I Just Want What Everyone Wants
September 18, 2019 11:55 PM Subscribe
A new trailer for Judy. Renee Zellweger as Judy Garland. Judy Garland sings the Battle Hymn Of The Republic.
I dig Judy, (my favorite song of hers) but I'm more than a bit ambivalent about how Garland's addiction and mental health issues are treated as part of her "legend" as if that somehow makes her more a star for continuing to perform in a business that helped send her to an early grave. The tragic dimension of her life, along with her own exaggerated sense of style gives her the "bigger than life" quality that finds her so favored among some as the tension played out in public for all to see.
I can't help but feel a Deanna biopic might provide a better illustration for Hollywood than making a movie about a woman they helped kill, as Deanna Durbin looked at what Hollywood was offering and said "Fuck off." and retired to live her life outside the public eye, refusing even all but one interview about her life onscreen and the manipulations she endured. Of course Hollywood making that biopic doesn't have the same "excitement" in watching someone work themselves to death for public spectacle so in Hollywood fashion there's no hook to a life of quietude, so those stories aren't as "fun" to watch as self destruction and won't get made.
posted by gusottertrout at 1:32 AM on September 19, 2019 [10 favorites]
I can't help but feel a Deanna biopic might provide a better illustration for Hollywood than making a movie about a woman they helped kill, as Deanna Durbin looked at what Hollywood was offering and said "Fuck off." and retired to live her life outside the public eye, refusing even all but one interview about her life onscreen and the manipulations she endured. Of course Hollywood making that biopic doesn't have the same "excitement" in watching someone work themselves to death for public spectacle so in Hollywood fashion there's no hook to a life of quietude, so those stories aren't as "fun" to watch as self destruction and won't get made.
posted by gusottertrout at 1:32 AM on September 19, 2019 [10 favorites]
Just so I don't give the wrong impression, I shouldn't have put quote marks around fuck off since that isn't a quote, just a summation of Durbin's attitude towards how Hollywood treated her and a Durbin biopic would surely go against her wishes, so I wouldn't actually want to see one made, just would prefer that we'd step back from ennobling tragedy for funsies. It sometimes feels like that dimension of womanhood in society is celebrated for all the wrong reasons.
posted by gusottertrout at 1:48 AM on September 19, 2019 [3 favorites]
posted by gusottertrout at 1:48 AM on September 19, 2019 [3 favorites]
Okay, is it just me or does anyone else think Rene Zellweger is kinda a weird choice for playing Judy Garland? Nothing against Zellweger especially, but like one of the first things I think of in regards to Zellweger acting is how much she likes to do that squinty face thing for emphasis and that's not Garland at all, as Garland's appeal came from her performing wide eyed enthusiasm and sincerity.
Also no Judy Garland post should go without mention of her best movie and one of Hollywood's best musicals (in my opinion of course), The Pirate. The play between the personal and social identities one keeps and the way Garland's character takes agency gives it some nice thematic resonance, while the songs, dancing (by Gene Kelly with an assist by the Nicolas Brothers) and comedy make it fun. Garland and Kelly are well suited to playing people caught up in a mix of choosing roles and performing their daily life. It's really nifty!
posted by gusottertrout at 9:54 AM on September 19, 2019 [2 favorites]
Also no Judy Garland post should go without mention of her best movie and one of Hollywood's best musicals (in my opinion of course), The Pirate. The play between the personal and social identities one keeps and the way Garland's character takes agency gives it some nice thematic resonance, while the songs, dancing (by Gene Kelly with an assist by the Nicolas Brothers) and comedy make it fun. Garland and Kelly are well suited to playing people caught up in a mix of choosing roles and performing their daily life. It's really nifty!
posted by gusottertrout at 9:54 AM on September 19, 2019 [2 favorites]
Well you need to do what not everybody does. You need to put in the effort and passion for the thing you want then everything will come to you. Ease is a greater threat to progress than hardship.
posted by hsmith at 2:42 PM on September 19, 2019
posted by hsmith at 2:42 PM on September 19, 2019
Zellweger is talented in her style, but I kinda twitched an eyebrow at this casting. But after seeing the trailer, I must say: pretty impressive make-up work.
posted by ovvl at 5:02 PM on September 19, 2019
posted by ovvl at 5:02 PM on September 19, 2019
I say we give her the Best Actress Oscar now and shave some time off the show.
posted by DrAstroZoom at 8:59 AM on September 20, 2019
posted by DrAstroZoom at 8:59 AM on September 20, 2019
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posted by growabrain at 12:39 AM on September 19, 2019