Pretend 'Factory Girl' Never Happened: Alternative Casting for Edie Sedgwick

I wrote an article for the Washington Square News back in 2006 for this travesty of a film directed by now kaput director George Hickenlooper and starring Sienna Miller in the role of Edie Sedgwick, Guy Peace as Andy Warhol (which was actually pretty impressive) and (gulp) Hayden Christensen as the ambiguous Bob Dylan composite character billed only as 'the folk singer' the reason for this being Bob Dylan was so shocked by the inaccuracy and blatant disrespect for the history that he threatened to sue if they decided to bring his name into it. He is among many who decided not to be associated with this film and publicly denounced it, among them David Bowie, Richie Berlin, superstars Viva and Ultra, as well as Warhol's second in command Gerard Malanga. So you're warned before you even turn it on just out of sheer curiosity that this is going to bite the big one. And it does. The biggest problem I have among the many, is the casting of British sex kitten Sienna Miller as the incomparable and tragic Edie Sedgwick. Her amazing story is ripe for dramatic interpretation, and it killed me that the first try was so cosmetic, superficial, and cliche. Miller barely scratches the surface of the mystery that is the 22 year old heartbreakingly beautiful heiress who was exhaled and subsequently destroyed by her association with Warhol and died terribly at 28, leaving an unforgettable imprint on not only underground film but pop-culture and perhaps most importantly, Warhol himself. Back in my writing days, I immediately tried to adapt it, just for fun, started writing some character sketches and scenes right after I first saw her in Beauty No. 2. It's a Warhol sound film in which she and superstar Gino Piserchio lie half naked on a bed, discussing art, philosophy, and sex while getting increasingly drunk. Edie's friend from Cambridge Chuck Wein assaults her off camera with increasingly personal and hostile questions. After which, I have seen almost all of the films she made with Warhol at the Warhol retrospective at BAM cinematek. And realized after screening Factory Girl that none of that material came close to being relayed in a bio-pic narrative, and were greatly misunderstood by both Sienna and Hickenlooper. So here is my hypothetical list of who I think both in aesthetic and spirit would have much better chops for adapting Edie correctly to a contemporary audience that is probably not aware of her at all. Every time a writer sits down to create a narrative, the first thing he should consider is telling the story to a person who hypothetically has never heard it or of the people and situations in it before. And epic fail on everyone's part. Hopefully someone like Julian Schnabel, Todd Haynes, or Van Sant decides to adapt it again with one of the following actresses.

Anna Torv (top) from Fringe fame. This stunning and statuesque Aussie actress proves she can play both strong and yet vulnerable, both requisites of Edie. The pic below is from a photo shoot Edie did for Vogue in the early 60's in which she was also named America's new 'It Girl' 

Ellen Page (above). This smart and versatile actress has the essence of Edie in that she is universally beautiful and appealing. She is charming and devastating. The pic below is of Edie towards the end of her time with Warhol, probably passed out because of a heroin trip, at her lowest point. The bandage on her hand is from when she was so doped that she didn't realize her apartment had caught fire. She crawled to the door and upon touching the brass door knob severely burned her hand. She was rescued, but her reputation never recovered. 

Natalie Portman (above). Natalie i think resembles Edie better than anyone. She's very elegant, petite, and poised. Aside from the obvious physical similarities, this is perhaps my favorite hypothetical. She's proven she has immense range as an actress from pixie rom-coms to her oscar-winning shocking and unique performance in The Black Swan. And her ballet training must come in handy considering Edie was a prolific dancer doing ballet, jazz, and modern, in fact her 'look' of the black tights and a shirt or leotard over them was because she was so busy with her dance classes that she just wore her uniform around all the time. Below is a still from footage shot of Edie for the 4-years-in-the-making opus she starred in as herself called Ciao Manhattan completed after she had long left New York and Warhol. 

Rose Byrne (above). This could be a stretch because Byrne is already well into her 30's, but something about her seems right. She is a very interesting performer and has a completely unique way of emoting. I think this would be a real challenge for her. One of those unorthodox casting choices which delights the audience when we see them actually pull it off rather well. Also, the British thing is a problem for me. It just is. Edie is such an American institution to where I feel it should be an American actress, but hey this is all hypothetical. The picture below is of Edie at a happening at the Ansonia hotel (the most beautiful in New York on Broadway and 72nd.) It was a pool party that turned into a completely insane amphetamine-fueled sex romp. The staff later stated that when they drained the pool they found dozens of cyringes at the bottom. 

