Holy Bechdel, Batman!

Tags

Adaptations, Feminism, Young Adult Fiction

Today you will take a test that will help you discover who you truly are. The future belongs to those who know where they belong.

I’m not a big fan of the Bechdel test, but it can be a useful tool in reminding oneself how far (or not) women have come in the world. Or at least in the world of Hollywood.

If you are not familiar with it, the rules of the Bechdel Test are simple. To “pass” the test, a movie has to have:
1) at least two women in it, who
2) talk to each other, about
3) something besides a man

Sadly, very few Hollywood films pass this basic test. According to Vocativ, of the fifty highest-grossing films in 2013, a year where the biggest box-office hit of the year was The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, only 36 percent passed the Bechdel test.

However, maybe there’s hope. In venturing out to the movies this March, I found myself inundated with kick-ass female characters. A fitting tribute to Women’s History Month I suppose. In any case, a big thank you to both the cinéphile and film critic in my life, who managed to get me out to the theaters four times already this month, which is pretty much unheard of for me outside of Oscar season.

New BFFs Zoë Kravitz and Shailene Woodley are dauntless in Divergent.

Divergent

Divergent passes Bechdel with flying colors. It was also my favorite of the films in this post. And, lest you think my love of The Hunger Games series means I’m some kind of Divergent fan girl, I actually hadn’t read these books before seeing the movie.

I was a bit worried at the start because, frankly, I found the underlying premise of this post-apocalyptic world and the five factions (Amity, Erudite, Candor, Dauntless, and Abnegation) ridiculous, but, after the initial set-up, I got really into it. The script is rather clunky, but luckily much of the film is just one long training montage, and who doesn’t love a good training montage? Crazy people, that’s who. [Side note: Is there any doubt I would be Candor? I think not.]

Overall, I liked the look of the film and thought the cast was quite strong. Shailene Woodley is not as convincing an action heroine as Jennifer Lawrence, but she sells the romance a heck of a lot better. As does Theo James. I really found Zoë Kravitz appealing as “new best friend” Christina, although maybe that’s because she was Candor. Bonus props to the filmmakers for their diverse casting. For more on the subject of race and typecasting, I suggest reading this interview with Mekhi Phifer and Maggie Q, who popped in briefly to introduce the film at the screening I attended. I’m glad I enjoyed the movie, since we waited over an hour for them to arrive.

Veronica Mars

I was really looking forward to Veronica Mars. And, while I thoroughly enjoyed it, I think it’s pretty much one for the fans. You’ll love it if you liked the show (and I highly recommend having watched it recently to get all the callbacks to the series), but it’s more of an extended episode of TV than anything else. Of course, it’s always nice to see a female lead with smarts and moxie on the big screen and this film had no problem passing the Bechdel bar: It does so during the opening scene, which shows Veronica being interviewed for a position at a prestigious New York law firm by none other than Jamie Lee Curtis.

Muppets Most Wanted

Amidst this dystopian, pseudo-noir fare, you might think that the family-friendly musical starring the beloved Muppets would stand out for its progressive values. You would be wrong. Instead, Muppets Most Wanted fails Bechdel spectacularly and is by far the least feminist film on this list. Given what comes next, that’s really saying something. While certainly enjoyable (I especially loved the Busby Berkeley-esque opening number), the one prominent female character (besides Miss Piggy) is a sad-sack officer in a Russian gulag who inexplicably moons after Kermit. And a major plot point is how Kermit can’t commit. Seriously? If that weren’t bad enough, I’d be surprised if even a quarter of the cameos were women. What the hell? Get it together, Muppets, and enter the twenty-first century.

300: Rise of an Empire

While there are so many things you are probably asking yourself upon seeing this film listed here, I will only say that I went unwillingly, but I’m awfully glad I did. It’s true that 300: Rise of an Empire doesn’t come close to passing the Bechdel test (although it does have two female characters, Artemisia and Queen Gorgo, they do not speak to each other), but I would argue that it passes in spirit, like Gravity, in that the female lead makes the film. I could not take my eyes off Artemisia, played by Eva Green—both her attitude and her costumes were a glory to behold. The fact that she was based on an actual historical figure, Artemisia I of Caria, one-time commander of the Persian navy? Priceless. It’s quite gory, but any movie that makes you pull down your Herodotus upon returning home can’t be all bad, can it? [Feminist bonus: the men are dressed far more scantily than the women.]

