<![CDATA[Portman Muscles In On Knightley's Period-Piece Turf - Jezebel Comments]]> <![CDATA[Portman Muscles In On Knightley's Period-Piece Turf - Jezebel Comments]]> <![CDATA[Portman Muscles In On Knightley's Period-Piece Turf]]> ack. no.sorry to be a persnikety english lit student, but are you kidding me? natalie portman? NO WAY is she catherine earnshaw. no way.

Rummy_McGin

]]> <![CDATA[Portman Muscles In On Knightley's Period-Piece Turf]]> Pffth, here I am way behind the curve. Tough shit. I am drunk so I want to have my say.

Ralph Fiennes as Heathcliff was amazing, bad wig or not. His, damn, his eyes say it all.

Plus the Sakamoto soundtrack brings a soul to tears. When it comes to music Sakamoto is godhead.

Pfffth again.

Passing out.

Rose_Selavy_pppfffth

]]> <![CDATA[Portman Muscles In On Knightley's Period-Piece Turf]]> @girlleastlikelyto: "Anybody may blame me who likes..."
VW thought anger warped a writer's work.
But VW was PO'd too -- take a look at Three Guineas, written 10+ years after Room -- but made more of an effort to hide it. What made her mad? Fascists, war, and preachy art.

vixenatrix

]]> <![CDATA[Portman Muscles In On Knightley's Period-Piece Turf]]> @mockingbird: Re Jane Eyre, there's another reading in which Bertha can stand for bad things about Rochester, who is sexual, a man and up to no good; Jane only marries him when Bertha is dead, and R has been symbolically castrated/rendered less threatening by losing his hand and sight. And could it be that Bertha is also Jane's unconscious mind? (Which also suspects R.)
I can't recall all the details but there are some good critical essays out there, and anyway C. Bronte was an utter dazzling genius who packs her text w/all sorts of clues.
But sure, Bertha is swarthy and The Other. And in Wide Sargasso Sea, Jean Rhys exposes sexy Rochester as the bastard that CB only hints he is.
:-)

vixenatrix

]]> <![CDATA[Portman Muscles In On Knightley's Period-Piece Turf]]> After watching V for Vendetta, I can't look at Natalie Portman with hair and not have to remind myself it's not a wig. Also, she can't be Catherine. She simply can't be.

Doriane

]]> <![CDATA[Portman Muscles In On Knightley's Period-Piece Turf]]> oh how horrible. i can't take another movie of portman's put on english accent after V for Vendetta. they're going to ruin my wuthering heights! that face has never seen a moor.

J.D.Regent

]]> <![CDATA[Portman Muscles In On Knightley's Period-Piece Turf]]> I thought Merle Oberon was an awesome Cathy... Plus, she had that name. Natalie Portman... I'm just not seeing it. There's something too prissy about her. Let's hope she proves herself because I love Wuthering Heights.

When it came to the Bronte sister's heroines, I always identified more with Cathy when I was younger, but I've come to appreciate Jane's quiet strength of mind. Virginia Woolf writes about Jane Eyre and Charlotte Bronte's anger at her position as a woman being palpable in the text in A Room of One's Own -- it's interesting, and it gave me a new perception of the work.

girlleastlikelyto

]]> <![CDATA[Portman Muscles In On Knightley's Period-Piece Turf]]> @aspiringexpatriate: I'm still recovering from her butchered Cockney in "V for Vendetta."

