Final Blog Entry: Leaving Normal/ Favorite Film
"Leaving Normal" was an interesting adaptation of "Thelma and Louise." I think that there were both good and bad aspects of the movie. This is a movie about taking ones power and perseverances and beating the bad decisions they have made. It did a wonderful job of demonstrating how the choices we can make, whether good or bad can affect your life in many ways. It was certainly more uplifting towards the ending than "Thelma and Louise." The resounding message in the movie is that if you make initiative to lead a better life and learn from your mistakes, you can make a better life. Of all the "Female Road Films" we have seen in class, this one goes straight to the core of the core message of this course. A noteworthy quote would be when Marianne shouts, "Why am I here again?" This is a quote that anyone can relate to when they make questionable decisions. This movie was good until it got towards the ending when it became rather ridiculous and contrived. If there is an antonym to the word of phallocentrism, this movie can demonstrate it. As with many of the movies we have watched in this class, men are treated like pigs who are always chasing after women with the act devoid of any sense of realism or romantic interest. This is a very troublesome theme in the movies we have watched where women are always portrayed as protagonists and men are portrayed as antagonists. In a way, the class is rather anti-men based on the selections of movies we have watched.
The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert would be my favorite movie in this course. I really liked the light-hearted nature of this movie where women are not being abused and men are not portrayed as being the abuser. I liked the resiliency of the characters where they were so able to simply shrug off the criticisms of the greater society. From the aborigines to the Australians, the social culture was not hostile compared with the other movies we have watched. The society reacted with occasional indifference yet a majority joined in the fun with them. It was fun to watch a movie where such different people could be accepted by society. The movie did have an important message. The message is that family and friends should always accept and support one another as the group always supported each other. Overall, this was a really fun movie to watch and has a lot of important messages to the audience.
張惠妹