Rooney Mara (above). This stunning actress you may remember as the love interest of Jesse Eisenberg's Mark Zuckerberg in The Social Network, soon to collaborate with director David Fincher again in the American remake of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Go ahead and hate, but I for one am excited to see what Fincher brings to it. She has really unique features and probably resembles Edie the least comparatively to the previous actresses chosen, but she has a powerful disposition and is a total original. She is able to captivate just like Edie did. In Network, she has maybe 12 lines, but completely steals the show when she's on. A very important quality to have when reinterpreting Edie. Below is Edie's first screen test that Warhol shot. Amy Taubin, a factory girl and film critic said of this screen test, that no one looked more beautiful than when Warhol shot them. 'Tis true. 

Here is my article from WSN on Factory Girl back in 2007.

The real 'Factory Girl' as seen by Warhol's camera

And here's a real treat. This is lost footage from Ciao Manhattan, Edie's last film in which she plays herself essentially. This film took 4 years to shoot and portrays Edie after breast implants and extensive shock therapy and heroin addiction, thereby is rather wobbly, and not all together lucid or coherent. She looks back on her 'heyday' in New York for which footage was shot while she was still with Warhol. It's rather cryptic that the directors (David Weisman and John Palmer) foresaw the inevitability of Edie and her tragic end enough to start shooting in advance. This clip comes with awesome directors' commentary considering the directors themselves were at times just as doped as Edie and her fellow superstars. Where else are you going to get commentary like 'this was during my samurai phase'? Please check it out. 

Rihanna via Warhol

Interesting remix of 'S&M' to the films of Warhol and Kenneth Anger. I can't believe this wasn't thought of earlier. Featured in this remix are 'Blow Job', 'My Hustler', 'Kiss', 'Mario Eats a Banana', 'Scorpio Rising', 'Lucifer Rising', 'Inauguration of the Pleasure Dome'... you get the idea. This is pretty awesome. I like. For those of you not in the know, Kenneth Angers films are the ones in color, and Warhol's films are the ones in B&W. The man dancing very strangely with a length of chain is poet and Warhol's right hand, Gerard Malanga. The man eating the banana in 'Mario Eats a Banana' (the only color Warhol film in this collage) is seminal and famed drag performer Mario Montez, who went on to be one of the most influential presences and an icon in avant-garde and underground cinema. Edie Sedgwick can be seen to Malanga's left sitting and smoking. And just to be clear, the pixelations are of course not of the original films, but have been put in for youtubes sake, which I consider close to sacrilege.
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Meet the Cast of Showtime's Gigolos.

Let's get this straight. I'm not here to judge. Some of these high-priced male escorts run the gambit between the charmingly handsome to the ridiculously sleazy. But whatever else they may be, they are very interesting and always entertaining. Showtime's new show about the cream of the crop gigolos that are part of the Cowboys 4 Angels escort service in Las Vegas is all kinds of things: gross, hilarious, filthy, delicious, graphic, kinky, depraved, awesome, and completely original. This isn't your momma's prostitution retrospective with Diane Sawyer empathetically interviewing street walkers and following them on their daily rounds in the gloomy industrial streets of small town USA. This is Vegas baby, complete with bling, limo's, lip gloss, tanning beds, and everything else it takes to make a bonafied 1000$ per hour gigolo. It's been three episodes into the series, with the latest premiering on April 22nd, 2011, and already we've seen cock cages, 4-ways, teacher clients, lots of unmentionable tattoos. Not to mention that the clientele is just as interesting and curious as the gigolos themselves .Now meet the 5 ladykillers that make up the show. 

Nick Hawk

27, 6'1 with hazel eyes, this guy though pretty is probably the densest in the bunch. And can't help exhibiting early signs of ultimate douche-baggery. His short time goals include breaking a sweat six days a week.very ambitious.