Cam/ron

]]> <![CDATA[Portman Muscles In On Knightley's Period-Piece Turf]]> Natalie Portman, no! I love Wuthering Heights, and Catherine should be played by an actress that can successfully muster up borderline-unstable-batshit-crazy. When I think of Catherine, I think of a performance like Angelina Jolie's in Gia. If only Helena Bonham Carter were younger--she would be ideal. I would even prefer Nat's doppelganger, Keira, as Catherine. The character was never supposed to be totally delicate and feminine, even after her stay at the Linton's--I specifically remember a line where she is described as "artless." Natalie would make a better Isabella Linton, in my opinion. And call me crazy, but I always thought that Elijah Wood would have made a good young Edgar Linton, with his fey, effeminate, pretty self.

vivresavie17

]]> <![CDATA[Portman Muscles In On Knightley's Period-Piece Turf]]> tscheese: It's part of the colonialism of the times- the wildness of the "natives." Plus, since her family had hidden her madness from Rochester and basically tricked him into the marriage, we're supposed to feel less moral outrage at his wanting to commit adultery/ polygamy with Jane. And, his not having just abandoned Bertha in an asylum to die is also a sign of his good character. Charlotte just seems to have all this desire swirling inside her, and she's so ashamed of it she represses it into things like a mad, sex-enjoying wife hidden in the attic.

mockingbird

]]> <![CDATA[Portman Muscles In On Knightley's Period-Piece Turf]]> bellethellama: He'd devour Dempsey, though. I put him more in the Owen/ Matthew McFayden/Christopher Eccleston mode. I saw him first in Robin Hood, but he's a little too greasy in that so I didn't notice him until I finally caught the finale of Vicar of Dibley (of all things), where he plays a Jane Austin-type suitor. And the looks of adoration and longing he gives Dawn French just melted me. Gorgeous, adoring, and yet still gives off that "I would take you roughly in the stables" vibe. @dr.funke: Get in line. Miller's outspoken love of all things Bronte is the hottest thing about him, IMHO.

mockingbird

]]> <![CDATA[Portman Muscles In On Knightley's Period-Piece Turf]]> @westvillagegirl: THAT is one part I couldn't get behind either. They implied that Rochester's wife was 1) from the Caribbean 2) completely bonkers. I didn't like that. She was the only non-English person and thus, she had to be crazy, by default. That bugged a bit. Obviously it was kind of a pivotal part of the story, but I kind of skimmed those parts.

tscheese

]]> <![CDATA[Portman Muscles In On Knightley's Period-Piece Turf]]> As good as Portman is in My Blueberry Nights, her English accent is atrocious.

aspiringexpatriate

]]> <![CDATA[Portman Muscles In On Knightley's Period-Piece Turf]]> @westvillagegirl: yeah, I guess that's what Wide Sargasso Sea was trying to address. I think I might need Wentworth Miller to explain that ish to me.

dr.funke

]]> <![CDATA[Portman Muscles In On Knightley's Period-Piece Turf]]> Ugh. I love Wuthering Heights, but Portman, despite being a smart and pretty girl, is really such a bad actress. Not gonna work.

caseynissa

]]> <![CDATA[Portman Muscles In On Knightley's Period-Piece Turf]]> @Jezebabe...is a stern and angry midget!!!!: I saw the half that had Anna Paquin in it.

Natalie Portman is not that good of an actress. She was good in The Professional and Closer, but meh in a lot of other things. She makes up for it by being an interesting personality in interviews, but she is nearly 27 and still seems like a young girl to me.

beatrice3000

]]> <![CDATA[Portman Muscles In On Knightley's Period-Piece Turf]]> @Jezebabe...is a stern and angry midget!!!!: LOVE the one with Charlotte Gainsbourg.

funnyface

]]> <![CDATA[Portman Muscles In On Knightley's Period-Piece Turf]]> @bellethellama: @roodles: Thanks. I've never even heard of that. I guess that's what I get for not reading JE until after I was out of college and had no "discussion section"

westvillagegirl (exhiled in chicago)

]]> <![CDATA[Portman Muscles In On Knightley's Period-Piece Turf]]> @LittleMissFour-Eyes: Ralph Fiennes was fabulous, yes. His version is closest and truest to the novel, as I recall. The original on screen Heathcliff was Sir Laurence Olivier, so just by chronology he is first.

