The things that bothered me most were the missing on-screen motivation and a couple plot-driven TSTL moments (the grapes, the lock, the lack of follow-through when one of the good guys makes use of a knife, etc.) and the critical community's bait and switch with respect to the ending. As you said, it isn't a fairy tale; it's a morality tale masquerading as a fairy tale. I think there are a couple sets of biases and frames of reference at work here. The experiences of the Franco regime are inform the Spanish consciousness the same way Hitler and Stalin affect the people of modern Germany and Russia. The atrocities depicted in the film were all based on actual events. Franco and his thugs lacked gulags and concentration camps, but the crimes committed against the Spanish people are every bit as horrific. In turn, that inspired a similar ruthless brutality in the opposition, tempered only by their lack of resources. Americans have a cultural bias toward happy endings. In addition, I have a strong bias against morality tales, because I find it extremely hypocritical of a writer or a director--someone whose lifestyle is as close to the good life as their respective cultures permit--to tell his or her characters they'll get their reward in heaven. This is especially true of moviemakers wallowing in money and international acclaim. (Don't bring up It's a Wonderful Life or we'll be here all day. LOL) But I'm more than willing to point the smoking finger at religious apologists and medieval clerks. I think my prejudices in these areas would come into play regardless of my cultural references. For example, as a second generation Irish-Italian, I'm imprinted with the cultural memory of the discrimination against immigrants which is the flip side of "the golden door". Xenophobia is a grand old American tradition--as are the immigrants' responses to it. Today's gangs are doing the same things in many of the same ways as the Irish gangs of the 19th century, and the Italian and African-American mobs of the 20th. Anybody who says differently isn't reading their history or looking objectively at the sociological implications of extreme fashion statements. When you come right down to it, tats and zoots say the same thing. Just ask a Yakuza. Wait--it might be safer not to. ;-) But even with that memory, that imprinting, I wouldn't be interested in a story about a pointless sacrifice to the ills of my culture. Given, the reading/viewing audience is a lot bigger than me. There are lots of people out there who really enjoy a good cry over the noble tin soldier and the poor little match girl. Makes feel all warm and fuzzy about the comforts they enjoy. So I'd never tell anyone they couldn't produce those kinds of stories. Heck, I might even like one if it's done well. It would need to be done a lot better than Pan's Labyrinth for the reasons stated above, but it's still possible. But I don't want to go into the experience blind. I don't want the reviewers to delude me into expecting a happy ending. Which, I suppose, is the very reason booksellers started categorizing books by genre. Truth in advertising--another fine old American bias. LOL Hugs, Jean Marie
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timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2007-11-05 05:51 pm (UTC)I think there are a couple sets of biases and frames of reference at work here. The experiences of the Franco regime are inform the Spanish consciousness the same way Hitler and Stalin affect the people of modern Germany and Russia. The atrocities depicted in the film were all based on actual events. Franco and his thugs lacked gulags and concentration camps, but the crimes committed against the Spanish people are every bit as horrific. In turn, that inspired a similar ruthless brutality in the opposition, tempered only by their lack of resources.
Americans have a cultural bias toward happy endings. In addition, I have a strong bias against morality tales, because I find it extremely hypocritical of a writer or a director--someone whose lifestyle is as close to the good life as their respective cultures permit--to tell his or her characters they'll get their reward in heaven. This is especially true of moviemakers wallowing in money and international acclaim. (Don't bring up It's a Wonderful Life or we'll be here all day. LOL) But I'm more than willing to point the smoking finger at religious apologists and medieval clerks.
I think my prejudices in these areas would come into play regardless of my cultural references. For example, as a second generation Irish-Italian, I'm imprinted with the cultural memory of the discrimination against immigrants which is the flip side of "the golden door". Xenophobia is a grand old American tradition--as are the immigrants' responses to it. Today's gangs are doing the same things in many of the same ways as the Irish gangs of the 19th century, and the Italian and African-American mobs of the 20th. Anybody who says differently isn't reading their history or looking objectively at the sociological implications of extreme fashion statements. When you come right down to it, tats and zoots say the same thing. Just ask a Yakuza.
Wait--it might be safer not to. ;-)
But even with that memory, that imprinting, I wouldn't be interested in a story about a pointless sacrifice to the ills of my culture. Given, the reading/viewing audience is a lot bigger than me. There are lots of people out there who really enjoy a good cry over the noble tin soldier and the poor little match girl. Makes feel all warm and fuzzy about the comforts they enjoy. So I'd never tell anyone they couldn't produce those kinds of stories. Heck, I might even like one if it's done well. It would need to be done a lot better than Pan's Labyrinth for the reasons stated above, but it's still possible.
But I don't want to go into the experience blind. I don't want the reviewers to delude me into expecting a happy ending.
Which, I suppose, is the very reason booksellers started categorizing books by genre. Truth in advertising--another fine old American bias. LOL
Hugs,
Jean Marie