Jimmy Dior

My personal favorite. Also 27, and no nothing has been photoshopped here, he is actually this gorgeous. Usually I don't go for the pretty boy type, but he's also sweet and a hell of a professional. I want.

Vin Armani

I really don't get what it is with these guys and picking last names after designers that just don't fit their first names, but I guess creativity is not their strong suite. He's the newest addition to the Cowboys4Angels family, and the tallest at 6'4. By the second episode he had full-on earned his keep. So to speak. 

Steven Gannt

This one is another fave. A gentle soul who is whoring to support his 5 year old son. Sounds cliche I know. But he's a sweetheart. He's cried already twice on the show. And for me that's somehow endearing.

Brace (No Last Name)

Ugh. I don't even know really what to say here. Easily past 45, this bleach blonde, fake tanned, ed hardy wearing man-child is an example of everything not to order when picking up the phone and dialing Cowboys4Angels, unless you want to be covered in spray tan residue. He's currently working on an anti-aging supplement line so he can mercifully retire from the business. Well good luck with that.

Spotlight On: Hedwig and the Angry Inch (2001)

'One day, in the late mid 80's, i was in my early late 20's, i had just been dismissed from university after delivering a brilliant lecture on the aggressive influence of German philosophy on rock and roll entitled: You, Kant. Always Get What You Want. At 26, my academic career was over, I had never kissed a boy, and I was still sleeping with mom...'

I was completely in love with this film since I saw it when i was 16-ish when it first came out, to now, and think I'll always be. Unlike most films I was obsessed with at 16 and have since developed a more intellectual taste (Aronofsky, Tarantino, the wrong Scorsese) this film has always been in my file of absolute adoration (as trite as that sounds). Director John Cameron Mitchell first made this musical opus into a rock-opera that appeared in tiny off off off-broadway theaters that started with an audience of about 40 or so people and grew to be a bionafied cult hit in New York City. This gave him confidence to adapt his unique vision into a film. Sure, rock operas had gasped their last breath early in the 80's after the fiasco that was the film adaptation of Hair (1980) and as Rob Marshall expressed fear about  the following year, that no one was buying the idea of people randomly breaking into song, when he tackled the adaptation of Chicago (2002) for the screen, but this did not deter the petite, soft-spoken genius from San Antonio, Texas.

He created the character of Hedwig Schmidt, which he played himself, from spending nights assimilating himself into the vibrant gay scene in Manhattan's West Village (Christopher St. to be exact). He envisioned a character from East Berlin who's love for rock and roll propels him to write American music, and his love for a man gets him to the states, the only catch being he had to submit to a back-alley sex change operation which left him with neither man nor lady parts, but a small piece of flesh about an angry inch long. He forms a band and travels mid-level themed restaurants and cafe's performing his adversity-inspired songs, bitter about the break up between him and his one time muse Tommy Gnosis (Michael Pitt), who not only broke his heart, but stole his material, subsequently becoming immensely successful because of it.

Hedwig sees himself as female even though he has neither identification biologically. His snide sarcasm and witty cynicism drives the comedic art in this tragicomedy-musical-rock opera-bio-opus. There is little plot, but instead a visionary look into the tribulations of a beautiful and poignant story of a person who is very much an original, accented by primitive yet lyrical illustrations.

an illustration during the 'Origin of Love' number reminds the idea Plato wrote about regarding all of us being two halves of a whole searching tirelessly all of our lives for the other half to complete us. 

John Cameron Mitchell's arc as a filmmaker is sadly overshadowed by other independents who are wrongly percieved as 'visionary' and 'genius' because his work is largely cult. Hedwig was for a time performed Rocky Horror Picture Show style with a shadow cast at midnight on Saturday's at the IFC Center on 6th Avenue (quick shout out to my SVA comrade Ian who was in one of the shadow casts back when I saw it in 2005).

The aesthetic look of Hedwig is very original in its own right as to not fall into that trap of 'drag films' that were popularized by Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, TransAmerica, and Too Wong Foo...It is a film with universal themes, and represents them through music. Hedwig Schmidt is not just a film that we see so that we can marvel at how well actors we know as men perform as women, that would dictate farce. Hedwig is not this in the least. Humorous and tragic, it is a masterpiece among a veritable sea of farcical mediocrity.

