Jennifer Lawrence and I face different challenges.
I worry about income tax filing and furry rooftop intruders at home and maxed-out Fiction shelving at work. Poor Jennifer, on the other hand, is tasked with maintaining her ever-increasing trove of award statuettes, determining which enviable film roles to accept, and choosing designer gowns that don’t elicit critics’ comparisons to Ariel’s makeshift frock in The Little Mermaid.
Here’s what we have in common: appreciation for less conspicuous films and books.
Certainly, high-grossing productions earn their popularity for good reasons. But the artists behind those thriving endeavors are already amply recompensed. They don’t need me. When I bestow my patronage on quieter, more esoteric projects or the work of newcomers, I derive satisfaction from the sense of having somehow encouraged them.
Interviewers report Ms. Lawrence’s initial reluctance to play Katniss Everdeen in The Hunger Games, citing her love of independent film. Lawrence’s ultimate acceptance of the role was prompted by her “fondness for strong-spirited characters”.
I imagine Jennifer would be intrigued by two resolute types I’ve lately encountered. Ronald Frame’s recent Havisham and M.D. Waters’ Archetype (available next month) both consider the plight of a woman with potential far exceeding the prescribed behavior of her society.
But these aren’t just chick books (not that this would be a bad thing…). Havisham invents the backstory that fans of Dickens’ Great Expectations have hankered for. We know that Miss Havisham still wears the gown sewn for a wedding cancelled at the last minute, but haven’t we wished for more insights, speculating as to the personality of the young bride-to-be? In Frame’s telling, young Catherine Havisham’s exposure to wider society is curtailed by parental and economic pressures. When eventually confronted with dilemmas
native to her privileged class, she is thus lacking in precisely the social context that could have informed her decisions. Today, with narrowly focused informational channels limiting our own view if we let them, Catherine is both a cautionary tale and an engrossing character
study.
M.D. Waters’ debut, Archetype, variously described as “speculative”, “thrilling”, “gothic”, and “dystopian”, delivers themes reminiscent of The Handmaid’s Tale and The Stepford Wives. Beautiful protagonist Emma, like Catherine, also has wedding issues: she doesn’t
recall having a husband–or even understanding “husband” as a concept when the story opens. You see, Emma suffered a terrible “accident” but now is daily gaining strength and comprehension, thanks to the unrelentingly attentive staff at a “hospital” where the entire floor is devoted to her care (Emma’s husband Declan is very rich and very powerful). As the sinister quotation marks above hint, all this does not signal good fortune for Emma. She, like Catherine, lacks access to all the facts. So far. Just keep turning those pages…
Jennifer could tackle either of these thought-provoking roles. Both struggle with misdirected desire, have branding” issues, and are viewed as commodities in a male-dominated society; both are alternately tantalized and tormented by memories.
Two final thoughts: First, is it just my imagination, or don’t both book covers suggest graphic representation of the author’s surname? Second, if you’re an indie film follower like Jennifer, check out the library’s IndieFlix access online.
