quiet_curiosity (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
quiet_curiosity) wrote2008-12-29 09:19 pm
quiet_curiosity) wrote2008-12-29 09:19 pm
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The Blot (1921)
Lois Weber was one of the most well known (and well paid) directors of the 1910s. Her pictures often dealt with controversial social issues and (or perhaps because of these issues) were often successful at the box office. While Weber fell into obscurity as the roaring 20s and Sound Age rolled through, she has been rediscovered as a great voice from the silent era - female or otherwise.
1921's The Blot - her final real hit - deals with the disparity in class structures and how this can lead others to do things they may not have otherwise done.
1) There is more than a bit plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose - this goes both for movie conventions and real life conventions.
- My god were these some old looking college students. They looked more like stockbrokers or something like that. It's like it anticipated the ancient teenagers we had to watch on early 90s prime time tv.
- The pay disparity between Educators/Clergy and the rest of the world: This one will probably never go away. People always talk about the importance of such professions, but are rarely willing to support them. That said, I wonder what Weber's opinion would be of the modern monument to faith and capitalism, the Mega-Church?
2) the Olsens - The viewer is supposed to feel awkward about Mr. Olsen being paid so much for his luxury shoe-making business, but I couldn't really get behind it. No, high heels aren't as important as teaching, but it still a job that takes time and skill. And so what if he bought a car? So what if he and his family (which includes at least four kids who are at least under 15) eat well? The few well-rounded scenes we get with Mr. Olsen show him to be a nice, if somewhat staid, man. He obviously didn't do these things to piss the Griggs off. His wife, on the other hand, had obvious issues with the Griggs. But we saw enough of Mrs. Grigg looking down the tip of her nose at the family to realize that it probably wasn't just a blind hate. And part of my issues with the Olsens lead into point 3
3) Anti-Immigrant Sentiment in the Intertitles - was it super necessary to point out that the family that makes so much money for a "worthless" job weren't Americans? Was it necessary to point at that the oldest son - the one who is deemed the most level headed - is the most American of the bunch?
4) Martyr City - While it was certainly nice to see female characters whose whole beings didn't revolve completely around men (though the men are there), it didn't quite feel like there was any new nuances to the characters. Mrs. Griggs is kept down by her poverty and has to steal the chicken; Mrs. Olsen is a nag full of false pride; and Amelia Griggs is the long suffering, moral daughter. The Rich women - totally loose and moral free. These were old hat stereotypes well before this era but you kind of expected better when a woman is at the helm.
5) The Rich Womens' clothes were total era straddlers. Some seemed to be taking a few fitful steps into the 20s while others looked highly Edwardian.
6) All this said, there were some great touches of realism: natural lighting, tattered clothes and furnishings, the cramped houses. For all its flaws, the film looked great.
7) The film's wrap up is open-ended in regards to Amelia's choice of suitor. Will she choose the noble but poor preacher? Will she choose the rich boy that she helped to turn toward more noble pursuits? Weber doesn't tell us and we're left to ponder that choice for ourselves (all suitors being suitable-ish).
While there were quite a few well made visual choices in this film, I generally found the narrative structure to be preachy, slow, and more than a little lacking.
1921's The Blot - her final real hit - deals with the disparity in class structures and how this can lead others to do things they may not have otherwise done.
1) There is more than a bit plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose - this goes both for movie conventions and real life conventions.
- My god were these some old looking college students. They looked more like stockbrokers or something like that. It's like it anticipated the ancient teenagers we had to watch on early 90s prime time tv.
- The pay disparity between Educators/Clergy and the rest of the world: This one will probably never go away. People always talk about the importance of such professions, but are rarely willing to support them. That said, I wonder what Weber's opinion would be of the modern monument to faith and capitalism, the Mega-Church?
2) the Olsens - The viewer is supposed to feel awkward about Mr. Olsen being paid so much for his luxury shoe-making business, but I couldn't really get behind it. No, high heels aren't as important as teaching, but it still a job that takes time and skill. And so what if he bought a car? So what if he and his family (which includes at least four kids who are at least under 15) eat well? The few well-rounded scenes we get with Mr. Olsen show him to be a nice, if somewhat staid, man. He obviously didn't do these things to piss the Griggs off. His wife, on the other hand, had obvious issues with the Griggs. But we saw enough of Mrs. Grigg looking down the tip of her nose at the family to realize that it probably wasn't just a blind hate. And part of my issues with the Olsens lead into point 3
3) Anti-Immigrant Sentiment in the Intertitles - was it super necessary to point out that the family that makes so much money for a "worthless" job weren't Americans? Was it necessary to point at that the oldest son - the one who is deemed the most level headed - is the most American of the bunch?
4) Martyr City - While it was certainly nice to see female characters whose whole beings didn't revolve completely around men (though the men are there), it didn't quite feel like there was any new nuances to the characters. Mrs. Griggs is kept down by her poverty and has to steal the chicken; Mrs. Olsen is a nag full of false pride; and Amelia Griggs is the long suffering, moral daughter. The Rich women - totally loose and moral free. These were old hat stereotypes well before this era but you kind of expected better when a woman is at the helm.
5) The Rich Womens' clothes were total era straddlers. Some seemed to be taking a few fitful steps into the 20s while others looked highly Edwardian.
6) All this said, there were some great touches of realism: natural lighting, tattered clothes and furnishings, the cramped houses. For all its flaws, the film looked great.
7) The film's wrap up is open-ended in regards to Amelia's choice of suitor. Will she choose the noble but poor preacher? Will she choose the rich boy that she helped to turn toward more noble pursuits? Weber doesn't tell us and we're left to ponder that choice for ourselves (all suitors being suitable-ish).
While there were quite a few well made visual choices in this film, I generally found the narrative structure to be preachy, slow, and more than a little lacking.