An Open Love Letter to Alice Guy Blache (And Pamela B. Green)

Be Natural: The Untold Story of Alice Guy Blache 

How often have women been erased from history? Considering, as many feminists have pointed out, that it is literally HIStory, I would say for at least the last 6000 years. When did we decide socially that men were the dominant gender in society? It's not only based in religion. In this brilliant blog on The Creation of Patriarchy, by Renee Gurlich, she researched that: 

"(Around 4000BC) In Mesopotamia, patriarchy become embedded with the transition from subsistence living to agriculture, the formation of cities and the rise of militarism; and this seems to be a pattern." 

Yes, this seems to be a pattern in all societies as humanity moved from hunter/gathering, and the gendered roles of civilization became codified into the fabric of what women and men were supposed to be. Gender is a social construction, and unfortunately, for the amazing Alice Guy Blache, the late 1800's France adhered to these gendered principles. 

Alice Guy Blache producing in the late 1890's

That's why Born Natural: The Untold Story of Alice Guy Blache is so incredible. I've been studying film for 30 years and I'd never even heard her name. I'd learned of Leon Gaumont, the French inventor whose Film Company is the oldest functioning in the world, but I'd never heard of his secretary, Alice. 

Leon Gaumont and one of his still camera inventions

That is the historical significance of Born Natural, we learn of the true female inventor of cinema and based on the notion of patriarchy discussed above, she is remarkable! She is the first human to tell a story with moving pictures and it's time to replace the irreverent notion that men and only men began this industry. For it is the unscrupulous ideology of maleness that determined moving pictures were only a 'fad' in the late 19th century that allowed Guy Blache to become the first to make what we consider a movie today. Before her, moving pictures only captured the natural movements that people were organically making. There wasn't a narrative directed into these moving pictures. Alice was the first to tell a story with this medium and she became the premier teacher of how to do so. For me, that deems her a modern Socrates. She could have kept the knowledge to herself. Instead, she spread her tutelage throughout this burgeoning industry. 

Timeline of all Alice Guy Blache did, BEFORE her male counterparts in the film industry

Instead of thanking Alice Guy Blache for what she gave them, the men she taught took credit for nearly every film she produced. Yes, patriarchy can be a real bitch! So today, I am very thankful for the astounding work of Pamela B. Green. Thank you for introducing me to Alice Guy Blache. And today, I'm tormented by the fact that I can't thank Alice. As a women in her 50's who feels that I had to push a little harder through my life to equal my male counterparts, I am enthralled, enraptured, mesmerized and honored to learn of the great Alice Guy Blache. I also know the patriarchy of her time was a bit more prolific than mine, which makes her story even more momentous. Thank you Pamela B. Green, for giving me the opportunity to express my gratitude in this letter. Without you, I would have never known. It is my hope that the angel Alice, in some sort of way, may now know that her life's work has contributed to the confident optimism of so many of us today. Please, Lord, let her know!

Pamela B. Green - Auteur of Be Natural: The Untold Story of Alice Guy Blache

Dear Ms. Alice,

It is with great joy that I wish to thank you personally for the amazing contributions you made to the advent of cinema. Though the ideas, techniques, and tools you established, may have eventually come to light, it is my belief that the world of cinema would have been vastly different without your touch. Women are great communicators and organizers. On a scientific level it has been proven so (just in case a man wishes to argue this point). Your ability to master every aspect of this craft and then teach it to hundreds, if not thousands of others, makes you one of my all-time favorite humans. As a feminist, the fact that you are a woman is merely icing on the cake. But it is the grace with which you told your story, the absence of any visceral anger, that I most admire. How did you keep it together when all the men you taught took credit for what you did? Worse, they almost resentfully critiqued that with which you actually were accredited? Yes, Ms. Alice, I've learned from you one of the greatest lessons of my life, and I wish desperately that I could have shared it with you in person. Nobody can ever take away what you have truly accomplished. When you are certain of your own truth, it simply isn't anyone else's to have. Bless you and please know, there isn't a film class that I will ever teach, that will not know your name, what you've bestowed upon the film industry, as well as your amazing grace.

