Five Foot Two and Showing Fibromyalgia as it really is.

When Lady Gaga released her documentary Gaga: Five Foot Two, I tuned in. I’ve always liked her, so I probably would have tuned in at some point anyway, but there was something specific I wanted to see.

A week before the documentary hit Netflix, Gaga announced that she had fibromyalgia, a chronic pain condition that I too have. Naturally, I wondered how her condition would be shown, and I, like many people had a few, quite small, concerns, if they could even be called that. The condition is misunderstood, and I’d already seen that prior to the documentary’s release people had been asked, ‘well if she can do that, why can’t you just get out of bed?’

This question was probably quietened by her having to cancel part of her tour due to the pain.

 In Five Foot Two, she also addresses the issue of access to help for people with chronic illness, something many people were talking about prior to the release. There were people who believed that her fame, her wealth, or how long she’d had the condition for meant that she was somehow not worthy of sharing her story and being the celebrity who stood for people with this condition. I disagree; I don’t think we could have got anyone better. She got more people talking about this condition in a matter of days than I had seen in the whole decade I’ve suffered with it.

She addresses that she is lucky enough to have a team of people around her to help her, and can afford good medical care, and that she doesn’t know what she would do without it. Yet despite this, she still suffers. The condition is unpredictable, relentless, and difficult to treat and it doesn’t matter who you are; if you have a chronic illness, you will suffer.

I found the way that the illness was depicted in the documentary was great. It was true to life. Five Foot Two is about her career, not her condition, but the condition is constantly seeping into her everyday life. During rehearsals she has to stop and get her hip treated, and we see her having injections to control the pain.

When you are ill, it is as much a normal part of your day to day life as eating or sleeping. Sometimes it is possible to push through the pain and try to live a semi normal life, but doing so does not mean that you aren’t in pain. Gaga addresses this herself when talking to her doctor; when she performs she is pushing through the pain, and generally being helped by the adrenaline, but still in pain.

Other times it is not possible to do this, and Gaga invites us to witness a fairly intimate and vulnerable moment during a pain flare. She lies on a sofa, crying, and has a team of people working on her. Moments where the pain leaves us like this are ones that most of us deliberately hide due to embarrassment. Gaga shares this common fear, but lets us in regardless, and I think that it really important.

This is the side chronic pain patients rarely show to the outside world, because it is scary to do so, but this is the side that people need to see.

Research- The Witch

The Witch (or, The VVitch: A New England Folk-tale) is the 2015 directorial début of Robert Eggers, and follows a Puritan family whose lives are terrorised by a witch, ultimately leading to the family's downfall. I want to start by saying that I loved this film. It really played with traditional tropes of witchcraft and storytelling, and that was what made it so interesting. It really was a folk-tale.
It should be noted; spoilers.

I'd heard a lot of complaints, about how the film wasn't scary, and how it wasn't a horror, but oh boy it was.  It was a horror in a very different sense to the one we are used to; nowadays, horror involves jump scares, terrifying monsters and some pretty intense supernatural action, but The Witch employs a more traditional form of horror. It's the tension of genuine fear which makes the story so scary. The world is always a terrifying place, and horror generally reflects the time periods fears (I'm pretty sure Zombie's come from fears over the AID's epidemic, for example) and the 17th century was pretty scary, especially from the point of view of the fact that the time period was mid-witch hunts (which went on from about 1450-1750) and to the deeply religious, witch's were real. They were real and dangerous, and basically the devil's disciples (something Goya painted pretty frequently, also note the Devil being depicted as a Black Goat... Goya was actually an influence on Eggers, which you can read about here. its a really good article on his influences and research in making the film) and not something to dress your kids up as at the end of October. Eggers also did a good job at fulfilling a lot of the traditional witch tropes; spells made of babies, black goats, bewitched fevers, hare's, etc. the only problem I had with that was that I knew all of them, and it made it a little predictable in places, for me at least.

