Actor Spotlight Throwback Thursday-Anne Hathaway- Princess Diaries (2001) & Ella Enchanted (2004)

Tonight’s actor spotlight and throwback Thursday post is Anne Hathaway.

In the early 2000’s, she made a name for herself in the type of roles that many young actresses do: princesses and fairy tale heroines.

The first movie is The Princess Diaries (2001).  Based on the books by Meg Cabot, Mia Thermopolis is the average teenage girl. Gawky, insecure and invisible to most of her classmates, she does not know that she is not the average teenage girl. Mia is next in line to rule the fictional European kingdom of Genovia.  But before she can put on the tiara, she has to meet her grandmother, Queen Clarisse (Julie Andrews) and learn how to be a princess.

Can she live up to the title that is her birthright or will she become a laughing stock?

Coming from the view of the intended audience, which are teenage girls, this movie is pretty good. Mia’s averageness, even under the extraordinary circumstances stands out. Casting Julie Andrews as Queen Clarisse was a boon for this movie. And truth be told, who wouldn’t want Mary Poppins as their grandmother? I know I would.

Three years later, Hathaway stepped again into the world of fairy tales with Ella Enchanted (2004).

Also based on a book by Gail Carson Levine, it is a pseudo Cinderella story with a feminist twist. Ella (Anne Hathaway) has been given the gift (if you want to call it that) of obedience by a fairy, Lucinda (Tyra Banks). Her mother is dead, her father is greedy and emotionally absent from his daughter’s life and her stepmother uses Ella’s “gift” to her advantage.

Ella falls in love with Prince Charmont (Hugh Dancy). Can Ella rescue herself, her prince and save the kingdom from the villainous Edgar (Cary Elwes)?

Again, if I were a teenage girl, I would enjoy the movie. It is a bit bland with some predictability in character and story, but I’ve seen worse.

Do I recommend them? Why not.

 

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From The Dance Hall To Facebook Book Review

There is an old saying: the more things change, the more things stay the same.

On the surface, teenage girls seem like a very cohesive and predictable sub group within our society. Slightly innocent, obsessed with boys, clothes and everything that is proclaimed to be the latest and greatest, they seem so easy to label.

Shayla Thiel Stern’s new book, From The Dance Hall To Facebook: Teen Girls, Mass Media and Moral Panic in the United States 1905-2010 examines the lives of teenage girls over the last 100 years and the picture of teenage girls that the media has painted over the years.  She starts with the supposed dangers and unseemliness of young women who spent their free time in the dance halls in the years leading up to WWI. The book ends with our modern era, how the dangers of technology are luring young women into dangerous territory.

She made three points that made perfect sense. The first point is that many of the concerns were only for young Caucasian women who came from middle and upper class families, not for young women of color or  young Caucasian women who come from lower socioeconomic families. The second point was that being the parent of a teenage girl has not changed that much, it does not matter if you live in 1910 or 2010. The third point was that while parents, schools and the media go out of their way to put teenage girls in a tower similar to Rapunzel, they don’t do the same for teenage boys.

I liked this book. It was a bit dry at points, but overall, it was a great read. It reminded me that while women have won numerous small battles in the war for complete equality, the fight for equality is not over.

I recommend this book.

Flashback Friday-Titanic

Titanic, the ship sank on April 15th, 1912. Titanic, the movie sailed into movie theaters on December 19th, 1997.

Jack Dawson (Leonardo DiCaprio) is a poor artist who wins his tickets to the Titanic in a card game. Rose Dewitt Bukater (Kate Winslet) is returning to America via the Titanic to marry, though not by choice. Their romance is as ill fated as the ship they are sailing on.

Was I one of those teenage girls who saw this movie more than once in the theater? Yes. Was I one of those teenage girls who listened to the soundtrack till I was blue in the face or the CD became so scratched that I had to replace it? Yes. Was I also one of those teenage girls who thought Leonardo DiCaprio was the hottest thing on screen? Yes, though now I know better.

Let’s put this movie into perspective. Rose and Jack’s doomed relationship has a Romeo and Juliet, Heathcliff and Cathy feel to it. Complete with fate and those around them determined to see the lovers going their separate ways.  Is James Cameron a good director? Yes. Is he a good screenwriter? That depends on your opinion. The dialogue in this movie, even with the A list actors reciting the lines, is a little wooden.

But it’s the kind of movie that on a lazy, rainy weekend afternoon, that you watch just because it’s on. And for my generation, it’s all about nostalgia and a movie (complete with it’s iconic theme song) that played on and on and on….

And just because this movie takes itself a little too seriously, I give you SNL’s take on Titanic.

https://screen.yahoo.com/titanic-alternate-ending-000000567.html

Do I recommend this movie? Sure, why not it’s only an iconic part of my teenage years.