BLACK SWAN YOGA

"There's no such thing as simple.Simple is hard." Martin Scorsese

1. THANX LONGSHOT O'lEARY
2.just a simple revue of what i saw yesterday and what i think they have in common.
BLACK SWAN
this years Xmas art house circuit darling
even showing on two screens here in sleepy S'Cruz.
I LOVED IT.
in rereading three local published revues i note that some peeps can't tell the diff betwixt artifice,archetypes and stereotypes..even tho all agreed it is a great movie. Soul Mate asked me to describe the film and whether she would like it,given her feminist labor oriented ex Catholic views.
(how did i get trapped in all Italics???

i found it hard to describe its unique intensity, i was reminded of Carlos Saures (sp?) great dance films of the 70's CARMEN & BLOOD WEDDING, neither of which she has seen. i finally settled on"its a warped coming of age story" and if the film would inspire young girls to take up ballet as a career, one which is both beautiful and heartbreaking from my conversations with former ballerina,"it is a good Bad Example" of why you shouldn't.dancers are athletes as this movie points out just as it points out the dedication and routine infantilization of wimmin, much like stunted growth gymnasts who also break down en route to center stage. i saw many feminist issues raised in this film which apparently escaped the revue i read, c'est la vie  SIGH.

YOGA INC
this was a 90 min doc i saw on the Docu channel last nite as i was still coming down from the high of Black Swan. this is a very gritty look at the history of Yoga in the USA, since the 1890s apparently and how it has become copyright infringement lawsuits Big Business today, along the way the spiritual and morals principles have been abandoned in favor of profits.one thing which particularly galled me was the YOGA COMPETITIONS... the same eagerness in please while literally tying oneself into knots was evident as in Black Swan..
in our quest to be Perfect (sic) we must be wary lest
we lose our way and lose our true selves in the process.

as a visual artist, writer and wannabe screenwriter i toil against my own standards and sometimes,rarely, i reach or exceed them...in that way i compete. i am not THE BEST anything but i can strive to be The Best Me i can be,despite everything falling apart around me.

3.i wish you all the best 2011 possible but it doesn't auger well.
..if you are still working take a few moments each day to savor nature,
if you live near an ocean or lake try to visit it
at least once a week and listen to what it has to tell...

peace
namste
mega