The Corpse Bride

I finally went to see The Corpse Bride with Erika and my brother. Though just under an hour, I have to say I am never disappointed with Tim Burton (though some of you, I know, thought Big Fish was a big waste of time). This little film presents two families: the fish monger, working-class, new money family; and the old money, high propriety but broke family. I was most impressed that the film actually used little clay clothes to communicate class differences. Consider the latter family like a hipster family: they know what to wear, how to wear it, and who should see them wearing it. Consider the former family like the new poser hipsters who, thought hey appear fashionable, clearly have no idea what's up. How do we know this (drum roll: my geekdom is about the ensue)? Because the hipster family has on late 1890's corsets, dresses, and hairstyles, signaling the actual time period of the film. The poser family, for all the money they have, wear fashion trends from the late 1860's (the belled skirt with overlapping top layers, the small cap with feather plume, etc.). See what an M.A. and an almost PhD will buy you?

One thing I wasn't so into, and feel this way about many contemporary films (like the really yucky Serenity film that just came out) is the fall-back on pre-established, cookie-cutter character arcs and narrative lines. The plot provided nothing new or fresh--many 19th century story lines unfold in a similar fashion. There's the virtuous girl and the slightly damaged, willful, experienced girl, and the dashing, yet awkward young man falls in love with the lovely young girl, rather than hook up with the damaged, willful girl/corpse. In addition, there's the Victorian stereotype of the loveless marriage, the razor sharp quickness of the staunchly dressed women, and the figure of the libertine, just waiting to fuck everything up. The libertine figure is getting on my nerves. I mean, how many different ways can we show folks to watch out for the bad boys and bad girls? Why do the bad boys and bad girls always have the same character face? And beyond that, where's the melancholy? I paid good money (okay, my brother paid good money) to see some goddman melancholy! Ha ha.

Oh well. It's worth seeing, and the music is fabulous (of course, I'm a sucker for the organ and minor keyed piano ditties--gotta love the funeral dirge!).