Reviewing Movies

To Kill a Mockingbird was shot in 1960-1 in B&W. It’s remarkable how one brings who one is and one’s life experience to what one reads and watches. Every time I watch a movie such as this I make new discoveries. The opening credits show Scout outlining the title by rubbing a crayon over a woodcut followed by continued doodles on the same sheet of lined paper. As the credits begin the box of treasures she opens is Jem’s which seems rather odd. A series of those childhood keepsakes are scrolled past as the credits appear. Many are gifts left them by ‘Boo’ Radley. The carved figures, a broken pocket watch, a whistle, various marbles....

Atticus Finch is a remarkable man who in the first place allows his children to call him by his first name. He treats everyone including his black housekeeper/nanny as equals and in all his dealings never raises his voice. Just why his wife died when Scout was two I don’t remember reading. Two scenes stand out for me. Jem’s wide-eyed wonder when a father who refuses to allow him to have a gun is asked by the Sheriff as the best shot in the county to shoot a rabid dog. It harkens to a past to which we are never privy. And the second involves Scout defusing the lynch mob by asking one of the ring leaders to say hello to his son Walter for her. The innocence of youth.

The miss-carriage of justice which is at the centre of this tome is matched by the judicial discretion shown by Sheriff Tate in the closing scenes. The role of Calpurnia, the children’s governess and housekeeper in shaping their lives and attitudes with their father’s approval cannot be understated. These children are truly colourblind even if their neighbours aren’t. I only wish the injustice and institutional racism this story serves to spotlight were a historical artifact. The movie is not only one of the ten best of 1962 but of all time.

In Gay Literature and Film there are several recurrent themes. There’s coming of age and realizing I’m gay and knowing I’m gay and fearing to come out to my parents and friends. Both seem to have been done to death from every possible angle. This three-hander tells of two best friends both gay who are fearful to come out to each other for fear of what it could do to their friendship if the feelings are unrequited. The adult leads are not experienced actors but their love for each other and chemistry rings true. The third character is Billy’s younger mentally challenged brother whom he adopts when their parents are killed in an unspecified accident. This film was produced by minimal crew and the often overly bright lighting suggests that their equipment didn’t allow for mood lighting. This isn’t great theatre but it was an act of love.

The premise at the centre of this story is so unthinkable that it is easy to dismiss it as a work of fiction and forget that equally heinous crimes against humanity have been committed in the past and continue to happen in the present. Think of children working in sweat shops in South-East Asia; Child soldiers in Africa and elsewhere; infanticide, honour killings, genital mutilation, and lack of educational opportunities forced upon girls in many societies. Children sold into prostitution and forced labour. Remember, there was even a Child’s Crusade to the Holy Land. Gladiatorial Combat fueled the Bread and Games of the Circus that led to the demise of the Roman Empire. The use of pain inflicted on others to satisfy the twisted entertainment needs of a populous. Is the continued acceptance of fighting in hockey any different? Or the popularity of Mixed Martial Arts Tournaments? Or the blood and gore that constitutes the nightly news?

Just finished watching the Capeside Supplement on Disk One of this set. The interface was so slow on my system I thought frequently it had frozen. It proves not so much to be a tour of Capeside as an extended backgrounder to the show and the events in the character’s lives associated with these places. In 1999 a show had 23 episodes per season, imagine that. The producers placed  6 episodes on each disk save the first. Joey Potter’s Harvard love interest is played by Robin Dunne who also played Franz in the series Little Men. The resonance with Little Woman and Joey’s Mother’s decision to name her daughter after Josephine March in that book is uncanny especially since he went directly from one show to the next.

These teens played by twenty-somethings are preternaturally self-aware and scarily articulate rarely lacking for a comeback line in any circumstance. Their self-possession is belied by the throbbing teenage angst and raging hormones they act out. At 27 Kerr Smith was the oldest of the lot. Recent pictures show him to be prematurely gray. His football stunts were played by a double named Michael Dean. The opening episodes of this season with the amoral hedonistic Eve place Dawson in rather embarrassing situations but things settle down after she departs. The themes are rarely mean spirited and despite their differences this ensemble cast cares for each other.

Always interesting to look at fashion sense after a decade and a half and note that baggy loose-fitting jeans seem to have been the rage. The fad of waist-lines inches below the hips with underwear prominently displayed above was yet to hit the scene. The ongoing soap opera love triangle between Pacey, Dawson, and Joey continued for all seven seasons the little trollop incapable or unwilling to plump for one or the other  endlessly playing with the emotions of both. The idea that Pacey and Joey spent three months alone on a boat without getting beyond second base is about as believable as all those nights she spent in Dawson’s bedroom.