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Unsatisfied Girls, Nervous Dudes

 

Image Credit: HBO
Image Credit: HBO

Lena Dunham’s interview in Salon makes me have a little more faith in the direction of Girls if only because she focuses less on the “I’m-too-good-for-a-job” hipster dilemma and more on what it’s actually like to be a sexually active young woman in New York City. All we good sex-positive feminists often feel uncomfortable even mentioning some of the negative aspects of contemporary sexuality for fear it will make us seem man-hating or prudish. Also, ”social scientists” love to cling to these details to argue it would be better if we all went back to guarding our hymenical treasures until marriage. Therefore, I’m impressed that Dunham is willing to handle the complex, sticky (sometimes literally) problem of young women being sexual, wanting to have sex, but also finding themselves continually used sexually in ways that are not particularly satisfying and sometimes hurtful and borderline rapey. Unfortunately, even though women are now much more willing to talk about cum in their faces or whether or not to include said face in a sext, many still find it difficult to express their own needs for fear of losing a guy or even seeming like a killjoy.  We still have a long, long way to go until women are getting the enjoyable sex they deserve, and this show seems like it could be one small, awkward step in the right direction. Also, she won me over by referencing the eternal Jordan Catalano/Brian Krakow dilemma.

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All Up Inside Katniss’s Head

Image Credit: Lionsgate
Image Credit: Lionsgate

When adapting an immensely popular book, a filmmaker must always be wary of evoking the wrath of fans if the film diverts—even slightly—from the page. Although the third Harry Potter film is by far the most successful, Alfonso Curón was still criticized for adding gothic elements and cutting superfluous Quidditch scenes. Gary Ross was clearly conscious of this fact when creating the entertaining but slavishly faithful Hunger Games.

Initially, I thought The Hunger Games could be easily adapted to the screen because it is a well-paced narrative. After watching the film, my initial reaction matched that of most other critics: the atmosphere of the reaping was pitch perfect, the cornucopia was horrifying without fetishizing the violence, the slow pacing of the film’s first half and the quick pacing of the second was jarring, and the shaky cam was annoying precisely 99.9% of the time. What was most striking, however, was how the film’s tone and characters differed from the book even though the film was basically a page-by-page adaptation.

I was immediately reminded that this first book takes place almost entirely in Katniss’s head. Entire relationships are formed and played out through her thoughts, and we see her character develop less through her actions—save in a few key scenes (e.g., the reaping, Rue’s death)—and more through her psychological battles and internal reactions to her circumstances. The classic response to this dilemma is, “Well, it’s impossible to film interior monologues unless you include intrusive voiceovers violating every show-don’t-tell law ever written.” I disagree. Yes, you cannot film exactly what is going on inside a character’s head through language, so you should instead use the tools unique to cinema to express the same meaning. Continue reading “All Up Inside Katniss’s Head”