Why Is There Only One American Actor in a Movie Set in NY?

Posted on August 20, 2012 at 3:55 pm

“Cosmopolis” is a new movie based on a book by American author Don DeLillo. It is a story about Americans who work in the world of finance and takes place entirely in New York City. It stars British actor Robert Pattinson, best known for another American role, Edward in the “Twilight” series.

A number of British actors play Americans very convincingly, including Hugh Laurie in “House,” Tom Hardy in next week’s “Lawless,” and Christian Bale as Batman in the Dark Knight movies. And Americans play Brits, too, like Gwenyth Paltrow in “Shakespeare in Love,” “Emma,” and “Sliding Doors” and Meryl Streep’s Oscar-winning role as Margaret Thatcher in “The Iron Lady.”

I’m in favor of casting the best actor for the role without regard to his or her native accent. But there’s more to the story in the casting for “Cosmopolis.” According to Slate, director David Cronenberg explained that the movie was a co-production financed by Canada and France, and so was limited to just one American actor. He wisely chose Paul Giamatti for a small but crucial role. Pattinson’s EU passport qualified as a part of the French component of the film.

I understand that compromise is a part of any project as expensive as this one. But I am sorry to think that decisions so central to the quality of a film are being made for reasons that have so little to do with the quality of the film.

The FTC Helps Kids Understand Advertising

Posted on August 10, 2012 at 1:37 pm

The Federal Trade Commission has an excellent website to help kids be smarter consumers. It’s always a challenge to teach children to identify and challenge the bombardment of advertising messages they get every day. You Are Here’s West Terrace explains targeted marketing and evaluating the claims made in ads. There is also a section that explains how advertising can be helpful to consumers who are looking for products and brands and trying to understand their options. The Security Plaza teaches kids about the importance of protecting their personal information online and being careful about trusting messages that might not be from the businesses they claim. There are also resources for parents and teachers, who can use a reminder on those lessons as well.

What Makes a Really Good Bad Guy

Posted on August 8, 2012 at 3:56 pm

Roger Ebert’s “Far-Flung Critics” are some of my favorite writers on film and Olivia Collette has a terrific new essay on one of my favorite topics — villains, with a focus on Bane in the new Batman movie, “The Dark Knight Rises.” (Warning — there are spoilers.)

A great villain isn’t the protagonist’s polar opposite. It’s someone who reflects the flaws in the hero and says – as Frank Booth in “Blue Velvet” did – “you’re like me.” Villains are also a reminder that heroes conquer their foes with violence. Even if it’s for all the right reasons, violence is violence. Heroism requires some darkness and a reasonable stretch of the moral code. A poorly developed villain is all darkness and no moral code. A great villain asks us to define “reasonable.”

Related Tags:

Understanding Media and Pop Culture

What Movie Could You Watch a Million Times?

Posted on July 24, 2012 at 8:00 am

We all have one. I have several. Very often, it’s not a classic. Sometimes it is a guilty pleasure. But each of us has a movie we could take to a desert island and be happy to watch over and over. NPR’s “All Things Considered” asks people who make movies to talk about their selections and it is a joy to hear them talk about the movies they love and why they love them. Movies I’ve Seen a Million Times has Whoopi Goldberg on “To Kill a Mockingbird,” Donald Faison on “The Empire Strikes Back,” Jared Harris (of “Sherlock Holmes” and “Mad Men”) on “Tootsie.” Well worth a listen! And I’d love to hear which movies you would pick.

Related Tags:

Understanding Media and Pop Culture

Teaching Kids About “Stuff”

Posted on July 14, 2012 at 8:09 am

I like Kirsten Greenidge’s piece in the Boston Globe about what she did when her children had tantrums in a store. She said she understands the appeal of “stuff.” And she described how the seemingly harmless fun of posting photos on Pinterest can lead to an adult version of the gimmies. She resolved to put her kids on a no-stuff diet until the next special occasion, even no free lollipop at the bank. She is going to teach her kids to be more present in their interactions with things.

This is perhaps not the most fulfilling way to meander through life, this coveting, this curating of stuff. It is a means of focusing inward, of connecting to others through objects that are, when all is said and done, simply objects. They make poor substitutes for actual human interaction and connection.

Still, from the back seat, each kid howled. I had come between them and their stuff. I was altering their view of the world — a view that it is OK if your need for more objects affirming your place in the universe takes over your experience as a human being.

Over the weekend, my husband and I drove by what was once, in the days of VHS, a video store. I told him that once, when our son was about 2, I stood with him on the sidewalk in front before we went inside and told him that we did not have time to pick out a new movie, so we were just going to go inside long enough to return one, and he should not ask me to stay. Our son said he understood. A man walking past us stopped to listen. “That works?” he said incredulously. It is so easy to get caught up in the excitement of giving in to the “stuff” monster. But it is a much greater gift to teach children to value what they have.