Semester's End
"Leaving Normal" was not the most compelling film we've watched this semester, in my mind. I think the story of Marianne and Darly's journey is an important one to tell, but we've seen it before. Curt beats her and the women escape via the road. I think in light of all the films we've watched having to do intensely with identity politics, this film falls short of sharing the same important message of what identity is and how the road scuplts it. It didn't dive into homosexuality like "Boys On The Side" or into a sense of what it meant to ascribe to a certain culture like in "Pow Wow Highway." Rather it told the same story of women who did not have strength finding strength on the road, and since "Thelma and Louise" did the best job of portraying this, what's the point of making a substandard version of the same message. I think if we had watched this film before we delved so deeply into identity politics on the road, I would have enjoyed it more.
My favorite movie of the semester that I hadn't seen before was "Set It Off." I thought that not only did it have a compelling outline of how badly some people need upward mobility, it was also badass. I really just enjoyed watching it: when each woman goes through some turmoil which changes them and makes them fed up with the system, when Cleo drives through the wall of the bank, heck, even that weird sex scene where Blair Underwood drags a chain over Jada Pinkett Smith's bum. I thought it was great entertainment, but also showed us how unfair the system can be, and how some people, no matter how hard they try, cannot outrun it. Then again, as with Stoney, some people can. My favorite film that I had already seen was "Little Miss Sunshine." I remember the day we watched that, the title came up on the screen and I got the warm fuzzies. It is such an incredible movie. Never before has the family dynamic been portratyed in such a quirky, tragic, beautiful way. I love how they complete each other, how they can't start that damn bus without each member there. I'm forever in love with that movie and the way it shows that no matter how horrible things can be within a family, they are still the people who you can always count on, who will keep you moving, and who will make you strong.