Wednesday, February 20, 2013

Blessings #10

The Head And The Heart - The Head And The Heart (2011)

He met Eve at the Bonnoroo Festival in Tennessee, outside the Head and the Heart show. Just one look and they knew that they would be together. So he took her hand and they waded through into the thick of the music. It was euphoric and their minds went numb and they danced next to each other and felt the heat burn from their bones. They traced the day and the night in each other's arms and felt the blessings of finding a kindred soul. Though he was from New York and she hailed all the way from Seattle, it was like their roots were connected below the earth and the flowers of love were meant to bloom. But it wasn't until they woke the next morning that their true story began. It was cold, which was strange because it was the beginning of summer and the night before had been perfectly warm. They decided to cuddle together for awhile and fell asleep again. By the time they woke again the sun was high in the sky and it was still chilly. Then they began to notice that it was really quiet when there should have been quite a bit of noise coming from their fellow campers packing up to leave. Everyone was supposed to be gone today but there was no way that everyone could have left while they were sleeping. Yet that's exactly what it looked like when they stepped outside. Not only was no one around, the entire place had been cleaned up and cleared away. It was just the two of them, standing next to a meager tent in the middle of a giant field. They looked at each other like with one of those WTF expressions that young people get these days and after much confusion, they decided to explore to see if there was anything they might discover. Right away, the landscape seemed different and even though they were convinced that they had walked far enough, they couldn't find a highway or a car or a building of any sort, no matter what direction they took. Now, they were getting exasperated but what the hell were you going to do when everything about your world had been turned asunder. After spending another night holding each other, shivering and doing everything they could to find a little comfort, they found the same scenario the next day. They were alone. God had cast them out of the garden. All they had was each other but that wouldn't scare Adam because he was a survivor.



Tiny Furniture - Lena Dunham (2010)

I was thinking about the show "Girls" the other day, which we've been watching for the past couple of months, and I was trying to remember a scene from one of the early episodes but what I was really thinking about was a scene from this movie, "Tiny Furniture". It makes sense, it is a prequel to "Girls" in a way. Lena Dunham plays Aura, a young woman who moves back into her mother's house in New York after college. She's creative and trying to find her bearing in this life, which means she needs to learn how to earn a living and navigate the currents of relationships. Sound familiar? Don't get me wrong, I love "Girls" because of the unflinching way that it addresses a young woman's uncertainty in our culture, while also providing characters that are empowered to express their true confidence, as well. It's just that when I saw all of that here, in "Tiny Furniture" it felt like taking in something truly refreshing. It was so sincere and hard. How often do we see honest roles for women that don't devolve into some form of flattery so that us viewers can sigh and sink into our preordained acceptance of patriarchal norms? We're so used to it that we never have to question the entire structure, even if it is coming from "liberal" Hollywood. But it's such a big bore and we all know it. Why do we need to watch some mindless romantic comedy with the exact same statue actress placed upon the pedestal of standard beauty concept? Does anyone really get off on that representation anymore? Or is it just some sick drug that has seeped into our veins turning us into zombies? No wonder everyone loves "Girls"! It's the only thing keeping us from becoming the walking dead. Lena Dunham is a true hero. Well, if you like "Girls", then go check out the prequel, because it is just as entertaining and eye-opening.

Labels: , ,

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home