The Notorious Bettie Page Movie

[40cakes]

So it's a biopic and while one is often allowed creative license, there is the restriction that you should keep it relatively close to the real subject. That being said, you can do your damndest to make the real subject seem awesome.

Bettie Page in this film is a really dumb, naive girl, with no control over her own destiny, but does as she is told and goes with the flow. She's molested by her father, has a short failed marriage, and is gang-raped by a seemingly nice fellow. Personally, I think I'd never want to so much as look at another man again. So when a stranger approaches her on the beach and asks to take her photo, it seems really odd that she doesn't even give so much as a blink to the thought of trusting him. In fact, it seems really odd that she doesn't so much as give a blink to any man when they have her over to their home studios and ask her to show off her ass and take off her top, or eventually put on spiked heels and threaten a fellow pin-up with a whip.

The film also took a very puritanical view of the pin-up/pornography industry, eventually showing us so much of the Congressional "smut probe"* that I felt like the filmmakers WANTED us to side against Bettie and believe that pornography is evil and destroying America from within. So much time in the movie was given to this useless tangent when more pressing and interesting things could've been addressed. Eventually, when Bettie returns to the Church and becomes one of those crazy people in the street reading from the Bible and handing out pamphlets, we're lead to believe that this is a GOOD turn in her life.

It had its cute moments, mostly due to Gretchen Mol, who was an amazing actress. Everyone was a great actor in this really. I just wish the material had been better.

*I think I might have one of those in my hatbox...

Comments

[jaina.livejournal.com]

Technically it's fifth wheel as in cars--I think because a third wheel could conceivably be useful, but no normal vehicle uses five. The language could've migrated enough by now that third is now acceptable, but the difference always comes to mind when someone uses the phrase.

[dialogue.livejournal.com]

OMG RAPIST: http://syndicated.livejournal.com/overheardoffice/470843.html

[pyrobovaphiliac.livejournal.com]

Tricycles don't go as fast. Then again it's usually more likely to have a threesome than a fivesome and fifth wheel would feel even more left out. I like your definition better =)

Moreover, if the guy in the movie was using the phrase it would be an anachronism for him to use it as an acceptable derivation because it would have been purer in 50s. Yay linguistics!