Woman On The Bench

Jake Tully

Professor Wexler

10/19/13

Eng 313 – M/W 2 – 315

Woman On The Bench

            Woman On The Bench is an independent drama/comedy about an early 30’s female singer-songwriter pianist named Lyla in New York City attempting to become part of a record label to both further her art and provide for her livelihood. Lyla has thus far in her career had a very difficult time achieving any notoriety or success due to her sex and her ethnicity, and not by any means the merit of her musical capabilities. Lyla lives in a small flat with her roommate Shiloh, a woman her same age who constantly lands small television parts and local theatre productions, though mostly roles that are demeaning or otherwise sexist and beneath her. To help support her craft, Lyla works part-time at a library as a clerk/story-time leader. Lyla’s musical idol and greatest influence is Nina Simone, a point she makes abundantly clear several times throughout the film.

            While auditioning for labels and promoting herself through means of playing small venues and doing local radio spots, Lyla meets a young man, Zach, who is also a singer-songwriter/guitar player. Zach has a folk-punk mentality, very different from Lyla’s eclectic style of piano, but nonetheless thinks he is a great talent. Lyla considers their connection a chance meeting, until they meet again doing an interview for a small radio station that is showcasing local talent. They soon begin a small fling, providing happiness for Lyla despite her constant rejection, and more material for her songwriting portfolio. Ultimately, however, Zach finds evidence about Lyla’s songs pertaining to their relationship in her apartment, and steals the notes to her music unbeknownst to Lyla. Zach begins performing Lyla’s work due to his inability to craft new songs, until Lyla finds out about Zach’s misdeeds and breaks it off with him.

            The final scenes of the movie show Lyla still struggling with her music career a few years later, and working double-time at the library. She enters a nightclub where Zach’s new jazz trio – a genre he adopted from Lyla – is headlining. Zach sees Lyla is still down on her luck and offers her a position playing piano for his now popular group. Lyla refuses, walking out the door and getting an offer to play piano inside the mall that Sunday. Lyla accepts, on the condition that she is able to play a predominantly Nina Simone set. Nina Simone plays as the credits roll.

            Ideally, actress Rosario Dawson should play Lyla, while the role of Zach should be Oscar Isaac. For Shiloh, Kristen Wiig comes to mind. Most of the shooting will occur in New York City, specificity is not a point of contention.

            Woman On The Bench should be made for a number of reasons along with a handful of themes it represents and elucidates. One such theme is certainly that of feminism and the role that sex plays in society – a subject many have breached time and time again – but there is also more to it than that, especially when the Anglo-Saxon is taken out of the equation and replaced with an African-American female. Certainly, this very arguably and radically changes the circumstances in feminism and the role of sex in society versus a white woman. An unfair change in circumstances, indeed, yet one that should be analyzed more closely and represented more wholly.

            To further the point of feminism and the independent sex outside of the man, an apparent theme for Woman On The Bench is the struggle that persists for women in the entertainment industry and the collective arts. Ostensibly, it could be contested that women in music have always had to overcome barriers of sorts in order to achieve great success and incur infamy, especially if the woman in question is more than a pretty face and a shapely body – one that can play piano and has distinct tastes in music. Once again, it may be even more difficult for women of color to achieve success, yet another unfair societal factor against their plight.

            Woman On The Bench is meant to entertain and captivate, but also hopes to give empowerment and shed light on the societal status quo we have deemed normal – perhaps through the film as a text the deconstruction of women as “the other” can begin, and we can actually see some realization of the fictional Lyla and her story.

            When speaking of perceived feminism and sex in our culture, one can certainly turn to Michele Foucault and his “docile bodies” theory in which “subjects are the ‘effect’ of discourse,” though concern may arise for feminists for “it appears to rob subjects of the agency required for an emancipatory project” (Barker, 303.) Indeed, one can simply see sex and subjectivity in sex as a horizontal discourse vis a vis implications of biological necessity, but in doing so we may remove an honest aspect of our analysis, especially if the horizontal discourse of white to black is involved. Consider the following from BlackFeminist.org, “We express strength and solidarity in or shared experience of inequality and power imbalance based on our race and gender. We aim to challenge the hegemony of patriarchy prevalent in most parts of the world which subjugates many, particularly black females (BlackFeminist.org) Black feminism, perhaps more so than white or any other brand of feminism is of particular importance, especially in our country due to the hegemony we have imposed upon both minorities and females for centuries. It would be paltry to suggest that we treat any female differently due to their ethnicity, but we must consider both sex and ethnicity equally when we impose our societal norms upon one another, certainly a theme explored through the film.

