Christopher Street

Heaton and I watched the

Heaton and I watched the movie "Broadcast News" together this weekend. He wrote about his reaction earlier today in his LiveJournal, and his reactions made me think about mine. Damn that Heaton! Always making me think. :)

I don't know when I last saw BN; I know that I watched it after I lived in DC the first time, which means that I saw it at least *after* 1990. I am pretty sure that I have seen it more recently than that, but I can't remember specifics. I know that I bought it on DVD a couple of years ago and had not watched it since. I am really not sure that I can articulate why I own it--it wouldn't make my top 20 or 30 favorite movies, it doesn't have cool extras, it doesn't benefit from my cool home theater setup. I like Holly Hunter, and William Hurt and Albert Brooks, but this isn't my favorite of any of their movies. I know that once upon a time I identified very closely with the Hunter's Jane Craig. I fancied myself as smart and hyperactive as she, and as unlucky in love. It was obvious that she was in a lot of pain and that it was because of who she was and not because of external circumstances. That was me, for a really long time.

I also used to have a friend, and later a boyfriend, who reminded me of the Albert Brooks character. That was a better thing 15 years ago when I first saw the movie. Like John, I found that this time through, I was much less forgiving of Aaron's shortcomings and found myself engaging in that doomed dialogue with the character, the one where I keep hoping that, this time, he will do the good thing, the kind thing. His decision to tell Jane about Tom's character flaws seemed just 15 years ago; now it just seems mean. Maybe I thought mean was more attractive when I was 21. The kinds of men I dated about that time would seem to bear that out. :)

So, I no longer identify with Jane, and I think Aaron's mean. Wasn't what I expected.