The Culture Enthusiast

Dead White Guys

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• Award 10 blogs that you like (kind of broke this rule...)

Thanks again, girls!

"If someone has been murdered here, please let it be Clouseau."  from A Shot in the Dark




Just like all Pink Panther movies, A Shot in the Dark relies a lot on Peter Seller's hilarious performance and physical comedy, but Clouseau's dead serious lines and Commissioner Dreyfus' despair at Clouseau's incompetence are just to funny not to be mentioned.

- When Giovanni Bellini asked for one of Durer’s special brushes for painting animals, Durer lent him an ordinary brush. Giovanni said: “I already have this one.” “Ah!”, replied Durer.

- His famous "Rhinocerus" was used in biology classes in German schools until 1939.



















What do you think of Dürer's works?
                      5 The Guardian

Young Denis Thatcher: [Interrupts] We'll get help for that... 

Young Margaret Thatcher: No. One's life must matter, Dennis. Beyond all the cooking and the cleaning and the children. One's life must mean more than that. I cannot die washing up a teacup! I mean it, Dennis. Say you understand. 

Basically, before accepting her marriage proposal, Thatcher dismiss being a mother and a housewife as doing things that don't matter. This bothered me a lot. 

Firstly, there's the veracity issue. We don't know for sure if she said something like that or held such views. However, it is highly unlikely that she did. She was a conservative with a family of her own. Plus, she once said: "The feminists hate me, don’t they? And I don’t blame them. For I hate feminism. It is poison." I doubt she would say something that insulting to many women.

Secondly, even if we put the issue of whether she said that or not aside, we have the fact that the movie said it. It is preposterous to not simply insinuate but clearly state that the work of housewives and mothers "doesn't mean" much. The viewers, specially women that think their life choices deserve respect, should not accept this. 

As if Thatcher's ambitious career and incredible achievements were a product of some sort of feminist liberation ideal she had and not her courageous sense of duty. 

Not to mention that regardless of the feminist issue, the "die washing a tea cup line" in the context of this movie is extremely nihilistic. Most of the movie is about Thatcher's dementia and decline, so it's as if regardless of how ambitious you are or how much you accomplish, you will end up in a miserable situation in the end of your life. 

It seems that since the movie wasn't openly critical of her politically, they inserted some political correctness into her personal life.

Overall, I really enjoyed watching the movie (I know it doesn't look that way) which proves that even a movie with some faults can't help but showing what an interesting character she was. 

What do you think of "The Iron Lady"? Any favorite lines? Mine is "Watch your character for it becomes your destiny"

For the longest time I was against guilty pleasure reading. But it wasn't always like this. I used to be an avid detective novel reader. One day a guy asked me what I was reading and I answered “A detective novel”. He rolled his eyes and said: “No, seriously. That’s not reading.”