Wendy And Lucy: Antidote to the Traditional Chick Flick?

The film Wendy and Lucy is about a young woman named Lucy who is moving to Alaska to start a new life with her dog named Lucy. During a pit stop in Oregon, Wendy's car shuts down and she gets arrested for shoplifting. While Wendy is sitting in jail, Lucy goes missing and thus most of the film is about Wendy's search for Lucy. The story thus steers away from the stereotypical chick flick in that it focuses on the separation of the protagonist and her dog while also weaving in little tidbits about the social and economical issues taking place in the town Wendy is stranded in.

In traditional chick flicks, there seems to be common theme of people coming together, rather it be by two people falling in love or two friends rebuilding/strengthening their relationship or just the story of maturation of the protagonist. Traditional chick flicks are traditionally see as either whimsical or "lovey dovey" themed and are aimed toward women. There isn't really a deep thought put into the films and most follow a formula. In addition to this the protagonist is usually a very feminine female (one that wears a great deal of pink and flaunts her femininity) or if the protagonist is butch, a makeover of some kind is utilized. 

However, this is not the case for the film Wendy and Lucy. When we meet the protagonist Wendy, there is a definite air of "butchness" to her. Wendy has a boy's haircut and wears flannel and cutoff shorts just like any boy would. There is no makeover. In addition to this, there is an underlying theme of looking for the American Dream. The town where Wendy is stranded is without any flash or glamor and the people are just regular people. The town doesn't have many jobs. What little acts of charity expressed to Wendy (when the security guard gives Wendy $7 to help her) are rare, not, as it seems, from unwillingness, but inability. This is further emphasized but theme that in order for one to get something, you have to already have that something (if you want a ob you have to already have job). Although the recession is not explicitly addressed, there are many allusions to it (the rundown look of the setting, the conversation about work with the security guard, the grocery associate comments "If you can't afford to feed a dog you shouldn't have one", Wendy's sister being unable to aid Wendy when she gets stranded.) 

Another theme that sets Wendy and Lucy apart from other chick flicks is the theme of separation. Most of the film is about how Wendy deals with losing Lucy. Instead of growing stronger, she seems to get weaker the longer she is without her companion. Her loss permeates the whole story. It is not until the end when Wendy finds Lucy, but decides to leave her with someone who she thinks is better suited to take care of her that we see Wendy as strong. This ending is the only portion (in my opinion) in which the film examples a theme that could be shared by a  typical chick flick: the protagonist getting stronger or leaving with a new resolve. In the final scene, we see Wendy leave Lucy, but at the same time become a hero (unlike a typical chick flick) because she decided to put the needs of Lucy before her own need of companionship.

In the end, I'm not sure I would consider Wendy and Lucy a chick flick at first glance, but I think that is because the movie draws on other genres to fortify its story. This movie could easily (in my opinion) be seen as a road movie or a social problem film. Either way, I do think this film is different in its approach of weaving different genres into this "chick flick".

O Brother, Where Art Thou?: Use of African American Motifs

The film O Brother, Where Art Thou? by the Coen brothers although set in the 1930s (a time in which racial unrest was prevalent) and set around the story of three Caucasian convicts named Ulysses Everett McGill played by George Clooney, Pete Hogwallop played by John Turturro, and Delmar O'Donnell played by John Blake Nelson who have escaped from prison to find gold that Everett has hidden, focuses on a great deal of African American motifs throughout the movie which habitually tend to be the saving grace of the three men.

In the opening of the film, we see an African-American chain gang singing while working in a rock quarry. As the African-American men sing while doing their work, Everett and his companions Pete and Delmar escape. The African-Americans provide the cover to distract the deputies from seeing the three men. Ironically, the song being sung is about the the fate of the Everett and his companions, they sing about the a sheriff telling the deputy to fetch Lazarus (Everett and his companions are being hunted by the sheriff and deputy, thus they are the Lazarus of which the chain gang sings). Later in the movie, as Everett and his companions attempt to hop a train, but fail, they are looking for a way to escape the deputies on their heels when an old, blind African-American man comes scooting along on the railroad on a wagon. The men's fates are once again save as the man gives them a ride while also predicting their fate.

Ironically, the next time their paths are intertwined with a black man is at a crossroads which could be meant to symbolize the intersection of the African American predicament and Caucasian predicament in the 1930s. Especially in the South, because during this time neither group of individuals had the upper hand. The Depression evened the playing field for the all Southerns whether they were African American or Caucasian. The crossroads could also signify the intersection of the past and present by using the myth of Tommy Johnson (or could signify myth of Robert Johnson; both Johnsons were influential American Delta blues musicians who were thought to have sold their souls to the devil for talent at the crossroads) of the past with the interpretation the his myth in the present (i.e. O Brother).
Which ever it may be, the crossroads seems to foreshadow the intermingling of African American Tommy Johnson and the three men's fates later in the film.

Another example of the refuge African American motifs offer Everett and his gang is when Tommy is kidnapped by the KKK and the three men go to rescue him. The three men put on black face so that they could not be seen in the dark by KKK members, after which the KKK members accuse Everett and his men of being mulattoes who have infiltrated the KKK. Black face has been a part of African American history and fact that it was used in the movie not as derogatory tool but as a instrument in subterfuge to save the three men once again examples the Coens use of using African American motifs as saving grace for Everett and his men. I think the usage of the motifs with in the film are spectacularly used and, whether intentional or not, still speak to the genius of the Coen brothers.

My Own Private Idaho Campfire Scene

 

In the film My Private Idaho, Gus Van Sant explores the genre of "New Queer Cinema". In the campfire scene at (starting at 50:50), the main character Mike, a narcoleptic, gay street hustler, tells his friend Scott that he loves him. His confession is something that the viewer expects, but I think the great thing about the scene is setting that was chosen and the way the scene was acted out.

Mike’s declaration of love is done during the campfire, which in a way makes the scene a little more sensual. Campfires are mostly seen as a place that secrets are told and that people open up to one another. This is what happens in the movie. However, what I like about this scene is the dialogue and the way that Mike tells Scott he is love with him. Mike throughout most of the movie is sort of scene as the person who need to be taken care of  (which is mostly done by Scott). His meekness makes him loveable. So in this seen when he tell Scott he love him, although he does it in his meek sort of way, he is actually forward. Up to this point in the movie, this is the most “masculine” quality shown by Mike, being that up until this point he was taking most of his cues from Scott. In this scene he shows a sort of forwardness and aggressiveness that wasn’t show before, he is reaching for what he wants. In this scene, I think Van Sant did a good thing by showing Mikey this way, because then Mike is no longer a one dimensional character. It shows that Mike although loving and meek, does have wants and desires whereas before we saw hi as someone who just goes with the flow. Not only this, the scene adds dimension to Mike, with out it being over dramatic and over the top.