Spanglish not so Awesome
6:46 AM 0 Comments »
Hollywood has a great way of seeing human desire and fulfillment as supreme. These feelings/desires supersede all else, and they draw you into a story where you are expected to want the same for these characters, even if it means abandoning commitments or promises.
A perfect example of that was in the film that Will and I watched recently; "Spanglish". Every story has an antagonist and a protagonist. In a lot of stories the antagonist is perfect in their role. There is very little redeeming about them and their protagonist counterpart shines by comparison. I felt this story had a sea of antagonists of varying degrees.
This was obviously not what the writer wanted anyone to think. It's clear who the heroes and supposed victims of the story are intended to be.
Family breakdown; A chef husband who worked long hours, a neurotic wife who was obsessed with perfection, an overweight daughter, a son who garners no real description, and an alcoholic mother in law. Enter Spanish, single mother housekeeper. Her earthy and natural beauty plus good deeds toward the members of the house put her in the perfect spot to be adored.
Long story short, Sandler ends up having an emotional affair with the housekeeper which results in an evening of shared feelings, kissing and an admittance of love. All the while the wife is having an affair; a full fledged one. But, because she's been painted as not so likable and because her affair is full on affair style, it's meant that you pretty much loathe her.
With the love expressed between Sandler and housekeeper and the way these characters have been set up, it is intended that you sympathize with them, feel sorry for them and wish for them to be together. There was an obvious conscious there, but they bathed this affair in beauty instead of the destruction that it always is.
We saw the opposite of this yesterday in Fireproof. While the cast was all volunteer and at times that showed, there was an amazing richness and heart in the story, and the moments that were important were very well done. I encourage couples to go see it before it leaves the theaters, which will probably be soon.
Peace out! Love you all!
A perfect example of that was in the film that Will and I watched recently; "Spanglish". Every story has an antagonist and a protagonist. In a lot of stories the antagonist is perfect in their role. There is very little redeeming about them and their protagonist counterpart shines by comparison. I felt this story had a sea of antagonists of varying degrees.
This was obviously not what the writer wanted anyone to think. It's clear who the heroes and supposed victims of the story are intended to be.
Family breakdown; A chef husband who worked long hours, a neurotic wife who was obsessed with perfection, an overweight daughter, a son who garners no real description, and an alcoholic mother in law. Enter Spanish, single mother housekeeper. Her earthy and natural beauty plus good deeds toward the members of the house put her in the perfect spot to be adored.
Long story short, Sandler ends up having an emotional affair with the housekeeper which results in an evening of shared feelings, kissing and an admittance of love. All the while the wife is having an affair; a full fledged one. But, because she's been painted as not so likable and because her affair is full on affair style, it's meant that you pretty much loathe her.
With the love expressed between Sandler and housekeeper and the way these characters have been set up, it is intended that you sympathize with them, feel sorry for them and wish for them to be together. There was an obvious conscious there, but they bathed this affair in beauty instead of the destruction that it always is.
We saw the opposite of this yesterday in Fireproof. While the cast was all volunteer and at times that showed, there was an amazing richness and heart in the story, and the moments that were important were very well done. I encourage couples to go see it before it leaves the theaters, which will probably be soon.
Peace out! Love you all!
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