hello.kitty

]]> <![CDATA[Portman Muscles In On Knightley's Period-Piece Turf]]> @mockingbird: Richard Armitage...just his VOICE is crazy sexy, but those eyes, and those hands...nom nom indeed. My fiance refers to him as a combination of Hugh Jackman, John Stamos and Patrick Dempsey.

bellethellama

]]> <![CDATA[Portman Muscles In On Knightley's Period-Piece Turf]]> westvillagegirl: Totes! read Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys(?) who attempts to provide the "crazy" wife with a backstory that takes the heinousness of colonization into account. you may like, because you're right, that part of Jane Eyre is problematic.

roodles

]]> <![CDATA[Portman Muscles In On Knightley's Period-Piece Turf]]> bellethellama: Worth it, very good. I read it for the same Bronte class, and I remember being blown away by the writing style.

mockingbird

]]> <![CDATA[Portman Muscles In On Knightley's Period-Piece Turf]]> @and Begorrah: Yeah, I haven't really been blown away by anything Natalie has done since the Professional. And I loved, loved, loved her in that. And we share the same first name.

westvillagegirl (exhiled in chicago)

]]> <![CDATA[Portman Muscles In On Knightley's Period-Piece Turf]]> @LittleMissFour-Eyes: Err, that was supposed to say "she rocked that role," although I seem to have been wanting to type "she rocked and rolled." Which I'm sure Ms. Binoche does as well, from time to time.

LittleMissFour-Eyes

]]> <![CDATA[Portman Muscles In On Knightley's Period-Piece Turf]]> @bellethellama: Read it! Read it! So gooooooood.

andBegorrah

]]> <![CDATA[Portman Muscles In On Knightley's Period-Piece Turf]]> Jezebabe...is a stern and angry midget!!!!: I love you for seeing that! I saw it. Loved it. Worship Charlotte G. @LittleMissFour-Eyes: normally I'd have to thrash you for talking trash about Binoche but agree about the accent. That version wasn't terribly good overall though and Ralph Fiennes' wig... ::shudders::

roodles

]]> <![CDATA[Portman Muscles In On Knightley's Period-Piece Turf]]> mynameisrio: Ditto on the recommendation. I'm not a huge Jane Eyre fan, but the way they write Jane in that one makes her so smart and secure in herself. I took a whole class on the Brontes in college, and Emily will always be my favorite, with Anne a close second. Charlotte just seemed a little too worried about public opinion to give in to her wild side. And I still think she either destroyed any remaining work of Emily's or buried it with her. Portman is so wrong for this role I could throw a Catherine worthy fit. Let her play the dull wretch Heathcliff ends up marrying instead. Clive Owen would make an amazing Heathcliff, but he's too old now. Richard Armitage maybe? Nom, nom, scrumscious.

mockingbird

]]> <![CDATA[Portman Muscles In On Knightley's Period-Piece Turf]]> @tscheese: I'll agree that she was definitely a moral young lady. But it was always SHE who paid the price for her morality. I don't think that's a good feminist message.

westvillagegirl (exhiled in chicago)

]]> <![CDATA[Portman Muscles In On Knightley's Period-Piece Turf]]> Portman can't pull it off--the girl's real pretty and all, but no.
Also, Heathcliff is a twat. That is all.

andBegorrah

]]> <![CDATA[Portman Muscles In On Knightley's Period-Piece Turf]]> @westvillagegirl: Wide Sargrasso Sea explores that whole side to the story. I can't say if it's any good or not, because by the time we got to that book I was so overwhelmed with other work that I let it slide.

bellethellama

]]> <![CDATA[Portman Muscles In On Knightley's Period-Piece Turf]]> @hello.kitty: I don't know, but it's gonna be tough to top Ralph Fiennes. I always thought he'd make the perfect Heathcliff even before I knew he actually played him. Plus, the character of Heathcliff works so nicely with the Rules of Dating Ralph Fiennes in a Period Piece.

