it communicates its superiority to the innocent passers-by.

On top of that, Berger compares publicity images to historical oilpaintings. To compare this to a genuine art-form was eye-opening to me. Why do they still refer to that ancient tradition? Well, if you´ve read the previous essays you´ve found out that photography ´replaced´ the (oil)painting. And so they relie heavily on the art form that evokes authenticity, simply because it makes people buy. Oil paintings were addressed to those who made money out of the market, publicity images to those who constitute the market. That is the difference.

Art is affluent, it belongs to the good life. In paintings you were depicted with your belongings, who you are is what you own. Life as it is, whereas with advertising images it is mainly about life as it should, would or could be.

(That is, if you buy this product) By relying on the visual communication of paintings, advertising images imply that the purchase of those products, are both a luxury as a cultural value. e age ar es Archiv ottom right p y brand the b luxur

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The top image is a 2008 advertising campaign for Christian Louboutin.

Incredible how the actual product almost disappears.

The middle ones are Agent Provocateur, actually founded by Vivienne Westwood’s son. The bottom ones are British erotic luxury brand Coco de Mer,actually founded by the daughter of Bodyshop founder Anita Roddick.

If it is not an exact pictorial duplicate, then it at least uses the same sets of symbols. Just take a look at the images below to illustrate a few.

The woman is in a passive state, not facing the camera and surrounded by lush and rich materials. This creates an envy, or at least envy upon the depiction. And that is a vital element in advertising images. Berger discovered that there is no mention of glamour, until their is some sort of envy upon the depiction. For example, Marie-Antoinette’s portrait opposed to one of Brigitte Bardot’s. Whereas Marie-Antoinette is depicted as the woman she was, with the belongings she owned, Brigitte Bardot evokes envy; making women want to be like

her. Therefore, glamour is a modern invention. Advertising images show people a version of themselves, one they hadn’t thought of achieving, obtainable for the price of the product. It will make them feel richer by making them poorer. It begins by working on a natural appetite for pleasure, not the product; it is about relationships, not objects. Just think of those Gillette Venus commercials.

Do you experience such a tropical and sensual sensation, shaving your legs? I didn´t think so.

Note

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Another example of an almost exact copy. Besides that is uses some other symbols, originating from oil paintings. Here, the top image is clearly `quoting` the portrait of Venus. The strong presence of the sea is one, the focus on women´s legs is another, (Now it also becomes clear why Gillette links the name Venus to legs), and the way she is envied upon by her environment is also one.

The most ‘quoted’ piece of work has to be The Last Supper. This is just a selection, but I had a dozen more.

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By speaking to consumers in such a way, it creates a cinderella effect. In his or her day-dreams, the passive worker becomes the active consumer; the working self envies the consuming self. Mr. Berger actually states on page 142 that normally there is a gap in between what the spectator feels himself to be and what he would like to be and what publicity offers and the future it promises; this is how publicity remains credible.

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All those symbols and similarities made me think of the Dove commercials.

They do have something in common with ancient paintings. The way they frolick around in the buff, all amongst other giddy women and their voluptuous bodies,of course. I wondered if John Berger´s theory still applied with this brand. After all, they depict women of all sizes. Does that evoke envy? I don´t think so, I do think however that how freely these women are naked and the courage and confidence they show, is enviable. It explains why my size 4 friends also love Dove.

Naturally, we could have an entire paper devoted to the Beauty and Fashion Industry, but I´ll make it concise. That particular industry is one that relies immensely on their consumers´ daydreaming, something real is not out of reach enough, and will therefore never sell as much. Or does it? The woman on your right is Crystal Renn, famous supermodel.

Now, the funny thing is that she only became one, after giving up the struggle for a size 0. She became a frequently booked plus-size model and now, a regular size 8, the editorials are pouring in. But, if they are not implicitly or explicitly referring to her weight, then she is placed in such a way that is flattering to her body; in other words, to make her appear more slim. ´Ways of Seeing´ might seem outdated, but its topics are as current as can be. It is almost impossible not to look at images differently, after reading this book. If anything, it becomes evident that these publicity images hardly change, and the same message is recycled over and over, to achieve only one effect. To make us spend our money.

Mind-Blowing Documentaries Three Raw and Real Reports

One thing that becomes clear going through my favorite films, is that I love a story that is unbiased. Which is a hard thing to do, I understand.

Yet, I feel there´s sometimes a lack of truth? Everything has still been set up and someone with his mind already made up won´t bring you any new insights. That is why documentary films are so important.

They allow someone to tell a story, one that isn´t necessarily bound to conventional Hollywood-rules.

More importantly, they present you a slice of life. Not life as it should be, or could be. Just life. And nowadays with the technological developments and the commodification of the Internet, everyone can be a connaisseur in anything. On the next few pages, you´ll find three of the best examples of dealing with ordinary people, with extraordinary stories. Sometimes, the simple truth is more qrotesque than any Hollywood film-script could ever imagine it.

80

Capturing the Friedmans Director:

Andrew Jarecki

US 2003 Initially, Andrew Jarecki was supposed to make a documentaryy on clowns in New York. The best he found also had a story to tell. His father and brother were locked in prison for child molestation.

Instead of going with his previous idea, Jarecki became fascinated by this tragedy and together with his own footage, as well as personal ones of the family, you get an unbiased look.

So unbiased that it is hard to tell, what the actual truth is. I mean, the story itself we’ve heard before but accompanied by their own home-video’s, taping the demise of a family, it allows you to take in everything that is said and form your own opinion. Never does the maker intends to urge you to think differently. He presents you with the facts; though all given by different points of view, making the story more and more unnerving. What is the truth and who’s telling it? By not stating the obvious, it becomes more unclear what really went down. And at the same time, what happened loses its significance. What is left are video’s and fleeting memories of a once so seemingly ordinary family.

