(no subject)
La La Land
I bought the La La Land soundtrack from iTunes this morning. Mia and Sebastien's theme is so emotive. I love this movie so much that I preordered the film on iTunes despite it costing GBP13.99; in fact, I even thought the soundtrack was expensive at GBP10.99. But fuck it, it has been years - literally years - since a film delivered a sucker punch to my heart. It is worth it.
It is staggering how much this film speaks to me. I would even rank it around my all-time favourite, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, in terms of the emotional connection that I feel with it. It is also because of how much I love La La Land that I'm annoyed that it's getting all this Academy Awards attention - the more attention a movie gets, the more backlash it faces, and because this film feels personal, I am not at all open-minded to negative comments about it.
Rui pointed me to a review in The Guardian in which the reviewer basically said that Mia and Seb are narcissists, and that the film encapsulates today's culture of narcissism, because how dare young people choose ambition over love? I get the point, I really do; the characters are driven by self-interest, by ambition, and end up sacrificing love on the altar of self-interested ambition. But is this narcissistic? They are acting in accordance with their own ambition as much as they are responding to the capitalistic cultural milieu that has shaped their identities. They are interested in their own success, perhaps disproportionately so, but love is an implausibe choice over ambition when they have been brought up to think differently.
Perhaps the reviewer was right to say that it reflects badly on our times; but it is not because of the characters' narcissism. They are not any more self-interested or vain than the average over-achiever; and any perceived narcissism is really a reflection of the atomistic tendencies of modern-day capitalism.
In any event, all the things that the reviewer said was wrong with the film are also all the things that I love it the way that I do. A sucker punch to the heart.
Bloody Busy Sunday
I have to prepare for my French test and a 10-minute presentation for my discussion group session.
I can't wait to go for dinner tomorrow with my friends, for that will be when the stress is all over.
I probably shouldn't have played impromptu tennis with Jay today at 11am, but it's tennis. It makes me happy. I was hitting the ball quite well today so that was good.
I bought the La La Land soundtrack from iTunes this morning. Mia and Sebastien's theme is so emotive. I love this movie so much that I preordered the film on iTunes despite it costing GBP13.99; in fact, I even thought the soundtrack was expensive at GBP10.99. But fuck it, it has been years - literally years - since a film delivered a sucker punch to my heart. It is worth it.
It is staggering how much this film speaks to me. I would even rank it around my all-time favourite, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, in terms of the emotional connection that I feel with it. It is also because of how much I love La La Land that I'm annoyed that it's getting all this Academy Awards attention - the more attention a movie gets, the more backlash it faces, and because this film feels personal, I am not at all open-minded to negative comments about it.
Rui pointed me to a review in The Guardian in which the reviewer basically said that Mia and Seb are narcissists, and that the film encapsulates today's culture of narcissism, because how dare young people choose ambition over love? I get the point, I really do; the characters are driven by self-interest, by ambition, and end up sacrificing love on the altar of self-interested ambition. But is this narcissistic? They are acting in accordance with their own ambition as much as they are responding to the capitalistic cultural milieu that has shaped their identities. They are interested in their own success, perhaps disproportionately so, but love is an implausibe choice over ambition when they have been brought up to think differently.
Perhaps the reviewer was right to say that it reflects badly on our times; but it is not because of the characters' narcissism. They are not any more self-interested or vain than the average over-achiever; and any perceived narcissism is really a reflection of the atomistic tendencies of modern-day capitalism.
In any event, all the things that the reviewer said was wrong with the film are also all the things that I love it the way that I do. A sucker punch to the heart.
Bloody Busy Sunday
I have to prepare for my French test and a 10-minute presentation for my discussion group session.
I can't wait to go for dinner tomorrow with my friends, for that will be when the stress is all over.
I probably shouldn't have played impromptu tennis with Jay today at 11am, but it's tennis. It makes me happy. I was hitting the ball quite well today so that was good.