Cameron H.

One of my favorite movies! So glad its future is in Paul's capable hands. I can't wait to see it!

If I've gotta do it then so does he! Besides, what else can I do? I'm not going to have him learn about interdimensional fart monsters on the street.

My baby keeps vocalizing whenever a character in Garbage Pail Kids speaks forcing me to focus solely on the visuals. I wish I knew what I did to piss him off...

That's not exactly what I said (2 years ago). "Full Stop" doesn't mean "stop watching the movie." "Full Stop" means "period." I also said in my final two sentences that if the movie is about rapping or hip hop, then it's fine. I'm saying, if you're watching a movie that has nothing to do with rapping, like, Hotel Transylvania, and Dracula starts rapping (which he does) then you're probably watching a bad movie, I haven't gone back to check, but I think the rest of my post had to do with elderly people rapping for comedic effect. Again, the issue isn't with the rapping itself. The issue is, "look at this old person rap isn't that funny?" But, I'll gladly withdrawal the point if you can give me a movie, that isn't about rapping or music in general, where a character starts rapping inexplicably and it comes off "cool."

I have no idea! I wish I could ask her. All I can say is, it was obviously popular at the time. While it seems super shitty to us now, people in 1958 ate this shit up.

The difference is she never had any suicidal thoughts, nor any intention of going through with it. She didn't love Gaston, nor did she need him. Honestly, it wasn't a cry for help, it was a cry for attention. By our standards, she's still sick - but more in a Kim Kardashian way. "There is only one thing worse in life than being talked about, and that is not being talked about." Oscar Wilde

You're not wrong. Eva was enamored her skating instructor- which is the only reason she would have pursued it. I'm not saying Gaston was being mature, but he felt humiliated and wanted to humiliate her back. Not very admirable, but very human. Re: male characters. Not really, but Gaston does do the "decent" thing in the end when he rebels against societal norms and follows his heart. As we touched on before, this is really a redemption movie for Gaston. He's not supposed to be likable - not really. Gigi makes him a better person.

No, I think his problem is one of status. He's only with her because she's the most famous courtesan. Being with her is prestigious. He doesn't really care about her, nor she him, but her fooling around behind his back doesn't look good, not to mention, she's probably breaking her contract. I think it's important to note, the women are entering into a formal agreement. There's no coercion. This isn't just picking someone up off the street. The man offers what he's going to offer and Eva (or Gigi) are under no obligation to sign. They're (ostensibly) adults capable of making their own decisions and are able to negotiate for better terms. The problem is that Gigi actually loves him, so of course, she feels diminished by the arrangement. The suicide was never brought up again because it never happened. They say she "committed suicide - again." They then say she took just enough pills to NOT die. This is a status thing for her, too. Her "suicide" is just a bit of drama. It's just pretend. She's just doing it to get attention and so she doesn't appear to be in breach of contract- which would be bad for business. The joke is, everyone knows it's pretend.

But they weren't trying to get her a husband, were they? I thought the whole point of her classes was so she could be a successful courtesan like her Aunt. I also got the vibe that the Aunt was supplementing their income which is why her Grandmother kept insisting that she keep going to those classes. It was a way of keeping them on her good side. Basically, without a father, Gigi was going to have to support herself one day. The best way, at that time, for a woman to live both comfortably and independently, would have been for her to be a courtesan. Fortunately (?), she had an Aunt who was already successful in that field and was willing to apprentice her. But neither Gigi nor her grandmother really wanted that for her. It's just the best they could do given the situation.

Thanks! I mean, that was my hope - at least once I realized what the movie was about.

Sorry, I picked kind of a dud, guys. I had hoped, being an Academy Award Winning film and all, that it would have been better.

I liked her and her grandmother, but that's about it.

I'm sorry I couldn't allay your fears. It was just as bad as that "you might not marry first, but you might marry at last" nonsense.

Oh, it's as bad as it sounds. Basically, women "do not marry," because even if they want to get married, they might not find a man who's willing. Men "will not marry," because they don't have to. They can have all the power. In other words, why get married when I can just have a parade of courtesans?

