issue 16 / volume 40

Under the Feminist Microscope:
More than a few mommy issues

» What ‘August: Osage County’ really teaches women

: drugs. The effects of Violet’s
: dark past are visible within the
: decisions of her three daughters

Julia Siedlanowska
Staff Writer

as the term “mommy

issues” been coined?

If it hasn’t yet been majorly
popularized, August: Osage
County certainly gives us a
reason to use it.

Based on the play by Tracy
Letts, the script itself can be
described as a dark comedy.
However, the film adaptation
leans a little too much on the
dramatic side of things. Directed
by John Wells, the movie stars
Meryl Streep, Julia Roberts,
and Juliette Lewis. Although
it did not blow me away into
a fantastic feminist coma of
pleasure, it still passed the
Bechdel test.

The story is about a highly
dysfunctional family headed by
the tyrannical Violet (played
by Meryl Streep) since the
disappearance of her alcoholic
husband Beverly (played by Sam_ :
Shepard). In a crisis, the family
comes together to tear into
each other and confront Violet’s
raging addiction to prescription

: as they are faced with their own
: seemingly miserable lives.

It’s difficult for me to praise

: the film because of the lack of

: catharsis I felt after it was over. I

: cannot argue that this is a major
: factor in responding to a work of
: art. Although I can see the film’s
: merits, it pales in comparison to
: the staged version. Seeing the

: possibilities for comedy with a

: bawdier acting style (allowed

: on the stage, but missing from

: the movie) left me depressed,

: and the film’s focus on the pain

: and suffering of the characters

: offered little relief. It’s not that

: kind of extreme pain you feel in

: Blue Valentine either, when you

: know it’s good. It’s the kind of

: dull sadness you get froma truth :
: you've already seen. Perhaps it

: was the close-ups on Roberts’

: all too familiar “Hollywood

: Sweetheart” face that didn’t quite
: convince me. Where the final

: image on the stage is—without

: giving anything away—striking,

: witha collapsed figure in the

: middle of the diseased house,

: the same feeling we get from

: that image is lost in the film,

: giving way to a cop-out added
: scene of Roberts’ driving away
: into the sunset, so to speak.

The film has its positives

: and its negatives, froma

: feminist perspective. The cast is
: predominantly female with the:
: leading characters being women. :
: Hurray! When they are not :
: talking about their husbands,

: boyfriends, or father, they talk

: about their relationships with

: each other or with their mother.
: It does remain a family drama

: however, with domestic issues

: rarely branching out into more

: expansive themes. Although part :
: of the plot involves indigenous

: people’s issues (“You can't

: play ‘cowboys and Indians,

: it’s called ‘cowboys and native

: Americans”), this is about as far
: as it goes.

The play gives some very

: meaty roles to women, with

: Streep’s and Roberts’ obviously
: standing out as the heftiest.

: More importantly, it gives

: meaty roles to older women.

: “Women get ugly when they’re

: old,” says Streep’s character, a

: pertinent statement in the film.
: Violet continually harasses

: her daughters over losing their

: beauty or not taking advantage

arts // 9

 

Still from the film August: Osage County // By Claire Folger

: of it at all, revealing her own self. : :
: hatred ina world where only sex :
: the Bechdel test, I wasn’t wowed.
: The drama still remains centred

: around family-based issues, and
: does not create an innovative

: female role model capable of

: helping herself to evoke real

: change—the crooked smile and

: walk away by Roberts just wasn’t
: enough.

: and youth are desired by men.

: Although the statement itself is
a negative one, acknowledging

: the cultural belief that women

: get ugly when they are old and

: that “men can preserve their

: sex appeal well into old age”

: issomething positive in film.

: Becoming one with the idea and
: laughing about it is, I believe,

: one of the first steps to changing :
: scare me into changing. I am

: grateful that the characters were
: so fleshed out and that the film

: deals with mother and daughter
: issues, but I’m going to hold

: out gushing for something that
The film—although roughly :
: the park.

: it. Disassociating oneself

: from the idea of needing to be
: beautiful to a man is freeing,

: giving way to the possibility of
: finding alternate values and

: definitions of beauty.

the same length as the play—
: skimmed over some details and

: was too dreary and single-toned_ :

to elicit any emphatic praise.
Although it doubtlessly passed

I think I'd rather be left
with hard-hitting pessimism to

knocks the stereotypes out of

When will Hollywood learn to stop butchering Asian masterpieces?

» ‘Oldboy’ American version cheapens Korean original

Patrick Vailancourt
News Editor
Minews

a @theotherpress.ca

OO

Lx it to Hollywood to
take a masterpiece from
a foreign land and tarnish its
good name. While it makes
perfect business sense to
attract a North American
audience to a film using the
name of a foreign classic,
more often than not there are
cultural and societal factors
that are overlooked.

Such is the case with
the American remake of the
South Korean blockbuster
film, Oldboy.

I’m not entirely sure
it’s appropriate to call ita
remake. Except for some
small character details, the

: Spike Lee version of Oldboy
: is almost an exact replica of
: the Korean version played

: out in English. The opening
: 20 minutes of both films—

: where the titular character

: is in captivity for reasons

? unbeknownst to him or the

: entirely identical.

: There are some cultural
: elements that simply cannot
: be replicated in North

: American film culture. For

: example, the title character

: being held captive for 20

: years without knowing

: what the punishment is

: for is not something that

: is easily understood by

: an American audience.

: In Korea—a developing

: country with a reputation for
: having avery brutal criminal
: underground—this kind

: of plot is easily believable,

: especially when you consider
: viewing audience—are almost :

people being sold off as slaves :

Except for some small character details, the Spike Lee
version of Oldboy is almost an exact replica of the
Korean version played out in English.

: to fishing boats without being :
: heard from again.

The gratuitous violence

: inherent in Oldboy alsowas_ :
: not something palatable with :
: audiences on this side of the
: Pacific. While the remake
: was appropriately R-rated,
: the title character’s quest for
: vengeance in this movie is

: not something that the North
: American viewing public
: is used to seeing. The Lee
: remake of Oldboy doesn't fall

; story.

: Here are some raw numbers
: for you to consider.

: wook, had a budget of

: $3-million, a fraction of the

: American remake, said to

: be over $30-million. Park’s

: version of Oldboy made over

But enough with the

: $14-million, far surpassing the
: revenues generated by Lee’s

: version, which only generated
: $1.25 million over its five-day

into a typical American genre, opening weekend.
; but is rather a hybrid between : The temptation for
: an action film and a horror : Hollywood to piggyback

: on the success of this
: Korean classic is certainly

understandable, but a
disastrous idea from start to

subjective analysis of the film. :

The Korean original,
directed by Park Chan-

finish. One can only hope
that this American remake
does not tarnish the value of
the Korean original film.

There are great foreign

films out there, and I think

: the differences between

: these two versions of Oldboy

: show that North American

: audiences should look to

: expand their horizons and get
: adventurous. While the film

: industry may be dominated

: by Hollywood, don't be fooled
: into thinking that they have a
: monopoly on good ideas.