Perhaps it is because it was made by a gay man rather than a straight man doing research on gay men. And for all it's sincerity, it might be the most heartbreaking account of sexual ineptitude caused by a botched surgery in an effort to please his lover and subsequent loss of self that leads to a redemption in discovering owns complete uniqueness.

JC-M's follow-up to Hedwig was the un-simulated sex fatwa titled Shortbus (2006) which explored these themes in a much more literal sense, and somehow mastered integrating the graphic with the romantic for film. The idea that people categorize his films are 'cult' or 'gay' is incorrect, because his particular style of storytelling functions on universal narrative and visual principles which work as visionary interpretations of sexuality, humanity, and struggle. I made everyone I know watch it when it first came out, and now I'm telling those of you who haven't seen it, please do. If nothing else, you'll fall absolutely in love with the music. The soundtrack (all original and written by John Cameron Mitchell) is incredible and holds its own with those of the genre's greats like Andrew Lloyd Webber and Stephen Sondheim. I felt the number 'Wig in a Box' about half way through the film was speaking directly to me (again, i apologize for being trite) but in the case of this film, I can't help it. When JC-M came to introduce the film at the IFC, my excited 21-year-old self almost hyperventilated from knowing i was in the presence of a real cinema genius.

This is one of my favorite numbers from the film. the poignant and tragic 'Origin of Love'.

Totally Innaporpriate Pics of Disney Princes

You. Are. Welcome. You remember your strange crush on a particular Disney Prince that didn't manage to go away as you got older? That's why some nights you dream in animation about Captain Phoebus or Prince Adam/The Beast (my personal favorite). No it's not wrong, Disney Princes are stupid hot, and every year, the animation seems to get more and more raunchy particular in the hair and chest area. I mean Tarzan had some power pecks on him, and the shortest loin cloth i've ever seen. It's like Disney is pandering to all of us older sisters who had to take our younger sibling to the movies. They come for the musical numbers and talking animals, we go for the man meat. And no it doesn't make you a pervert...well a little bit, but hey you're not alone. And now for the treat. I found this amazing website with photos that i'm going to now pass on to you. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to get back to watching Pocahontas.

Prince Adam/The Beast from Beauty and the Beast. Ultimate in 'Adonis DNA' (Thanks Sheen!) nice bulge by the way. was that part of the curse?

Aladdin. Whole new world indeed.

Captain Phoebes from The Hunchback of Notre Dame. For some reason his soul patch seems pervy in this picture.

Emperor Kuzco, never thought I'd be attracted to that. I was wrong.

Captain John Smith. Pocahontas is one big sex farm. This is just the tip of the iceberg. Nice raccoon tail by the way, very appropriate. RIP Miko the raccoon.

My personal fave from Pocahontas, timid (not so much anymore) Thomas.

Prince Eric from The Little Mermaid. Perhaps the quintessential Disney Prince. Long wavy hair, bright blue eyes. Calm down Vera, he's just a cartoon.

Shang from Mulan. I fell like a ton of bricks for him.

Tarzan. Am I crazy or did he already look kind of douchy. I'm still into it.

Kocoum. Pocahontas really scored in the eye candy. I was always more of a Kocoum kind of girl, Pocahontas' decision made no sense to me.

Evan Rachel Wood: Working Her Way Up the Cult Ladder.

Because I just blogged regarding beautiful Evan Rachel Wood, and have had a few glasses of wine deciding to watch Marilyn Manson videos from the mid-90's, I thought why not blog about it.

We all remember 'Thirteen', the brilliantly directed film by Catherine Hardwicke, who went on to make the first and only acceptable version of Twilight. After this, ERW starred in the absolutely fucked in all ways rendition of the worst Beatles songs known as Across The Universe. She played a down and out beatnik searching for the meaning of life (how original) and eventually transformed into a quasi flower child born from the mind of increasingly random Julie Taymor, whilst making the worst possible covers of classic Beatles' fair and awkwardly french kissing Jim Sturgess like its two middle school students trying it for the first time.

