A Wrinkle in Time
On Saturday morning, I finally sat down to watch A Wrinkle in Time, which came out earlier this year. I figured I’d turn the movie on and go about some Saturday morning chores. When I’m watching something alone, it’s rare that I don’t move about my apartment or simultaneously do some work or newsletter writing. I settled down in front of my laptop, hoping to outline this week’s issue, when I hit play on the movie. Two minutes in, I’d closed my laptop, moved to the couch and remained there, jaw dropped, as I watched the entire thing. After mixed reviews that emphasized that Wrinkle is a children’s movie, I expected to enjoy the film but not love it, but from its first scene Ava DuVernay’s movie consumed me. I read the Wrinkle book series as a child and remembered loving each story, and I watched the made-for-TV movie when it was released in 2003. Years later, I could remember the main plot points without the specifics, but watching this film was like re-discovering the story in a completely new way.
With a diverse cast, new angle on Meg’s journey of self-discovery, an increased emphasis on the father-daughter bond and the political context of 2018, Wrinkle takes on new meaning and heightened importance, thanks to Ava's direction. When she cast the film, Ava emphasized the importance of creating a universe that reflects real life. Storm Reid does an incredible job playing the many layers of Meg, who struggles with self-doubt and abandonment that stems from her father’s disappearance four years ago. As she’s taunted by bullies at school, she is filled with insecurity and doesn’t see herself or her natural hair as beautiful. Ava discusses the origin's of Meg's hair insecurity in this Vulture article. It's detail like this that work so well throughout the movie. The rest of the cast includes Oprah as Mrs. Which, Mindy Kaling as Mrs. Who, Reese Witherspoon as Mrs. Whatsit, Gugu Mbatha-Raw as Meg’s mother, Deric McCabe as Charles Wallace, Chris Pine as Meg’s father and Levi Miller as Calvin. Ava chose to film the movie close to her hometown, after she grew up without seeing movies that depicted her neighborhood. Ava’s stepfather passed away shortly before she began filming the movie, adding extra layers to scenes about Meg's bond with her father. In press interviews, Ava says she used the movie to work through her own grief. Throughout the film, Meg, Calvin and Charles Wallace are encouraged to fight the darkness infecting everyone by focusing on love and using that strength to become warriors when they return to Earth. The movie is an ode to powerful women. Meg leads the male characters around her to victory, her mother's scientific discoveries lead to the breakthroughs her father made in the end and Mrs. Who, Mrs. Whatsit and Mrs. Which provide the guiding advice needed throughout the film. In an interview with The New York Times, Ava emphasizes the importance of casting white, male characters who follow the lead of black women in the movie. She said, "That was so powerful, to show a white boy following a black girl through the movie... I’ve never seen that... I mean, I have a crew of thousands of people, and it’s not lost on me that I have white men coming up to me all day long like, ‘What do I do?’ And in my early career, there’s some white men that have a problem with that, a problem with even asking me what to do, and taking my direction and believing that I know what I’m saying, because they have no context for even seeing it." While Wrinkle is branded as a children's movie, it has beautiful narratives that appeal to people of all ages. It's exciting to think that the next generation of leaders will grow up with powerful movies that show female superheroes, like in Wrinkle and Wonder Woman, and even more excited to see the brilliant choices made by the real-life female superheroes who directed them.
As Seen on Screen
After the release of Set It Up and more romcoms in the docket, there’s buzz that Netflix is reigniting the romantic comedy. While it’s certainly not the best romcom I’ve seen, I enjoyed watching it on a rainy Friday night. Zoey Deutch, who is a cross between Ellen Page and Anna Kendrick, plays Harper, an assistant to Kirsten (Lucy Liu), who runs an online sports publication. Glen Powell, who looks like a young Alan Ruck and has Ryan Reynolds acting tendencies, is Charlie, an assistant to Rick (Taye Diggs), who is a rich Mark Cuban type. Harper and Charlie are tired of working all hours as assistants, so they come up with an elaborate plan to set-up their bosses to get them to relax and stop being such workaholics. Along the way, Harper and Charlie bond and find love?? You'll have to wait and see! The movie is written by Katie Silberman and directed by Claire Scalon. Zoey Deutch and Glen Powell both do a solid job in their goofy parts, as the quirky assistants who are struggling to find what they want in life. They help each other find the answers in the end. My only issue with the movie is Charlie's roommate, played by Pete Davidson, whose only characteristic is that he's gay. It's really lazy writing in an otherwise smart movie, and I found myself wondering if it was supposed to be a tongue-in-cheek take on the gay friend character in past romcoms, since it felt like such a departure from the rest of the movie. At this point, I'm still not sure. When you take out that misstep, Set it Up is a pretty standard romantic comedy, meaning it's light and fun to enjoy. The buzz it's building demonstrates promise for a genre that disappeared from our big and small screens for years. I'm counting down the days for our Gina Rodriguez romcom.