Deliver Us From Evil Director:

Amy Berg

US 2006 This gruesome story dates back to as early as 1973, but perhaps even earlier.

Filmmaker Amy Berg recounts the story of a serial child molestor who roamed free for almost two decades. Oliver O’ Grady, a Catholic priest, who served in a number of parishes during the 70s and 80s, abused dozens of youngster who were entrusted to his care.

What’s even more worry-some is that his superiors in the church were aware of O’Grady’s misconduct. Yet instead of handing him over, they chose to look the other way and simply opted to move him from one congregation to another.

The scary thing is, it takes a while for it to become clear that that nice old man that’s talking into the camera, is the same priest that is described by his victims. Juxtaposing those two sides of the story, though it also becomes evident only one can be believed, can be quite disturbing at times. Yet it allows you to hear the entire story and put the pieces of the puzzle together yourself.

The picture it shows though, is not a pretty one and this story will linger in your head for a while; absolutely thought-provoking.

Note how the middle left image has an old copy of LIFE magazine with a Jacky O. cover lying in the front. Of course, this room being in the HBO remake is a set-up location. It just goes to show how much research goes into the art-direction and how influential it can be on the authenticity of a film.

Grey Gardens Director:

Albert & David Maysles

US 1975 I remember it like it was yesterday.

It was a lazy sunday-evening and I was scouring Youtube for anything remotely interesting. I came upon this documentary and couldn´t figure out what I was looking. Was this real? Were these women real? They fascinated me to such a degree that I didn´t care whether or not it was scripted.

But the Beales are no trick of the imagination. The first cousin and aunt of Jacky O. lived on an estate called Grey Gardens and the two eccentric women lived there in pure squalor and seclusion from the outside world. It´s hard to put in words whatever happens in front of that camera in 1975. Not much, yet an intimate relationship evolves between the filmmakers and their subjects. As well as one with its audience. The two women, Little Edie and Big Edie, bicker and fight all the time and it becomes a mystery why Little Edie has stayed for all these years. Despite that and her alopecia, Edie (Little one, that is) steals your heart and the show with her fabulous creations; a dress wrapped as a skirt, an upside-down blouse becomes a tube-top and a skirt as a headband.

Nothing is too crazy for Edie and under-dressing is something she´s not familiar with. By the end of the documentary they´ve become part of your own dysfunctional family.

es , Archiv ntary, topics e m u c

, and te do Favori rs, re-make e t charac story. al gener

T

o Pray or to Prey upon?

That is the Question.

An essay by Thomas C. Stevens inspired by Fashion, Religion & Media Influence.

What role did media play, if at all, when fashion replaced religion?

As an atheist myself, I’ve always been intrigued by individuals that find comfort in a specific faith. Whereas we used to ‘be born into our faith’, handed down from generation to generation, following in the footsteps of your predecessors , is it merely because of the individualistic society we live in today that those codes have changed? It undoubtedly plays a large role as well as the defragmenting of religion itself; where there used to be 3 major religious beliefs, nowadays there hardly seems to be any difference between spirituality and religion.

Moreover, the word occultism conjures up an almost negative association while it in fact embodies the same thing religion does. How come, and how has that influenced the way we look at the “other”?

Growing up in the late 80s, beginning 90s, part of an MTV generation full of references, pastiche & bricolage, I began contemplating the idea of TV being a modern day prophet; thus becoming a religion itself. The question is how big the role was, media played in this transformation or if it was merely a result caused by the transformation. Either way, in this paper the importance of media, or the TV in this case, and the influence it had on a society looking for a role model, will be discussed more in-depth.

Cult Logic To properly research the origin of occultism, one has to know its meaning. According to the online English Thesaurus cult is: (-Noun-) * A particular system of religious worship, esp. with reference to its rites and ceremonies. * An instance of great veneration of a person, ideal, or thing, esp. as manifested by a body of admirers: The physical fitness cult. * The object of such devotion. *A group or sect bound together by veneration of the same thing, person, ideal, etc. *A group having a sacred ideology and a set of rites centering around their sacred symbols. * A religion or a sect considered to be false, unorthodox, or extremist, with members often living outside of conventional society under the direction of a charismatic leader. * The member of such religion or sect. * Any system for treating human sickness that originated by a person usually claiming to have sole insight into the nature of disease, and that employs methods regarded as unorthodox or unscientific.

(-Adjective-) *Of or pertaining to a cult. * Of, for, or attracting a small group of devotees: a cult movie.

We can establish the similarity between fashion and religion and thus religious dress versus ‘normal’ dress by looking at the explanation of occultism and its accompanying form of dress..

…Occultism is any non-mainstream Western system of spirituality that uses magic; magic being the way in which internal thoughts are used to effect changes in the outside world. Western occult dress has 3 primary functions…

(Winge, 2003, p.12) 1) To psychologically place the wearer in an extraordinary sense of reality.

2) To identify the status of the wearer within a social group.

3) To indicate the beliefs of the wearer.

In a way you could say, to dress is to believe, religious or not. Interestingly enough, there is no mention of equality in neither explanation while one would think that to ‘to be bound together by veneration of the same thing, person or ideal’, would generate a communal feeling of uniformity yet they are also bound by their need to ‘identify the status of the wearer within that group’.

However, by establishing this similarity there is still no answer as to how, if so, fashion replaced religion.

Black as Glue The color black as a binding factor.

What most cults, sects or other religious occult groups have in common is their often dark attire. The reason behind this is of an anti-fashion nature. …’Alternative dress is intended to

ensure that they stand out as different.

