Female Film Historians Distort Film History as Good as Guys
Posted: Tue Nov 03, 2015 8:15 am
Boy, I’m so glad the month of October is done on TCM so we can stop seeing those “Trailblazing Women Filmmakers” promos. I was getting really tired of hearing Cari Beauchamp saying that there were more women working in silent films before 1920 because “it wasn’t looked upon as a business” like, it was what Cari, a hobby? A Coffee klatch? An ice cream social picnic? The movie business was a business from the moment someone got paid an admission to see one, it never was, has been, nor ever will be, anything else.
And just when did we start referring to Alice Guy Blanche’ as just plain ol’ Alice Guy? What sort of feminist revisionist film history bullshit is this? Sorry folks, she married Herbert Blanche’ in 1907, and anytime she was actually billed as the Director of her films, it was as Alice Guy Blanche’. Is this more silliness like pretending Phillips Smalley didn’t exist when we talk about Lois Weber? Both Herbert Blanche’ and Phillips
Smalley were as important to the movie business and their respective spouses careers as their respective spouses were, and as a lifetime supporter of equal rights and a film historian, I say it is bad distorting of film history to belittle their accomplishments in attempts to promote these pioneering female filmmakers, it does them no favors. The Movie “Business” is a collaborative one, nobody does it alone. Period.
So what’s next: Mabel Normand was a pioneering and talented film auteur who worked and sorta had a relationship with some Canadian clown, can’t quite remember his name.
RICHARD M ROBERTS
And just when did we start referring to Alice Guy Blanche’ as just plain ol’ Alice Guy? What sort of feminist revisionist film history bullshit is this? Sorry folks, she married Herbert Blanche’ in 1907, and anytime she was actually billed as the Director of her films, it was as Alice Guy Blanche’. Is this more silliness like pretending Phillips Smalley didn’t exist when we talk about Lois Weber? Both Herbert Blanche’ and Phillips
Smalley were as important to the movie business and their respective spouses careers as their respective spouses were, and as a lifetime supporter of equal rights and a film historian, I say it is bad distorting of film history to belittle their accomplishments in attempts to promote these pioneering female filmmakers, it does them no favors. The Movie “Business” is a collaborative one, nobody does it alone. Period.
So what’s next: Mabel Normand was a pioneering and talented film auteur who worked and sorta had a relationship with some Canadian clown, can’t quite remember his name.
RICHARD M ROBERTS