She started out very bohemian looking with long hair and innocent eyes, until her beau Marilyn Manson started transforming her into a younger thinner version of his ex-wife, burlesque performer Dita Von Teese, and in my opinion, it's just not working. The camp style, gaudy make-up and cabaret background only works on seasoned veterans like Dita, not high-school drop out bohemian Marie Claire fodder that is ERW. But to give her some credit, she is working on it. If you look at pictures of her currently, you would not be able to tell its the same person from Across the Universe but in all fairness, all actors involved in it should disassociate themselves from that travesty. Only time and wonder bra's will tell if ERW can truly be reformed from mediocre hippie-ish teen queen to bonafied camp princess complete with oxygen-constricting corsets, and silk eye-lashes, but I'm rooting for ya boo. 

I'm not sure if this is a good or bad influence on her progression but she currently keeps a relentlessly on-again, off-again relationship with cult icon Marilyn Manson, who aside from not being at all relevant anymore, is working on his career as...as a movie star. Whateves.  Who cares...
But he should consider himself lucky because he gets to go home every night and bed a young, beautiful, and seemingly fiesty 23 year old in his probably lavish and pimped out boudoir .
Though it does seem like he's pulling a Donald Trump here, where his wife just gets a tad past her expiration date, and he gets a new one, and immediately begins to transform her into a younger, perkier image of his old wife. In my opinion, without her soon to be hubby full-on Svengaling her (he IS 20 years older, so i'm sure there's an oedipal influence in that relationship somewhere), she could come up with a pretty rad sexual identity; something that is not tiredly 'brave' nudie shots in Mildred Pierce, to the awkwardly simulated sex scenes between her and Manson in his video for Heart-Shaped Glasses when they are both covered in blood, reaching some kind of feral orgasm...nuff said. Poor girl needs a proper mentor. Someone like Tim Gunn, Simon Doonan, or the ghost of Tennessee Williams would do wonders, but I see lots of potential, if she didn't currently annoy me as much.

The Real Tragedy of Mildred Pierce. All Merkin, No Camp.

My obvious Joan Crawford bias is inapplicable here because I am also a huge huge huge fan of Todd Haynes and think him to be one of the greatest living filmmakers. Hyperbole aside, I was duly disappointed by this remake of the classic pulp novel of James M. Cain written in 1941. The original version was a fail-safe for Warner Bros. when it was made in 1945. At the height of film-noir's popularity, esteemed director of the genre Michael Curtiz cast Joan Crawford who's contract with MGM had just been terminated. The role was a hot property in Hollywood and was turned down by the likes of pain in Warner's ass Bette Davis, Rosalind Russell, and Claudette Colbert. A blessing in disguise considering Crawford was more or less born for Mildred Pierce but had she been directed by Todd Haynes in it currently, I think it would be only a matter of time before she threw something heavy and sharp at his head, or walked off the set for good. Conversely, Kate Winslet is perfect for the new interpretation of this stunning titular character considering this version required alot of sulking, crying, hysterics, and full frontal nudity. 

Really quickly here. Mildred Pierce is the story of a mother of two who's husband walks out on the family after she confronts him about an affair he's been having and now is forced to support her two young girls (teenage Veda, and prepubescent Kay {Ray is the name given in the novel and in the Haynes' mini-series}). In the novel, it is during the depression, and Mildred is reluctant to take a job that slides her down the social class ladder. Out of desperation she finally takes a waitressing job but hides it from superficial Veda who is obsessed with materialism and generally bitchitude. After Kay dies, Mildred and Veda's relationship becomes the central conflict of the story. The 1945 version resets the story in post-war America so they can use the film-noir visual aesthetic without it seeming awkward. The Haynes version goes back to the original setting of 1931 until 1938 or so. The costumes, production design, cinematography and everything aesthetic is beautiful. It harkens back to the Sirk melodrama aesthetic of the 50's which Haynes reinterpreted once earlier for Far From Heaven (2002). The beautiful contrast of colors works in keeping an ironically bleak atmosphere that articulates the meniality and hopelessness of prohibition and depression era women. While the 1945 version's stark black and white photography, campy make-up, and ominous tone recreate the tragedy of Mildred Pierce as a murder caper. But even considering this, the original conveys the central tragedy of Mildred and Veda much more intellectually and not to mention more entertaining. 