Their sense of fitting in has not lead to a self-effacing sartorial identity, but one that calls attention to their difference’…

‘Black has long provided its wearer with the mark of difference. (Hollander, 1993:377) argues that there is a tradition of wearing black which seeks to isolate and distinguish the wearer’… ‘The powerful symbolism invoked by black attire, its ability to isolate and draw attention to its wearer as well as its ability to conjure fear of the blind darkness of night and the eternal darkness of death…

Quite a paradox from what the Fashion Industry feels about black; a color that is never out of trend, practically looks good on everyone is probably one of the most versatile colors. You can wear it to the office, a date, a funeral, all at the same day. This democratization of the color black in Fashion is in stark contrast with what occult dress sets out to evoke.

Media, myself and I. With the arrival of Television, the upcoming youth & pop culture in the 60s also came the democratization of Fashion. No longer could you just choose between Haute Couture and some rags, prêt-a-porter collections ensured everyone had the same odds at looking fashionable. But with the arrival of visual media (TV etc.) also came the vilification of the occult. Portrayed as moronic, cloaked creatures, Occult dress couldn’t detach itself more from Fashion. The big change lies in the fact that people no longer had to wear certain garments, or uphold a certain etiquette;

Before, you were born into a family and they constructed your identity. Whatever they believed, is what you were to believe in, handed down from generation to generation.

Which only enforced Fashion to play a bigger part in constructing your own identity.

There is no such thing as uniformity in dress anymore, except when you want to visualize you belong to a certain group; To communicate your identity through the way you dress. To use Turner’s words, the body is the most ‘proximate and immediate feature of the social self’ (Turner, 1996 p. 43)..

…’dress functions as an effective means of non-verbal communication during social interaction; it influences the establishment and projection of identity’…

(Roach-Higgins and Eicher, 1992).

Which brings us to an important similarity between Occult dress and Fashion. Whereas religious groups dress themselves according to their sacred and shared ideology, worshipping the same thing and/or person, in Fashion they conform to the same principle. Praying to the God of Fashion: Individualism, they too have a shared sense of ideology.

Another important one is that Fashion is known to be an industry that consists of outcasts and misfits. An industry full of unwritten rules and regulations (whereas

Reference List

religious groups often have them in black and white, as a guideline to uphold uniformity).

By not following these rules one can actually obtain an exemplary status in the Fashion Industry. (Think Anna Piaggi, Isabelle Blow).

The conclusion is that Fashion has not replaced religion, as in made religion obsolete, but did alter the way people communicate their identity through dress. With the help of the democratization of Fashion and the influence visual media have on society, it was no longer necessary to communicate religion through dress since that has become part of the constructed identity.

Arthur, Linda B. (1999) ‘Religion, Dress and the Body’, Oxford: Berg.

Green, E. and Adam, A. (2001) ‘Virtual Gender: Techonology, Consumption and Identity Matters’, London: Routledge.

Hollander, A. (1993) ‘Seeing Through Clothes’, Berkeley: California Press Kirby, M. (2000) ‘Sociology in Perspective’, Oxford: Heinemann.

Michelman, S. O. (1997) ‘Changing Old Habits: Dress of Women Religious and Its Relationship to Social and Personal Identity’. Sociological Inquiry, 67(3), 350363.

Roach-Higgins, M., Eicher, J and Johnson, K. (1995) ‘Dress and Identity’, New York: Fairchild Turner, B. S. (1996) ‘For Weber: Essays on the Sociology of Fate’, London: Sage.

Williamson, M. (2001) ‘Vampires and Goths: Fandom, Gender and Cult Dress’ in W. Keenan (ed.) Dressed to Impress: Looking the Part, Oxford: Berg.

Winge, T. M. (2003) ‘Constructing Neo-Tribal Identities through Dress: Modern Primitives and Body Modifications’ in D. Muggleton, R. Weinzierl (ed.) The Post Subcultures Reader, Oxford: Berg.

One Man, Two Films Favorite Bio-Pic & Some Recommendations

I´ve seen a fair share of biographical films, though somehow most of them end up as a Danielle Steel novel on some sad housewife channel. A rare exception are the two movies made about Truman Capote. A fascinating figure, both films stayed true to the original character. In `Capote` (2005), he´s played by the brilliant Philip Seymour Hoffman. A year later, Toby Jones portrayed him in `Infamous`.

Interestingly enough, besides both films coming out so soon after each other, they also focus on the same time-period in Capote´s life.

As they arrive and start to unpack, you as a viewer get to relate to them. Then, which is fairly early in the film, the shit hits the fan. Their little boy tells them there´s someone at the door. Mom, who´s preparing lunch in the kitchen gets the door and finds a fairly clumsy and overly polite teenager.

No worries though, because both of them are excellent films, with an impressive cast. Truman´s famous friend , writer Harper Lee, is both portrayed by Sandra Bullock as Catherine Keener and both actresses shine as the dry-witted, slightly manly and dowdy companion of the hysterically flamboyant Capote. I found it admirable that both films, as well as both actors depicting Capote, did not downplay his effeminate behavior. People often mistook him for a woman when they had him on the phone and, well, after seeing these films you can hardly blame them. Fact remains that Capote has been one of the most intriguing, fascinating and talented writers of our time, not in the least because he stood out from both his peers as well as the rest of the crowd.

The opening scene of the movie should already prepare you for a thundering ride. A family in a car, classical music on the stereo playing, husband and wife lovingly steal glances. Out of the blue, the music changes into loud heavy metal screaming, all the while the seemingly happy family still en route to their holiday destination.

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Some Recommendations What does one have to do in order to receive his/her own biopic?

Well, one thing is for sure. Tragedy always works, whether an accident, a psychotic spouse or a suicide attempt. Granted, the latter one does seem to be more interesting if it’s a fatal attempt, or if he/she already tried several times before. On your right, my wish-list of biopics.