            Another theme to explore is that of women in the arts. Historically, the male sex has never experienced a particularly difficult time breaking through in the entertainment industry, for culturally it became a norm. If one was to turn to a hall of great film directors no doubt would we see the classics – Orson Welles, Frederico Fellini, Spike Lee. However, we may see a subsection in this display – “Great Women Directors” – wording that disseminates to the viewers that somehow the artistic integrity is lessened due to gender. This is true of music as well – women are recognized as anomalies in the art. However, women have been enormous contributors to art, and namely music, not as a novelty commodity, but as serious and great artists. The Smithsonian Folkways Coalition writes, “Women around the world use music to further women's rights and other political and social causes. Suffragettes who won American women the right to vote at the turn of the 20th century changed the lyrics of traditional hymns and patriotic anthems to assert their demand to be treated as equal citizens” (SmithsonianFolkways.com) Certainly, there is much more substance to women in the field of music than purely conventional and political ideologies, consider Grammy winner for Best New Artist 2011 Esperanza Spalding, Lucinda Williams, Carole King – the list goes on. Fortunately, in this day and age consumers are more progressive thinking in their inclusion of great musicians not to think solely of men, though some residue of the archaic way of thinking still remains.

            Finally, consider the relationship between men and women, both in the field of the arts and of relationships purely in society. We have constructed and perpetuated the idea that men must use their clout to help the submissive model of gender (women) for they mat not be able to themselves. Consider the following from Michele Foucault, “Women have always been seen by heterosexual men as their exclusive property... Men think that women can only experience pleasure in recognizing men as masters…” (Foucalt,1982). Indeed, the hegemony once again arises that men are the aggressive and progressive power in the realm of the sexes, a theory in which permeates into daily of many and influences the lives of even more. Woman On The Bench explores this theme through the relationship of Lyla and Zach – Zach feels pity for Lyla whom he perceives to be doing poorly likely due to her ethnicity and sex, and uses his pull to offer her a cushy piano-playing position. Lyla refuses due to a presumed integrity of both the gender and the artistic kind.

            Truly, the film deals with theories of feminism, gender, and race that have been hashed over and dealt with many times, but Woman On The Bench hopes to present such themes and prove its exigency in a manner that is not lurid or banal. Evoking Foucault theory, black feminist thought, and Smithsonian researched history and ethnography, Woman On The Bench will serve as a great text and testament to important and ever-budding themes and ideologies in our world.

Works Cited

Barker, Chris. "Sex, Subjectivity and Representation." Cultural studies: theory and            practice. 4th ed. London: SAGE, 2000. 302-303. Print.

"Black Feminists." Black Feminists Site Wide Activity RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Oct. 2013.

Foucault, Michele, "Sexual Choice, Sexual Act." Foucault Live (Interviews, 1961-  1984).  New York:  Semiotext(e). p. 331.  French original, 1982. 

"Women Breaking Musical Barriers." Smithsonian Folkways. Smithsonian Institution,       n.d. Web. 24 Oct. 2013.

Mission Impossible & Bond

            Upon comparing James Bond film and texts to that of the television series Mission Impossible, it seems not all is terribly uncommon territory between the two. The two are both shows that are based around spies and espionage, sure, but what they stand for as well as the content in them is certainly not radically different either. Both lead characters stand as a basis of masculinity and strength, as well as defining the current status of two nations as well as defining their nationhood.

            On the subject of the definition of nationhood in the two texts, however, some attributes may be indeed rather different, nonetheless presenting the same theme. In James Bond, we see an already established nation finding itself in popular culture and the midst of affairs and rebellion globally through James Bond and his escapades. Britain’s culture and history had thus far been very rich and fulfilling, but perhaps a post-world war, post-modern facelift was what Ian Fleming sought most to do with his works. Bond defines both men and women’s status, as well as their duties to uphold their national identity.

            In Mission Impossible, much of the same is accomplished, however, America’s identity searching comes differently. For America, certainly a redefinition is in order from it’s bicentennial past, but it is arguable there is less of a redefinition happening than there is a solid definition generally taking place. Whereas Britain needed to be defined with the predicate that it is taking a bold step from antiquity in doing so, America’s Mission Impossible was part of the movement in which America sought for a 20^th century definition after such a relatively late inception as the main power in the world.

