Documentary Review -- "Pretty Things" (HBO)

[faithellen]

I just (finally) finished watching the HBO documentary "Pretty Things" on the art of burlesque. I was really looking forward to it -- seeing as how I love the vintage and the pinup art and the stuff like that there, and I was really disappointed by the filmmaker, Liz Goldwyn. For a woman so fascinated with a topic so rife with sex, so desirous of preserving the costumes and the lore and the art itself, she came off (to me) as a prudish stunned moth.

Much of the piece was interviews with former burlesque performers, with still shots and old footage, and that was GREAT -- Zorita in particular, a sharp-tongued lesbian who shot straight from the hip, was very entertaining. But running throughout was Liz's attempt to recreate a burlesque performance herself, and that involved repeatedly harping on how she didn't want to show any skin (to the point of putting on fabulous vintage costumes OVER her clothes), and standing around with her mouth hanging limp and her eyes with no light behind them. She recorded three songs, which screamed "this is SEXY! right? isn't it? guys?" And...the dancing. She appears to be a long-time ballet dancer. You could see the training, but it came across as awkward and a technical exercise in being sexy. She didn't have the OOMPH, the heart, the hottt.

Anyone else see this? What are your thoughts? Is it just that I'm looking at a skinny woman with little breasts, and discarding her burlesque potential out of hand?

EDIT: According to this interview, she was 18 when she filmed this. I cut her more slack for that -- I was thinking late 20s.

Comments

[daydreambeleevr.livejournal.com]

ooh. *raises hand* i just watched this the other day. i loved those women. i can't imagine what it must have been like for them. i think liz had this very rose color glasses attitude about it all. she kept asking about the glamour or romance, and time and time again the women were like, um. no. not close.

zorita was a kick in the pants and i bet she was a hoot and a half to party with, but my favorite was "little ball of fire" (can't think of her name). i can't believe how hard it must have been for them, and i was surprised (but i guess i shouldn't be) at how young a lot of them were when they took it up. it was probably either this or prostitution for them. not the best of options.

i think liz had deep feelings of support and affection for the women, you could tell this by how upset she became when she the women talked about the men jerking off in the audience, and how that effected them. she was visibly upset and angered at their callous treatment.

she was, or seemed, pretty hesitant when it came to her personal exploration of burlesque. there was only so far she was going to go, and it wasn't very far at that.

my husband and i (and some friends) actually saw one of those ladies, when we were in las vegas, about 8 or so years ago. she was called Tempest Storm, and she was a hot tamale in her day. she was (had to be) in her 70's when we saw her. (there was another show going on, and she was sort of the principle character that was like "guest appearing". can't think of the hotel now.) i remember thinking women 3 times as young as her didn't look close to as good as she did. she still had great legs.

i'm glad someone is at least making some sort of effort to save and preserve this part of Americana history.

Kerry =)

[faithellen]

Talk about looking good for her age? Mamie Van Doren. Dayum.