Feb 28, 2007
Does ANYONE look good in a Powdered Wig?
David Denby, in the New Yorker, concludes his review of the forthcoming feature film Amazing Grace on this sad note:
Leaving aside the slam on American actors, Denby seems to be on the mark about the lack of movies addressing America's foundational years. I remember that horrid Patriot starring the sadomasochism of Mel Gibson. But, I can't actually think of any other. Nor can I think of any major bio-pics on the Founding Fathers (this was colonial and postcolonial but not continental).
If there are endless number of best-selling books about them, why aren't there any movies? Is the foundational narrative of this nation calcified in popular history and memory? Or is it the powdered wig?
In this country, we have great actors, but not these kinds of great actors—men and women who can play historical figures and hold to formal syntax without losing their sense of play. Our founding crew of statesmen and intellectuals were no less gifted than Pitt and Wilberforce, but, despite an endless number of best-selling books about them, there isn’t a single good movie devoted to their efforts. At this point, no one can look at an American in a powdered wig without laughing. Popular culture and the democratization of taste and style have made our history irredeemable as entertainment—which is a loss, though I don’t suppose anyone will do much about it.
Leaving aside the slam on American actors, Denby seems to be on the mark about the lack of movies addressing America's foundational years. I remember that horrid Patriot starring the sadomasochism of Mel Gibson. But, I can't actually think of any other. Nor can I think of any major bio-pics on the Founding Fathers (this was colonial and postcolonial but not continental).
If there are endless number of best-selling books about them, why aren't there any movies? Is the foundational narrative of this nation calcified in popular history and memory? Or is it the powdered wig?