            Indeed, both texts present said ideas and themes extremely well, but Bond’s impact comes with a very different impetus than does Mission Impossible. 

Lost In Translation

In watching Sophia Coppola’s film Lost In Translation, many conjectures and theories can be extracted from it in order to prove the presence of globalization in it. Though there are indeed many scenes that may prove the said aforementioned globalization, there is truly one scene that stands out to me in particular. The scene in which Americans Charlotte and Bob go out and about on the town with Charlotte’s Japanese friends and end up singing karaoke is an excellent example of applying globalization.

            The first song sung in the film is the Sex Pistols’ “God Save The Queen”, a song by a British band. The next is sung by Bob, who chooses Elvis Costello’s “Peace, Love, & Understanding), The Pretenders’ “I’m Special”, and finally the karaoke scene is rounded out with Roxy Music’s “More Than This”. All three songs featured in the karaoke scene are from English rock artists - and the Japanese natives seem to know them well. The excitement and enthusiasm for rock groups not of their native tongue is nearly non-existent in The United States. Certainly, there are exceptions, but if there is the expression of excitement, it’s an anomaly – a Devotchka concert generating buzz is still widely seen as a niche taste.

            Furthermore, when the native Japanese gentleman is singing “God Save The Queen”, he is imitating singer Johnny Rotten – thrashing about and sneering all the while. Not only are these songs popular in Japan, but the hard footage has been seen to the extent that one could impersonate a singer and others would know who you were aping. Bob indeed does the same, channeling an Elvis Costello as best he can, but it’s likely he knows the Paddington native well, and perhaps has even seen him in concert, if not regularly in the press.

            Another point can be made within the karaoke machine itself. The images played behind the words are Anglicized video clips and pictures - an Aryan looking couple picnicking on the beach or gallivanting in their sports car. Perhaps this is truly what some Japanese think of Westerners – rocking and rolling in their spare time and carefree as all Hell.

            Though the scene overall is short, it nonetheless does a more than great job serving as a means of conveying globalization. It is without doubt a reason that Sophia Coppola won an academy award for best screenplay (of course, it doesn’t hurt if your father is Francis For Coppola.)

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Annie Hall and the New Era of Film

Woody Allen’s 1977 seminal work and Academy Award-winning film Annie Hall ushered in a new age of the romantic comedy – the radical romantic comedy. Though the radical romantic comedy had certainly been touched upon on screen before, no film before Annie Hall had the pervasiveness and ingenuity that Allen brought to life.

            Alvy Singer and Annie Hall portray a curious late 1970’s romantic pair – a intellectual, neurotic New York Jew and a kind-hearted yet ditzy country girl who base much of their relationship on sex and needing the other’s polarities in nature to live happily. Many of the problems that exist between the two spawn from Alvy’s reticence to venture out from his comfort zone, and Annie’s malleable nature as opposed to what Alvy represents in his egocentric staunchness.     In several respects it comes off as surprising that Annie and Alvy are together for as long as they are, though they ultimately do split up in the end.

            Not only does the ending of Annie Hall present the radical romantic comedy to audiences, but also the content in and of itself does wholly. The characters consistently break the fourth wall, Alvy and Annie openly and candidly speak about their sex life, and there seems to be no taboos in the film. Certainly Woody Allen had previously established himself and his comedy at least ten years prior to Annie Hall, but it wasn’t until this film that such a sub-genre resonated with the public so greatly and influenced the course of comedies and romantic comedies to come.

             The character of Annie Hall herself is also innovative – she is a righteous, self-confident and dynamic woman who, though perhaps with unintelligence and misguidedness, first embarks upon the decision to leave Alvy, who is initially thoroughly opposed to the idea. Instead of the principal guideline of the “boy-meets girl, boy looses girl, boy gets girl back” is broken, with Annie the principal guiding force of the eventual outcome of the relationship

            Annie Hall is an introspective look into the lives of two experienced people who face the trials and tribulations of sex, public and family opinion, and their fate at the hands of each other. It is indeed a beautiful and sentimental slice of life captured by Allen, exemplifying the nature of man and woman, and ultimately man and woman in their coexistent nature. In the words of Alvy Singer, “Well, I guess that's pretty much now how I feel about relationships. You know, they're totally irrational and crazy and absurd and, but, err, I guess we keep going through it because most of us need the eggs.”