Fall 2003 Semester, Female Role Models, and a movie review

Tuesday, Aug. 12, 2003 - 10:42 pm

(Original Posting on http://irmabelle.diaryland.com)

So many things to write about today...

I bought all my books for the Fall semester today, I now have a huge heavy stack of 10 books that cost $380!!! Several of my classes have two books, and one has 3 books!

I'm taking 17 units, but two of my classes are consecutive to each other: Intro to Massage 8/18 - 9/12, Sports Massage 9/26 - 10/12. My weekly schedule is gonna be hectic, I don't get any days off at all.

I was really surprised to discover that my Improv class has a text book! I read through the introduction of that book when I got home, and now I'm even more excited about the class than I was before, because this is a completely different type of improv than I thought it would be, and it looks like it will be extremely helpful to my proffesional acting career! (Note: We didn't use the book at all in class, I was extremely disappointed. "Book on Acting: Improvisation Technique". 4-2-2005)

I was also thinking about women actors that I admire, whom I hadn't considered to be possible role models before: Drew Barrymore, Mary Stuart Masterson, and Emma Thompson, just to name a few. I think it's psychologically important for me to look at successful Hollywood women as well as men. I hadn't considered any women for role models before this.

And on a completely different note, I watched an older movie(1973?) called "Sweet Liberty" on cable last night. It starred Alan Alda, Bob Hoskins (another actor who's skill I admire), Michael Caine, and Michelle Pfiefer. I really enjoyed it, it was a comedy, but not a laugh-a-minute. It was complex, intelligent, and (something that really appealed to me) it was about making a movie. Alan Alda is a historian who's written a historical civil war book called "Sweet Liberty" that is being made into a comic movie designed to appeal to the majority of movie going crowds: 12-20 yr olds. And all they care about seeing in movies is 1. Rebellion, 2. Destruction of Property, 3. People taking their clothes off. So of course the historical accuracy of the book is completely lost in transferrance to script, and Alan Alda is very angry about this. So he starts rewriting scenes and slipping them to the actors who love the rewrites, and bully the director into accepting the changes. There are also subplots that are extremely interesting, especially the subplot with Alan Alda's mother. For example, she hasn't eaten in over a week, he asks her why. She says, "Because I can't go into the kitchen." He says, "why?" She says, "Because I saw a man in there." He says, "You saw the Devil in the kitchen?" She nods. He says, "You've spent 11 years sleeping on the couch because the Devil was in the bedroom, and now he's in the kitchen? How did he get in there?" She says, "I don't know, I don't talk to him!"

Anyhow, if you ever get the chance to see it, I highly recommend it!