Yesterday, I took the bus to Southcenter and did not get stabbed; I wanted to get some present-shopping done before Thanksgiving because, frankly, if buying gifts for the people I love convinces them to hang around for another year, then gifts they shall have. Also, I really, really, really wanted to see Precious.
On my way through the mall, I got stopped by a fabulous man who cried out “I LOVE YOUR HAIRS!”. I knew immediately that we were going to engage in a time-honored practice: he was going to tell me beautiful lies, and I was going to give him money. I sat in a chair, and he began to style my hair, telling me he ‘love the natural colors’ and that I shouldn’t change it (HA! HA HA HA!) and that when my hair is curly, it makes me look ‘all the time innocent’ and that when I left the mall, I would have no less than six new boyfriends. He gave me a hug, I gave him money, and I probably would’ve thrown in an extra twenty if he’d thought to comment on all the lovely qualities of my diminutive yet sassy rear end, or the firmness of my single chin or how my boobs were absolutely so perky they defied nature. That level of contracted lying would probably run me another fifty, though.
Armed with my new hairs, I went up to the movie theater, bought my ticket, and proceeded to be punched in the gut six or seven times by Precious. Which isn’t to say it isn’t a very good, worthwhile film; it just hurts to watch it. I think everyone in the theater cried. Theater employees came in to watch us cry. The stranger sitting next to me reached into her purse to get a tissue and passed one down to me when she caught me wiping my cheeks with my sleeve. And maybe we weren’t all even crying for the same reasons, but for even a brief moment, it felt like a profound connection between hundreds of strangers, a shared powerful experience. It’s rare for me to see a film in a theater by myself; maybe it shouldn’t be.
So you got your hair done? Or this was just some crazy random asian man who hugged you for money?
And btw, your books are so perky they defy nature.
He was working a kiosk and sold me a straightening iron; the lies were to draw me in and I am a goddam sucker. XD Though I’d been meaning to get a straightening iron for a while, so I might as well get one while being told I am ‘faboolus’.
Also, I’m totally not giving you $50; my books are perky BY nature.
But are they ghetto booky?
Prepare yourself for a vicious beating.
Hahahaha. Whoops? But they make you look all the time innocent…
I was curious about that one, but yeah: I heard the story behind it’s absolutely brutal.
It brings up a lot of issues of race and class and how they intersect and how people can easily become nonentities–most people who look like the protaganist aren’t even portrayed as fully human in most films, so it pushes a *lot* of boundaries.
I want to see that movie and yet I know that it will wreck me worse than Big Fish and Pan’s Labyrinth combined.
On a scale from Pee Wee’s Adventure to Requiem For A Dream, I put it right between Pan’s Labyrith & Requiem For A Dream, the former having made me gasp and the latter making me sob hysterically for hours.
You haven’t seen Dancer in the Dark yet, have you? I’d like to know where this falls on your scale before I commit myself to seeing it in public. I will probably wait for it to come out on Netflix and hope my roommate doesn’t come downstairs while I’m watching it.
I’m wondering if I should read the book first, too.
Also, I haven’t been to Southcenter since I was a teenager. I grew up 5 minutes away from it so I’m attached to the ghetto-liciousness of it. I worked an illegal job at a kiosk there when I was 15 and got hit on by mid-20’s and 30’s guys so often it wasn’t even funny. Except it’s hilarious now.
Not yet, but I can bump it to the top of my Netflix list and let you know in a few days. 😀
I haven’t read the book, but I’ve read in reviews that it’s much, much more graphic than the film.
I don’t know how common my reading/movie habits are, but I prefer to watch/read not knowing anything about the movie/book. Of course, it’s hard to avoid information about everything. I have the general idea of what Precious is about. But I have to figure out if the book or movie is worth seeing first, because it will color how I view the second one, especially if I know the ending.
I will make sure not to say more about it, then.
Generally when something piques my interest, I will try to find out a little bit more about it without spoiling any major revelations. It can be a fine line to walk, sometimes.
Mostly I’ve found that the only way for me to enjoy both film & novel is to watch the film first and then read the novel, as I’ve been SO disappointed when I’ve done the opposite.
That’s a good point about movie first. Problem for me is that I think so visually that reading is essentially like watching a movie. If I’ve read a book long enough ago, I’ll get confused and not be able to remember if it was a book or a movie, and I like to see the movies later to see how “accurate” I was. I appreciate things more the first time, so I always want to experience the better one, which is typically the book. Except Rosemary’s Baby. Couldn’t stand the book, loved the movie.
But I also get upset because they change so much and leave so much out. I just watched Sophie’s Choice last night after having read it in July, and AAARRGGG THEY LEFT OUT TOO MUCH.
I basically don’t know what I’m saying. I’m just whining at this point. I’m usually okay if I leave a few years between the book and movie if I see the movie first.
I’m also trying to decide whether to read it first. If I see movie versions first, it tends to ruin my reading experience, because I miss out on getting to imagine the characters myself. But I also like the movie experience of not knowing anything about it, and being surprised by the plot. So I dunno what to do either. :/
Get pissing-on-yourself drunk, watch the movie, forget about it the next morning, and then read the book?
I’m a fairly visual reader, too, which is a lot of why movie adaptations piss me off–they don’t match what I’ve already seen in my head, PLUS scenes get cut out. For me, seeing the movie and then reading the book (as long as the movie was pretty faithful, if they switched a ton of things up then all bets are off) is optimal because if you walk away from the movie with questions about character motivation or what happened between scenes, the book can flesh those things out.
Having not read the book here, though, I couldn’t say.
Requiem for a Dream…..egads. On several occasions I’ve tried and failed to describe to someone what I find so traumatic about it. Although it’s always someone who hasn’t seen it.
It’s the frenzy of the ending that gets me; the flurry of horrifying things happening to EVERYONE. If the pacing weren’t as fast, I don’t know that it would bother me as much as it does.
This is true. I watched the R-rated version once, and that edit is much less frenetic, and thus I was slightly less traumatized.
I have described the movie to some people and then shown it to them, and they totally missed the point.
Didn’t help that they were drug users and thought the movie was anti-drug propaganda so they were all huffy about it.
I think the soundtrack really sets the mood. The movie wouldn’t be the same without it. I can listen to the soundtrack by itself and it affects me about as much as the movie does. Maybe more since I’ve seen the movie about 5 times by now and have gotten used to it.
This is good warning. I’m an emotional mess right now, so there’s no way I’m seeing Precious. Alone or otherwise.
Shit, I was looking at reviews after posting this, ended up watching the trailer again and almost burst into tears at my desk. Absolutely not recommended for you atm, m’dear.
I like seeing movies by myself. No bantering about what to see or when to see it, nobody trying to talk to me during the show, nobody ganking my popcorn.
I saw Brokeback Mountain on the day it opened, at the Egyptian. One of the best movie experiences EVER. Lots of hot gays dressed as cowboys. Nobody yakked, nobody laughed inappropriately, but we were all blubbering.
Oh man, how fun is a theater full of gay cowboys? 😀