A Study in Persona

In recent a recent discussion with a Friend of Samizdat (Jeff, the God of Biscuits), we came to a conclusion: if you want to understand the creation of Persona in satire/parody, you must watch the Colbert Report interview with Caitlin Flanagan.

Jeff, Steph, and myself bore witness to this interview, and it was... um, interesting? Mainly, this was because the three of us had no freakin' clue who this woman was. All we knew was that she wrote a book, To Hell with All That: Loving and Loathing Our Inner Housewife. After the interview, we still had no freakin' clue who the woman was.

Was she a hardcore housewifery advocate, or an ironic commentator playing a role (in the same vein as Stephen Colbert or that guy who wrote the Politically Correct Fairy Tales)?

A little bit of online research sheds light upon this question. According to reviews from the NY Times and Salon.com, Flanagan is the woman that feminists love to hate. However, she doesn't take herself seriously. As Joan Walsh, from Salon.com, wrote, "Part of why I've never gotten upset about Flanagan's pro-hearth and home shtick is that I've seen it as just that, shtick." What does this mean?

Well, if we look at the Times review, Pamela Paul points up a problem with Flanagan's style: "Self-deprecating, yes. But also hypocritical."

Which brings us back to the Colbert Report. The interview can be seen as thus: On one side, a Persona that is well-crafted for humor and irony. Colbert gives us a wink and a nod with his Persona; we know that he's sending up the O'Reilly-esque mouthpieces.

On the other hand, we have a Persona that tries to straddle the line between irony and authenticity. When Colbert declared that wives should be pregnant, in the kitchen, and naked, Flanagan laughed. She agreed, only taking a light-hearted exception to the "naked" bit.

Was she joking? Was she being serious? We don't know, and rather than laugh, the audience kind of chuckles and quizzically looks around. You can't straddle the lines with Presona; quoth the acting teacher, "Make a strong, clear choice!"

Oscar injustice

In the history of the Academy Awards there have been many mistakes. In 1941 How Green Was My Valley over Citizen Kane, in 1944 Going My Way over Double Indemnity, in 1952 The Greatest Show on Earth over High Noon, in 1976 Rocky over Taxi Driver AND Network, and finally on 2006 Crash over Brokeback Mountain.

After the Oscars I was disappointed by the academy. Over the years I have become accustomed to seeing the movie I liked the best loose for best picture. This year, though, I have decided there is something more. Brokeback Mountain won nearly every other award, The BAFTA, The DGA, The Golden Globe, The LAFCA, The Independent Spirit Award, The NYFCC, The PGA, The SFFCC, The SAG, and the WGA. This has never happened in the history of Oscars. The notion that it was a surprise is a bit of an understatement. I would call it an injustice.

The whole night Oscar speeches talked about how progressive the Academy is. After host John Stewart made a crack about Hollywood being “..too liberal, out of touch with mainstream America,” nominee George Clooney responded "This group of people gave Hattie McDaniel an Oscar in 1939 when blacks were still sitting in the backs of theaters. I'm proud to be a part of this academy … and proud to be out of touch."

This year the academy proved that they are mainstream America when they awarded Crash best picture. Crash is the kind of movie that make people think they are exploring the deepness of racial stereotypes. The kind of film that makes you feel so good about yourself for not being “one of those people.” White people across the country left theatres thinking they had examined their soul.

I saw the film shortly after it’s original release. It was nothing more than a happy film about racism. The film was made to seem groundbreaking and made you think it was daring, but all it really did was accentuate stereotypes.

We had a Racist LA cop. Two car thieves that are constantly talking about their race as the deciding factor in why their life is hard, ignoring the fact that their life is difficult because they are thieves. The distracted District attorney and the wife who doesn’t really “get” him. The successful black man and his wife who, despite their successes, still choose to be mistreated by a racist cop. The idealistic younger partner of a seemingly corrupt cop, who in the end gets a taste of the real world. And the Indian shopkeeper who is constantly being attacked because people think he is tied to Usama Bin Laden, revealing the true ignorance of “some people” certainly not the person watching. You’re so enlightened.

The film was clichéd. overdone, reworked bullshit. From first frame to the last frame the film did nothing but reemphasize what Americans already think about minorities. The academy might as well have awarded Beauty Shop, or The Cookout with the Oscar this year.

Brokeback Mountain we can agree was better made that Crash. The Directing was flawless. The cinematography was perfect. Each shot looked like a perfect postcard. The editing was superb. The acting was perfect. Both leads and a supporting cast member were nominated. The score was memorable and helped create the perfect feel. The writing was perfect magic. Crash? Won for editing, because it had so many damn stories. It was only nominated for one actor, Matt Dillon, who was fair, at best. It also won for writing, despite the fact that it was nothing more that a bunch of stories I have seen already.

Brokeback Mountain did not accentuate stereotypes. These were two men who fell in love. Two average guys who worked hard and wanted their lives simple. There were no drag queens, no lisps, no flower shops and no kids coming out to their parents. This movie CHALLENEGED stereotypes. This is why it was an important film.

As a manager of a video store I have to unfortunate privilege of hearing people’s thoughts about movies. The uneducated and the bigoted come out in people when they are uncomfortable. Even the movie trailer calls gay love “an unexpected lifelong connection.” For those of us who saw Brokeback Mountain it was a poignant, heartfelt, painful story. For those of us who did not, it is a late night talk show joke. Until people stop using their ignorance and fears as late night talk show jokes and a methods of voting. we need films like Brokeback Mountain.