A screen test Crawford
gave to the studio reluctantly. Considering her star status,
she felt it beneath her to submit to an
audition. Even when clothed head to toe, Crawford is sublimely sensual and incomparably attractive.

The character of Mildred is portrayed by Crawford as well...Crawford. A strong yet sensitive woman who's obsession to please her family leads to her demise. Through her intensely painful and increasingly torturous conflict with her daugher Veda, she  plays Mildred as a woman who though self-less is not a push over. You may want to fuck her, but you definitely don't want to fuck with her, because she will destroy your life and completely decimate your existence. 

Conversely, (wrongly academy award winning) Kate Winslet is doing her best Medea, via Gloria Swanson through the Ophelia filter, playing with her head down, and her shoulders slugged just to bring the tragic hero point nauseatingly home. In my opinion, it is not a tragedy if the protagonist never experiences success, solace, or happiness. To be fair, there are moments of those aspects transpiring in this new version of Mildred's life, but Kate is playing it as though she is somehow suddenly aware of an impending apocalypse and is upset about the meaninglessness of all existence. It would do better as a character in an Albert Camus novel.

same can't be said for Winslet. With or without clothes.

For all of its aesthetic realism, any version of the novel comes down to the performance of Mildred Pierce. There are many interesting characters, but it must be HER story, and the audience must be endeared to her. If we don't empathize with Mildred the whole film is irrelevant, and it's just hard to empathize with someone who is always manically hysterical and whining. 

Sexually speaking, we must also be enticed by Mildred. The character is said to be attractive for her age (late 30's), statuesque, and classical. Even though Veda is supposed to be a great beauty, and a staunch seductress, Mildred is supposed to surpass her even though she is not as 'socially attractive' considering she is not in her prime. 

Kate Winslet expectantly has numerous scenes of nudity which just become to me, self-indulgent, aggrandizing, and totally unnecessary. I've always thought (ironically enough considering what I write about) that the language of the implied is much more arousing than the language of the explicit. And one scene where the character of Wally Fay (Jack Carson) flirts with Mildred (Joan Crawford) saying something to the effect of he's always wondered what's underneath that robe she's wearing carries more sexual weight than the painfully awkward sex scene in Haynes' version with James Le Gros as Wally Fay, animalistically grabbing Winslet's breasts from behind as if he wants to stuff them back into her body, with Kate breathing heavily as if she's anticipating being shot by him. 

What I think makes the original unique in its representation of sexuality and the sexual conflict between her, Monty Baragon her suitor and later husband, and Veda is the Camp element Crawford, Ann Blyth (who plays Veda) and director Michael Curtiz bring to the film. The insane lipstick, the gold lamé gowns, the insane line-backer shoulder pads, they all work so well aesthetically to accentuate that underneath this tragic crime caper, is a tale of profoundly deviant sexual paradigms. 

Ironically, Haynes (who never shies away from a gratuitous sex scene, and thankfully because up until now this method has been effecting) now peppers the story with cliché and trite visuals that are i guess are supposed to articulate that which was so beautifully aesthetically done in the 1945 version. 

I remember reading an interview with Evan Rachel Wood who plays Veda in the Haynes film about her merkin. For those playing the home game a merkin is kind of like a fake beard for your vagina. She said ever so redundantly that 'the film is set in the 30's and therefore, everything had to have the appearance of the 30's'. She also said that Kate Winslet was the one that talked her into doing her big nude scene in the film, which I swear is dragged out for like 10 minutes. We don't need to see Veda Pierce in front of a vanity staring at her naked self to realize that Veda is a shameless, selfish, super bitch-whore. But thanks I guess, for spelling it out. 

