A permanent smile so he can laugh at his fool of a father...

I was fully prepared to post my review of Victor Hugo's The Man Who Laughs. But sadly, my DVD player would not play the whole thing. It's an odd thing about this player, because it records wonderfully, and plays well...considerably less wonderfully unless it's a disc it recorded.

Anywhoo, this film was made because of the success of Phantom of the Opera and Freaks, and indeed stars the actresses from these films. The opening segment was incredibly moving and upsetting, and this film had my in tears within the first 12 minutes. Like all those damn German films of the 1920's, this one had haunting cinematography, and some of that wonderful overacting you get in the pre-talkies. I'm going to finish it later, because I'm dying to know what happens. I just need H to get the hell off his computer so I can use it. For some reason, these discs I borrowed (including Doctor Mabuse and Metropolis) will not play on my computer. Frown.


Here's a little something I read over at bigfatblog by the amazing and articulate Pattie Thomas. I won't post it all here, but this particular segment was too powerful and simple not to share with the all of you:

...the way to fight stigma is to confront those who practice bigotry, not by justifying or mitigating any characteristics of anyone who is being stigmatized.

Instead of saying "we are not lazy" -- we need to say "stop putting people in groups and declaring that some people are lazy by the way they look."

Instead of saying "we are healthy" -- we need to say "stop deciding who is healthy and who is not healthy by setting up arbitrary criteria and then declaring that some people are unhealthy by the way they look."

Instead of saying "we are beautiful" -- we need to say "stop creating such narrow standards of beauty that most people feel ugly."

Instead of saying "we are good" -- we need to say "stop deciding the morality of others on the basis of how they look."

We have nothing to justify. It is bigotry that must change and trying to prove ourselves to that bigotry is a lost cause. We are human beings. All we are asking is that other human beings understand that to decide on the basis of appearances that somone else is less than human is wrong-headed and destructive.

I was over at Something Awful yesterday and saw that they were making fun of fat people yet again. Now I realize that this site makes fun of lots of different kinds of idiots, jerk-asses, religious nuts, non-religious nuts, etc. So I don't particularly care for being lumped in with those types. But this time they were making fun of BBW dances. Right, because how funny is it that fat people would dance or socialize? And the double standard present in the whole "Why don't you get off your ass and excersize" coupled with "quit dancing around, you look ridiculous" is always good for a bitter laugh.
But you know what? If they were funny jokes about fat people--I wouldn't say much. But they aren't. The whole joke is threefold: 1) Look at that fat person...they are FAT!. 2)That fat person is such a *insert animals such as hippo, pig, whale etc* 3) Fat people eat a lot, hahahaha eat a lot, oh that's funny!!! Plus, I bet they dont' excersize. Hahahaha Ho Ho Ho...oh, *wipes away tear*
Seriously, someone explain to me why that is funny. Because I'm a really funny person, and I'm fat. But I'm not funny because I'm fat. I'm funny because I have a rapier wit and a keen sense of observation.

( I was out getting Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire yesterday... )

So if you're a parent, how do you handle such things?

Do YOU want to be held accountable for this grave injustice?

It is a heinous crime that this exists and yet I do not own it.

Unfortunately, my poor person credit card has expired.

Whoa is me...



*looks around*


EDIT: Thank you, lirrin !!!

As I was saying...

And yes, onto my full review of the amazing German film The Man Who Laughs.

As I mentioned, the opening sequence of this film is incredibly sad and weepworthy. The Germans do not fuck around when it comes to brutality, even way back in the 20's. I mean, it's not gratuitous, but no subject matter is off limits it seems. The lead guy, Conrad Veidt gave tremendous depth to the performance even though he couldn't move his mouth at all. As it turns out, he's been in a zillion movies. It's totally worth watching just for his performance alone. I'm (correctly, as it happens) assuming that this guy was the direct inspiration for The Joker. Actually, it's pretty much unmistakable. It almost makes The Joker's whole appearance look like a blatant rip-off. Just the appearance though, not the whole character.

Both lead actresses were wonderful. Olga Baclanova played the same kind of role she did in Freaks. The bitchy dame who you long to see consequenced. She's a real tart in this one! It's great fun to hate her. Conversly, Mary Philbin played the beautiful sweet girl unhappy thrust into sad circumstances. The plot was solid and full of surprises and comuppances. I do so love comuppances.
The camera work was good, but not as inventive as that in The Golem my review of which may be found here.

What impressed me most was the emotional depth of the story. There was a level of sophistication that is lacking in most films I see today. I don't really understand how films can go from being less intelligent and less good over the years when we're supposed to be progressing as a society. We can't really be progressing as people if we can't create or even recognize decent art. I know I see mostly American films, and that the Americans in charge of such things have a lot of hang ups and don't want certain things shown or discussed. And then there's an aspect of filmaking where the competition to be the most unique or the most orignal (I mean among those who are not pandering...obviously there is a high percentage of films that are intentionally derrivative shit) takes precedence over simply telling a good story in an effective and artistic way. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for experimentation, just not gratuitously.

So yes, I have added The Man Who Laughs to my wish list.

Okay, I'm going to stop posting and get some work done. If I finish keying in all my edited chapters tonight, I can reward myself with a viewing of Goblet of Fire. Nice.