Performances

Saturday morning I turned on the television and it was Legally Blonde: The Musical on MTV. If the show hadn’t been in the midst of the rousing theme “Omigod You Guys!” then it might not have survived my standard one-second channel surfing evaluation. But you know that Broadway is great, and the song was great and the dancing was great and I ended up sitting there the better part of three hours watching the performances. Elle Woods. It was kind of a funny situation, me running back and forth from mowing the lawn to sit and find out what happens next (obviously, I hadn’t seen the movie but I want to now). And don’t groan, people, because although it wasn’t the most cerebral thing, it was meaningful for what it was, and the incredible Broadway performances add legitimacy to the hokiest of premises.

I’ll tell you what wasn’t hokey was that NC-17 Ang Lee movie. No need to say its actual name; “that NC-17 movie” is identification enough. And it was three hours long and subtitled and the plot would have coasted over my head had my sister not broken it down for me the night before, but I was mesmerized long before they began showing testicles (and more!). Actually, there were a ton of still shots (it was a slow-paced film) of faces that were really haunting. Looking at lovely-faced people with their stoic expressions and examining the contours of their faces and the depth in their eyes is a strangely wonderful experience. That seems to be a part of most any movie — the close-up on Tony Leung’s face or on Natalie Portman’s face or on Nicole Kidman’s face (well, maybe not her so much anymore) — as if the actor were right there in front of you. I guess the study of any face is enjoyable for people. Can you imagine studying a parent’s face as a kid? Or studying strangers’ faces on the train? Or like me studying this woman’s face as she looks for a seat in the cafe? Oh, well…she’s out of sight now.  Well, anyway, the movie was like that…it tapped into some basic human enjoyment.  If you know what I mean.