Well, that goes into something that bothered me. I think it was to show Gigi's "rough life." Basically, she has an absentee mother and a father who...died(?) They seemed to be trying to paint this dire picture for her and her "way out" was to become a courtesan. Keep in mind, even if Gaston hadn't been in the picture, that was ultimately her Aunt's plan for her. My problem, though, is they never really nailed down how impoverished they were meant to be. I thought they had a lovely apartment, and until made mention of how poor they were supposed to be, I thought they were meant to be well to do. She also had a wonderfully supportive grandmother.

I agree with you about Chevalier. He honestly didn't bring much to the table. If anything, his presence is a detriment to the film. Every time he's on screen, he muddies the water with his incessant "little girls" talk. If it was just about an aristocrat falling in love with a "peasant" woman, I don't think it would be anymore objectionable than, say, Beauty and the Beast or any other fairy tale about two people from different worlds coming together.

I looked up "ortolan" after the scene where he aunt is teaching her the correct way to eat it. Those people are monsters.

How was An American in Paris? That was my second choice.

Also, I just want to go on record as stating, I didn't really like this movie either - although I didn't exactly loathe it. I'm more defending it in a Devil's Advocate role for the sake of conversation. I do not endorse anything in this movie. Plus, I feel some responsibility for thrusting this upon all of you. If you want to know how I felt about this movie, I would say, in a word, exhausting. I felt like every five seconds I had to rationalize and put into context what was happening on the screen. I was constantly having to say to myself "it was the fifties," "it's set in 1900," "that's how it was in France," "being a courtesan, at that time, would have given her some level of autonomy that a lot of women of that era would not have enjoyed." And every time I was able to successfully do that and finally enjoy it, something else would happen. So, ultimately, I think it was a well made movie. There were some gorgeous shots and whatnot, but ultimately, my 21st Century brain couldn't really cope with the level of BS they were shoveling.

Best Picture, definitely not. But Costume Design, Cinematography, Production Design, and maybe, Adapted Screen Play, I can see. I'm not sure about Best Musical since the only other Musical I've seen from that year was South Pacific, and I don't remember being that impressed with it.

To be fair, I don't think Titanic deserved that many either.

Here's a big problem I had with the movie. The movie is told to us by Chevalier who tells us that little girls are awesome and that dudes shouldn't bother to get married. Gaston, his protege, ultimately rejects this notion and marries Gigi. But in the end of the movie, Chevalier goes back to singing, "Thank Heaven for Little Girls." It's like his character learns absolutely NOTHING! So, basically, Gaston takes up the opposite position as his uncle, but somehow they both live happily ever after? Then, what exactly is your point of view movie? If the point is to be yourself and marriage is great, then I feel like Chevalier should walk away from it having learned some kind of lesson.

IMDb trivia says that one of the songwriters was taking a crap while the other guy was noodling around on the piano. He then ran out with his pants around his ankles and was like. "That's Gigi's song." It went on to win an Academy Award. I don't know. Something about writing these songs while taking a shit seems somehow appropriate...

I don't disagree that this is Gaston's story, but I don't have a problem with a douchebag learning how to be less of a douchebag as a redemptive arc. That's basically the plot of Iron Man. Except substitute "bored aristocrat" with "war profiteer" and "love" with "becoming an Avenger." As far as the suicide thing goes, the movie is trying to position itself against the superficiality of the time. Age discrepancies aside, the central problem is that society is forcing Gaston to be with a certain class of women who all act a certain way and are exactly the same. He falls in love with someone outside of his bubble, but is afraid how the society he hates will feel about that. Eventually he takes her on as a courtesan, but doesn't like that it is killing who she is - the fun-loving, card cheating woman he actually loves. Don't get me wrong though. I agree this movie has a terrible message.

I also felt like the movie was leading to a reconciliation between Maurice Chevalier and Hermione Gingold. Like, he was going to realize that his philandering ways had - ultimately - been unfulfilling and he truly regretted losing her. But, no. He just wanted to remind her that he cared so little about her he couldn't even come up with a single memory of their time together that was even remotely accurate.