I am Eben… or maybe Scotty
Yesterday I had 4 movie screenings scheduled. CRAZY! But I loved it.
I was thinking about Portrait of Jennie (the film) and I kept thinking that I probably shouldn’t like it. Even as I was watching it I kept reminding myself that it was over acted and that Eben’s voice overs were ridiculously emo and melodramatic. So why did I enjoy watching it? The answer is: I really don’t know. I don’t even believe in the idea of one soulmate for everyone but I was sucked in by the story. I thought the actress playing Jennie did a wonderful job encapsulating that “timeless quality a woman should have.” For some reason I managed to put aside my realistic expectations of love and embrace the latent hopeless romanticism that I have tried so hard to over come. Maybe I felt so involved in the piece because although I am female and I long to be someone’s Jennie, I am really Eben. I am Eben, that’s my cross to bear I suppose. I would love nothing more than to be the Jennie – the girl with an irrepressable spirit and magnetic pull who can be an inspiration – but I think I’m really just the wandering artist waiting to be inspired. *le sigh*
Now if we jump to Vertigo… woah! I’m not even sure where to begin. How in deep are you when you let the object of your love/obsession/etc. change you into someone other than yourself? I asked myself that question towards the end of Vertigo but then I realized that people do it everyday. Hell, many girls are out there voluntarily changing themselves to attain the guy they think they love. But then I’m wondering even more whether or not Eben and Scotty are really just two sides of the same coin? One takes his obsession and creates art the other… goes off the deep end, right? But it can’t REALLY be that simple. It’ll suffice to say – for the time being – that I can’t wait to discuss this in class!!!