Mildred Pierce is a piece of material that is in its nature unavoidably campy, even in the source material. It is a story ripe for cynicism, gaudy imagery, and debauchery. In my opinion, reinterpreting it as a dragging 5 hour melodrama just doesn't work. And as much as I love Todd Haynes, I think  he dropped the proverbial adaptation ball with this one. For argument's sake, of course we can equate each version to what is popular in cinematic times to both, but I believe Haynes' Mildred Pierce even fails there, as it resembles not much more than an extended Lifeime movie with A-list Academy Award winning actors to carry the mediocre material. 
To conculde, Camp is just not seen as much in the cinema as it once was, which is a great great tragedy. Camp could be one of the most inventive, original, and for lack of a better word fun anomalies in pop-culture, and to see it wither is just such a shame.  The big irony of this whole Haynes' tragedy is that he as a director is so skilled in reinterpreting Camp for contemporary audiences. From his first film (his thesis for Brown University) 'Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story' to loose Bowie bio-pic 'Velvet Goldmine', to his relentlessly emphatic and outlandish remake of Douglas Sirk's 'All That Heaven Allows' as a camp-thriller, he has been brilliant in how he articulates that ideology from film to film, it's just so strange that he completely neglected what he does best and tried to make an 'Oscar' film. Disclaimer, i know it's a mini-series, therefore not eligible for the Oscars, but resembles all of the trite characteristics that Best Picture nominiees tend to have. Could we see this as Haynes' big sell out? I really hope not. Had Todd Haynes directed this mini-series with someone like Penélope Cruz, it would have still resonated with Mildred Pierce's original spirit. 

Here's an article on the apparent death of camp articulated with Todd Haynes' reinterpretation of the James Cain classic. 

Kate Winslet Killed Camp

Mulvey, Welles, and the Threatening Female in The Social Network.

I still maintain that the similarities between Citizen Kane (1941) and The Social Network (2010) are vast and profound. To list a few, we can talk reception for a minute. Both films were released to both audience and critical acclaim, receiving scores of Academy Awards, but winning only one (well of the 'big 5', best picture, best director, best actor, best actress (irrelevant) and best screenplay). Herman Mankewicz and Orson Welles for Screenplay, (that award was really for Mank) and Aaron Sorkin for Screenplay. Good thing too because both of the screenplays are more or less flawless and function by the same narrative principles. The narrative is essentially a long flashback, told from the 'present'. In Kane, it's a reporter trying to find out the mystery behind 'rosebud', in Network, it's deliberations over the lawsuit against Zuckerberg by Saverin. Neither won Best Picture and were somewhat overshadowed by less worthy and more audience-pleasing Oscar fodder.
The exact moment where I realized how indelibly similar they are is the scene in the latter when late in the film, Andrew Garfield's character Eduardo Saverin asks his now adversary Zuckerberg (Jesse Eisenberg) if he remembers the algorythm he wrote on his dorm window very early on when they were still friends and shared a common goal based on certain principles. This mirrors the scene in the former when Charles Foster Kane (Orson Welles), alone and humiliated after a losing bid for president is bleeding his newspapers for sensational and unethical means to make copy. He received in the mail, a declaration of principles he wrote in the presence of his best friend Jedadiah Leland (Joseph Cotton), who sent it back to him to remind him how much he has strayed from what he once stood for. The theme of Kane, which Orson Welles once stated as being 'a man who gains the world but loses his soul' can be without question applied to The Social Network as its primary lesson. It's just as relevant today as it was half a century ago.

Christy positions herself as the
primary decision maker of the two.

But lets apply this to Filth Screen. How can we consider either film a projection of deviance, perversion, and sex? I believe it is in how both films similarly portray the female gender and am going to use Mulvey as my primary reference. Let's start with The Social Network and work our way to Citizen Kane. It can be argued that the portrayal of women in this film is outwardly offensive, with the exception of the character of Erica Albright (Rooney Mara) who is the most prominent female counterpart even though she only has about 3 scenes. The other character that influences the narrative is Saverin's first groupie then girlfriend Christy (Brenda Song). She is a highly sexualized student who pounces on Saverin when she finds out that he had a part in inventing Facebook. At first, she is no more than a folly, but quickly takes the reigns and manipulates the fates of everyone involved in Facebook. She dresses stylishly yet provocatively and more or less castrates Saverin (figuratively speaking). She starts to control and manipulate Saverin's judgements and attitudes. This emasculation culminates when she visits Saverin in his hotel room in New York, posing a very prominent threat, both physically and mentally. Juxtaposed to Garfield, Song's character symbolizes power and as Mulvey would put it 'fetishisms' that translate as the male's fear of castration. She wears long leather boots, a tight fitting shirt, and is all around excellently put together. Saverin is in his boxer shorts, with disheveled hair, and a generally unkempt appearance. She overwhelms him and thereby decimates his power as a male. He tries to distract her with a gift; a peace offering, which she in turn lights on fire, throws into a garbage can and leaves his room, thereby completely dissipating his male 'dominant' nature. In this conflict, she assumes the role of the powerful male, while he becomes the powerless begging woman-like entity.

