tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34993991.post1100378624810165282..comments2023-10-05T07:46:44.392-04:00Comments on And Now the Screaming Starts: Movies: Like the actual experience of war, I just wanted it to be over.CRwMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07896615209770501945noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34993991.post-42115041440173659432010-01-03T21:29:49.480-05:002010-01-03T21:29:49.480-05:00Emperor of Terror! As always, you get it right. ...Emperor of Terror! As always, you get it right. Thanks for your thoughtful response!Paulinehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11730716060906158244noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34993991.post-61192972195757566752010-01-03T09:26:50.341-05:002010-01-03T09:26:50.341-05:00William,
In the film's defense, it is odd and...William,<br /><br />In the film's defense, it is odd and complex enough that, instead of simply dismissing it, I left it wishing it had been better. The basic ideas were interesting enough and I think attacking it from some other angles might yield solid stuff. But, for various reasons, this just didn't do it for me.CRwMhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07896615209770501945noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34993991.post-38506213801203838642010-01-03T09:24:38.499-05:002010-01-03T09:24:38.499-05:00Pauline,
She plays a version of the every popular...Pauline,<br /><br />She plays a version of the every popular "magic negro" character whose primary job is not to realize her own destiny (in fact, she not only dies, but is shot just before she completes her first ever line of dialogue), but to give the white characters a chance to discover, with apologies to Whitman, "the better angels of their nature." This makes her a prop for white character development, rather than a character in her own right. <br /><br />Unfortunately, that situates her in a long line of well-meant, but sadly wrong-headed representations of angelic African American characters whose main function is to bring out the noble humanity or devilish predisposition in the whites around them (from classics such as <i>To Kill a Mockingbird</i> to less than classic works like <i>A Time to Kill</i>, <i>Green Mile</i>, and <i>Bagger Vance</i>).<br /><br />In this case, it is especially unfortunate in that Rebecca functions as a moral beard for Strayn's Confederate loyalties. By serving as a willing love interest, the film allows Strayn, and the viewer, to completely divorce the Southern cause from the issue of slavery. We're meant to think, "Well, the war can't be about slavery, because this Reb officer totally loves a black woman." And, admittedly, while there were myriad reasons to fight in the Civil War, supporting the Southern cause meant that you, de facto, supported the institution of slavery. (Strayn, we learn at the end of the film, escapes his Union captors and goes on to fight for the South again. Apparently falling in love with a African American woman did not alter his support for a system that would have treated his lover as cattle.) Her love cleanses Strayn of the stain of slavery, and her death conveniently frees him to continue fighting for a system that would have oppressed her without putting upon the Strayn the moral obligation of confronting the moral paradox.<br /><br />This too is sadly familiar. A whole strain of Southern Romanticism thrives on the notion that slavery was, perhaps, an institutional evil. But on a personal level, whites and blacks cared deeply abut one another. I've gone on too long already, so I'll just say that that fantasy of pure and charitable paternalism has a host of associated problems.<br /><br />Rebecca is an unfortunate and somewhat uncreative character on many levels.CRwMhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07896615209770501945noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34993991.post-37262265762919899462010-01-02T21:07:19.690-05:002010-01-02T21:07:19.690-05:00I'm curious, CRwM - is Williams' character...I'm curious, CRwM - is Williams' character cliched because she's a woman, black, mute or some combination of the three? I haven't seen the film so context is an issue for me, obviously. Just wondering.Paulinehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11730716060906158244noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34993991.post-80078465763409874502010-01-02T17:41:19.024-05:002010-01-02T17:41:19.024-05:00Wow, this movie sounds incredibly complicated and ...Wow, this movie sounds incredibly complicated and bizarre. I like the Civil War and zombies, but can’t really imagine putting the two interests together. Sometimes things just need to stay apart. I also agree with you about the use of reenactors for movies. There are many good reenactors out there, but Hollywood and their cameras always seem to follow the dumb dismounted yellow trim redneck ‘bring my grill and ten children’ reenactors rather than those that study history and take pride in their impressions.William Malmborghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04261043345510784469noreply@blogger.com