Just a short chapter to bring you up-to-date on the film scene.

As The Glass Onion is yet to be released to theatres in my area and not on Netflix for a couple more weeks, and since I have not started watching my usual Christmas season movies (Charlie Brown’s Christmas, The Polar Express & Love Actually) I figured it might be a good time to catch some intriguing movies…

One that caught my eye on Netflix this week was Dr. Mardston & Wonder Woman. This is based on a true story so I am naturally more drawn to it. While the title would suggest that this is perhaps a comic book type of movie, with cartoon characters, the reality is that the cartoon only comes in obliquely until near the end when it is more front & centre. Rather it is an analytic examination of the guy behind the invention of the lie detector as well as the fictional cartoon character. He is a psychology professor at Harvard and Radcliffe (the original women’s version of Harvard) and his wife is similarly educated (but at Radcliffe) although she cannot get her degree from Harvard even though the courses she takes are all the same as Harvard ones. This conundrum really makes this film partly about the inherent discrimination supposed bright guys have held towards women scholars throughout the twentieth century. The relationship between them is somewhat complicated, and it becomes more so when they take on a student assistant. There is so much I could say about this film, but I will leave it to you to look it up, view it and then reflect on what it is saying to you, your life-style and how you view the life-styles of others perhaps as smart as you are…

The next film I saw at the theatre (in a sparsely attended place I might add) is really one that, if you are trying to figure out how #MeToo got going, or have trouble understanding why really bright women still complain about the lack of true equality, you need to see. She Said is a very well crafted movie, again based on a true series of events. While I knew some of the actors and recognized (but couldn’t name) some others, the real benefit comes from the overall incredible casting, script writing, and believable acting. About two minutes in and I felt I was working alongside the two lead writers from the New York Times. I think you will as well, and they are the stars of this drama. They are persistent, they are insightful, they are human. The story, as it unfolds, is not a comfortable Hallmark Christmas fairy tale. This one is about pain, embarrassment, secrets, lost/denied expectations and yet there is redemption and relief as well. This is a film that needs to be seen by all ages, but especially by young men and women in high schools and colleges across the land. As unsettling as parts are, one needs to see the entire story to finally acknowledge that we (especially men of any age, cohort, or station in life) need to see & reflect upon and then discuss. Go now, before you get too far into the Christmas Season – but take at least one person with you: you will want to talk about it, and about the next steps in the journey…

By the way, if you still care – Have a reflective Advent…

g.w.