Comments on: Patriarchy blaming with Louis Jourdan

By: smmo

smmo — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 18:00:56 +0000

I had assumed Colette wrote Gigi while still under Willy’s thumb, but she wrote it in 1943. Well, perhaps she needed the money, as her husband was a Jew. Some have even accused Colette of being a collaborator. I have read several biographies of Colette and most of her own writing and am still confused.

Meanwhile Louis Jourdan was in the Resistance, so score one for him.

By: My Sister Would

My Sister Would — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 14:57:53 +0000

I always thought the most interesting thing about Gigi was how Our Hero, the one with the yen for childlike females, discovers that marraige is the best way to keep his conquest in the naive state he considers so bangable.

Deeply gross, but also, it seemed somewhat insightful.

By: Twisty

Twisty — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 13:32:16 +0000

On the plus side of Louis’ karma tally, he was an active member of the French resistance during dubya-dubya-two.

By: Daisy

Daisy — Mon, 25 Jun 2007 19:29:41 +0000

Wasn’t Louis Joudan the model for Peppy LePew? At any rate, he’ll always be a skunk to me!

By: niki

niki — Mon, 25 Jun 2007 02:50:10 +0000

Mar, no, I’ve been a little squicked by all the legally blonde stuff that I’ve shied away.

By: mAndrea

mAndrea — Sun, 24 Jun 2007 18:53:12 +0000

Twisty. I had been wondering how you were dealing with all the exertions of getting the forum back up and running, in addition to all your other activities.

Students who sleep more hours get better grades, sleep has more restorative effects on the body than most people realize, and people have their best ideas when they’re goofing off; or so research claims, anyway. No, you don’t get any cites, sorry.

Please take special care of my very favorite Blamer.

By: Mar Iguana

Mar Iguana — Sat, 23 Jun 2007 03:03:03 +0000

Niki, “Freeway” is hilarious. I really like some of Witherspoon’s work. Have you seen her as Becky Sharp in Nair’s “Vanity Fair?”

By: kate

kate — Fri, 22 Jun 2007 21:12:46 +0000

Well,
just to defend poor Louis - he made the BEST DAMN DRACULA THAT HAS EVER GRACED A LARGE OR SMALL SCREEN. Yes THAT Louis Jourdan - in the 1987 BBC version of Dracula. The whole movie was the truest to the book and most excellent version EVER (and close in creepy to Nosferatu - when ol’ Louis flaps like a great bat down the walls of Castle Dracula - shudder!)Frank Finlay as Van Helsing - (THE BEST) and Judi Boker as Mina (KICK ASS) and as misogynist as ol’ Drac is - he sure gets his (phallic) comeuppance! The only performance of Jourdan’s really worth seeing!

By: Kowhead

Kowhead — Fri, 22 Jun 2007 21:04:53 +0000

Couple of quickies re my comments on Madame Bovary. First, I am completely aware that the book is fiction, would have thought that was obvious. I am also aware that the writer was a male, Gustave Flaubert. I will relate that one of my readings of this novel was for a class on feminist fiction. I don’t think the genre needs rely solely on female writers and Madame Bovary clearly deals with classic feminist issues, part of what makes the novel groundbreaking for its time.

My suggestion is that Charles is in a sense the real feminist in the novel. He doesn’t treat people as simple extensions of their social roles, even if he does more or less accept the existence of them. He truly loves Madame. It is Madame who sees him in terms of a social role, and the limitations of that role blind her to the possibilities and reality of his love.

I was also too quick to say Madame as a character is a worthless human being. No human is and Madame has her qualities as well. She does live in a suffocating environment of conventionalism and strives to break from it. Unfortunately, she can only conceive of this break in the terms that same environment has provided her, not one she provides and develops for itself. So real men are “dashing” officers, maudlin romatic poets, etc. She victimizes herself with a alternate conventionalism, and to a greater degree than that imposed on her from the outside. She internalizes the very qualities that have lead her to be dissatisified with her role by adapting an equally conventional and stultifying role of “mistress” and any man who doesn’t fit those conventions or play his “role” is of no interest to her.

I could go on, this is a very interesting discussion to me, I really have thought a lot about this novel and have had little opportunity to express these ideas, thanks to all who replied. Typically, Madame is seen as some kind of victim or bold iconoclast, something that just doesn’t sit easy with me. In a sense, she reminds me of Daisy in “The Great Gatsby” but I suppose I am getting ahead of myself, and just will go forever. Thanks again to all, at least I learned something from Madame. I hope so anyway.

By: Niki

Niki — Fri, 22 Jun 2007 18:55:10 +0000

This isn’t an older movie and it’s certainly not perfect, but Freeway with Reese Witherspoon was pretty good for strong women characters. It’s a modern day spoof on Little Red Riding Hood, with a horrifying Kiefer Sutherland (who I always thought of previously as being rather bland and benign) as the main bad guy.

In fact, although everyone in the movie had serious problems, the women were very fierce and typically in charge of their situations. Plus there are some absolutely great revenge scenes against male perpetrators, if you feel like BTP in that manner.