I’ve been watching The Feud / Betty and Joan for the last
couple of weeks on tv. It’s a
mini-series depicting the making of Whatever Happened to Baby Jane with Betty
Davis and Joan Crawford. Jessica Lange
plays Betty Davis and Susan Sarandon plays Joan Crawford.
(TV was different when I was growing up. Every year we’d watch the same Big movies
when they came on. And it was usually a
pretty fun ordeal.
- · Wizard of Oz
- · Oklahoma
- · Helter Skelter
And yes, I remember clearly watching Whatever Happened to
Baby Jane several times. Betty Davis is
so terrifying. And, who knows, maybe it
was just on tv a lot.)
So, that said, I am enjoying watching the Making of this
movie with these two great actresses – Sarandon and Lange playing Crawford and
Davis. It’s high caliber television,
good acting, mixed with whatever cultural disease I too possess that makes me
very interested in the private lives of celebrities.
The main premise of the series is that “the feud” was
spurred on by the studio execs who thought the public would be more interested
in these old washed up female movie
stars if there were cat-fights and on-going caddy-ness involved. So they leaked stories, etc to the media to
really bolster and spread this idea, eventually causing the women to hate each other and really go after each other.
Anyhow, the series isn’t over, so I don’t know exactly what
happens, but I am proud and moved by Jessica Lange, Susan Sarandon, Kathy Bates
(she’s in it too), Catherine Zeta Jones (she’s in it too) – for making such an
amazing statement of what its like to be a female, to want to work, to want to
succeed, to want to be independent in a man’s world. And, as far as I can tell, it’s not that much
different today, (at least not in my life) which is the real point, I believe
behind the reason these actresses are telling this story.
Quantum Leap. That
said, so I was slightly amused and, even, snagged like a fish, when I read somewhere
this week that Reese Witherspoon is very angry at Nicole Kidman for not
promoting their HBO series (Big Little Lies) as much as Reese believes Nicole
should be. The quote (which was probably
BS) had Reese complaining that Nicole was only promoting her movie Lion and selfishly,
she was letting Big Little Lies fall to the waste side. Said Reese (something to the effect), I never
would have cast Nicole, if I didn’t think she’d do her part.
Sounds like the studios are taking a play out of the old
play book. Let’s hype the personal drama
between these ladies so people might start tuning in. Call it serenditpity, a sign? I decided right then and there I would watch it.
That said, I congratulate Reese and Nicole. It’s another amazing series. Again, it’s a feminist series. More so then I can put into words. I just feel like there’s been a lot of
glossing over real issues and reality in my lifetime when it comes to feminism
and life. Yeah, maybe there has been
progress. But maybe, in a lot of ways,
there has not.
Sometimes when I really like a show, I google it to read
what other people are saying. So this
morning I googled Big Little Lies and the first thing I saw was a review in the
NY Times.
Well, the guy, Mike
Hale, panned it. Basically, he said
it was cliché, upper middle class angst.
But, honestly, I don’t think he actually watched it. He was probably turned off by the location (Monterey, CA), the
mostly white people, the drama of the story, etc., etc. And, why did the NY Times have a guy review
it anyway?
To me it’s not a story about rich people (which I’m not), or
white people (which I am), but a story about women and how powerless even in
this modern society we sometimes feel, and all the different means and through
the different canals that powerlessness can seep into and out of our lives. I know I have strongly felt that way. And I can tell Reese, Nicole, Laura Dern,
Shailene Woodley, and even Alexander Skarsgard have felt that way (or have
empathy for those who have). It’s
awesome. It’s a powerhouse.
And that Mike Hale, the NY Times critic, so easily and
casually dismissed the whole thing is like the joke inside the joke. Really guy?
I hope Reese and Nicole (et al) know their show means
something. I saw it. I got it. And I appreciate it, from the bottom of my
heart.
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