frabjousness
Tuesday, 23 April 2013 14:23![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
usuallyhats
Handed my dissertation in yesterday! Calloo, callay, etc. I considered doing something to celebrate, but then remembered that I'm going up to London to see Lashings of Ginger Beer Time on Saturday, then possibly seeing King Lear the weekend after (if I get round to organising it, and it's not sold out), then going to Barcelona to see The Sister (WARMTH. SUNSHINE. BRING IT TO ME.), and then it's Vidukon, so... I think I'm sorted, celebration-wise.
Instead I watched a FILM. (This is rare.) It was The Sapphires, about an Aboriginal Australian girl group in the sixties, and I liked it a lot. It had a lot of stuff about race that I am SPECTACULARLY ill-placed to comment on, being a white Englishwoman, and mostly I think it handled it well: I felt like the Vietnam war was mostly there as a backdrop, but other than that, it did a good job. It avoided the trite "racist white people see some non-white people being awesome and realise that racism is BAD" plotline in favour of something more focused on the non white characters themselves: race is front and centre, but it's not a straightforward story about non-white people overcoming racism (with the help of friendly whites). As a film about a girl group and their journey to fame, it didn't break any hugely new ground, but its engagement with race elevated it to something much more interesting than it would otherwise have been.
There were two moments early on that really got me on side with it. First there was the moment where Gail gets up on stage at a talent show in front of an all-white, stony-faced audience, introduces herself and her sister, and then says: "And just so as you know, you're all standing on blackfella country." Obviously there's a whole load of history and meaning behind that which I don't entirely get, but nevertheless it sent shivers down my spine, and was a really good way of saying "this is where this film stands". A little after that, there was this running joke with Dave (sidebar: oh, that's Chris O'Dowd, is it?) not being able to pronounce their group's original name (The Cummeragunja Songbirds); just when I was getting tired of it, Cynthia laughed at him, and the whole joke shifted: it wasn't about their name at all, it was about this ridiculous white man who can't even pronounce their name. I also liked the moment where Dave tells Gail that he's thinking of a way to insult her that doesn't sound racist, and she immediately retorts "if you can't, you probably are".
It was also just a really enjoyable film in general: the joy and vitality of all the women was a pleasure to watch, and I especially appreciated the complete lack of slut-shaming. Occasionally the switch between the joyful bits and the more serious bits was a little jarring, but overall I thought they pulled it off. Kay's backstory, involving the Stolen Generations, was very moving, and it was great that her fight with Gail wasn't a manufactured catfight, but a serious fight about real issues and the history and pain between them. Basically, if you're looking for a feel good film about women which also has something to say about race, I think you could do a lot worse than try The Sapphires.
Instead I watched a FILM. (This is rare.) It was The Sapphires, about an Aboriginal Australian girl group in the sixties, and I liked it a lot. It had a lot of stuff about race that I am SPECTACULARLY ill-placed to comment on, being a white Englishwoman, and mostly I think it handled it well: I felt like the Vietnam war was mostly there as a backdrop, but other than that, it did a good job. It avoided the trite "racist white people see some non-white people being awesome and realise that racism is BAD" plotline in favour of something more focused on the non white characters themselves: race is front and centre, but it's not a straightforward story about non-white people overcoming racism (with the help of friendly whites). As a film about a girl group and their journey to fame, it didn't break any hugely new ground, but its engagement with race elevated it to something much more interesting than it would otherwise have been.
There were two moments early on that really got me on side with it. First there was the moment where Gail gets up on stage at a talent show in front of an all-white, stony-faced audience, introduces herself and her sister, and then says: "And just so as you know, you're all standing on blackfella country." Obviously there's a whole load of history and meaning behind that which I don't entirely get, but nevertheless it sent shivers down my spine, and was a really good way of saying "this is where this film stands". A little after that, there was this running joke with Dave (sidebar: oh, that's Chris O'Dowd, is it?) not being able to pronounce their group's original name (The Cummeragunja Songbirds); just when I was getting tired of it, Cynthia laughed at him, and the whole joke shifted: it wasn't about their name at all, it was about this ridiculous white man who can't even pronounce their name. I also liked the moment where Dave tells Gail that he's thinking of a way to insult her that doesn't sound racist, and she immediately retorts "if you can't, you probably are".
It was also just a really enjoyable film in general: the joy and vitality of all the women was a pleasure to watch, and I especially appreciated the complete lack of slut-shaming. Occasionally the switch between the joyful bits and the more serious bits was a little jarring, but overall I thought they pulled it off. Kay's backstory, involving the Stolen Generations, was very moving, and it was great that her fight with Gail wasn't a manufactured catfight, but a serious fight about real issues and the history and pain between them. Basically, if you're looking for a feel good film about women which also has something to say about race, I think you could do a lot worse than try The Sapphires.
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no subject
Date: 23 Apr 2013 13:47 (UTC)no subject
Date: 24 Apr 2013 17:02 (UTC)no subject
Date: 23 Apr 2013 15:03 (UTC)no subject
Date: 24 Apr 2013 17:13 (UTC)no subject
Date: 23 Apr 2013 18:02 (UTC)no subject
Date: 24 Apr 2013 17:14 (UTC)no subject
Date: 23 Apr 2013 18:11 (UTC)Also, London, you say? Saturday, you say?
Lunch? I say.
no subject
Date: 24 Apr 2013 17:20 (UTC)Lunch would be excellent! I will email you when I have a bit more brain. (It's been a long day. Still is a long day, as I'm still at work...)
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Date: 23 Apr 2013 19:22 (UTC)no subject
Date: 24 Apr 2013 17:20 (UTC)no subject
Date: 24 Apr 2013 16:24 (UTC)The Sapphires sounds like a film I'd like to see... but, of course, it's unavailable in the USA, from what I can tell. Blah.
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Date: 24 Apr 2013 17:21 (UTC)Oh no, what a pain. Though I think it's only come out in US cinemas fairly recently, so maybe there's a DVD release in the offing?
no subject
Date: 25 Apr 2013 01:34 (UTC)Oh, and happy birthday. :-)
no subject
Date: 25 Apr 2013 15:10 (UTC)