[lit-ideas] Re: Superman Returns
- From: "Andy Amago" <aamago@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sun, 2 Jul 2006 11:36:00 -0400
[Original Message]
> From: Omar Kusturica <omarkusto@xxxxxxxxx>
> To: <lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Date: 7/2/2006 6:07:29 AM
> Subject: [lit-ideas] Re: Superman Returns
>
>
>
> --- Andy Amago <aamago@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>
> He also complains, appropriately, I think,
> > that the characters are too young-looking for the
> > part. They probably are, but that might be in
> > large part because movies today are made with an eye
> > toward world, rather than U.S. consumption. Most of
> > the world (especially the developing world) are
> > obsessed with youth. In a lot of the world, once
> > you turn 30 you enter the realm of the living dead
> > for the rest of your living dead life.
>
> *I find this rather puzzling. I would have thought
> that it is the modern cultures that tend to emphasize
> youth and physical looks, while traditional cultures
> tend to place more value on maturity and social
> accomplishments. This is no doubt a generalization but
> I am still surprized that you would assert the
> opposite with such certainty.
>
I would have thought the same, but it turns out that what I would have
thought is a failure of logic. I was at one time personally acquainted
with a quite number of Indians (I was taking a programming course run by
and pretty much for Indians, although there were some Americans in it). To
be sure, a lot of them were over 30 and quite alive and well. But age was
definitely a consideration. There was one girl in the class (sample size
of one, but not really), 25 years old, who considered herself the "baby",
literally used the word baby. She agonized at a birthday. The instructor
herself, who was probably about 35, claimed to be 25. And on and on. It
was kind of pathetic, actually. The very fact that Superman?s producers
cast such young-looking actors, says it all. Note that Lois Lane is now a
single mom. I almost defy you (almost) to find a Hispanic family of
father, mother and children. Almost invariably it?s mother and children,
no husband, and more than one father, even several fathers, for her
children. The new and improved Lois Lane is the reality; the young Lois
Lane is the societal construct. Note she?s both young and with a five year
old child. That?s reality the way it really is in a lot of the world,
including the changing U.S. with its illegal immigrants.
I invite you to watch a Bollywood movie. Notice that all the main actors
are young, and white skinned (I have yet to see a white skinned Indian; I
don't know where they get them). The old actors are all normal darker
skinned. I don't remember if the bad guys were darker skinned or not in
the movie I saw recently. Back when taking the course, I was invited to
the home of one of the Indians (she had quite a nice home) and her
television was on with an Indian movie. It was virtually the same thing,
young white or light skinned actors. All their movies are basically the
same formula. In the movie I saw in my Indian friend's home, there was
also violence against women. That was absent in the Netflix Bollywood I
saw. Also, much of the developing world has a high birth rate, so a lot of
the population is in fact literally young, teenagers, as Andreas pointed
out. It's also my understanding that in India a lot of Bollywood movies
are what we would consider soft porn. Young women "clothed" in see through
saris, etc. (Wall Street Journal I think.)
Europe might be a little better in terms of allowing people to exist in
time. Judy can tell us about England. I know when I was in England a long
time ago, newspapers advertised for specific ages, invariably under 45 and
most a lot younger than that. Russian employment ads are the same. Here
in the U.S. there certainly is ageism but it's more covert and it's against
the law. I think the laws that were enacted in around 1990 give protection
to people over 40. 40, can you imagine. I also remember a post once from
Didier about how he came to open a bookstore. It was because he turned 50
and basically (paraphrasing) he was too old to continue in his regular job.
Here 50 is, they say, the new 30, and 60 the new 40. In theory anyway, but
at least the sentiment is in some of the air and some of the water. Having
said that, there are plenty of people in the U.S. who dread getting up in
the morning because they're one day older, and try and find a birthday card
that isn't some variation of older the hill, starting at, yes, 30. I have
a personal friend who, when he turned 40 about 25 years ago, all but
thought his life was over. He and his wife still have the potholder on
their wall that says, 40 and still cooking. Kind of puts a perspective on
things.
I had no intention of seeing Superman Returns, but I think I'll see it
after all. It might be fun for everyone to go out and see it and we can
talk about it. Or not, as the case may be.
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