With all the gratitude in my heart,

A really big fan ~ Guin

I give Be Natural: The Untold Story of Alice Guy Blache 5 out of 5 hearts

One for each score that she was forgotten. It's heartbreaking that it took 100 years to get to review this story. It is enlightening and I feel nothing short of exuberance, that alas we get to do so!

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Avengers: Endgame is a money game! (and I still love it).

 Avengers: Endgame is a money game!

I love the Marvel universe! Every action packed, humor infused, save the world, love story! They are so good that you are disappointed if the Rotten Tomatoes rating of a Marvel flick is less than 90%. How can EVERY SINGLE FILM be so good?  Don't even get me started on JJ Abrams and his Disney, Star Wars reboot. I was mad at him for years but the films were still good. That's why I also love to hate on Disney. I think it's more of a jealousy thing than anything. How can one company own EVERYTHING in house? Disney's list of holdings makes it easy to understand that it's one of the largest companies in the world. It is also one of seven media companies that control every piece of information that comes in or out of my brain! It also brings in over 82 billion dollars a year. PLEASE let that sink in for a second...82 BILLION a year!  That's almost a trillion dollars profit in a decade. I also push back on the company that claims to corner the market on Family Values, when its original innovator, Walt himself, had less than altruistic beliefs. Disney wanted to make good films for SOME people, but not others. Not very family oriented if you ask me. 

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly of Disney

Okay, okay! So this post is about Avengers: Endgame. But as a cinephile, I would be remiss if I didn't explore my true feelings about the blockbuster, every time I review one of these masterpiece Disney action films. They do it so well!!  Most Disney releases are proclaimed a "Classic" in a couple of years. But part of the reason is that Disney has so much money, it's near impossible for a film to fail. The budget for Avengers: Endgame was around 400 million dollars. It's crazy that after saying 82 billion, that doesn't sound like much but goodness gracious, it is! The average price of a blockbuster today is around 50 million. Every Marvel universe film at least quadruples that number. I can't blame them for doing it! Avengers: Endgame has made almost 3 Billion dollars. Okay, let that one soak in. ONE FILM MADE ALMOST 3 Billion dollars!!!

So yes, I love the action packed, hugely enjoyable, blow up the world and save it romp that is the Avengers franchise. And I cried at the end of Endgame. Yep, I said it. As much as I know that it's wrong, some strange little person in me is in love with Tony Stark. I KNOW HE'S NOT REAL! lol! Somehow Disney and RDJ made me connect to him on a personal, professional, and save the world level. From the first 2008 Iron Man, he became my pretend boyfriend. I told my children he was their real father!

Spoiler ending of Endgame. Not sure how it could be spoiled for anyone unless you are NOT one of the hundreds of millions of people that have seen this film! 

My soul was crushed at the End of Endgame and that is exactly why I know it was a brilliant franchise. As with most fictional films, these characters are not real, but we love them like they are. That is what Disney does so well too. Vertical integration: The building of every aspect of a company within and outside of it without any outside resources needed. Disney has mastered this and it is why the films are so hugely successful and also why they make so much damn money. There is no separation of ideas when in housing all aspects of a film project. It becomes a seamless congruence of efforts and ideas of what the film should be. It's brilliant, but gives Disney an awful lot of power over the film industry, our psyches, and the overall impact on society that this "family values" company has. I think we are at a point where most everyone has considered how problematic it was that every Disney princess until Jasmine was white. They even whitewashed the story of Pocahontas. They clearly got the message in a few decades though, as Black Panther is the most successful film in the Marvel Universe. It took 100 years from Walt's Jewish hating self, for this company to move in the direction it should have. That is problematic for me. This is a company that claims to corner the market on family values. 

Alright, I know this wasn't much of a review of Endgame. IF you could possibly be a human that did not see this movie, SEE IT! But please watch the first two first. And if you are really smart, you will watch the WHOLE Marvel universe in chronological order, through every franchise.   I did this with the Star Wars trilogies and it CHANGED MY LIFE (yes, I'm a drama queen). 