LittleMissFour-Eyes

]]> <![CDATA[Portman Muscles In On Knightley's Period-Piece Turf]]> @blackbirdfly: I's in ur laik, divin into ur wet dreemz.

westvillagegirl (exhiled in chicago)

]]> <![CDATA[Portman Muscles In On Knightley's Period-Piece Turf]]> @femminista: I too, love me some Juliette Binoche, although I wasn't entirely sold on her as Catherine Earnshaw either, if only because you could still hear the French accent, and it seemed a bit ridiculous to have one of the most famous female characters in English literature played by a clearly French woman. That said, she rocked and roe, and I'd still take Juliette over Natalie.

LittleMissFour-Eyes

]]> <![CDATA[Portman Muscles In On Knightley's Period-Piece Turf]]> @westvillagegirl: I dunno! I think she did pretty good for the time. She wavered on marrying St. John, sure, but she didn't jump into his arms like a good heroine all "OMG GOOD THERE IS A MAN WHO WILL TAKE ME." She also didn't jump all over Rochester until she knew he was single, AAAND...I dunno, I just liked her quiet resolve.

She wasn't as outgoing as feminist heroes today, though. You're definitely right on that. But for the day and age she was in, I think she did okay.

tscheese

]]> <![CDATA[Portman Muscles In On Knightley's Period-Piece Turf]]> @westvillagegirl: I have watched that version many, many, many times and I lurves it still. Colin Firth should be in all Jane Austen movies. Colin Firth should be in all movies, period. Colin Firth should be here right now, as a matter of fact.

blackbirdfly

]]> <![CDATA[Portman Muscles In On Knightley's Period-Piece Turf]]> Also Jane Eyre always bothered me, because I feel like there were some kind of racist/nationalist undertones. You know, in having the crazy wife be Carribbean, and all.

westvillagegirl (exhiled in chicago)

]]> <![CDATA[Portman Muscles In On Knightley's Period-Piece Turf]]> @dr.funke: Yeah, Rain Man or, you know, Jim Jones.

westvillagegirl (exhiled in chicago)

]]> <![CDATA[Portman Muscles In On Knightley's Period-Piece Turf]]> @bellethellama: And they totally put on this modern day quasi feminist tone to it, that I think Jane Austen herself did a much better job at dealing with.

westvillagegirl (exhiled in chicago)

]]> <![CDATA[Portman Muscles In On Knightley's Period-Piece Turf]]> I love "where the journalists not only break stories but also solve mysteries!"

Duh, deja fait: Pot Psychology.

openletter

]]> <![CDATA[Portman Muscles In On Knightley's Period-Piece Turf]]> @westvillagegirl:

WORD. Blech on Keira's Elizabeth and not staying true to the book/hollywoodization of a classic.

thefiftyfourth

]]> <![CDATA[Portman Muscles In On Knightley's Period-Piece Turf]]> @westvillagegirl: Let's be honest, St. John was probably autistic or somewhere on the spectrum. his rigid religiosity? Preoccupation with routine and schedule? Totes Rain Man.

Jane was far better off with a rapid-cycling bipolar Rochester.

dr.funke

]]> <![CDATA[Portman Muscles In On Knightley's Period-Piece Turf]]> From the xkcd blag:

The Rule

♥ dosido ☮

]]> <![CDATA[Portman Muscles In On Knightley's Period-Piece Turf]]> Speaking of period pieces, I found out today that Masterpiece Theater is doing a new version of Room with a View where they have a different ending! I'm dying to watch it but I think it might be too upsetting. Plus it's not Room with a View without Julian Sands.

type_slowly

]]> <![CDATA[Portman Muscles In On Knightley's Period-Piece Turf]]> @westvillagegirl: Oh, I totally agree. It did suck, in part due to them ignoring all the comedy and instead having everyone moon about in their nightclothes (when I meant "cut scenes for time," I was referring to the novel's scenes that they completely ignore). The 1995 version is the definitive version, hands down.

bellethellama

]]> <![CDATA[Portman Muscles In On Knightley's Period-Piece Turf]]> I did, however, like the Jane Eyre with Charlotte Gainsbourg. Did anyone else see that? I think I was in middle school when it came out.