Dusty Springfield

A film that tackles the life of legendary singer Dusty Springfield could not be more current, what with all the 60s-inspired music of today.

Calling out Duffy to play Dusty would seem appropriate, yet I´d love to see Gwyneth Paltrow belt out some tunes.

Terry Richardson

Loathed by many, loved by even more.

Growing up in a creative environment, full of sex, drugs and rock & roll, what made this photographer such an influential one?

Isabella Blow

There is currently a huge blow-out (no pun intended) between several parties on the film rights. In order to create something truly authentic, it would be a great idea to let Daphne Guinness direct the whole thing, since she was so close to both Blow as McQueen.

I-D Magazine

An instituion for over two and a half decades. Wouldn´t it be great to make a movie, capturing the 80s and the creation of Britain´s biggest fashion magazine. Cameo´s include Kate Moss, Kristen McMenamy, Miucca Prada and, hide before she hits you, Naomi Campbell.

Boy George

No, he´s not dead. In fact, he´s alive and kicking. Well, sort of. All I know is his life will guarantee a fascinating film.

Daul Kim

This 24 year old North Korean model hanged herself last year just after the fashion weeks had ended. On the verge of having a supermodel career, being highly intelligent and sensitive, this girl seemed to have it all. Sophia Coppola knows her way with juxtaposing two seemingly opposite worlds and would be able to visualize a young woman’s isolation.

Julian Assange

I’m not able to explain as to why or what happened with this whole Wikileaks thing, yet I do know it would provide one helluva actionthriller. Ewan McGregor or Alexander Skarsgârd as leading man.

Carla Bruni

From international supermodel to singing and acting, becoming first lady of France and then ending up in a Woody Allen movie. The plot sounds implausible yet isn’t.

Sarah Palin

All I have to say is: A 2 hour mockumentary with Tina Fey. Directed by and co-written by Todd Solondz and David Sedaris.

The Olson Twins

The only problem is who could play them? Other than that, a drama about two twin sisters growing up in front of the camera’s, being billionaires by the time they were eight, developing all sorts of disorders sounds fascinating.

QF ueer

actor

Say, who’s afraid of the Gay? An essay by Thomas C. Stevens inspired by Homosexuality, Hollywood, & The depiction of gays on screen.

Thinking back to my first “gay” experience, or at least the one I saw on television, the earliest recollection I have is being on holiday with the entire family in some Center Parcs resort. I managed to catch a movie being shown on Canal+, A Beautiful Thing. I knew what I was seeing resonated with how I felt at the time, yet I couldn’t make the link. All I knew was that it gave me a strange feeling in my underbelly, watching these two teenage boys kiss. Even worse, I felt caught in the act when everyone returned home and I couldn’t watch the end. This has stuck by me until I saw that particular movie again, years later.

Up to that point, all I knew about “the gays” was that they were supposed to be funny. Or at least, that’s what most of them did as a profession. Besides that, they were all flamingly flamboyant. Mr. Humphrey, Jos Brink, Dame Edna, you name it. Though never explicitly called upon their sexuality, it was clear that these men were different from others. As the years went by and I got older, coming out at 16, I fondly remembered the film I once secretly saw. But where were all the others?! It feels like it took years for another well-written movie to surface, tackling homosexuality in a non-tacky way.

Retrospective “In 1934 it all seemed to stop. So many things vanished from film after the middle of 1934: women´s navels, occupied double beds, getting away with murder without being punished, any sense of a bedroom as something other than a sleep chamber, drug use, the attractiveness of lawlessness, and, essentially, being an out gay man or lesbian”.

(Barrios, Screened Out, 2003)

”The movies of the time, especially those made prior to 1940, were reflective of the two basic stereotypes that had existed and evolved for several decades. One stemmed from medical literature beginning with Krafft-Ebbing, and was borne out in The Well of Loneliness. Male and female homosexuals, it held, were essentially creatures of inverted gender, men trapped in women’s bodies and vice versa. The second stereotype involved the repercussions from the Oscar Wilde trial.

Wilde became the image, the focal point even, for all male homosexuality. No matter that Wilde himself was of vigorous and hulking build; he was the paradigm of the gay “aesthete”. Delicate, supercilious, rarefied. In short, effeminate.”

(Russo, The Celluloid Closet, 1981)

“Gay characters who actually survived to the end credits were rare until the 1970s. From the 1980s through the 1990s, more positive gay and lesbian characters and situations were portrayed, though these were also made to be palatable to heterosexual audiences. The scourge of AIDS allowed gay characyers to be portrayed sympathetically, though gays remained tragic figures who died by the end of the film.”

(Grossberg, Mediamaking, 2006)

“In the early sound era, particularly in the raw and gutsy cinema of the early Depression, the gloves were off: it seemed like every fifth or sixth Hollywood movie contained a character or a reference to the gay and lesbian experience, There were, in fact, more visibly gay and lesbian characters on screen at this time than at any other point in Americam cinema until the late 1980´s.”

(Russo, The Celluloid Closet, 1981)

What is it with the depiction of homosexuals on the silver screen, or any screen for that matter? It seems there are only two kinds of homosexuals in film: 1) The hysteriously funny, promiscuous and highly effeminate type; often used for the comical notes.

2) The straight-acting type, struggling to find his role within a straight male environment.

It´s good, invaluable even, to portray same-sex relationships on screen. Everyone needs someone identifiable. But this is only helpful if it is done remotely authentic. I believe being shown so little diversity in homosexuality, cinematographically that is, led us to accept that there are only two types of gays.

It sort of reminds me of the Film Noir era and the depiction of women within that genre. They were either blonde, blue-eyed and verging on virginal innocence, or they were conniving, evil bitches without any scrupules, always out to stir trouble.

