(no subject)

[rm]

Cate Blanchett interview:

http://www.cnn.com/2007/SHOWBIZ/Movies/10/15/film.cateblanchett.ap/index.html

"To have someone walk into court who's literally gone to the edges of the known world. How incredible and expansive must that have been for her, her sense of poetry and the possibility of what life could be," Blanchett said. "It was interesting, I found, to play a vicariousness in the relationship with Raleigh, rather than simply making it, here comes Clive Owen, isn't he handsome?

"Which of course he is, and undeniably charming. But to actually sort of say, 'I'd like to BE him.' I've certainly had those experiences. I was talking today about watching the 'Indiana Jones' films. My experience was as a young girl, and of course, you want to kiss Harrison Ford. But I wanted to BE him. I wanted to BE Indiana Jones and have those adventures."

See, this is great. This is one of those experiences that I think lots of young girls have -- "I want to be the hero" and then we learn that we're supposed to want the kiss the hero too or instead. I think we still don't talk about that enough, this idea that role models can be outside gender and that desire can be outside sex.

Comments

[heron61.livejournal.com]

See, this is great. This is one of those experiences that I think lots of young girls have -- "I want to be the hero" and then we learn that we're supposed to want the kiss the hero too or instead. I think we still don't talk about that enough, this idea that role models can be outside gender and that desire can be outside sex.

This is also not a feeling reserved solely for young girls. I grew up reading a large number of fantasy & SF novels either with female protagonists or where women were the primary ones or often the only ones using magic, and as someone who has always been in love with the idea of mysticism and magical powers, I had the exact same experience in reverse.

[delchi.livejournal.com]

"I want to be the hero" and then we learn that we're supposed to want the kiss the hero too or instead.

I think the root of that problem is not that you learn, but you are taught that way of thinking. This is not only taught by parenting but by mass media as well as social situations. Also public education does what it can to reenforce this by backing up the expectations, if not outright teaching them.

I don't want to think that it's done out of malice, but I think it's not done out of fear. Who wants to be the teacher who has to deal with the angry parent threatening you because you are teaching an " adgenda " to their child who they don't want to see grow up that way.

As I see it, the only way to counteract this is by education from birth. Setting in stone the ideas that you can do/be anything before exposure to traditional nursery stories, teaching what television is prior to letting them watch it, and exposing them to possibilities without limits. If this is done right, then exposure to the norm in public is seen for what it is - and can be readily handled with a little help.

In short, parenting.

The people who are there now are there mostly on their own accord. Through the school of tough knocks and self liberation from external expectations. The task is to teach these things to future generations in the hope that the butterfly effect will take over and someday these norms will evolve.

< /IMHO >

[upstart-crow.livejournal.com]

I think we still don't talk about that enough, this idea that role models can be outside gender and that desire can be outside sex.

Wow, R. For reasons I just don't have the stamina to go into today, this post pretty much solved a really big problem I'm having, and one that dominated most of last week's therapy session. Thank you so, so much *heart* :D

[upstart-crow.livejournal.com]

And most of my role-models at a very cruical time in my life were male, and more often than not, the people I want to "grow up to be like" are males. Though that wasn't what we discussed in therapy but...yeah.

[schpahky.livejournal.com]

Thank you for posting bits of this interview. You know my whole deal. Different from yours, but...yes.