note the visual symbolism in this
still. the distance between the two,
Kane standing like a statue illuminated
in light, while Susan sits like a child in
the shadows of the foreground.

We can apply this to Citizen Kane in how Kane interacts and antagonizes his second wife Susan Alexander Kane (Dorothy Comingore). Welles used props just as David Fincher did to convey the relationship between the two. In the beginning Susan is very diminutive and sweet, this being visually represented by the dainty puzzle pieces of those horrid puzzles Susan always works on. This also articulates that Susan is rather feeble minded considering she occupies her time with childish games. Charles Foster Kane is always shot from a low angle looking up so that he seems extremely tall and dominant, while Susan is usually sitting on the floor and shot at a low angle as to accentuate her inferiority. Both women are portrayed as negative influences on their male counterparts. They are those who bother and betray the trajectory of the male. When Susan has her confluence of emasculation scene, it is when she leaves Kane and moves out. She appears perfectly calm and thus in control of the situation. She has castrated Kane in that he is no longer able to control her decisions. He becomes so vulnerable that he even begs for her to stay saying, 'Susan, please don't go. You can't do this to me'. At this point Susan becomes the ultimate castration symbol as a woman who is able to make her own decision, unbridled by the imposing dominant male. She articulates this by retorting; 'I see, it's you this is being done to, it's not me at all'.

The rest of the women in both films are more or less irrelevant, from the hung over Stanford student in her underwear who 'slept ON Sean Parker' to Kane's first wife Emily Monroe Norton who is just too proper to tell her husband what she thinks of him. In Citizen Kane, the key female character starts out 'proper' and becomes a castration symbol, while in The Social Network, the key female character starts out deviant and progresses to be the ultimate emasculating influence.

Though we could talk about the relationship between Mark Zuckerberg and his former girlfriend Erica Albright, and see it as similar to that of Susan Alexander and Charles Foster Kane, she much more symbolizes the 'modern female threat'. She is independent, opinionated, and unforgiving. She is able to supress Zuckerberg's smart-ass egomaniacal banter and eventually puts him in his place when the last scene of the film shows Zuckerberg alone on his computer sending a friend request to Erica, who's picture of her smiling with friends out of frame mocks his solitude. In that both films end identically because they leave the main character striving to regain something they lost in their journey for absolute success. Kane whispers rosebud; Zuckerberg keeps refreshing the page, desperate to see if Erica accepts his request. In a way, both men, as powerful and ego-driven as they appear, are still obsessed with retaining a part of their past which they didn't realize provided them with a serenity they were never able to get back.

I'll leave you with the 'Declaration of Principles' scene from Citizen Kane. Beautifully shot and performed, with a sense of impending irony that foreshadows the eventual tragic fate of Charles Foster Kane.

The Season Of The Witch

Still from 'The Fall of the House of Usher'

So I'm browsing the youtubes, getting ready for a conference presentation i have in a couple weeks, (shameless plug), and decided I wanted to listen to one of my favorite bands Donovan. I clicked on 'Season of the Witch' and up pops this amazingly fabulous video that someone put together for the song consisting of little known European films from the 1920's. I love finds like this. European films from this era were certainly dark, malevolent, and visually stunning. The way they portray deviants is something that will always aesthetically stick with you. I would argue that these portrayals are even more powerful horror and sexuality wise than anything we are able to do now in terms of truly terrifying or titillating the voyeur. Enjoy. Sadly films like this went out as quickly as they came in, and are very seldom remembered, if you would like to experience further I would recommend Jean Epstein's 'The Fall of the House of Usher", or anything by Carl Theodore Dreyer. There's a surreal yet visceral quality to these films that blends horror and sensuality beautifully.