Joan Acocella has written an interesting piece at The New Yorker headlined “Love’s True Kiss: “Maleficent” ‘s Complex Sexual Politics” taking a look, obviously, at the more socially-driven aspects of Angelina Jolie‘s Maleficent, a film I just declared one of the worst of 2014 so far and referred to in my review as a “tiresome slog”.
Acocella, doesn’t necessarily get into the actually filmmaking behind Maleficent, but focuses more on the message, almost approaching it the same way I did Transcendence, which was me finding fascination in the ideas the film presented while at the same time recognizing the film’s flaws. While recognizing the “sexual politics” (as Acocella refers to them) in Maleficent, I still couldn’t get beyond how poorly made it was, though at the same time I didn’t give them the same kind of credit I gave the ideas I so admired in Transcendence. Is this fair?
It’s one thing for me to say…
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…the film is largely targeting a female audience, but should I be more open to what Acocella refers to as a “wholesome revisionist message [attained] without righteousness or sentimentality”? I saw and understand everything Acocella appreciates about the film, but by the time most of what she refers to takes place I had already checked out. It was one of the few films from this year I would have walked out of had I not been reviewing it.
I think it’s important to question our approach to these things. I think it’s especially important when I’ve written a particularly negative review, to attempt to understand the other side. In this instance I can understand the other side when it comes to the film’s “sexual politics”, but what I don’t understand is how people can overlook the boredom and dull nature of the film’s narrative. I understand that’s an opinion, but while Acocella sees the film’s message as presented “without righteousness or sentimentality, I felt it was presented with the subtlety of a sledge hammer while a bunch of CGI creatures flitted around the screen and Jolie sat brooding for 90 minutes.
Different strokes I guess, but I’m trying…
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