What if that hadn´t changed in 50 years? Surely this would have led to some more conservative thinking about women´s role in society? So, by perpetuating this idea about homosexuality and communicating this, implicitly or explicitly, one keeps the stereotype alive and abolishes all room for development.

TV, for example, has caught up on cinema and detected there was a market for certain `gay affiliated´ matters. And thus there suddenly was a show called Will & Grace. Not only was it deemed a gay show, it depicted two gay leading characters.

The show has been a huge success, even its endless re-runs. Should we, or I as a gay man, be thankful for Will & Grace? It´s a tricky question, but I believe so.

We could have a whole debate on whether or not the depiction of Jack is of merit to the gay society.

But we´re not. Simply because I believe the balance of the two (!!) gay characters in the show as role models is a better one than none. It is interesting though that most of the backlash comes from the gay scene itself. Nagging about how Jack is upholding a stereotype.

Well, they aren´t called stereotypes for nothing, do they? I, for one, can identify with a flaming queen´s behavior at times.

I wouldn´t necessarily call myself masculine by any means, but overly effeminate? I know more feminine guys than myself, so where does that leave me? To stay with TV euphemisms, I ´m neither Jack or Will from Will& Grace, yet I can be both at times.

Will is the straight-acting lawyer and Jack is, well, hysterical. The show would have never worked with just one of them, because they need juxtaposing. I am sort of a mixture of the two. It all depends where I am and who I´m with. That would suggest that I am aware of the characteristics that are deemed as gay. Or at least adapt them, when switching roles. And it´s true, when I´m surrounded by female friends I am a different person from the one that has to walk home alone at night.

Masculinity, I am fascinated by it. How does one obtain it?

As I went online to do more research on this topic, things got even more interesting. I logged onto Gay.nl, one of Holland´s largest gay web-sites. As I browsed through random profiles, I began to notice some kind of pattern. The gays don´t like effeminate men, or sissy´s, bitches and/or drama-queens as they´re often referred to as. What´s funny is that there is a large group of younger guys, who I would refer to as effeminate, that are emulating straight male behavior and are very explicit in their views upon more feminine men.

Is that because those are the only familiar types they grew up with?

The only gay depiction they´ve seen on TV is one of hysteria? Or because there is a lack in portrayal of ´other´ types of homosexuals?

The depiction, wrongful or not, and lack of diversity does seem to have its effect within the gay culture. But I don’t think you can necessarily blame it all on movie producers.

Things take time. It hasn’t been that long ago the Hayes code was somewhat uplifted. I mean, hello,

Nipple-gate? Janet Jackson’s nipple during the Superbowl? Ok, that might not be the best metaphor but still; things take time.

In that sense I agree with Vito Russo’s statement below. But does that mean a movie can’t have a gay leading character?

Do we do that with straight people?

To show you an example of a character I thought was pretty dangerous, see image above. Bruno, a perverted German fashion designer, performing all sorts of lewd acts. The movie was a hit in theatres but the majority of the crowd must have been heterosexual, because the gays were not pleased. I just felt it was a step backwards. You should laugh with, not at. (See intro Capote)

No, the only reason we’re walking on eggshells is because it might upset people in the gay-scene. Well, tough luck I say.

Quit crying and try to write a better script yourself. Of course I agree there should be more diversity but there already seems to be steps taken in the right direction. For example, that gay couple from As the World Turns is driving me crazy with their loveydovey behavior. But at least they’re not having sex with at least 3 other men and seem to be enjoying a healthy relationship.

In a soap watched by millions of people all over the world. Do we really have to nag why one of them isn’t black? Or Asian for that matter? Or why there isn’t a lesbian in the show?

“The history of the portrayal of lesbians and gay men in mainstream cinema is politically indefensible and aesthetically revolting. There may be an abundance of gay characters floating around on various screens today but plus ca changes.

Gay visibility has never really been an issue in the movies. Gays have always been visible. It’s how they’ve been visible that has remained offensive for almost a century. The few times gay characters have worked well in mainstream film have been when filmmakers have had the courage to make no big deal out of them, when they have been implicitly gay in a film that was not about homosexuality.

So, no more films about homosexuality. Instead, more films that explore people who happen to be gay in America and how their lives intersect with the dominant culture.”

(RUSSO, 1981, p. 325-326)

Another example is 1999 series Queer as Folk, leaving its mark on me forever. The show revolved around a group of gay friends in London. None of them particularly feminine, yet all different types of manliness, or lack thereof at times. The rawness and authenticity relied heavily on the explicit sex-scenes, or at least the way they were presented to the viewer. But there’s only so much sex a show can take. Not without some character development. Which they had in the first few seasons, but then it became the gay sex show and lost its fizzle. Again, we could have the same debate on whether such a show is harmful to the “gayintegration”. But we’re not. Watching the show as a 16-year old, just coming out, it proved to be a preview of what was coming. To me, they’ve captured it but I doubt they would have been able to do so now. Too much complaints about too much sex, too much nudity, discriminative against homosexuals, etc.etc. They had a weekly show full of gay characters in the late 90s, where is today’s equivalent?

es Archiv favorite

Some

True, there are different factors playing for TV than for film. But I see a progression. Maybe it’s because I don’t watch any blockbusters. Why isn’t there an action movie with a buff, masculine homosexual? Vin Diesel playing the role of his life as the man who divorces his wife when he finds out he’s gay, in a small town in Texas. His wife takes custody of their child and flees. Now he becomes a bounty-hunter and he, and his lover preferably played

by Robert Downey Jr. cross country to seek revenge. I’m making this up as I go, mind you. But still, it has a nice ring to it eh? I think both straight as

of my ws TV sho

gay audiences could warm up to that.