Bow down, peasants, it’s the commander of the Persian f*cking navy.

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

Tags

Adaptations, Young Adult Fiction

As with the first volume of this trilogy, I had the good fortune to attend an exclusive press screening of The Hunger Games: Catching Fire. Once again, a hearty thanks to @Fyodor Fish for the invitation.

And, also like last time, I should note that this is not so much a review as a comment on the adaptation. So, if you haven’t read the books and don’t want to be spoiled, or, if you don’t want to be spoiled for movie-specific details, stop reading now!

The Good

The casting: Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss remains a casting coup and I’m happy to say that both her leading men, Josh Hutcherson as Peeta and Liam Hemsworth as Gale, seem much less awkward this time around. I was really looking forward to seeing more Haymitch in this volume, but alas, due to adaptation choices, he doesn’t play as big a role as I expected. But Woody Harrelson is still great, as is Stanley Tucci as Caesar Flickerman. I loved Jena Malone as exhibitionist bad-girl Johanna.

The pacing: This is where the second film really improves on the first. The tiresome first third of the book, while still being covered in a good chunk of film, is mercifully more interesting, with a lot less of Katniss being clueless and wishy-washy than in the book. Yet, this is where there are major cuts in terms of information for the non-reader (see below). The central third of the book seems the most radically condensed, but I think most of the key information about the reaping, tributes, and time in the Capitol is portrayed.

The perspective: While in the first volume I think the film went overboard in playing up the reality-show angle as a replacement for the first-person perspective, here I think they strike a good balance, using Snow’s conversations with Plutarch Heavensbee to good effect in order to fill in information gaps and provide context.

The Bad

The bad mostly comes down to missing information.

1) Madge. This wasn’t surprising given her absence from the first film and the fact that her role in this book is minimal. However, we don’t get the fuller story of her aunt, or the information on the previous Quarter Quells and how Haymitch won his. That’s a shame because it’s a great story and obviously part of how Katniss gets her force-field idea in the end. Also, it makes the special rules of this Quarter Quell seem to come out of nowhere.

2) More surprising than the Madge omission is the complete absence of Twill and Bonnie, the story of the rebellion in District 8, and the possibility of a District 13. This is probably to give more of a punch to the end but then it’s not really given the play it should have been. I think this could have been a good choice for a cut (because the District 12 opening is far too drawn out in the book), but then the reveal had to be really good. Instead the ending is as swift and sudden as in the book.

3) Plutarch’s secret mockingjay watch. Instead of this brilliant touch, we get fairly cryptic remarks during a dance with Katniss and a flash of a graffiti mockingjay from the train. While this means Katniss is less frustratingly clueless in the first part, when most readers have already figured out that the gamemaker is or will be part of a widespread uprising, the moviegoer is ignorant of the fact that Plutarch is on her side for the whole film. Also, you miss his “it starts at midnight” hint for the arena.

The UglyThe Funny

There was really nothing I hated in this adaptation; I thought it was very successful and better than the first film, as did my non-reader companion. So, instead, I leave you with this brilliant Muppet parody:

The Hunger Games

Tags

Adaptations, Young Adult Fiction

Earlier this week, I had the good fortune to attend an exclusive press screening of The Hunger Games. I am a big fan of the series, particularly the first book, and had been eagerly awaiting the movie. A hearty thanks to @Fyodor Fish for the invitation.

Before I move on to my thoughts, I should note that this is not so much a review as a comment on the adaptation. As such, if you haven’t read the books and don’t want to be spoiled, stop reading!

Basically, I liked it, but didn’t love it. However, this may just be the inevitable disappointment of anticipating the film for so long and liking the book so much.

Of course, it’s to be expected that a great deal will be left out of any adaptation, but the devil is in the details of this series and, while they didn’t make too many egregious changes, I think there was too much missing for the spirit and morality of the books to come through for non-readers. In fact, they may come away with a very different idea of the story, due to the strong shift in focus from the perspective of the heroine to the world of reality television.

The Good

The casting: Aside from Peeta and Gale (both of whom seemed awkward to me), the acting was spot on. Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss was excellent. I liked this Prim, played by Willow Shields, far more than the one in the book. Shields was great at conveying the relationship of the sisters and emotion of the reaping. Rue (Amandla Stenberg) was adorable. I particularly liked Stanley Tucci as Claudius Templesmith and Woody Harrelson as Haymitch, and I didn’t think I would. If they make the rest of this series, I can’t wait to see Haymitch in action. Lenny Kravitz was perfect as Cinna. There could have been more Cinna.

