Morpheus by Patricia Barber

Seeing Aguirre today was interesting, though I think I will save my comments until after I've thought about it a little more and given some chance for Herzog & Ebert to speak. The thing I noticed most about the screening was the way the audience seemed to think they were so superior to the characters in the film and through this very mechanism are repeating the errors of the characters in the film. Aguirre is about would-be Spanish conquerers searching for El Dorado on the Amazon and slowly going insane. It may not sound like it has a lot in common with our lives, but a sense of moral superiority pervades the group and ultimately leads them to their doom. I found this attitude on the part of the audience incredibly grating and spent most the film imaging it was actually science fiction occurring on another planet to help me acclimate myself to the material. [Further thoughts have been moved to a separate entry.]

Finished Moral Clarity this morning (which may have made me extra sensitive to these attitudes) and I will also have a lot to say about that in due course. However, it's late so I will capture the following before it escapes me. The following song has totally insinuated itself on me and I thought I would provide a few links re: provenance (at least the way I hear it) before I go to bed:

Morpheus by Patricia Barber

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Aguirre and the Wrath of God

Seeing Aguirre last night was interesting, though I think I will save my comments until after I've thought about it a little more and given some chance for Herzog & Ebert to speak. The thing I noticed most about the screening was the way the audience seemed to think they were so superior to the characters in the film and through this very mechanism are repeating the errors of the characters in the film. Aguirre is about would-be Spanish conquerers searching for El Dorado on the Amazon and slowly going insane. It may not sound like it has a lot in common with our lives, but a sense of moral superiority pervades the group and ultimately leads them to their doom. I found this attitude on the part of the audience incredibly grating and spent most the film imaging it was actually science fiction occurring on another planet to help me acclimate myself to the material.

( More on Aguirre )

Feminist Link-o-rama!

( Links to Chew On )