*if they are attractive. Woe be unto the unattractive woman.
I say this because when I read some critiques of a hot button Oscar nominee, I think some people hold this against women. Or a woman. I thought I might resent the film, much as I thought I might resent films by Sofia Coppola. Neither happened, though I feel like Lost in Translation is a tone piece, no more or less. I don’t think anything is wrong with that. but preconceived notions of entitlement should never get in the way of anything. Unless the thing itself is subject to it. That is to say, Sofia Coppola: Talented, Paris Hilton: Not so much so.
I wrote a piece for Chud about Diablo Cody, and I have to admit I’m pro-Cody, but I will feel horrible for her if she wins the Oscar. I think it will damn her, turn her into the flavor of the week. Give the haters more ammunition. then again on the boards some are using Kevin Smith as a way to insult the writing.
I also wrote something about Heath Ledger, which I did because I liked the man as an actor, and wanted to straighten what I thought was the narrative of his life. in film. The man who started out geared to be the next big thing only to become it after the fact. There have been rumors and commotions about why he died, which becomes important for moralists, when the tragedy is immediate. Granted, if he had died of an overdose of heroin or cocaine it does dull the edges (much as those drugs do) of the inherent tragedy of the event. It makes everyone feel better. Because then it was his fault. TMZ (that bastion of reliable news) has reported that it could be of natural causes.
I don’t blame people for jumping to the drug angle, and getting upset at the thought that another talented man has wasted himself and his life and talent to drugs, but I hope those same people genuflect and apologize for their transgressions. If they don’t, I’ll buy a white glove and slap them across the face. That said, I’m not shocked people chose the drug narrative for his downfall. One: he’s an actor, Two: it gives his life an ending that is partly chosen.
I was out with a friend and he asked me if I would die with regrets. He was annoyed when I said no (he was drinking heavier than I was). The truth is my father was sick for ten years before he finally died, and in those ten years I had to make my peace with death. I had to, because I wished it for my father. And in the end, there is no fair to life, there is no moral. The spoiled rich rarely get their George Ambersons moment, and the poor are often fucked because their environment damns them. And don’t forget to tip your waiter!
Thankfully, anyone reading this lives in the 21st century and has access to a computer, therefore putting them in pretty good stead. Even so, the world is still filled with strife and wars fought over land and goods where people are treated as less than human. And if Heath ledger did die of natural causes, it will put a lot of people out of whack because it might screw with their insular moral/narrative vision of the outside world. Young people dying of natural causes is horrible, yes, but it’s a reality. A reality most people don’t want to face, because it suggests there is no rhyme or reason to the universe. Is it beneficial to come to terms with that? I’m not sure. Accepting the possibility of nothingness is a pretty horrifying thing to face.