SRPS Movie Night - The Actress

I was thoroughly surprised and captivated by this movie. Made in 1953, I kinda expected this movie to be about the follies of a young woman, and filled with all kinds of 1950s morality. I figured it was set in the past (1910s) to highlight the "good old days" when women had fanciful notions but did the smart thing.

The premise of the movie is that Ruth (Jean Simmons), 17 years old and an only child, wants to be a famous actress, but is certain that her hard-headed, loud-mouthed, practical-minded father (Spencer Tracy) will think it's a ridiculous notion.

All through this film, I kept waiting for it to take the sadly all-too-familiar turn toward convincing Ruth to give up her silly dream. And, all through this film, I was continually, pleasantly surprised. Even after her father finds out about her dream, his only angry scene comes when Ruth threatens to quit school. "You listen to me, and I'm not going to argue with you, I'm laying down the law. You finish your schoolin'. As if schoolin' was something you could leave and then go back to. You can't do that."

"I'm affording you the luxury of an education. Don't treat that luxury too lightly."

That theme comes up a couple of times during the film.  It becomes clear why later, when he talks about his own childhood and how his own mother died and he was sent to live with terrible family members who abused him. At 8 years old, he ran away and became a cabin boy on a trans-Atlantic cargo ship, starting his life as a merchant seaman. He tells about how he tried to continue his education when he was 18, but was humiliated when they placed him in the 4th grade.

There's plenty of pressure on Ruth to give up her dreams, don't think there isn't. She's being wooed by a handsome, rich young man, Fred (Anthony Perkins). Her mother (Teresa Wright) begs her to consider "being normal" and settling down with him.

When he proposes to her as she's about to go in to meet with a famous stage director (which you just have to know is going to end badly), I fully expect her to say "yes" and they go on to live a happily-ever-after life, just like they always do in these kinds of movies. But, she doesn't. Oh, sure, she's pleased that he asks, but she tells him, "If I was going to marry anyone, I'd pick you. But I can't. And you're lucky I can't. All my life I'll remember I didn't have to be an old maid because you went and asked me. No matter how it looks, I'll know I didn't get left. Say a prayer for me Fred. I'm going through that door, and behind it's my whole life."

Naturally, things don't work out the way she envisions them. Do they ever for 17 year olds?

But, even with her set-backs, and her father's financial problems, there are still many more really progressive surprises in store. Her father starts to reflect on his own past, and his dreams. "When I think of Singapore and all the ports I'll never see again..."

When Ruthie comes home upset, he makes her a promise that if she finishes her term at high school, he'll set her up in New York so she can pursue her dream of being an actress. In a moving monologue, he explains why it is so important to him that Ruth gets her education, and his motivation for helping her. "So, when the time comes for my daughter to go out in the world, I'd like to kinda grease the way for her."

The movie ends with Ruth leaving for New York City. I know that the road in front of her isn't going to be a smooth one. She hasn't really shown any real talent for being an actress, other than her very dramatic nature. But I still like to imagine that she goes on to become a some-what famous actress, happy in her choice, continually working toward her goal.

And, really, isn't that what being a self-rescuing princess is all about? Doing what you know is right, even in the face of set-backs and going against expectations?

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The Power of the Tiara - stress-relief

Ever had one of those stressful days where you just want to crawl back under the covers and hide? That was me this morning. It took all my powers of self-talk to get myself dressed and ready for my ride to school.

I know the grown-up thing to do is to just get up and do what needs to get done. And, honestly, 99% of the time, I'm perfectly able to do that. But this semester at school has been a bit challenging. I know I need to some serious contemplation around that issue, but in the meantime, I still need to get to class each day.

So, on days like today, when it was particularly difficult, I find myself making promises of a small reward of something symbolic and affordable. Today's promise was that on my way home I would stop at the hardware store on the way home and buy myself a plant for my front yard. And then I promised myself that once I was home, I could lounge around in my jammies, wearing my tiara, and taking it easy for a bit this evening.

That helped me get myself motivated. As it turns out, I had reason to be stressed out. It rained on me while I was riding in, my morning class was full of fail, and I spilled tea on my new favorite t-shirt. *sigh*

All though everything, I kept reminding myself that was going to get some pretty new flowers for my yard. As it turns out, I bought myself TWO plants. Technically, it's 12 plants -- two six-packs.

