Art is political. It’s pretty much gospel in our postmodern world. So when Rachel and I saw Million Dollar Baby last
month, she suspected there’d be controversy over the ending, in
which ( ! ! spoilers ahead ! ! ) Clint Eastwood’s character Frankie assists Hillary Swank’s character Maggie to commit suicide.
Maureen Dowd summarizes the controversy (see also this CNN coverage),
and for once I agree with her that the purpose of art isn’t (just) to
send messages: sometimes it’s to tell a story.
I suppose it’s hard to
get people who grew up on fairy tales to understand that not every story
has a moral, and even if it does, that it’s not necessarily a piece of propaganda to
sell you on that message. I mean, I’ll admit that I despise The English Patient because I find the adulterous storyline
repulsive.
The interesting thing is that while Frankie does choose to help Maggie
commit suicide at the end of $1M Baby, the film portrays this as a horrific
tragedy. Furthermore, while I sympathize with both Frankie and Maggie,
I don’t know that the decision was the “right” one, even in the context
of the film. Perhaps the most crushing moment in the entire movie was
the scene in which Frankie encourages Maggie to go back to school, and
she responds that she wants to die. After all, if Frankie could coach Maggie to
become a champion boxer, surely he could coach her to enjoy life again? But while we
can second-guess Maggie and Frankie’s decision, the story is about
them and not us, and if anything bringing out the fact (or belief) that some
of us would make a different decision in their shoes could well be the
“point” of the story. And to the Catholics protesting the film:
Frankie’s priest perhaps correctly predicts that Frankie would be
“forever lost” if he goes through with the act: Frankie is not seen
again in the film after the deed is done, and his ultimate fate is
unknown.
If people feel that the film sends out a message in favor of
euthenasia, perhaps the viewer should consider what emotions the film
tugs to accomplish this, and whether the very existence of these
emotions render the issue more complex than they might assume.
The
whole controversy amuses me because while I had no problem with
the euthenasia angle in the film, I was rather bothered by the film’s
portrayal of Maggie’s mother as a heartless welfare recipient gaming
the
system and ultimately trying to cheat Maggie out of her small fortune
even as she lay on life support. Stereotypes of disabled people not
being able to lead worthwhile lives? How about right-wing stereotypes
of big, fat welfare queens? But once I got past looking at the film as
a
work of propaganda (hard to do on either issue when you know
that Clint Eastwood is a libertarian), though, I agreed with Rachel’s
reading that Maggie’s demonic drive to become a boxer must have its
origins
somewhere. Whether or not Eastwood believes most people on welfare are
undeserving scum, the fact that Maggie’s mother behaves like scum makes
sense in this story.
And casting my memory even further back to last autumn’s Incredibles,
it’s hard not to notice that film’s dig at tort lawyers, especially
against the backdrop of Bush’s calls for “tort reform.” And the entire
film’s Ayn Rand-ish theme (positing a world in which “normal” people
chain superheroes to desk jobs out of jealousy) also strikes me as
deeply political in an era where government taxes are seen as brakes on
the entrepreneurial spirit of high-achieving Americans (doubly so when
such taxes go towards helping people on welfare, as already discussed).
But you know what? I don’t recall any Big Government Liberals
protesting that movie, and furthermore, at the end of the day… I actually liked it. (A lot).