Enough said about what direction Film needs to go. Let’s take a look at what it has done so far. On the next few pages you’ll find some of my favorite “gay” movies. (Some have already been mentioned in other, earlier chapters)

After reading back my own article, while thinking about this list of my movies, I did begin to notice a pattern. The quote mentioned earlier, “No more films about homosexuality.

Instead, more films that explore people who happen to be gay in America and how their lives intersect with the dominant culture.”, seems to have been applied to most of my favorite “gay” movies.

The movie I saw first, ‘Beautiful Thing’, was not necessarily about two boys falling in love with each other. They were two boys struggling with their coming of age, in a gritty, lower-class part of Britain. One raised by a single mum, the other by an abusive, alcoholic dad. What they find in each other’s company is not only love, but hopes and dreams to break free of society.

‘Billy Elliot’ has sort of the same approach, yet this leading character is in fact, not gay at all. It does implicitly deal with the topic, since the little boy who plays the lead secretly takes ballet classes, enfuriating his brother and father. A miner’s family, mum has died, coming to terms with not only her death but with each other.

Who hasn’t seen ‘Brokeback Mountain’? Again, a story which focuses on the lives of two cowboys, their love (or lust) for each other comes secondary.

It is 1963 after all, where men are still men and women skirts, (MAD MEN ref.)where society had a firm hand in dictating what a man was supposed to be, and do. And so they both get married, while still keeping up the annual tradition to go camping together. This film is a good example of a movie that depicts people, with their interesting traits and flaws, who happen to be gay. Or at least fall in love with each other. Sad. ‘Milk’ however, focuses a great deal on homosexuality but that is because it is an autobiographical movie. One that focuses on the great Harvey Milk, gay himself, and one of the first and foremost gay-rights activists. Sean Penn’s uncanny resemblance to the real Milk, one that required his nose to be broken, adds to the movie’s authenticity.

Francois Ozon’s ‘Le Temps qui Reste’ is another example of a movie dealing with ‘ordinary’ people.

Romain (Melvil Poupaud) is a 31 year old fashion photographer, who receives the news he is terminally ill.(funny how everyone automatically assumes it’s HIV) With three months left to live, he grows cold and hard. He chases away is boyfriend and antagonizes his sister. The only one he confides in is his grandmother Laura. (legendary Jeanne Morreau) C.R.A.Z.Y is another movie that deals with the coming of age of a particular character. Only this time it is set in Quebec during the 60s and the 70s.

Zac has 4 older brothers and a overbearing macho father. So, besides trying to define his own identity and to distinguish himself from all the other men in the house, he also has to deal with his emerging sexuality The only Dutch movie in this entire book belongs to this category. Quite the honor. Eddy Terstall’s ‘Simon’ is about the emerging friendship between an upper-class dentist, who happens to be gay, and a working-class coffee-shop owner. Seriously one of the funniest and endearing movies of all time. One of my favorite characters is the barmaid with an eye patch on; the ‘Cyclop’ jokes, still make me laugh out loud.

gay’ orite ‘ v a f y fm n have i ction o A sele d what they n films a , or not. on comm

References

“I want to see all kinds of movies about people living lives that I’ve lead, lives that I din’t lead, lives that I saw but didn’t see on screen and lives that I hadn’t imagined I’d want to discover on screen. There is no reason to shut down shop now. There’s lots more movies still to be made.”

- B. Ruby Rich -

The most recent movie I’ve seen is, `The Kids are Alright`. And it cracked me up big time. Julianne Moore and Anette Bening can’t get credit enough for their ‘natural’ portrayal of a loving lesbian couple.

Each gave birth to a child, with donated sperm, and now 16 years later, the youngest is curious as to whom that sperm belongs to. Sounds pretty cliché, but the acting is so effortless. So normal. Is it a deep film? No. But making a truly sweet, funny and enjoyable movie to watch is also a talent.

‘Angels in America’ is, well, sort of in its own category. Is it a play? Is it a tryptych? Or is it an epic portrayal of 1985, the Reagan era, the AIDS epidemic and a rapidly changing political and economical culture? The latter one sounds just about right, though it was initially a play. Going into detail would mean writing at least 1500 words, so I won’t. What I will tell you is that AIDS affects both straigh as gay individuals. And for it to be portrayed as broad and diverse as it is, one has to start at the beginning. Mike Nichols has created a visual spectacle.

Barrios, Richard (2003) ‘Screened Out: Playing Gay in Hollywood, from Edison to Stonewall.’, London: Routledge Publishers.

Grossberg, Lawrence, Wartella, Ellen, Whitney, D., Wise, J., (2006) ‘Mediamaking: Mass Media in a Popular Culture’, USA: Sage Publications.

Bergman, David (1993) ‘Camp Grounds: Style and Homosexuality’, USA: Massachussettes Press.

Morrisson, James (2007) ‘The Cinema of Todd Haynes: All that Heaven Allows’, UK: Wallflower Press.

Creekmur, Corey and Doty, Alexander (1995) ‘Out in Culture: Gay, Lesbian and Queer Essays on Popular Culture’, USA: Continuum Publishing.

Nelmes, Jill (1996) ‘An Introduction to Film Studies’, London: Routledge Press.

Griffiths, Robin (2008) ‘Queer Cinema in Europe’, UK: Intellect Books.

Russo, Vito (1981) ‘The Celluloid Closet’, USA: Harpers & Row Publishers.

Four In-Your-Face Films Laugh, Cry or Puke?

Every so often you see a film that makes you want to laugh, then cry and and then throw up. And there some that combine all three, in a single captured moment. Those are my favorite ones. It´s a hard thing to achieve when almost everything has already been done and people have become immune, machine-like viewers. Funny Games has already been mentioned, so here are three films that will feel like a slap in the face, a kick in the gut.

