Leon Panetta, portrayed by James Gandolfini in Zero Dark Thirty, talks about the film and says he thinks it was an accurate portrayal of those events. Though he wasn’t around for the interrogations he knows that the way they ultimately found Bin Laden was from many different ways of gathering information over a long period. Watch the interview with Martha Raddatz.
Ever wonder about those crabby snacks and homemades from Silver Linings? Here is a recipe for crabby snack and here is a recipe for homemades! via Huffpo food.
Speaking of Silver Linings, it recently won best film at the second inaugural Australian Academy Awards.
Meanwhile, The Frisky looks into the notion of slut shaming and Silver Linings, writing, “Is Lawrence receiving buzz for playing Tiffany because it’s truly her best performance, or is it because, for the first time in her career, she’s playing a strong woman who compromises a part of herself for a man? Tiffany is a great character and Lawrence plays her wonderfully. But Tiffany does not exist in a vacuum, and the way she is treated by Pat matters. Tiffany doesn’t strike me as a person who is necessarily meant to be monogamous, but if she is, she’s certainly not meant to be with a man who judges her for her past. That’s not in keeping with Tiffany as a character, or with the other characters Lawrence has played throughout her career. I’m glad that “Silver Linings Playbook” features a woman who is unapologetic about her sexual history – I just wish that her love interest could share in her comfort with it.”
Sally Field telling Ellen Degeneres on Lincoln bringing tears to Obama’s eyes:
“Then afterward… Jimmy Spader said, ‘I saw him (Obama) toward the end lean down and wipe his eye’. We were all really, really moved. He then came around to us all and thanked us… Caught in the headlights of his face, coming at me, I said – and I wish I hadn’t, because I feel a great deal of loyalty towards (character, Lincoln’s wife) Mary – ‘Aren’t you glad you’re not married to her?’ I didn’t want to say that, it just came out like that.
“He recovered for Mary and said, ‘No, no, not at all, I thought she was really amazing’. And I did too.”
I actually loved SLP, but I think we’re on the same page when it comes to the wrong use of ‘sexism’, etc. It’s not that I’m worried the films will be accused of sexism, et. al, but that the idea of depicting casual and almost hierarchical sexism is considered a reification of it. People praise Mad Men for showing sexism but I actually think instead of showing the casual quality of day-to-day sexism while showing the overarching effects of it, it overdoes the former and diminishes the latter. But because it overdoes the former, it proves that it itself is not sexist.
This goes back to something I said on another article here which is that I’m sick of people equating ‘Strong female characters’ with ‘strong females’. There is a difference. A strong female character can be a very weak female person who is beautifully rendered, whereas someone like Maya in ZD30 isn’t a character at all, just a tough-person vessel who happens to be played by a woman.
I’m starting to worry that unless all films start off with the characters already accept all the divisions in the world, than they’ll be accused of racism, sexism, etc. etc. Regardless of the character development or the expressed reason for their -ism.
Just imagine, Remember the Titans will be accused of being racist because “I just wish white teammates could share the black players’ comfort with their race.” I didn’t love Silver Linings Playbook and so as a film I’d probably give it a B, but it’s quite clear there was never intention of slut-shaming. Especially since it also depicts the shame attributed to mental illness. So it’s quite clear that the concept was to say that neither of these characters felt accepted by those around them just because they might vary from “normal”.
Agreed, Jason. As a feminist, I believe that just showing a world where there is no slut-shaming is like being a pacifist who shows a world with no murder. The point is Bradley Cooper’s progression as both a man and a character.
Also I don’t think the original writer saw Winter’s Bone. People love this role of hers because it’s exceptionally well-acted and well-written.
I am a big fan of Sally Field’s work, but I need a bath and a shower after that.
You will see me cut and paste this quote over and over again.
“Some of the detainees who provided useful information about the facilitator/courier’s role had been subjected to enhanced interrogation techniques. Whether those techniques were the ‘only timele and effective way’ to obtain such information is a matter of debate and cannot be established definitively.” – Leon Panetta
To me, it’s the definitive quote, especially since it was written before the ZDT controversy ever erupted. And it was in a private letter to John McCain so it was devoid of posturing.
“Silver Linings Playbook” features a woman who is unapologetic about her sexual history – I just wish that her love interest could share in her comfort with it.”
But doesn’t the development of Cooper’s character reveal that he was projecting his own insecurities onto her? We are never fooled into liking Pat when he says those things. For the most part, he is labeled as pathetic or insulting by her, his father, and various others.
If we were to flip the characters, a new argument would arise. In this inverted scenario, the woman would be recognizing that she was projecting her insecurities onto a man. In that case, people would be saying the film was sexist for implying that women who are uncomfortable about a man’s promiscuity are doing so just because of their own insecurities. That would have gone over well. Or, people would have just ignored the debate altogether since that dynamic has been present before in other films and TV shows (recently, Barney on “How I Met Your Mother” comes to mind).
The film does fall back on the manic-pixie dream girl archetype a bit, but that archetype bothers me as much as women’s fantasies of men – not one bit. Most recognize them as fantasies.
Love that Silver Linings Playbook article, and the mental illness article on slate which it links to as well.