What sparked this whole tirade is a local controversy brewing around a production of Miss Saigon
that Asian American activists in Boston have begun protesting. (A
friend of ours stars in the musical; her comments are a few posts down
the linked page). Does Million Dollar Baby promote stereotypes of the disabled as useless? Does Miss Saigon promote stereotypes of Asian American women as meek or whatever? Since I’ve never seen Miss Saigon,
I can’t say. As to the first question, I do feel that the reason why the $1M Baby scene I cited above was
so crushing was that I believed, in my PC heart, that Maggie did have a
lot to live for. On the other hand, I also remember watching a high
school production of Annie Get Your Gun
with mild disgust at its male-female stereotyping. (And don’t even mention The Phantom Menace). But on yet another hand, I
also know that self-important activists and self-appointed
race ambassadors also piss me off. So, in lieu of saying anything important, here are some of the more amusing tidbits
from the linked discussion:
At least all those crackers can bring their asian gfs/wives to this to
show how cultural aware they are in regards to asian culture [As one person responds: What an angry little man you are. Where did it all start to go wrong for you?]Quite honestly, after reviewing the Joy Luck Club, I find the movie
more transparent, shallow, and ultimately, irrelevant. It becomes clear
that it is Amy Tan;s story through her own eyes, not a true
representation of Asian Americans in general. [Oh I’m sorry: all Asian American artists must capture the essential Asian American experience or be abject failures. My bad.]Bottom line, we should find a way to keep foreigners out of our business and frill the First Amendment…. [This
reminds me of the fact that even here in America, the Chinese word for
non-Chinese is “foreigner.” But I don’t know what the Chinese word for
“frill” is.]SO PLEASE get off your high chair, unless you are asian( non self hating sellout one) or asian american
WHITE PEOPLE SHUT HELL UP AND STOP TELLING US HOW TO THINK [Aaaargh!!! Someone stop the mind-control rays!]
On that note: Happy New Year!
Million Dollar Waste of Time
An obvious attempt to strike Oscar gold with the tried and true method of using a political controversy to draw an audience. Usually the movie leans a little to the left… The side that the Academy loves to sit on. hmm… Cider House Rules (which I also thought was crap), Bowling for Columbine (which I loved)… Not to mention the bogus practice by which an actress goes through an extreme physical transformation in order to not only be considered for the acolades of the year but to guarantee that she will win one…. hehe… look at Nicole Kidman… she has a different nose… what an actress!
I personally thought the movie was horrible. The characters felt emotionless to me. Morgan Freeman was the only redeeming thing about that movie. He is the only one who deserves any credit what-so-ever from this waste-of-time piece of garbage. Blah-blah-blah.
I really didn’t get the characters’ relationships. They just fell flat on me. Every character was a cartoonish extreme with no depth (excluding Morgan Freeman)…. I didn’t believe that Maggie’s character would desire to have Clint as a trainer. It didn’t make sense. I didn’t believe that they were close at all. They went through ordeals that would make them close, but I wasn’t buying it. Granted Clint’s character is supposed to be tough-as-nails and an asshole, but I really didn’t get relationship between the two of them. I did feel the connection between him and his first disciple, but not with Maggie. Yes, the script called for them to have that chemistry between them, but it never materialized for me.
Let’s talk about the script… This was a book first. What a shitty book… Nuff said! (I didn’t actually read it I just think the story wasn’t even worth hearing).
I do like your “demonic drive” comment… I didn’t think of that…. so true… That does add some believability to her family.
Part 2 (of long complaining whiningness):
I’m a little confused about the protest of Miss Saigon? They’re protesting stereotypes? I’m sitting here now for minutes trying to remember the musical. The article does a horrible job of reporting this since they never mention exactly what parts have upset these protesters.
It’s the story of Madame Butterfly, which is the story of a wartime romance between a soldier and a prostitute with love, tragedy, and everything in between. It’s the story of two completely different cultures colliding under horrible circumstances (Invasion is the worst way to meet someone). Is it a stereotype to show a Vietnamese person wearing the clothes of their time and place? Is it a stereotype to have an actor speak English with a Vietnamese accent? Is it a stereotype that a Vietnamese prostitute would act like a whore who works hard for her money? I guess these people would have preferred if they added a female Asian American soldier in the production so that you can see the differences are based on physical and cultural boundaries rather than stereotypes of all Asian women? That’s such a load of horse crap to me.