Haven't You Heard?
After discussing the most recent romcom to be released, I feel like it’s only natural to go back and discuss the evolution of the genre as a whole. As I continue my campaign for more romantic comedies to be created, let’s look at the many amazing films that fall into this category. A note before we get started: Romantic comedies have a lot of problems. Women typically fall into tropes like the clumsy nerd who is bad at love or the workaholic who fears intimacy. The men typically exhibit stalkerish behaviors and don’t take no for answer, and we’re supposed to swoon at that behavior. And most romantic comedies feature white, heterosexual couples. My hope is that the romantic comedies of the future feature a variety of love stories. As we examine the modern romantic comedy below, I’m optimistic that we can tell many creative and diverse stories that feature meet-cutes aplenty:
The Nora Ephron Collection
She exists in a category all by herself! Three of my all-time favorite movies were written and/or directed by the brilliant Nora Ephron. First came When Harry Met Sally, which gave us the swoon-worthy line: “When you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with someone, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible." Then we get the first Meg Ryan/Tom Hanks pairing in Sleepless in Seattle, which certainly has some issues, as Meg Ryan is awful to her fiance and lusts after Tom Hanks for most of the movie. But you get an epic meeting at the top of the Empire State Building, so I’m willing to overlook it. And my personal favorite of the three, You’ve Got Mail, which I will re-watch until the end of time. Not only is it an incredibly romantic story about the journey two people take to find each other, it's also a love letter to books and the power of reading.
The 90s
I’m skipping the 80s, because I actually hate most of the romcoms from that decade but things turn around in the 90s. Let's start with Clueless, a modern retelling of Jane Austen’s Emma. Set in California, Alicia Silverstone sells the journey of Cher, who is a bit self-obsessed but always has the best intentions in mind. In the end, her matchmaking skills pay off. 10 Things I Hate About You features Julia Stiles, who scares everyone at her high school except Heath Ledger, who is persuaded to enter into a bet that he can take her to the school's dance. While You Were Sleeping is set in Chicago and tells the story of Sandra Bullock, who accidentally ends up in an elaborate lie that lands her engaged to a man she’s never met. Trouble ensues when she actually falls for his brother, Bill Pullman, who finally recovers from Sleepless in Seattle and lands the girl.
The 2000s
We reached peak romcom in the 2000s, as studios churned out movie after movie, each following a similar take on the formula. This decade also includes some of my favorites… I saw 27 Dresses in theaters twice and will always be a little bit in love with James Marsden because of this movie. The Proposal features the dynamic combo of Ryan Reynolds and Sandra Bullock, and I’m hopeful that one day they will reunite again on our movie screens. Fever Pitch combines baseball and romance, so I’m definitely on board, plus it was magically filmed the year the Red Sox actually won the world series, so you know the universe is on board with this movie. Sweet Home Alabama is a steamy love story between Reese Withserspoon and her never-quite ex-husband Josh Lucas. 13 Going on 30 features the entire cast dancing to Thriller and gives Jennifer Garner so many fun and emotional scenes. And My Big Fat Greek Wedding explores the family drama that comes after you get down on one knee.
The Modern Romcom
A number of recent filmmakers have attempted a new take on the romantic comedy. Amy Schumer penned 2015’s Trainwreck, to tell the story of a woman who confronts her fear of relationships, behavior that is typically characteristic of men in this genre. Easy A changed the romantic comedy game, with a unique story that focuses mostly on Olive’s journey of self-discovery, while also including tributes to John Hughes films. The Mindy Project, while not a TV show, is a tribute to the romantic comedy genre that quickly picks apart its many tropes throughout the series. In the end, the show demonstrates that relationship don't always work out the way you expect them to and features a female lead that isn’t always likeable. The Big Sick and Love, Simon, both released in the past year, have also given audiences new takes on the romcom genre. Love, Simon tells the story of a high school boy and his journey to come out to his family and friends and find love. And The Big Sick is an interracial love story, involving a woman who has a serious illness.
Required Reading
It's been tough to read the news for the past few weeks. I find myself getting upset and frustrated as I see story after story about the family separations and the racist and incendiary language used when discussing these topics. This week Define America, an immigration nonprofit, released a media reference guide to help directors, writers and producers better understand the immigrant experience. Along with the media guide, they also presented a scorecard evaluating how immigrants are currently portrayed in movies and TV shows. The results show that we have a long way to go. The study revealed that half of Latino immigrant characters on TV are portrayed as criminals and that immigrants overall are underrepresented in entertainment mediums. TV shows and movies have a big impact on the way people understand issues and relate to the people around them. Writers, directors and producers need to do better and stop falling into racist stereotypes when they're telling stories. I hope we get more shows that follow the examples of Jane the Virgin, One Day at a Time and the new shows slated to premiere later this year.
