Gilmore Girls: A throwback to the 40's?
CynicKill
name of the movie but I believe she played a maid and Buster Keeton was in
it and they shipped this woman off in a mummy's tomb) and Betty was
rattling off one of her brilliant monolgues and my nephew walks in the
room and says, "That's how GG is trying to be like." I tend to agree. Not
that they're trying to copy Ms. Davis but that the scripts, with their
ping-pong banter and tendency to be very witty and segue-y, are trying to
hark back to a style of writing that is very bantery.
Gilmore Girls writing style is a cause of criticism for many people. Many
think it's unrealistic the way all the characters talk on this show. I say
it's a way for GG to stand out and be unique. There really isn't any
banter in scriptwriting anymore. When I noticed it between Julia Roberts
and George Clooney in "Ocean's Eleven" my ears pricked up. I've always
thought that is movies were written as carefully as some television shows
("Buffy", "Angel", "Dawson's Creek" to a point and especailly GG) then the
scripts would be infinitely better. I talked to one person who said that
once they start going off on GG it takes them out of the show, or
distances them if you will. Of course it's the same quality in script that
keeps up fans coming back.
Which again brings me back on topic. Do you think GG style is a throwback
to those 40's movies with Betty Davis and Joan Crawford and movies like
"His Girl Friday"? Or does it have a style all it's own?
Sharpe Fan
--
Sharpe Fan
"CynicKill" <dlov...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:b3abf0fe7d53f026...@localhost.talkabouttelevision.com...
It never occurred to me until your post. However, once you mention it I do
see the connection.
"The Philadelphia Story" is another example of the movies you are talking
about.
Sharpe Fan
Rob Jensen
> Which again brings me back on topic. Do you think GG style is a throwback
> to those 40's movies with Betty Davis and Joan Crawford and movies like
> "His Girl Friday"? Or does it have a style all it's own?
The show's long been compared to the same screwball comedies -- often,
but not always, or even mostly -- romantic comedies of primarily the
*Thirties* and early 40's, that were also heavy influences on
"Moonlighting." In particular, yes, "His Girl Friday," but more
significantly, IMO, Gable & Lombard's "It Happened One Night" and The
Thin Man series. (There's another reason one episode was called "Nick &
Nora/Sid & Nancy" besides Amy being a fan of the Sex Pistols: it's
because Nick & Nora are the Thin Man and her husband ;) ).
And even the Marx Brothers' comedies (again, 30's) have been something
of an influence on the show in Lorelai's often Groucho-like ability to
wittily twist any conversation into whatever she wants it to be about
and to bewilder anyone whose intelligence she wants to question with
arcane cultural references.
-- Rob
--
"I think [Rory's] just a whore, a strumpet and a crack addict." -- Amy
Sherman-Palladino, noted jokester
Jerry Davis
Well it does go for that "His Girl Friday" rat-a-tat-tat dialogue ...
mixed in with Simpsons-esque pop culture critique.
curmudgeon
What go's around comes around.
"CynicKill" <dlov...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:b3abf0fe7d53f026...@localhost.talkabouttelevision.com...
Katie
wrote:
<longtime lurker delurking briefly>
I totally agree about the style being similar to 40's movies. I also
think it's similar to Whit Stillman's writing style in his movies
(Metropolitan, Barcelona, Last Days of Disco). Actually, I wasn't
surprised to see Christopher Eigeman show up on GG since he's been in
all of Stillman's movies. His movies seem to get the same criticism
as GG - e.g. that people don't really talk like that. Eh, who cares
if it's not realistic? It's fun to listen to :)
Katie
(Metropolitan is one of my favourite movies ever)
T.J.
> Katie
> (Metropolitan is one of my favourite movies ever)
It's been almost a decade since I've seen it but I absolutely loved
'Metropolitan'. I have a VHS copy buried somewhere in a rented storage
locker. I may just go and dig it out this weekend.
~t
Mandi
talking about. "
GOD, I love that movie! Whenever I watch GG and the characters go into
warp-speed reference spiel, I flash back to any '40s-era Kate Hepburn
comedy I've seen. I'm betting ASP has seen her share of those films,
too.
My fave "Philadelphia Story" line, for some reason:
Tracy: "Dexter, would you mind doing something for me? ...Get the heck
out of here."
Ahhh... OK, now I gotta buy the DVD.
- Mandi "I could see Lauren Graham nailing the 'Tracy' role nicely in a
remake"
Rob Jensen
I don't remember where I read it, so consider this unconfirmed unless
someone comes up with a credible print source, but I read somewhere that
Eigeman has been a friend of Lauren's for a while and it's that
connection that helped him get cast as Jason.