And… one final note… I remember when the musical opened on Broadway… They were not protesting stereotypes… As a matter of fact they were protesting that Tim Rice (I think that’s his name… the one who made that musical with Elton John) who was British was playing an Asian character when there were plenty of Asian actors around who could do just as good of a job…. Which I challenged at the time too… Hell, if you’re going to get that nitpicky then you should only be demanding Native Vietnamese people play the role instead of allowing an American-Vietnamese person, or horrors, allowing a Chinese American person to play the role.
I hate all complainers! <wink> <wink> Oh yeah… and I hated Miss Saigon too!
Oh yeah… Go see Steve Zisou if you want to delve into cartoonish characters that show raw emotion while drawing power and feeling out of you.
—T
hmm.. I forgot to add formatting to my post… sorry
Million Dollar Waste of Time
An obvious attempt to strike Oscar gold with the tried and true method of using a political controversy to draw an audience. Usually the movie leans a little to the left… The side that the Academy loves to sit on. hmm… Cider House Rules (which I also thought was crap), Bowling for Columbine (which I loved)… Not to mention the bogus practice by which an actress goes through an extreme physical transformation in order to not only be considered for the acolades of the year but to guarantee that she will win one…. hehe… look at Nicole Kidman… she has a different nose… what an actress! I personally thought the movie was horrible.
The characters felt emotionless to me. Morgan Freeman was the only redeeming thing about that movie. He is the only one who deserves any credit what-so-ever from this waste-of-time piece of garbage. Blah-blah-blah.
I really didn’t get the characters’ relationships. They just fell flat on me. Every character was a cartoonish extreme with no depth (excluding Morgan Freeman)…. I didn’t believe that Maggie’s character would desire to have Clint as a trainer. It didn’t make sense. I didn’t believe that they were close at all. They went through ordeals that would make them close, but I wasn’t buying it. Granted Clint’s character is supposed to be tough-as-nails and an asshole, but I really didn’t get relationship between the two of them. I did feel the connection between him and his first disciple, but not with Maggie. Yes, the script called for them to have that chemistry between them, but it never materialized for me.
Let’s talk about the script… This was a book first. What a shitty book… Nuff said! (I didn’t actually read it I just think the story wasn’t even worth hearing).
I do like your “demonic drive” comment… I didn’t think of that…. so true… That does add some believability to her family.
Part 2 (of long complaining whiningness): I’m a little confused about the protest of Miss Saigon? They’re protesting stereotypes? I’m sitting here now for minutes trying to remember the musical. The article does a horrible job of reporting this since they never mention exactly what parts have upset these protesters.
It’s the story of Madame Butterfly, which is the story of a wartime romance between a soldier and a prostitute with love, tragedy, and everything in between. It’s the story of two completely different cultures colliding under horrible circumstances (Invasion is the worst way to meet someone). Is it a stereotype to show a Vietnamese person wearing the clothes of their time and place? Is it a stereotype to have an actor speak English with a Vietnamese accent? Is it a stereotype that a Vietnamese prostitute would act like a whore who works hard for her money? I guess these people would have preferred if they added a female Asian American soldier in the production so that you can see the differences are based on physical and cultural boundaries rather than stereotypes of all Asian women? That’s such a load of horse crap to me.
And… one final note… I remember when the musical opened on Broadway… They were not protesting stereotypes… As a matter of fact they were protesting that Tim Rice (I think that’s his name… the one who made that musical with Elton John) who was British was playing an Asian character when there were plenty of Asian actors around who could do just as good of a job…. Which I challenged at the time too… Hell, if you’re going to get that nitpicky then you should only be demanding Native Vietnamese people play the role instead of allowing an American-Vietnamese person, or horrors, allowing a Chinese American person to play the role.
I hate all complainers! <wink> <wink>
Oh yeah… and I hated Miss Saigon too!
Oh yeah… Go see Steve Zisou if you want to delve into cartoonish characters that show raw emotion while drawing power and feeling out of you.
—T
That looks nicer, but why is everything bold when only the title was sposed to be….
Hah, I agree with the first commentator, what a waste.