Dan's brother, Steven, and his partner, Kevin, are safely arrived from North Carolina.  We have a variety of activities lined up...movies, possibly a Legoland venture for the two Morefields-by-birth, a jaunt to the beach and Monday we are headed to the Getty Villa and a festive dinner in Santa Monica.

All in all, a good excuse to hang out and relax with people we love.  Nice, eh?

The other "visitors from North Carolina" that I want to blog about is a wonderful independent film called Junebug.  We saw it the other night and while the film was not to Dan's taste, it was right up my alley.

The film is about many things: culture clash in America between blue states and red states, "elites" and "just plain folks;" stifled histories in an emotionally constipated family; the definitions of art; hope and loss.  The extremely engaging aspect of the movie to me was that one had to participate actively in viewing the movie--I found myself concentrating on the ways that the characters illuminated different themes in the movie without the director or writer once telling us what we should think, what the movie was "about," or how we should feel about the characters in their different moments of extremis.

There was a saying back in the screenwriting classes I was privileged to take with David Gerrold and D.C. Fontana:  Show, don't tell.  (I realize David and Dorothy were not the only ones to say this, nor the first ones to say this--I think, but they said it often enough with my scenes that I hear it in their voices.)

This movie does exactly that.  It shows us what it's like to take the risk of escaping a stifling environment while loving the people you left behind.  It shows us the cost of staying behind.  It shows us the cost of hope in the face of crushing loss.  It shows us how differently people define family and what being part of a family requires.

And not once did the film lecture...no characters waxed philosophical.  The movie just evolved naturally from the interplay of characters.  Sort of like life.  And better than reality t.v. ever dreamed.

If you like independent films, if you are content to let story unwind from character, then I urge you to rent or buy Junebug.  Exceptional performances, too, by Amy Adams and Embeth Davidtz, among others.

Leave a Reply