The mockingjay pin: The story of the pin made far more sense in the film than in the book. This is a perfect example of adaptation done well.

The representation of District 12: The art direction here borrows straight from old WPA photographs and really sets the mood and provides a sense of place.

The two dresses: I thought it would be very difficult to pull off Cinna’s outfits and the costume designers did a great job with them.

Technology: The technology of this world is much more prevalent in the movie than in the book. I think they chose to play up the reality TV show angle a bit too much; however, showing the behind-the-scenes technology involved in the production may benefit the films as the series continues. One of my biggest problems with Mockingjay is the large disconnect between the world presented in the first volume and that of the third book—this presentation goes a long way to alleviate that.

The Bad

The opening interview clip: The text provided was an effective introduction to the history and concept of the games, and I think the words alone, perhaps with some sort of uber-dramatic music, would have been much more powerful. This series is not about Claudius and Seneca and they shouldn’t have been the first thing we see.

The pacing of the earlier sections: While the portrayal of the reaping was effective, it could have been trimmed, along with the hunting and training scenes. I would have traded much of those for more of Katniss’s alliance with Rue, or the presentation of the muttations. The concept of the muttations are the ultimate punch in the gut for the reader; losing that strips away some of the horror of the book. Also? Enough with the shaky camera already.

Reality TV: Playing up the Hunger Games as reality show was an interesting idea, and maybe even a necessity, considering the need to move away from just Katniss’s perspective, but I think they went a bit too far, especially with the overemphasis on sponsors. It comes off as everyone being complicit in the Hunger Games, which is far from the truth.

The Ugly

No contest. Seneca Crane’s beard. That thing was the true horror of The Hunger Games.

2011: The Year in Books

Tags

Awards, Book Salon, Goodreads, Social Media, Young Adult Fiction

This year, I managed to hit my general reading goal of 60+ books. Once again, the book salon warred with the book challenge, and the salon won. I really didn’t do very well on The Great Unread challenge, although I made a valiant attempt in the final hours when a transcontinental Christmas flight with a two-hour fog delay tacked on the end allowed me to read big chunks of Giant and The Grapes of Wrath. Still many of the books were fairly short and I don’t feel the sense of accomplishment I did last year. I also haven’t been as good about immediately writing up reviews on Goodreads and that’s something I definitely want to be better about in 2012.

Top Ten of 2011

The Book of Illusions (Paul Auster)
Brat Farrar (Josephine Tey)
The Daughter of Time (Josephine Tey)
The Invisible Bridge (Julie Orringer)
Possession (A.S. Byatt)
Richard III (William Shakespeare)
Suite Française (Irène Némirovsky)
Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (John Le Carré)
Unbroken (Laura Hillenbrand)
Water for Elephants (Sara Gruen)

And now the awards!

Best Discovery: Josephine Tey (1896-1952), a Scottish mystery novelist. My love of royals and history would put her Daughter of Time at the top of my personal list, but I’d recommend starting with Brat Farrar. I love her language and the atmosphere she creates as well as how all of her mysteries are distinct from one another. If you like Agatha Christie or are an Anglophile in any way, you will like Tey.

The Book I Feel Everybody Should Read: Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand. This true story is extraordinary in its depiction of both the barbarism and heroism of war. A gripping tale of one man’s journey from the heights of Olympic glory to the depths of a Japanese prisoner of war camp. Even if you think you don’t want to read more about World War II, you do, you really do. Hillenbrand is an amazing storyteller, deftly melding one man’s story with epic historical events. If you liked how she handled Seabiscuit, try this one out.

Longest: The Invisible Bridge by Julie Orringer (602 pages). I really enjoyed this book, despite taking forever to finish it. In fact, the story was so vivid that I could pick it up months later and continue reading where I left off without feeling like I had to go back and reread (which is extremely unusual for me). Obviously, I could totally relate to the main character’s student life in Paris, but, more importantly, I also learned a tremendous amount about life in Hungary before and during the war, something I previously knew nothing about. It is a bit long, but totally worth it.