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Mysterious Skin Director:

Gregg Araki

US 2004 I’ve always had sort of a crush on Joseph Gordon Levitt. (3d Rock From the Sun) Not because of his looks, per sé. More his charisma. Well, there is none in this movie. He’s cold, hard, manipulative even. But who can blame his character when he’s been abused by his baseball coach for years? This film follows the lives of two of his victims and how they struggle to come terms with what has happened.

Note

and brutal ng s i e i v his mo een, lo ne of t nt of the scr g e c s l a eamin The fin itting in fro ith tears str s w s. left me ad ended, ver happen e h y t after i y face. Hardl m n w do

Neil McCormick (Levitt) already showed signs of homosexuality in his childhood and sees the abuse as sexual initiation. He drifts into petty crime and prostitution; developing a compulsive sexual drive, especially with middle-aged men.

Brian, on the other hand, is a recluse.

He has developed a form of amnesia, ‘forgetting’ what has happened, and suffers from spontaneous violent nose bleeds for years. In his dreams, which keep recurring , he’s abducted by aliens with another boy. When Brian finds a picture of the baseball team and recognizes Neil as the boy in his dreams, he meets up with him.

What follows is a gritty tale of two boys coming of age. The scene where Neil gets beaten up is something that can still keep me up at night, totally agape.

Happiness Director:

Todd Solondz

US 1998 Wow, where do I start with describing what this film is about? Well, there are 3 sisters. 1 is a loser that is constantly put down by the other two. Number 2, a succesful author is fascinated by the sick calls she gets from her perverted neighbor. And finally number 3, she seems to have it all. Yet she does not know her husband is a pedophile and obsessed with his son’s playmates.

Welcome to the bizarre world of Todd Solondz. Or isn’t it that bizarre and just called life? The dialogues in the movie are superb and sometimes even painstakingly cringe-worthy. But that is exactly the beauty of this film.

Whereas some directors might try and fill up silences or down-play insults, Solondz tackles them full frontally.

The end-scene, where the little boy finds out his dad has been raping his friends, is utterly heartbreaking. He asks if he fucked them and if so, if he enjoyed it. Then he asks: “Would you fuck me”? After which his father replies: “No, I’d just jerk off instead”.

The little boy starts sobbing, not because the acts his dad committed were wrong, but because he wanted the same amount of attention. Really, for anyone who loves language and movies, this is a must-see.

Amores Perros Director:

Alejandro Innaritu

Mexico 2000 Normally, I have one rule. No animals and violence. It’s my Achilles heel and I’ve learned to live with it. I even turn off the sound when those sad bears from Slovakia turn up in a commercial.

So, this film is one of the, if not only, exceptions to the rule. It focuses on 3 distinctive storylines, that are all (inter) connected. Besides that, this movie is also part of a trilogy, with 21 Grams as the second and Babel being the third part.

All parts are told separately from each other and have something to do with the way we treat animals. The first part tells the story of a dog-fighter, struggling for a better life for him and his brother’s girlfriend. Unfortunately they create a car accident in which the lives of the second couple is affected, in return they influence what happens in the third and final part. The extraordinary about this film is that it is raw and full of violence, yet does not distract from the beautiful story.

In fact, it might even heighten the sensation of experiencing these three different stories.

Hard Candy Director:

David Slade

US 2005 All hail Ellen Page.

Seriously.

I’m bowing as I’m typing this.

Some people illuminate on screen, even when they play deranged psycho bitches. But wait, let me start from the beginning. 14 year old Hailey Stark (Page) meets up with 32 year old photographer Jeff Kohlver (Patrick Wilson). They’ve met online and on Hailey’s initiation, they go back to Jeff ’s place.

Sounds pretty straight-forward eh? Like, you know what is going to happen next, right? No, not really, because when they get there, Hailey insists on pouring her own alcoholic beverages. And before you know it, Jeff wakes up, tied to a chair. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg, because the whirlwind is about to become a hurricane. I’ll spoil it if I tell too much. You have to experience it yourself. Just keep in mind that one of my favorite people on earth, Sandra Oh, took this job unpaid, flew all the way down there for 1 minute in the film, all because she was a fan of the script, and Ellen Page. If you don’t believe Christina Yang, well, there’s no hope for you anyway. t, plot t, scrip arts a c , and te film Favori , film-poster r o direct n io c e r di t

Dialogical Six Favorite Dialogue Extracts

As has become evident, a film consists of several facets. And if one of them is weaker than the rest, it can ruin the entire movie. One of the most important, as well as tricky ones, are dialogues. Or the script for that matter. Sometimes what works on paper, does not on screen. And so there are some directors and film-makers that rely heavily upon their actors to contribute in shaping a real-life speech. And there are some that do the opposite, what they’ve written on paper is the bible and everyone else should obey. The result can provide cringe-worthy monologues or sentences that immediately make you aware of its insincerity.

On the next spread you’ll find some that did work out, in fact, they elevated the rest of the entire movie.

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Capote- Douglas McGrath -”People here won’t talk to me. They want someone like you, like Nelle.

Me they hate.”

Juno- Jason Reitman

-”I can’t think of a single quality I share with Nelle.”

-There are ads? For parents?

-”Well...”

Oh Yeah! “Desperately seeking Spawn”.

They’re right by the ads for like, iguana’s and terriers and used fitness equipment.

-C’mon Leah! I can’t scope out wannabe parents in the Penny Saver! That’s tacky.

That’s like buying clothes at the Pump n’ Munch.

-“Maybe manliness.”

-”My point exactly.”