Jezebabe

]]> <![CDATA[Portman Muscles In On Knightley's Period-Piece Turf]]> @Tisiphone: I agree, she can't come close to the kind of deranged, masochist type who can play Catherine. And yes, I loathe Wuthering Heights.

CorreLola

]]> <![CDATA[Portman Muscles In On Knightley's Period-Piece Turf]]> @jennilyn: OMG OMG OMG that would be a dream. My TV might melt from his hotness. *fanning self furiously* Wonder if Clive looks good as a muddy stable boy....*le sigh*
@mynameisrio: Toby Stephens should be better known. He is classically handsome and a fine actor. I liked his Rochester too. Son of the fabulous Maggie Smith.

hello.kitty

]]> <![CDATA[Portman Muscles In On Knightley's Period-Piece Turf]]> Ah, Paz Vega. Why anyone would want to go from playing smart, sexy women in a variety of excellent European films to play Adam Sandler's ESL-challenged Mexican maid is beyond me. Oh well...

Jezebabe

]]> <![CDATA[Portman Muscles In On Knightley's Period-Piece Turf]]> @tscheese: If by trooper your mean doormat, I'll agree. She just wasn't spunky enough for my tastes. And any woman that considered marrying that ass St. John loses all of my respect.

westvillagegirl (exhiled in chicago)

]]> <![CDATA[Portman Muscles In On Knightley's Period-Piece Turf]]> Catherine is the classic character that I have problem with. I'm always one step short of identifying with her because she's just so whiny and insecure. Yet I still root for her being with Heathcliff.

Btw, I love the MTv version of this. I know that sounds wrong but it is well-acted.

shananigans

]]> <![CDATA[Portman Muscles In On Knightley's Period-Piece Turf]]> @bellethellama: I'm sorry, but Knightley's P&P sucked. If y'all want Pride and Prejudice, watch the 1995 BBC/A&E version, and forget Miss Talks-through-her-Teeth.

westvillagegirl (exhiled in chicago)

]]> <![CDATA[Portman Muscles In On Knightley's Period-Piece Turf]]> @mynameisrio: @bellethellama: OMG, thank you! I'll have to check that out.

I always loved Jane Eyre because it put all the onus of being flakey/wacky/tormented/victim on the GUY. Because, you know what? In real life, not all women are flakey or wacky, and not all dudes are stoic and serene.

Jane was a goddamn trooper, comfortable with herself and her talents despite her humble beginnings, and she didn't give into her weird missionary cousin who wanted weird missionary cousin sex. Also she was nice to her other cousins when they were in need.

tscheese

]]> <![CDATA[Portman Muscles In On Knightley's Period-Piece Turf]]> I disagree that Paz Vega's role is a victim. I mean, I gathered that she is helping investigate the death of her boyfriend. And she will probably fall in love with Farrel. Again, I don't see how that's victimhood. I'd give her a high-5.

westvillagegirl (exhiled in chicago)

]]> <![CDATA[Portman Muscles In On Knightley's Period-Piece Turf]]> LittleMissFour-Eyes: For REALS. That could quite possibly be the worst bit of casting I've seen since Juliette Binoche played the love interest of Steve Carrel and Dane effing Cook in Dan in Real Life...and I love Juliette Binoche. Ugh. Also...I don't know if I would boil down Catherine Earnshaw to a hooker, exactly...

femminista

]]> <![CDATA[Portman Muscles In On Knightley's Period-Piece Turf]]> @hello.kitty: Clive Owen? Pretty please?

jennilyn

]]> <![CDATA[Portman Muscles In On Knightley's Period-Piece Turf]]> I'm not quick enough on the draw to comment here!

mynameisrio

]]> <![CDATA[Portman Muscles In On Knightley's Period-Piece Turf]]> The Toby Stephens/Ruth Wilson Jane Eyre from a couple of years ago on PBS was AWESOME!!!!! Have you not seen it? check it out.