Aren't they lovely?

I wanted the dark pink snapdragons, but I thought they looked so good on the shelf next to the light pink stock, so I got both.

Now I'm at home, changed into my cozy PJs, snuggled up with my fuzzy blanket, dreaming of the plants I'm going to add to prettify my front yard when it stops raining, and wearing my tiara. I'm feeling better already!

Tiara + PJs = stress relief

What do you do when you need an extra boost to get out of the bed in the morning?

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SRPS Movie Night - Easy A

So, it's the first real rainy day here in Northern California, and I spent my day inside, working in the kitchen, and watching movies that I've accumulated on my TiVo.

Today's movies included a comedy from 2010 starring the very talented and likeable Emma Stone, in a teen angst comedy: Easy A.

I added Easy A to my TiVo queue a couple of weeks ago, based pretty much on its cast and brief description, but didn't really have high hopes for it.

I have to admit, I wasn't let down.

Oh, don't get me wrong. It's a cute story. It attempts to pay homage to John Hughes' legacy, and even has a scene where Emma Stone's character explains how she'd like her life to be more like a John Hughes movie. It's very light-hearted, even while addressing the very real, very often tragic issues of teen bullying, and Emma Stone's character has a lot of kick-ass attitude.

And the cast! I adore Patricia Clarkson (I loved her in Pieces of April, which I hope to review soon)! Stanley Tucci, Thomas Haden Church, Lisa Kudrow, and even a scene with Fred Armistan -- all fine actors, who brought their immense talents to what could have been a gem of a film.

See, Emma Stone plays Olive Penderghast, a witty, attractive high school student who can't seem to get any attention from her male peers. To get out of an uncomfortable situation with her best friend, she makes up a lie about losing her virginity. The school's Christian do-gooder nosey stuck-up bitch happens to over-hear their conversation and then within an hour, the rumor spreads all over the school.

Suddenly, she's getting lots of male attention, but not the kind she was hoping for. And even more female attention, and certainly not the kind anyone wants. One of the do-gooder's friends makes a snide comment in English class (where they just so happen to be reading The Scarlet Letter, surprise!) and our snappy heroine calls her "an inappropriate word" and gets sent to the principal's office, where she gets detention.

In detention, she befriends the school gay kid, who has a terrible problem with being bullied. She suggests that he lie about being straight and that'll fix everything. (Yeah. Really.) To make it believable, he convinces her to slut it up with him at a party. They put on a good show, and suddenly she finds she's in hot demand of the school "losers" to help them improve their reputation.





Aside from the clever-ish dialog reminiscent of The Gilmore Girls or even My So-Called Life, it felt hollow, and a little sad. The one thing that kept taking me out of enjoying the movie was the thought that here we are, in 2010, and young women are still (STILL!) worried about their reputations and being shamed for having a sex life? I mean, I know this is a comedy, but there still had to be a way to update this sad old trope, right?

I have to admit that I'm 20+ years out of high school, but is this really still a thing? Are we still dragging around the old story that all boys are horn-dogs and all girls are bitches? And, really, do high schoolers really care who's still a virgin and who isn't? I don't know enough teenagers to know what it's like these days, but I have to hope it's better than when I was in high school.

How would a Self-Rescuing Princess handle this kind of situation? As an adult, I am old enough and brave enough to want to think that I'd never find myself in the situation of having to tell a lie to impress my friends, much less my non-friends. But, even if I did, of if I'd actually done what she lied about, I'd like to hope that I'd just own my behavior and tell the douche-bag guys and bitchy girls to take a flying leap. Wouldn't that be the SRPS thing to do? You know, do your own thing anyway?

I never felt completely upset at the movie, and I was engaged enough to want to keep watching to see how it all resolved itself, with an ever diminishing hope that the story would actually address the issues of slut-shaming and the double standard of sexual behavior as it applies to young men and women, bullying, etc. I even laughed several times, although I can't really remember what exactly I laughed at, now that I think about it.

All-in-all, it was a decent movie for peeling pears and working in the kitchen, but I can't really recommend it as a Self-Rescuing Princess Society movie.

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