Goya- Witches Sabbath.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Witches%27_Sabbath_(Goya,_1798)#/media/File:GOYA_-_El_aquelarre_(Museo_L%C3%A1zaro_Galdiano,_Madrid,_1797-98).jpg

This intense fear spawned a number of folk-tales, and traditionally folk-tales were terrifying, because they played on very real fears of the time. A lot of them seem silly to us now. For example, I'm English, and we have our own pretty cool folklore's. They aren't scary to us anymore, but in their heyday they posed a genuine threat. Take for example, two of my favourites; Black Dogs, and Spring Heeled Jack. Black Dogs were/are nocturnal apparitions said to be the Devil or a Hellhound, and regarded as a portent of death. They were far larger than normal dogs, and had glowing, generally red eyes, and associated with crossroads, execution sites and ancient pathways, and the most well known was Black Shuck, in Suffolk. Spring Heeled Jack was an entity said to terrorise Victorian Britain, with the first sighting being 1837. He was claimed to have strange appearance, being tall and thin, with clawed hands and red eyes, said to be wearing a black cloak over a helmet and tight fitting oilskin. He was blamed for a number of murders and disappearances, not least the infamous Jack the Ripper killings. This is why I maintain that the film is a horror; it even mentions being a folklore in the subtitles, and it does exactly what a folk-tale does. Eggers even did a lot of research into New England folk-tales in the process of making the film.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/sundance-a24-acquires-hot-horror-762174

The story is told brilliantly, with it's 'ye olde' style dialogue really bringing you into the time period. But what I wanted to mention was the visuals. there were a lot of references to artworks and history within it, and a lot of just beautifully shot scenes. There is a scene in which the family are settling down for a meal, praying, with the long haired, bearded father at the head of the table. It's moments before and argument breaks out, and the scene its self is reminiscent of depictions of the last supper. The religious links the films pulls you into really show the Christian narrative the characters exist in; the father, who fills in for Jesus' position at this point, had the family exiled from their settlement, and scorned the others for not following God's word properly, whilst he did such. the connection is loose, but it's definitely there.

http://www.wolfinagorillasuit.com/2015/09/the-witch-trailer-analysis.html

Another is when Thomasin is the last one left of her family, and faces her destiny. She removes her blood-splattered dress with dirty hands, leaving her naked and covered in her mother's blood, before being led to her new coven. All of the witches are naked; it's a tradition in folklore, because nakedness is associated with sin and shame, and witches are considered to be in league with the devil. Their general existence is sin, so they have to look the part to really home that point in. This also leads to one of the most iconic scenes of the film, one which is adapted for one of the posters, in which her silhouette is highlighted by the moon as she walks into clearing. The way light and silhouette is used is really effective.

Crimson Peak- Imagery

The Crimson Peak website seems like a good place to start.

I'm not going to talk too much about the movie, because I don't want to spoil it. However, there are actually a fair few spoilers in this post, because it's almost impossible to analyse the images in relation to the film without mentioning a fair few important details.
The film is beautiful, as most del Toro works are, and is a great Gothic story. It's full of fantastical imagery, from bleeding snow, to beautiful gothic staircases, to fascinating symbolisms.

Source: http://www.comingsoon.net/movies/news/610932-new-crimson-peak-character-and-kick-ass-mondo-posters

This is the image which fronts the Crimson Peak art book (which I totally have, I should add), and it's a pretty awesome image. 

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crimson_Peak#/media/File:Crimson_Peak_theatrical_poster.jpg

red is laying on bed, blue is crimson peak- overlaying to two key elements- bed where she is awoken by ghosts, and expected to die, house is the setting, and the issue. (The film theorists drama by frame colour of fear)- homage to mario b?- master of macabre- contrasting hues- red/blue, green/magenta- red violence, passion- narrative device- spn event-sets- flex for style, etc- period pieces- dark past overshadowing modern day- dt channeled these- black manor, white snow- custom set- under complete control- 

Source: http://theyoungfolks.com/film/sdcc-2015-crimson-peak-krampus-warcraft/59768

The image which is exposed in red over the characters image corresponds symbolically to the sort of character they are. 