Also, Portman is NOT Catherine. Boo. totally wrong.

(I've been to Haworth too - Charlotte Bronte's dress is amazing, no? She was so little!)

mynameisrio

]]> <![CDATA[Portman Muscles In On Knightley's Period-Piece Turf]]> @tscheese: There's a new BBC version that recently aired on PBS that has gotten fab reviews: [en.wikipedia.org]) And since it's a miniseries, they likely didn't cut key scenes for time (::coughP&P2005cough::)

bellethellama

]]> <![CDATA[Portman Muscles In On Knightley's Period-Piece Turf]]> @tscheese: My mom used to tell my sister and I that she loved dramatic films, but really preferred "period pieces." We would dissolve into fits of laughter.

blackbirdfly

]]> <![CDATA[Portman Muscles In On Knightley's Period-Piece Turf]]> It is all so incredibly disheartening. I read that xkcd blog last night and it just near broke my heart. Not to mention surprised me! I'm ashamed of myself for not having noticed the state of women in the film industry.

Yatta!

]]> <![CDATA[Portman Muscles In On Knightley's Period-Piece Turf]]> Portman would NOT make a good Catherine. Period.

Tisiphone

]]> <![CDATA[Portman Muscles In On Knightley's Period-Piece Turf]]> What?? No doormats? But what will the menz wipe they feets on?

badmutha

]]> <![CDATA[Portman Muscles In On Knightley's Period-Piece Turf]]> "Catherine is a variation of a hooker, marrying for stability and then being punished for it." BOO! No, Jezebel, this is wrong.

Just wondering if Natalie can muster the fire to play Catherine. Who is going to play Heathclif???

hello.kitty

]]> <![CDATA[Portman Muscles In On Knightley's Period-Piece Turf]]> @blackbirdfly: Oh SHIT, you just ruined it for me. I went from composed to cackling in the few seconds it took to click into this thread.

"Period piece". HEE.

I do love me some Natalie Portman, and I do love me some period pieces (SNRRRRK), but when are we gonna see a really compelling spankin' new rendition of Jane Eyre? Seriously Jane was my hero.

tscheese

]]> <![CDATA[Portman Muscles In On Knightley's Period-Piece Turf]]> I am kind of stoked to see Portman as Catherine; Wuthering Heights was one of my fav books growing up.

But technically, aren't both the Boleyn Girls movie and Goya's Ghost period pieces as well? Not totally new territory, then?

GoodMorningAngels (makes me Charlie)

]]> <![CDATA[Portman Muscles In On Knightley's Period-Piece Turf]]> kierabs

]]> <![CDATA[Portman Muscles In On Knightley's Period-Piece Turf]]> Marrying for stability = hooker... might be a stretch.

tallyhoe

]]> <![CDATA[Portman Muscles In On Knightley's Period-Piece Turf]]> @funnyface: i too, am thrilled. i loves my brontes.

onthecornerofparkerandwoolf

]]> <![CDATA[Portman Muscles In On Knightley's Period-Piece Turf]]> Noooo! Natalie, listen, I don't hate you. You're pretty, moderately talented and sweet-seeming, but you are NOT Catherine Earnshaw. Back off the Bronte, babe. For both our sakes.

LittleMissFour-Eyes

]]> <![CDATA[Portman Muscles In On Knightley's Period-Piece Turf]]> I'm an English major nerd, I've been to Haworth, home of the Brontes, and I'm a Portman fan, so I'm excited for this movie.

funnyface

]]> <![CDATA[Portman Muscles In On Knightley's Period-Piece Turf]]> I can't see the phrase "period piece" without laughing. Because I'm ten.

blackbirdfly

]]>