The other evening I watched a film in which Meryl Streep played a mother who was dying of cancer. The title of the film eludes me. Rene Zellweger was her daughter, and William Hurt, her egoistic husband. I enjoyed the film. The cancer and family themes were handled with minimum schmalz-effect. Meryl and William can do no wrong, in my eyes, and I have yet to be disappointed by Rene Z. I just love her name, for one thing.
I was reasonably gripped until Rene donned the cutest, darlingest hat. Suddenly I was oblivious to dialogue and plot and lost the thread as I peered at the screen to get a closer look at the gorgeous embroidery (or was that border trim knitted?) and to study the shape for future reference.
This was a pleasurable hat distraction.
Later, I became aware of my teeth gritting and my blood beginning to boil as Meryl was wheeled around wearing what looked like a badly-crocheted dishcloth on her balding head. Who on earth did they assign to design the Chemo Caps for this film? Was this just a bad, sloppy piece of handiwork, or a not-so-subtle indication of Meryl's increasing deterioration? As if we hadn't noticed.
And why, when she was wheeled out for a perambulation through the snowy pre-Christmas neighbourhood, was she sporting a dashing knitted, red and reindeer number which she wanted to show off to all and sundry? What was the message here? Put on a brave hat in public, but make do with a ragged dishcloth at home? I would rather wear a wet dishcloth than a badly crocheted imitation.
At the other extreme, I was again distracted by Uma Thurman's hats in "BeCool". I am definitely going to copy the white, peaked cap with the chain. I'll pass on the simpler knitted cap, although I was pleased to see her evident enjoyment in wearing it.
I am still bugged by Meryl's dishcloth and am playing with ideas for a "BeCool Cap" à la Urma, for myself, as well as for cancer patients. Why discriminate? The t-shirts say: "Fuck Cancer". My hats will scream: "Cancer Ain't Cool, But I Am!".
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Nicely said. And I can relate to forgetting the name of a movie I saw a few days ago.
ReplyDelete"This was a pleasurable hat distraction." I love this quote! Anne-Claire, once again I get the pleasure of seeing the world through your eyes with yet another delightful blog entry. It would never have occurred to me to check out the hats and glean so much from them. I bet you could make some GREAT 'Cancer ain't cool but I am' hats! This is a cool idea. They could come with affirmations. (my new agey self is coming out!)
ReplyDeleteRenee Z lives a couple towns away from me actually and I just missed her once when she went to an area grocery store. (she has a home in Pomfret, CT) Also, another Renee tidbit, my good friend met her at her bday party! I must tell you about Kevin sometime. Long story.
Meryl Streep is def one of the greats. Keep alerting me to new blogs!
Do tell me about Kevin! Thanks for your encouragement. I don't know what I'd do without you and Jim.
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