The Shape of Water

We saw The Shape of Water last night.

After the film I thought I saw something unique. There were things I liked: the homage to films, the cinematography, the acting and directing. But I felt uneasy.

This morning I woke up and realized this was just another telling of Beauty and the Beast, another story of a woman who falls in love with the first man who doesn't see her as broken or ugly.

Women deserve better than that, more than that. Women deserve to choose who they want, rather than falling for the first person who wants them.

Film goers deserve better than that. They deserve to see women who have agency and power.

This is why we need women in the director's chair.

Here's hoping it doesn't win much at this year's Oscars.

Oscar's Short Docs Program

If you want only laughs and happy endings, don't see this year's Oscar Short Docs program. This year's selections include three films about people in or leaving Syria, a film about people dying, and one about a Holocaust survivor's violin. To gauge how intense these films are, the one about the Holocaust survivor and his violin was the most upbeat one.

I wanted to scream obscenities about the Oval Office trash fire during most of the films. But the one that really got me going was 4.1 Miles, about the Greek coast guard that fishes dead people out of the ocean and saves many lives every single day, several times a day. The film laid bare the absurdity of our arbitrary national borders. We could simply provide transportation to people fleeing war-torn lands but instead we let them risk their lives in a 4.1 mile stretch of salt water because of the border between Turkey & Greece. This one is my favorite for winning this years short documentary Oscar.

Four of the short films are streaming online. The White Helmets, about the people who rescue fellow Syrians after bombings from their government or Russia, is on Netflix, as is the film Extremis, which follows doctors & families caring for patients near death. You can see 4.1 Miles on the New York Times website, about the coast guard on the Island of Lesbos in Greece rescuing people fleeing war in Syria. The New Yorker is hosting Joe's Violin.

To see Watani: My Homeland, which follows one Syrian family over three years, check out a local showing near you.

If you want to see all five films together, find a showing here.

Joe's Violin and 4.1 Miles were directed by women.