Jacqueline Wallace

Really interesting article and very well researched. You make a lot of good and fair points! I really find that I have to actively seek out films that don’t traditionally feature the typical white, heterosexual lead. Whilst I am not outrightly denying or refusing to watch these films, I want to make sure that I don’t only watch those kinds of films and I often encounter that I have to make a bigger effort to see films that feature a more diverse story.

Although, you do suggest that Ben Kingsley is white because of his cross-racial role as Gandhi (and he also played a Sikh character in ‘Learning to Drive’ more recently). You mention he is of mixed heritage, but personally I don’t really see it an issue that his half Indian heritage makes it problematic for him to play someone Indian – specifically of Gujarati heritage, like Gandhi. His birth name is Khrishna Banji and Ben Kingsley was a stage name he used to get more auditions when he first started acting. I’m just not completely sure that he’s a good example for cross-racial casting.

The debate surrounding the Oscars nominations often leads to a discussion of opportunity and I hope that because of the huge amount of attention that this is receiving it will cause film producers and financiers to actively provide more opportunities to those of black, asian and ethnic minority so that we can have better representation that is a truer reflection of the society we live in.

Hi Jonathan, first of all thanks for your article! A very enriching read. Disney and Don Bluth’s films like ‘The Land Before Time’, ‘Anastasia’ and ‘Thumbelina’ were a huge part of my childhood and if I have kids one day, I’d love to share these films with them, so that they can fall in love with them too.

I very much agree with your message that children should be exposed to stories that are not just one-dimensional, but give the bigger picture of life and all its flaws. A lot of films these days are filled with cheap gags and terrible messages, and in comparison, the timelessness of 20th century children’s films was that it could be appreciated by all ages. So that when I’ve rewatched some films as an adult, things that I didn’t really pick up as a child could be noticed.

It was really important and I was very happy to see you quote Lord of the Rings and note that to fully appreciate good, we must also have the bad. That was one of loveliest messages that I got out of ‘Inside Out’ and it was great to see them produce a film that could help children understand emotions in a deeper and more complex way. I hope the success of films like ‘Inside Out’ sees a return to films for children that can show them ‘darker’ themes and realising that whilst bad things may happen, it is possible to overcome them.

Hi luminousgloom, this was such an enjoyable read. I did a presentation on the horror genre for one my film classes and I like how you described the contemporary deviations from the typical horror tropes. The past year has been such an exciting year for this genre and I like how it’s being considered more seriously by critics with fantastic films like ‘It Follows’ and ‘Goodnight Mommy’ which were some of my favourites from last year. I am very much looking forward to ‘The Witch’ and more horror films of a high calibre!

Wonderful article! I especially love the quote about Cocteau’s view of mythology and history. When I first watched ‘Orphée’, I had to watch it again because it was so rich in its imagery and surrealism. I definitely agree that both Dante and Orpheus have reached some kind of level of mythology.

That quote is very pertinent!

Thank you, it sounds wonderful. I will definitely look it up!

L’Etranger was a book I studied a few years ago and since then I have been fascinated with his work and his philosophies. When I read The Fall, I was so engrossed by it and it was definitely something that left me thinking so I had to go back and read it all over again!

I completely agree – what ruined my enjoyment of Argo was the way that the film kind of crippled into a ‘goodies’ vs ‘baddies’ scenario building up cheap tension with the chase scene when they’re on the plane. I was incredibly moved by Hanks in that scene where he breaks down showing his trauma. I thought it was really important to show this part of his character because it fully developed it into something very human.