"Capitalism is the Predatory Stage of Human Evolution"
I'm trying to source this banner quote. A commenter called Captain Bat Guano mentions it in one blog but I don't think it's original with him. Thorstein Veblen comes to mind but that's going to need more research. I like the quote. Unlike God, it explains a lot.
I guess I have two choices: bemoan my not posting on Knitting Friday or moving on. OK, let's move on but not before saying: my photographer was working, my newsletter was due, I was depressed, the dog ate my homework.
Move Monday
My movie package had The Reader on for the first time last night but I chose to watch the PBS Masterpiece Classic of Persuasion by Austen.
First, a tiny bit about The Reader. It will be on again, and again probably, so I can catch it later. I did channel switch to it for one minute where Winslet was sponge bathing a naked teenage boy. WTF?
But my viewing choice of Persuasion was a disaster. Now, Persuasion is the only Austen book I do like and I've seen the fine production with Ciaran Hinds and Amanda Root. That production took time to develop the flirtation Louisa Musgrave had with Captain Wentworth. That production showed the crucial denouement scene when Wentworth writes Anne a letter as he overhears her talk about who carries breaking-up heartbreak longer, men or women. In that production you understood the anguish Anne feels and watch her relationship with Wentworth develop anew.
But last night? Remember the scene in A Night at the Opera with the Marx brothers where Chico and Groucho are negotiating a singing contract? By the time they're finished the document has been reduced to one line.
That's how Persuasion felt. Blink, and Louisa has jumped from the wall and been injured. Blink, and Anne's brother-in-law, Charles, has delivered Wentworth's pivotal letter to Anne and Anne is reading it. Blink, and Louisa is engaged to another man leaving Wentworth without any obligations. Blink, and Anne's invalid friend is walking quickly through Bath telling Anne what a rat Anne's cousin and her father's heir, Mr. Elliot, is. (This scene is truly annoying because in the novel, Mrs. Smith is an invalid and remains in her home with her nurse bringing Bath's gossip in to her.)
Simple, but effective scenes are either eliminated or tweaked to be false. For example, in the Root/Hinds Persuasion, Wentworth notices how Anne is tiring on the long walk the family is taking. When his sister and brother-in-law's carriage appears, he asks them to give Anne a ride. A small scene but it shows the stress Anne is under and that Wentworth is concerned for her. However, in last night's version (2007), Anne stumbles and falls and lags way behind the walkers. The carriage appears, Wentworth whispers something and Anne is offered a ride. It was like: How do we get from point A to point B as fast as we can? Oh, I know, it'll be quicker if Anne stumbles and falls.
I think this commenter on IMDb says it best: The film moved along at such a speed, that it was hard for me to feel like I really cared about the characters.
That's a major problem especially with a classic which is so well known. It is impossible not to compare it with other productions and also with the original novel. I can make allowances for different interpretations of novel points but changes like having Anne chase after Wentworth (who abruptly leaves her home) through the streets of Bath and suddenly come upon Charles who hands her Wentworth's pivotal letter. Why, when and where did Wentworth write this letter you wonder? All this production makes you feel is that the letter will put Anne in Wentworth's arms and end the damn thing. (Edit: Thinking about it further, I don't think it was Charles who handed Anne the letter since after reading it, she runs into Charles and Wentworth. Or maybe it was Charles and he moved on and Anne caught up with him and Wentworth. See the problem? Everything happens just to advance plot points and therefore becomes quite forgettable fast.)
It was very disappointing.
I guess I have two choices: bemoan my not posting on Knitting Friday or moving on. OK, let's move on but not before saying: my photographer was working, my newsletter was due, I was depressed, the dog ate my homework.
Move Monday
My movie package had The Reader on for the first time last night but I chose to watch the PBS Masterpiece Classic of Persuasion by Austen.
First, a tiny bit about The Reader. It will be on again, and again probably, so I can catch it later. I did channel switch to it for one minute where Winslet was sponge bathing a naked teenage boy. WTF?
But my viewing choice of Persuasion was a disaster. Now, Persuasion is the only Austen book I do like and I've seen the fine production with Ciaran Hinds and Amanda Root. That production took time to develop the flirtation Louisa Musgrave had with Captain Wentworth. That production showed the crucial denouement scene when Wentworth writes Anne a letter as he overhears her talk about who carries breaking-up heartbreak longer, men or women. In that production you understood the anguish Anne feels and watch her relationship with Wentworth develop anew.
But last night? Remember the scene in A Night at the Opera with the Marx brothers where Chico and Groucho are negotiating a singing contract? By the time they're finished the document has been reduced to one line.
That's how Persuasion felt. Blink, and Louisa has jumped from the wall and been injured. Blink, and Anne's brother-in-law, Charles, has delivered Wentworth's pivotal letter to Anne and Anne is reading it. Blink, and Louisa is engaged to another man leaving Wentworth without any obligations. Blink, and Anne's invalid friend is walking quickly through Bath telling Anne what a rat Anne's cousin and her father's heir, Mr. Elliot, is. (This scene is truly annoying because in the novel, Mrs. Smith is an invalid and remains in her home with her nurse bringing Bath's gossip in to her.)
Simple, but effective scenes are either eliminated or tweaked to be false. For example, in the Root/Hinds Persuasion, Wentworth notices how Anne is tiring on the long walk the family is taking. When his sister and brother-in-law's carriage appears, he asks them to give Anne a ride. A small scene but it shows the stress Anne is under and that Wentworth is concerned for her. However, in last night's version (2007), Anne stumbles and falls and lags way behind the walkers. The carriage appears, Wentworth whispers something and Anne is offered a ride. It was like: How do we get from point A to point B as fast as we can? Oh, I know, it'll be quicker if Anne stumbles and falls.
I think this commenter on IMDb says it best: The film moved along at such a speed, that it was hard for me to feel like I really cared about the characters.
That's a major problem especially with a classic which is so well known. It is impossible not to compare it with other productions and also with the original novel. I can make allowances for different interpretations of novel points but changes like having Anne chase after Wentworth (who abruptly leaves her home) through the streets of Bath and suddenly come upon Charles who hands her Wentworth's pivotal letter. Why, when and where did Wentworth write this letter you wonder? All this production makes you feel is that the letter will put Anne in Wentworth's arms and end the damn thing. (Edit: Thinking about it further, I don't think it was Charles who handed Anne the letter since after reading it, she runs into Charles and Wentworth. Or maybe it was Charles and he moved on and Anne caught up with him and Wentworth. See the problem? Everything happens just to advance plot points and therefore becomes quite forgettable fast.)
It was very disappointing.
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