Un Fabuleux Destin d’Amélie PoulainJean Pierre Jeunet "Palace vidéo, roi du porno." (voix)

"Bonjour. J'appelle pour l'annonce." (Amélie) "Vous êtes majeure?" (voix) "Oui." (Amélie) "Vous êtes épilée?" (voix) "Euh... pardon?" (Amélie) "Bin j'vous demande si vous êtes épilée parce que le tablier de sapeur aujourd'hui ça rebute le client." (voix)

Mysterious Skin- Gregg Araki “I know what you’re thinking. That wasn’t safe. But we’re in Kansas, thank God, not some big city full of diseases.

Plus, you’re only a kid.”

Happiness- Todd Solondz -”It’s really...It’s good we had this talk” “Yeah” -”Before things went too far you know?”

“Got too serious” “Yeah”

Grey GardensAlbert & David Maysles -”I suppose I won’t get out of here till she dies or I die.”

- “Who’s she ? The cat” ?

“Are you sure?”

-”Oh yes” “Is it..

Is it someone else?”

-”No it’s just you”

- “I don’t know when I’m gonna get out of here”.

- “Why do you want to get out ?

Another place’d be much worse”.

- “Cause I don’t like it”.

- “Any place will be much worse”.

- “Here”.

- “Any place on earth”.

- “Yeah, but I like freedom”.

-”Well, you can’t get it, darling”.

M

anic Seclusion A state of mind.

A narrative in images by Thomas C. Stevens inspired by Psychological Personality Disorders, ‘Grey Gardens’ & (im) mortality.

My Manic & I

Written by the wildly talented Laura Marling, off her debut album “Alas, I cannot swim”.

He wants to die in a lake in Geneva, the mountains can cover the shape of his nose.

He wants to die where nobody can see him, but the beauty of his death will carry on so.

I don’t believe him.

He greets me with kisses, when good days deceive him, and sometimes with scorn, and sometimes I believe him.

And sometimes I’m convinced, my friends think I’m crazy.

I get scared and call him, but he’s usually hazy.

By one in the morning, the day has not ended.

By two he is scared that sleep is no friend.

And by four he will drink, but he cannot feel it.

Sleep will not come , because sleep does not will it.

And I don’t believe him.

Morning is mocking me.

I’ll wander the streets, avoiding them eats.

‘Till the ring on my finger, slips to the ground.

A gift to the gutter, a gift to the city.

The veins of which have broken me down.

And I don’t believe him.

Morning is mocking me.

Oh the gods that he believes, never fail to amaze me.

He believes in the love of his god of all things.

But I find him wrapped up in all manner of sins.

The drugs that deceive him and the girls that believe him.

I can’t control you, I don’t know you well.

These are the reasons, I think that you’re ill.

And since last that we parted, last that I saw him.

Down by a river, silent and hardened.

Morning was mocking us, blood hit the sky.

I was just happy, My Manic and I. He couldn’t see me, the sun was in his eyes.

And birds were singing, to calm us down.

And I’m sorry young man, I cannot be your friend.

I don’t believe in a fairy tale end I don’t keep my head up, all of the time.

I find it dull, when my heart meets my mind.

And I hardly know you, I think I can tell, these are the reasons I think that we’re ill.

I hardly know you, I think I can tell, these are the reasons I think that I’m ill.

And the gods that he believes, never fail to disappoint me.

My nihilist, my happy man, My Manic and I, have no plans to move on.

But birds were singing, to calm us down.

Thank You´s My three best friends Wenda, Ella & Tahirah. It can´t be easy to be friends with someone who´s hardly ever there and never picks up his phone, yet you guys are there for me, unconditionally.

Jo Watson, though I haven´t seen you all year, my obsessive behaviour towards you hasn´t changed. Just ask around. I´m still not sure if I want you to carry my child or adopt me.

Lara & Danielle deserve a book especially dedicated to them. I know I can be a pain in the ass but I genuinely love you and don´t know if I´d be here, if it wasn´t for you two.

Elin, for understanding the pains of study and working at H&M. Plus, her alcohol binges are epic.

Eve, for showing me it’s OK to have a passion for sleep, language and a repulsion for working in the weekends.

Eva a.k.a Schneidi, for being the complete opposite of me. I can be jealous of your optimism, ladybug.

My Mom & Dad, their support humbles me and I owe them everything.

My Aunt & Uncle, though they probably have no clue what I´m doing, just like my parents, they make me want to work even harder.

Charlotte Lokin, some might think you´re an iron lady, I just think you´re clear. Trying to impress you can sometimes get obsessive, but that way you make me impress myself as well.

Anneloes van Gaalen a.k.a Gaga, for showing me there´s nothing wrong with doing what you love and excell in it. Besides that, she has a way of motivating people as well as cracking them up.

IMDB.com, for providing the most interesting film-stills.

Google.com, for helping me find practically any information about obscure movies.

Wonderland Magazine, Issue Sept. Oct. ‘09 Booklet Magazine Issue 2 Nico Magazine Issue 2

This book does not only contain six months of work, but it also reflects upon the author’s character. Currently a 3 years student International Fashion & Branding at AMFI, a perfervid fan of everything 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s and 60s, as well as working on his debut novel, doing one thing at a time is something Thomas Stevens still hasn’t quite figured out.

The name Hoarderline Syndrom refers to exactly that trait. Gathering, collecting, stocking. Call it whatever you like, but hoarding these heaps of (ir) relevant information is his way of creating his own world. One where these fact, figures and anecdotes, with an air of mystery, are highly invaluable.

This book provides you with an opportunity to take a glimpse at what goes on in the head of this quirky creature. Through essays, reviews, letters and photo’s, you’ll be offered a frozen slice of time.

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o www.i re work of th e ssuu.c om/th author, visit: omasc oulier