So of course, I give this film 5 hearts out of 5 hearts and each one of them beats for Tony Stark!  But do not ever forgot the financial, societal, and personal influence that this company has over you, and billions of other people all across the planet. Disney lives in our brains and that's exactly where they want to be. 

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A Quiet Place Won't Stop 

Making Noise In My Head 

When I first watched the above trailer of A Quiet Place, I decided not to watch the movie. I thought, "Another alien movie, attacking earth, in an apocalyptical future, plus it's directed by "Jim" from "The Office." I've seen that one already a hundred times. No thank you!"  

I really thought it was another attempt to create a summer horror flick that drives kids to go just because of the genre. And I LOVE horror movies! I just don't like them when they are rip offs or the same old Alien Invasion we've already seen. Take a look at this Wikipedia list of these types of films and you will get my point. Just War of the Worlds has been made 11 times!

Now, I say that was a dumb call on my part and I owe Krasinski an apology because his directing WAS GREAT! The acting performances were stellar as well.

The impetus of this film is what drew me into it. Most parents know the painstaking feeling of trying to protect their children at all costs. "Don't fall, burn yourself, or talk to strangers" Keeping kids quiet so they aren't eaten by alien monsters, was not on my list of protections for my children. KEEPING KIDS QUIET? Anyone who has ever interacted with a child knows this is pretty much an impossibility. Still, that is where A Quiet Place lies, in this world where even the slightest noise can get you wiped out. Krasinski and his sound design team of Erik Asdahl and Ethan Van der Ryn (who also did sound for the recent release Cocaine Bear) wanted to play with the fear of silence in a world where you must be silent and I have to say it was brilliant. 

Millicent Simmonds gave a profound performance as the oldest daughter of the family. The decision to clear sound (envelope as they called it on set) in the scenes where she was the pinnacle protagonist, was uncanny. We WANTED to hear for her so she would be safe but we couldn't. What an awesome choice to help the viewer feel what the character was feeling. I would say it went one step beyond that as well, because we could empathize in a way that most of us never get an opportunity to do: Not hear, like she couldn't. It was shocking to us, normal for her. 

John Krasinski explaining why they used the silent effect for the daughter

In my opinion it is the sound design of this film that makes it so...everything. The fear, the intensity, the drama, the emotion, our connection with these characters is all guided by the soundscapes that were created in each scene. Listen to the completely eerie sound of those monsters. I don't even need to see them to be freaked out! For example, (SPOILER ALERT) when the mother is about to go into labor and the monster is entering the house. It's not just what we see that is scary, it's the combination of the monster, that time ticking, the alarm, the quiet, held-in screams as she had each contraction. This was probably one of the most thrilling scenes I have watched in ANY scary movie!

What is usually the determining factor of a good horror or thriller for me is the denouement. How long do I feel the effects of how this film unraveled in the end? I was thinking about it for days. I watched it again the following weekend and found myself jumping at the same stuff...THAT I KNEW WAS COMING!  How was this effect created? By blending silence that we aren't prepared for, with loud blasts that were unexpected as well. Many horror films use a crescendo technique to build intensity, but not this film. It would be totally silent for many seconds and then BOOM! It is a physical response that we have to consider is remarkable from a two-dimensional space. Let's face it, we only use two senses when we are watching movies, what we hear and what we see (unless you count the smell of popcorn:). It takes incredible artists to play with these senses to give us something that feels 3 dimensionally REAL! A Quiet Place is a compelling example of how sound can bring you deep into the action and make you feel things beyond what you are seeing. After my second viewing of this film, I had a nightmare. Not about the monsters, not about keeping my kids safe, not about someone dying, but about that damn creepy clicking noise that those creatures made. I couldn't get "A Quiet Place" out of my head and that is the sign of great sound design!

Erik Aadahl and Ethan Van Der Ryn won Best Sound Design at the 2019 Academy Awards

I'm certain I will watch it again and I'm certain I will jump all over again as well! I give A Quiet Place 5 out of 5 hearts, though I thought mine was going to come out of my chest a few times! 

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