Logging

Film:  Margaret

Not an enjoyable film.  Tedious, 3 hour director's cut, hailed by some NPR critic as an American Masterpiece.  I wasn't a fan.  I don't recognize the people in this world -- the upper middle class east coast liberal -- similar the the world of Girls.  Are people really like this?  Do teachers let kids get away with cheating in school?  Do parents give advice to their kids to not tell the truth to the authorities about an awful, tragic event?  Do bus drivers who run over people lie to the police about it?  Do teachers allow their students to flirt with them shamelessly and then have them over to their apartment and have sex with them?  Do teachers catch kids smoking pot, let them get away with it, and then allow the kids to mock them?  Do drama classes really entail the teacher insisting all the kids bring up their public grievances with one another?   Do dad's living all the way across the country abruptly cancel their summer vacation plans with kids they don't see because they don't "feel" like going?

Maybe they do.  But then the question is:  does this make good drama?  I don't think it does.  What was I rooting for during the film?  The honest truth: for it to be over.  Not a good sign.  I just don't see who sees this movie.

UPDATE:  Another thought on this subgenre of film/tv - the exploration of upper west side New York post Seinfeld and post Woody Allen -- what annoys me about this setting is how the characters in these films think they are worldly and just-about-the-most-sophisticated-people-on-the-planet and it almost couldn't be further from the truth.  These characters are narrow and almost provincial in their attitudes and concerns -- and they don't realize it.  At least rednecks know they are rednecks.