Films Change Lives

Our conversation includesTeaching Paris is Burning—the value, the challenges, the joys and surprisesThe freedom of the drag balls in New York (as documented by the film)Pronouns (and how they’ve changed over the last few decades)Gender reveal partiesIntersections of race, class, and gendered identifies and identify modificationsMoya Lloyd’s article titled “Performativity, Parody, Politics” (1999)A close study of a monologue by Junior Lebeija in the film (MC of the balls shown)Responses by bell hooks and by Judith Butler to the filmGender as performanceFashion as manifest temporalityFashion with camp value, and fashion as empowermentThe importance of chosen family, especially within and among queer communitiesQueer language that subverts gendered norms, with intersectional resonancesThe physical, economic, and social vulnerability of many of the film’s subjects, in relation to their strength, adaptability, versatility, and resiliency Gay bodies as sites of resistance and satirical playBodies as vessels that can be both limiting and freeingOther representations of queer people that have a following, including: The Adventures of Priscilla: Queen of the Desert, To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything, and Will and HarperBall culture in counterpoint with yuppie culture of the late 1980sThe value of documentaries that capture people’s lives, especially in the face of their mortality The power of Dorian’s last words in the filmJenny Olsen’s story of attending the film at an early screening of 1400 people: the impact of the film as it attracts audiences and inspires collaboratively sharing itThe limits of language in relation to lived experienceThe value of being a creative human being in relation to the reality of AI on the rise (not in the film’s moment, but looking back on it)Carrying a perspective in the body, partly in remembrance of the lines from this film This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit filmschangelives.substack.com

We discuss:Film as a gratifying experience, a roller-coaster ride!The value of shared or collective experienceWanting to extend the film by talking about itClassical narrativeChains of cause and effects (and also effects before causes!)The film’s will or the “filmind” (applying a philosophical concept from Daniel Frampton’s book Filmosophy)Cinematography by Larkin Seiple All stylistic elements working together for maximum affectBlurred distinctions between reality and dreamingBeing programmed to fear, but this being mixed with unusual, rescuing moments of humorIdeas and representations of quintessential American communityAmerican communities representing types of people, and as previously imagined in westerns, or Classical Hollywood films by John Ford or Howard Hawks or Alfred HitchcockNon-diegetic music as a form of thinking (especially in connection with the child protagonist, Alex)Music that honors the power of a childThe importance of rationality in the face of terror, but also the limits of thatThe fragility of a stable community in America (even going as far back as the post WW2 era)The ending as a payoff for the anxiety we lived through the film!Possible social statements on police brutality, the commonality of gun violence, and specific threats to children in schoolsBruce Kawin’s concepts of “good” and “bad” horrors (i.e. horrors with a sense of moral purpose, or not)The genesis of the film in some of the director’s Zach Cregger’s life—his living with an alcoholic parent, and his dealing with the sudden tragic death of a friendGenre mixing: combing the western, horror, zombie movieGeorge Sanders, “A Swim in a Pond in the Rain”Drawing on Sanders’ teachings, the story as a structure or a framework upon which we can hang our ideasThe film allowing critical distance and time to process its own extremitiesConnections with John Carpenter’s original HalloweenTonal complexity, bravura performances, and a knockout final sequence!NOTE: this episode includes mature content, including many references violence and thematic content unsuitable for children This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit filmschangelives.substack.com

We discuss:Representing the American Midwest, the especially lives of people in MinnesotaTonal ambiguity and cinematic strangeness!Carter Burwell’s genre-bending scoreIronic parallels between Fargo and Hitchcock’s Psycho (1960)William H. Macy’s oddly charming performance as a loathsome characterThe film’s connections with westerns and films noirThe film echoing Shakespeare’s problem plays and/or theater of the absurd (notably Waiting for Godot)No Country for Old Men (2007) as the inverse of FargoA Serious Man (2009) as it resonates with the humor of FargoThe subversion of narrative and gendered norms, especially in the strength of Margie’s character and in relation to Classical noirA harsh winter environment for offsetting and understanding the warmth and softness of MargieA feminist approach to the characters of both Margie and JeanThe value of gallows humorDefining a worldview of the Coen Brothers, in terms of confronting awful things with hilarious detailsFinding surprising depths of morality, especially in relation to ideas of greed and toxic masculinityThe significance of a key representative scene featuring two non-main characters: Officer Olson and Mr. Mohra How the film speaks to current trends in the political climate of AmericaWhat morals we can learn from the film NOW, going beyond its nostalgic value This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit filmschangelives.substack.com

