Links and a review
I love it when actual history gives me the rare kind of triangle I like instead of loathe: E. M. Forster shared a policeman with the man's wife for thirty years. Am not surprised this only started to work better once Forster developed a relationship of its own with May (the wife) as well and came to befriend her as a person, instead of just seeing her as a a threat and disruption to his relationship with Bob (the husband). See, in fiction - and I mean pro fic and fanfic alike - I resent a "A and B love each other, but B is also with C/married to C; C however is just a beard/nonety because clearly the love of A and B must reign supreme" scenario. Not only if C is female which C is in about 70 of the cases, at least as far as fanfic is concerned. I mean, it may happen this way, and of course if we're talking history (and present in parts of the world today) then many gay men had to deal with marriages that were a concession to their society's homophobia. But I still always wonder about C and wonder what was/is in it for her (or in rarer cases him), so those rare cases where A loves B and B loves A but B also loves C and A either loves C from the get go or developes feelings for C in the course of the story make me happy as a reader. In this particular case, while I am unsurprised and amused to hear that Forster before meeting Bob Buckingham had this snobbish fantasy of being "looked after by the robust and grateful lower classes" (I mean, I read Maurice) only to find the real article was far more knowledgable and educated and with opinions of his own then he'd imagined, I'm also fascinated at how he went from hostile toleration to actual friendship with May - via an intense correspondance while she was recovering from an illness. Which to me makes so much sense for a writer.
****
Of course, sometimes the historical artefacts that make it into papers are far more of the "oh dear/what the hell" sort. The FBI asking MI5 to spy on Chaplin for them after Chaplin had been banned from returning to the US isn't suprising - though really, chaps, you so deserved Philby, Burgess and McLean when you allowed the cousins to waste your time like that - but George Orwell denouncing him as a secret commie before his (Orwell's) death was. Meanwhile, it's fascinating to watch this British newsreel about Chaplin's arrival in Britain in 1952 for what it doesn't mention, to wit, the news that Chaplin received en route from the US to Britain via ship. You know, that telegram about his greencard being no more. I can't imagine the British media not knowing about this by the time Chaplin arrived (the journey then took a week), and yet, not a word in the newsreel, but a distinct not so subtext of "WE love you even if the Americans don't anymore".
****
Courtesy of the BBCiPlayer, I watched Small Island, a tv two parter based on the novel by Andrea Levy. I haven't read the book but loved the film, minus the voiceover narration which felt like the one from Blade Runner (before Ridley Scott got rid of it in the Director's Cut) in that you get the sense the whole thing was filmed originally without said voiceover and then some studio boss said "but I'm not sure the audience will understand all if you DON'T EXPLAIN STUFF IN DETAIL, get on that", and so they hastily added it. But voiceover aside, the rest is superb, acting and story both. Small Island focuses on Jamaican immigrants to Britain during and after WWII. Though "immigrants" is already an unfair term: as Small Island points out, the Jamaicans were raised to regard England as "the Mother Country" and to revere all things British, only to find themselves in for racism and treatment as anything but equals once they actually were there. (Thus the "small island" of the title is Britain, not Jamaica.) The story is also remarkable for what it gets right by not doing. Because of the main characters, one, Queenie, is white, but at no point do you get the impression the black characters are there to serve her story, or that they need her to get their rights as people. (Queenie, Gilbert and Hortense are occasionally helpful to each other, but it's a two way street always, and they're treated as equally important characters by the narrative in what they all contribute to the plot.) You get a good sense of the Jamaican community, and especially of post-war Britain (still dealing with rationing, war left poverty and rebuilding on all levels). The characters are richly fleshed out and not caricatures, not even Queenie's husband Bernard who easily could have been (he's a dull man, which isn' t the same as a dull character, and very much a bigoted racist, but he's also damaged by his war experience and completely out of his depth with Queenie). (Given that Bernard, who is "only" a supporting character and hence often absent, is played by Benedict Cumberbatch, I wonder how many of Cumberbatch's new fans will watch this and complain he's not being sexy and/or dominating the story.)
The characters who really make Small Island are Hortense (Naomie Harris) and Gilbert (David Oyelowo) (and okay, Queenie (Ruth Wilson), too), the two Jamaicans whose dreams of coming to the "mother country" and experiences with the reality of it move the story along. Their relationship is a story trope which, if well done, I like very much: marriage of convenience between two initially hostile parties who then start to appreciate each other for what they are and come to care deeply as they go through adversities together. Gilbert originally enlists into the RAF out of idealism, finds himself relegated to chauffeur instead of getting the chance to fly, but returns to England after the war nonetheless in hope of better chances. His sense of fun, sociability and natural kindness make him a great foil for Hortense who is tightly controlled, proud and distrustful of strangers. Hortense is a teacher and her dream of becoming a teacher in England is what sets the plot in motion. Wanting to change your life is a running thread through the story - Gilbert and Hortense want it, but also Queenie (who starts out as a working class girl from Yorkshire and comes to London to do just that) and Hortense's cousin/foster brother Michael is the first to leave Jamaica (as he'll later leave England) and has a brief affair with Queenie. The only character who wants to get back to a past status instead of wanting change from life is Bernard.
I kept thinking "where do I know Naomie Harris' voice from" and then it finally clicked from me: she played Kalypso in the Pirates of the Carribean movies. Mind you, it really isn't so easy to recognize her, because a) Kalypso was always shown with heavy make-up, and b) Hortense's precise elocution as a teacher is quite different from the way the films let Kalypso speak. But it was great to see her here in a main part. David Oyelowo I actually had seen on stage before, in the RSC adaption of Aphra Behn's Oronooko (he played the title role), and as Volpone's servant in Volpono; he's incredibly endearing and moving as Gilbert here, the type of screen character you fall in love with.
