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]

She's gang raped by one guy? Does he have multiple personalities?

[fadingembers.livejournal.com]

My bad on bad words and stuff. This seemingly nice guy is all "Hey, my friends brought me along to come dancing, and I feel like a third wheel - you're real pretty, wanna be my dance partner?" And then she gets in a car that gets progressively farther and farther away from the town and is dropped off with a bunch of guys who hand money to her date. See, I think if that happened to me, I wouldn't be so eager to put on uncomfortable shoes to take hot pictures for men.

[jaina.livejournal.com]

Dude, she should've known he was bad as soon as he said third wheel instead of fifth wheel. Rape pimps always fuck up colloquialisms.

[dialogue.livejournal.com]

there you go blaming the victim, Angie.

[jaina.livejournal.com]

It's not my fault she's a WHORE.

[pyrobovaphiliac.livejournal.com]

Are you sure it's not third, as in bicycles?

According to the movie, Betty Page wouldn't know a bad guy in he was wearing horizontal stripes and carrying the severed head of a nun in one hand and a spear with puppies impaled on them in the other.

Though Casey's review is adequately harsh, keep in mind we saw one good movie and one freakin' awesome movie this weekend. Betty Page had competition too stiff for an HBO movie.

[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.

[nothingjerk.livejournal.com]

"hatbox"

Is that some new fangled Slang?

[mistressrenet.livejournal.com]

...but what about the female photographer who shot some of her most famous photos?

[fadingembers.livejournal.com]

Bunny Yeager? Bunny had some appearances, whenver Bettie would take a vacation down to Miami. Bunny was awesome, but the black-and-white film used her as little more than a style device (look! She's in Florida now, so the film's in color!)

[fadingembers.livejournal.com]

I'd tell you more, but that's red area since you're a coworker.

[nothingjerk.livejournal.com]

It was Red of me to even ask, sorry

[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!

[mistressrenet.livejournal.com]

I still wonder if I missed my calling by not trying to be the next Bunny Yeager. :D