Edith and the butterfly, and Lucille and the moth- Butterflies and moths are a recurring theme, and when in the house especially, with moths taking centre stage as the story gets darker. Moths and butterflies are literally polar opposites when it comes to symbolism, and is an indication that these two women are the same. Due to the nature of the creatures, they're regarded as though they are sisters; butterflies are the 'good', while moths are the 'bad'. the greek word for butterfly is psyche, the same as soul. It was common belief among most ancient, and most less ancient too, cultures that the butterfly was the form the human soul took between lifetimes. They are also associated with rebirth and metamorphosis, death and resurrection. The moth on the other hand has much darker connotations, partly due to being its nocturnal counterpart. Its archetypal image is of it being drawn to a flame; a harsh image due to the fact that it is pursuing something which will ultimately kill it. It is the submission of the ego as death begins to posses the soul- it represents the disembodied soul, but it is a destructive force, rather than the butterflies life giving one. 

Edith is our stories protagonist, and she is the butterfly- she is beautiful, and must undergo a range of changes throughout our story, including ones which dabble in literal life and death metamorphosis'. Lucille is her equal, but her opposite. She is in a literal sense a disembodied soul, being part of and surrounded by the chaos and destruction of the film. Marking them out in this way is actually a beautiful way of introducing the close link between them. 

Thomas- skull link with death. he is deadly to edith- pose puts this at odds with him- he seems unsure

Micheal- Angel wings- he is op. to thomas- he is there to help edith, and save her- pose is strong and assertive- unlike his counterpart he knows what he wants, and what to do. 

Source: https://www.facebook.com/CrimsonPeakUK/photos/pb.798590670169889.-2207520000.1445809693./1176443125717973/?type=3&theater

This is quite a pivotal scene in terms of marking out our characters. In a park, there are butterflies dying under a tree, which upsets Edith. Lucille tells her that where she is from (Cumbria...) there are no butterflies, simply creatures of darkness- moths. 

Source:https://www.facebook.com/CrimsonPeakUK/photos/pb.798590670169889.-2207520000.1445809693./1180198172009135/?type=3&theater

This is a pretty heavily publicised still from the film- simple compared to others- background and person both pale-become part of one0another- symbolism of white. 

Source: http://collider.com/crimson-peak-pictures-show-off-the-stunning-allerdale-hall/

The house was made for the film in a sound set, because an important part of the Gothic genre is the house in which the story is set. The house is both stunning and repulsive. Its amazingly beautiful to look at, which its grand staircases and delicate woodwork, but there are holes in the ceiling and walls, and red clay oozing through the walls. It is creaky, sinking into the clay and infested with dying creatures, namely moths. The colour scheme is dark, and light is scarce. It's a house you'd want to reach out and touch, to experience for yourself, and yet it is one you'd seek to avoid. It is not inviting, it is imposing. The high angle in which we see it is there to demonstrate its grand nature. it seeks to offer itself to us, to show us is beauty, as well as it's secrets, but also to demonstrate it's power. 
Something is amiss in Allerdale Hall. 

Source: http://horrorbuzz.com/crimson-peak-halloween-horror-nights/

This isn't from the film itself, but from what I gather it is a sort of replica, for a horror maze based on the film- Crimson Peak Maze of Madness. The image is accurate to the sights we see in the film. I wanted the image for the wallpaper. The wallpaper is- I'm sure you guessed it- moths. Another reminder of the dark, destructive forces in the house, be they human, or otherwise. The corridors have a strange effect- they are long, with sharp arches and lit with a peculiar blue light. It adds to the paranormal edge, especially when the events of the film which take place are considered. 

Les Vampires

Source:http://38.media.tumblr.com/94886f6bc27e8798df367a72ea414ead/tumblr_nk1ily33FG1rsxqqio1_500.gif

I came across this gif of  a scene from Les Vampires of  Marfa Koutiloff dancing as a vampire bat in "The Ring That Kills" which is episode Two of the serial. The imagery in this looks fantastic, and something about this scene in particular is really captivating to me. It's framed so well, with the central focus being the bat like figure, but her movement leading us to the woman who's asleep in white (and that contrast is pretty strong). The background is pleasantly simple, which it really needs to be, as to not take away from the foreground, and has a gothic style to it, which is a great support to the vampiric atmosphere. 

I think I need to watch all seven hours (there are ten episodes of this).