[Mb-hair] My wife's first time watching the Hair movie

[richard haase]

i agree sean seeing the movie en vivo in 1979 as a young man
i thought it was horrendous
the only bad production of HAIR i ever saw
but then it wasnt awfully much about HAIR
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Sean Courtney" <dauber at banana-and-louie.org>
To: <mb-hair at islandlists.com>
Sent: Sunday, October 09, 2005 1:44 AM
Subject: [Mb-hair] My wife's first time watching the Hair movie


> First of all...a warning to anybody on this list who hasn't seen the 1979
> movie...this account of my Saturday evening might have a spoiler or
two....
>
> Okay...so I'm taking Monday off to share a three-day weekend with my wife,
> who as a teacher has Columbus Day off...and Lisa suggested watching a DVD
to
> pass part of the evening together. I said cool, but I don't have anything
> I'm dying to watch right now, so you pick. She went through our DVD
> collection and said "Hmm...you think I should see Hair?" She had gone with
> Tioga Joe and me to see a pretty....blah...production here in Jersey a few
> years ago...
>
> Now...Lisa is not a Hair fan, really, but does appreciate it and its
> importance and does want to see a truly good production of one. Before
> seeing the movie tonight, she did see that one production and read the
1969 book
> (and therefore knows the basic plot of the stage show),
> went to the reunion with me, and knows a lot about '60s pop culture.
Having
> said that, here are her comments about the movie, all of which she asked
me
> to share with you folks....most of this she couldn't even say without
> breaking into laughter -- and I don't mean that in a good way, either! :)
>
> - First, the choreography. During "Aquarius" she said it was "way too
> ballet," "too West Side Story," and "fruity", but she always thought the
choreography was supposed to be a bit more free-form.
>
> - Poor setting up of the plot...During the first several scenes, you have
no
> idea who most of the main characters are, their relationship to each
other,
> or even what time period it's supposed to be -- you can only assume the
late
> 1960s because it's well-known that it's a period piece [when I typed that,
I
> accidentally typed "peace" -- not bad, eh? :)  ] for that time...
>
> - "You're supposed to LIKE the hippies, right?" she said. Lisa felt that
the
> main characters were pretty hostile to each other -- Woof and Hud at each
> other during the "Colored Spade" scene, Hud and his fiancée, Berger and
> Claude toward the end of the movie, etc. And the fact that you're not
given
> a good intro to the characters just adds to that separation between the
> viewer and the rapport with the characters.
>
>  - It's established that Shelia lives in Short Hills. Why would a girl
from Short Hills, NJ be, in full riding gear, riding a horse in Central
Park?
> Especially when 1) there aren't any facilities in Manhattan for residents
to
> keep horses? (or are there?) and 2) when there are plenty of places in and
> around Short Hills for that kind of thing?
>
> Other comments from the better half:
>
> - "The first 20 minutes of the movie is more about horses than hippies!"
>
> - "Claude seemed to lose his Oklahoma accent over the course of the film."
>
> - "It was just bad. It was just really bad."
>
> - "I could have lived without seeing Beverly D'Angelo's tits several
times."
>
> - "Hair is not supposed to leave you with a bleah feeling, right?"
>
> - "Claude had this look on his face like he had to take a dump."
>
> - "It was pretty obvious that a lot of the men were wearing wigs."
>
> - "Berger looked like a Muppet."
>
> - "Berger was also extremely annoying. When he was trying to con the MP, I
> wanted the MP to take out a gun and shoot him! I laughed at the ending
when
> Berger's being marched off with the troops because he screwed himself
over."
>
> As you can see, Lisa didn't like the movie. At all. Period. And you know
> what? I loved it when I first saw it as a 15-year-old in 1990, but every
> time I saw it again, especially after I first saw a stage production in
> 1996, it got worse and worse. And I keep noticing things that just don't
> make sense:
> - how they get arrested in Short Hills and run across the street from jail
> into Central Park...
> - The army scene when that Washington rally somehow interferes with the PA
> system in Nevada....what the hell sense does that make?!
> - So Berger and company hang out with Claude for, what, 40 hours or so? So
> they barely know the guy, yet months after he leaves for the army they
drive
> across the country, with Berger sacrificing his hair, just to see him for
a
> couple of hours???
>
> Strange....very strange...
>
> --
> dauber at banana-and-louie.org
>  * ICQ: 28677921 * YIM: dau_ber * AIM: ddaauubbeerr
>
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