In conclusion: very much worth watching. On iPlayer or elsewhere!
On a tangentially related and thematic note, I don't know why until 2010 I thought Shirley Bassey was American, but I did, and only two years ago did I discover she was Welsh, from Cardiff, no less. So because RPF has corrupted me and Torchwood has Jack namedropping all the time anyway, I keep wondering whether anyone ever wrote her meeting Jack Harkness. Here she is with one of her signature songs, performed in Cardiff in 1985 when she was already a living legend:
This entry was originally posted at http://selenak.dreamwidth.org/753765.html. Comment there or here, as you wish.
****
Of course, sometimes the historical artefacts that make it into papers are far more of the "oh dear/what the hell" sort. The FBI asking MI5 to spy on Chaplin for them after Chaplin had been banned from returning to the US isn't suprising - though really, chaps, you so deserved Philby, Burgess and McLean when you allowed the cousins to waste your time like that - but George Orwell denouncing him as a secret commie before his (Orwell's) death was. Meanwhile, it's fascinating to watch this British newsreel about Chaplin's arrival in Britain in 1952 for what it doesn't mention, to wit, the news that Chaplin received en route from the US to Britain via ship. You know, that telegram about his greencard being no more. I can't imagine the British media not knowing about this by the time Chaplin arrived (the journey then took a week), and yet, not a word in the newsreel, but a distinct not so subtext of "WE love you even if the Americans don't anymore".
****
Courtesy of the BBCiPlayer, I watched Small Island, a tv two parter based on the novel by Andrea Levy. I haven't read the book but loved the film, minus the voiceover narration which felt like the one from Blade Runner (before Ridley Scott got rid of it in the Director's Cut) in that you get the sense the whole thing was filmed originally without said voiceover and then some studio boss said "but I'm not sure the audience will understand all if you DON'T EXPLAIN STUFF IN DETAIL, get on that", and so they hastily added it. But voiceover aside, the rest is superb, acting and story both. Small Island focuses on Jamaican immigrants to Britain during and after WWII. Though "immigrants" is already an unfair term: as Small Island points out, the Jamaicans were raised to regard England as "the Mother Country" and to revere all things British, only to find themselves in for racism and treatment as anything but equals once they actually were there. (Thus the "small island" of the title is Britain, not Jamaica.) The story is also remarkable for what it gets right by not doing. Because of the main characters, one, Queenie, is white, but at no point do you get the impression the black characters are there to serve her story, or that they need her to get their rights as people. (Queenie, Gilbert and Hortense are occasionally helpful to each other, but it's a two way street always, and they're treated as equally important characters by the narrative in what they all contribute to the plot.) You get a good sense of the Jamaican community, and especially of post-war Britain (still dealing with rationing, war left poverty and rebuilding on all levels). The characters are richly fleshed out and not caricatures, not even Queenie's husband Bernard who easily could have been (he's a dull man, which isn' t the same as a dull character, and very much a bigoted racist, but he's also damaged by his war experience and completely out of his depth with Queenie). (Given that Bernard, who is "only" a supporting character and hence often absent, is played by Benedict Cumberbatch, I wonder how many of Cumberbatch's new fans will watch this and complain he's not being sexy and/or dominating the story.)
The characters who really make Small Island are Hortense (Naomie Harris) and Gilbert (David Oyelowo) (and okay, Queenie (Ruth Wilson), too), the two Jamaicans whose dreams of coming to the "mother country" and experiences with the reality of it move the story along. Their relationship is a story trope which, if well done, I like very much: marriage of convenience between two initially hostile parties who then start to appreciate each other for what they are and come to care deeply as they go through adversities together. Gilbert originally enlists into the RAF out of idealism, finds himself relegated to chauffeur instead of getting the chance to fly, but returns to England after the war nonetheless in hope of better chances. His sense of fun, sociability and natural kindness make him a great foil for Hortense who is tightly controlled, proud and distrustful of strangers. Hortense is a teacher and her dream of becoming a teacher in England is what sets the plot in motion. Wanting to change your life is a running thread through the story - Gilbert and Hortense want it, but also Queenie (who starts out as a working class girl from Yorkshire and comes to London to do just that) and Hortense's cousin/foster brother Michael is the first to leave Jamaica (as he'll later leave England) and has a brief affair with Queenie. The only character who wants to get back to a past status instead of wanting change from life is Bernard.
I kept thinking "where do I know Naomie Harris' voice from" and then it finally clicked from me: she played Kalypso in the Pirates of the Carribean movies. Mind you, it really isn't so easy to recognize her, because a) Kalypso was always shown with heavy make-up, and b) Hortense's precise elocution as a teacher is quite different from the way the films let Kalypso speak. But it was great to see her here in a main part. David Oyelowo I actually had seen on stage before, in the RSC adaption of Aphra Behn's Oronooko (he played the title role), and as Volpone's servant in Volpono; he's incredibly endearing and moving as Gilbert here, the type of screen character you fall in love with.
In conclusion: very much worth watching. On iPlayer or elsewhere!
On a tangentially related and thematic note, I don't know why until 2010 I thought Shirley Bassey was American, but I did, and only two years ago did I discover she was Welsh, from Cardiff, no less. So because RPF has corrupted me and Torchwood has Jack namedropping all the time anyway, I keep wondering whether anyone ever wrote her meeting Jack Harkness. Here she is with one of her signature songs, performed in Cardiff in 1985 when she was already a living legend:
Click to viewThis entry was originally posted at http://selenak.dreamwidth.org/753765.html. Comment there or here, as you wish.