By now I assume (or if your aunt is on the internet at all) you have already witnessed Susan Boyle’s “moving performance” on ‘So you think you’ve got talent?’ I watched it and I’ll admit that it was very beautiful. She is an amazing singer (I hope I didn’t ruin the surprise for you) but fuck this groundswell of emotional support that she’s receiving. By being impressed by her performance it seems to me like we’re implying that we should first always assume that ugly people have no talent and be surprised and moved when they actually do. I’d have preferred people be impressed by her ability alone and not have her homeliness be such a huge reason to believe in her. Honestly, I’m much more impressed when “beautiful people” have actual talent. (“Wow, Brad Pitt is actually a really GOOD actor!”)
This isn’t some angry rhetorical question, I’m serious. What is wrong with Graphic Volcano? Are they really this stupid or is this just a bad bad student web design project? They’re name is popping up all over the place today with designers complaining about their work being ripped off by these guys. If you go to Graphic Volcano’s site and just click on their portfolio you’ll see why. It’s not a poster here or there or a random logo or package design it’s a complete download of the entire existence of graphic design on the internet. Seriously, why didn’t these guys just do it right, save themselves the trouble, upload Paul Rand’s entire portfolio and call it a day? That would’ve been easier and just as effective. ”Yes, UPS. That’s one of ours.”
I’m hurt that there’s no Aesthetic Apparatus up there now. Maybe I can email them and put in a request. I’m sure either more updates will come or that site will stop working by tomorrow.
Seeing this promo trailer feels to me like finding out your uncle just passed away but left you a 1937 Bugatti worth $4 million. Okay, not nearly THAT good. But I guess bittersweet. It’s great to see the story of big and little Edie getting the attention it deserves and I have to admit Drew Barrymore looks like a pretty convincing little Edie but the question on my mind (and I’m sure I’m not alone) is why?
The release of this remake is a perfect example of why I love documentary film so much. It can be just as compelling a story without any of the money or bureaucracy that’s usually necessary to create a Hollywood film. Documentary film by definition cannot be produced by a large Hollywood studio. Documentary film has to be nimble, stripped down and flexible under the control of a single vision or small group or else it would never work. Imagine the set and crew (and money) required to shoot a Hollywood film trying to pull off a documentary like Grey Gardens. It would have been impossible to catch the the intimacy that is created via the Maysles brothers and their subject. The original film is such an amazing, heartbreaking, mystifying story and it’s that much better BECAUSE it is a documentary and because these are real people and real lives. Hollywood could rarely invent that kind of story and this new HBO Grey Gardens is a testament to that. I can’t imagine how much it cost to make this. (I wonder how much it cost to make the original.) So if you have never really understood Hollywood or why we all believe it’s as important as Entertainment Tonight makes it out to be, start watching documentaries. If every American watched documentaries that would basically destroy the contemporary entertainment industry. Right? Or is that just WAY to fucking utopian a vision? I guess Hollywood is already kind of destroying itself with ‘reality television’ but I honestly believe that the institution of contemporary entertainment, via documentaries and the internet, could become de-institutionalized really easily.
Oh, and I don’t think big Edie is NEARLY fat enough in the movie.
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More ego + internet. Sorry. (Complaints=dan+at+aestheticapparatus+dot+com)