We discuss:The wonderment Marcel inspiresThe voices of Jenny Slade and Isabella RosselliniThe genesis of the movieThe treatment of everyday objects as precious, sometimes repurposedThe impact of multi-media storytellingThe significance of seeing the world on a different scaleSources of inspiration, such as Sarah Penwarden’s creation of found poetry (in relation to Marcel’s world of found objects): see “Reliving a Poetry Symposium through Found Poetry”Disconnection as well as connection through social mediaDeciding what to hold on toFinding one’s place in a big worldThe importance of showing conflicts unresolvedBreaking from Hollywood norms of conflict-based and investigation-based narrative constructionThinking beyond the limits of the bodyThe idea of dust as skin, and its being all around us as a symbol of mortalityThe opposite of fear-mongeringCherishing everyday and re-appreciating everyday detailsThe power in a way of seeingSmall details that matter hugelyBuddhist implications of the film’s processesPhilip Larkin’s poem titled “The Trees,” as featured in the film This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit filmschangelives.substack.com

We discuss:The reality of hospice careMichelle Aaron’s book Death and the Moving Image (Edinburgh University Press)Familial, cultural, and cinematic strategies for coping with griefThe place of children in a household of grief-stricken adults Grief management in a specifically Mexican cultural contextThe importance of memories and especially remembering moments of laughter while facing death Ideas of non-linear timeSpirituality as a form of healing hopeThe value of ritualThe reality that family members handle death and grief in wildly different waysThe importance of communicating with children through a time of griefThe significance of namesThe film’s ending and the wishes is does/does not grantNon-dogmatic belief systems How children can experience and express grief The value of conversation with and among grieving family members This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit filmschangelives.substack.com

This podcast reflects my love of cinema and hearing about the films that have changed other people’s lives for the long term. While I’m an established scholar, editor, and author who loves sharing my own love of cinema, I’ve come to realize that it’s the dialogues with others that teach me the most. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit filmschangelives.substack.com

We discuss:The dearth of nuanced representations of deaf people on film, and CODA as an important new exampleASL in cinema: pitfalls and opportunities for relaying physicalized expressivityMusic as self-expression in relation to coming-of-age and personal growth across generationsPerfectly imperfect parenting Leftist emphases on community-minded, localized solidarityThe value of generative quietA film that inspires amateur music-making Connecting music with togetherness in CODA This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit filmschangelives.substack.com

We talk aboutThe deceptively simple plot of The Quiet GirlExquisitely nuanced visual and sonic details of life within itThe distinctively Irish vision and mindset of the filmThe Irish language being featured (unusually for a globally successful release)Sharing the film experience with loved ones who will understandThe difference between realizing and verbalizing what is to be understood in this very subtle filmThe significance of subtexts throughout the filmPainful suppressed truths of dysfunctional family life and potential domestic abuseMusic relaying consciousnessStephen Rennicks’ compositional styleSubtleties of sound effects and Foley artistrySonically being in the worldUnspoken but full loveSmall but crucial acts of kindness This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit filmschangelives.substack.com

Please forgive the relatively low-grade quality of this pilot episode. We recorded it at home via Zoom, which felt right because of the personal subject matter. It was a cold, snowy, winter day, and the film uplifted us. We discussed:Processing the film together, in real time, while it was still freshBeing virtually “seen” by the filmQueer isolationQueer children and their parentsMulti-generational politics of queernessTranscending time and deathCommunication with the deceasedHope beyond tragic ends This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit filmschangelives.substack.com

We discuss:Greta Gerwig’s distinct directorial approachAuthentically representing teenage life and beingSocial class in AmericaEmotional realnessMeaningful ellipsesPhil Lowrie and “Crash Into Me” as a “crystal song”Stand-out performances by Saoirse Ronan Laurie MetcalfMaternal melodramaSuppressed emotional truths and poignant subtexts of life at high schoolSisterhood beyond the family This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit filmschangelives.substack.com