Biggest Accomplishment: Possession by A.S. Byatt. The start of this novel moves very slowly (mostly because the poetry bogs it down) and therefore it took multiple attempts over the years to get through it. However, when the mystery picks up, it becomes really thrilling and I couldn’t wait to see how it was going to be resolved. And, for once, I really liked the ending. I will definitely be keeping this one on the shelf so that I can go back and reread at some point knowing how the mystery unfolds.

Biggest Surprise: One Day by David Nicholls. When I first heard about this book while visiting friends in London, I misunderstood the premise, thinking it was about a couple who meet up on the same day every year (sort of an extended Before Sunrise, a movie that I hated). Instead, the structure of the book, glimpses into an ongoing relationship over time, really worked well. It gets a bit maudlin at the end, and the characters aren’t necessarily very sympathetic; however, that does add to the realism of it. Of course, for me, that also may have been helped by the fact that these characters graduate university about the same time I did.

The Book I Most Regret Reading: Paris, France by Gertrude Stein. Sorry, “there’s no there there.” I absolutely hated the style and attitude of this book. Completely pointless. Glad I got it off my shelves.

Favorite Young Adult Series: Matched by Ally Condie. The first volume, Matched, was a fun read with pretty good world-building, prompting an immediate re-read. As good as The Hunger Games? Not quite, but it has believably written characters and some promising loose ends to tie up as the series continues. I didn’t love the dual narrative of the second volume, Crossed, but agree that it made sense for the story told in that book. Similar to The Giver, but a more complete, realistic set-up with more relatable characters. This is tailor-made for Hollywood, so watch for it to be “coming soon” to a theater near you.

Most Useful Non-Fiction: The Creative Habit: Learn It and Use It for Life by Twyla Tharp. This book is fabulous. It is much more than a study about creativity because it focuses on the perspiration part of the process rather than the inspiration part. As Tharp says, “before you can think out of the box, you have to start with a box.” While it focuses on the arts (especially dance, musical composition, and writing), much of her discussion of discipline, organization, and habits could apply to the business world as well. There are lots of inspiring anecdotes and self-improvement exercises scattered throughout. Runner-up: Keep the Change: A Clueless Tipper’s Quest to Become the Guru of the Gratuity by Steve Dublanica.

Most Common Theme: World War II. I don’t know whether it was in the air or just on my radar, but a good chunk of my reading involved the war. In rough order of preference: the aforementioned Unbroken and The Invisible Bridge, Suite Française by Irène Némirovsky, Sarah’s Key by Tatiana de Rosnay, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Annie Barrows and Mary Ann Shaffer, Skeletons at the Feast by Chris Bohjalian, Winter Garden by Kristin Hannah, Pictures at an Exhibition by Sara Houghteling, The Reader by Bernhard Schlink.

Most Disappointing: Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury. I was looking forward to reading this classic for our “Disturbing Dystopias” book salon, but was barely able to finish it—and it’s short! Given the concept, I should have liked this, but I absolutely hated the writing style and just couldn’t get past the fact that half the time I wasn’t sure what was going on or what Bradbury’s real message is. It didn’t help that he seems to be a bit of an ass in the epilogue. Runner-up: Revolution by Jennifer Donnelly.

Hardest to Finish: Any Human Heart (William Boyd). So hard that I still haven’t. (Actually I like what I read but it’s just one of those things. I’ll get back to it eventually—right after Wolf Hall.)

Favorite Audiobook: Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson, read by B.J. Harrison of The Classic Tales podcast. Harrison reads a lot of adventure stories in his free short story podcast, so I bought a few full-length books for our “Classic Boys Adventures” book salon to support his work. He does a really good job with this one.

Special Mention: Two friends came out with young adult books this year and they deserve special mention for 1) being generally awesome, 2) writing beautifully, and 3) getting me out of my comfort zone. I probably wouldn’t have picked up a book about the supernatural on my own, or one in verse, but I highly recommend both Cold Kiss by Amy Garvey and Audition by Stasia Ward Kehoe for being incredibly relatable stories about the sacrifices and choices we have to make and live with in our teen years (and beyond).

What was your favorite book of the year? And, if you haven’t already voted, what should I read next year?

The Bestest Birthday Present Ever

Tags

Ballet, Young Adult Fiction

Audition pubs today!

From my favorite writer on the side, the person who got me through all-nighters at college with her crazy ballet stories, and who shamelessly got me into blogging:

Congratulations, Stasia!