I'm Not There/Health Care Redux

I saw the latest Todd Haynes movie I'm Not There last night. It's about the life Bob Dylan with different actors playing different identities and aspects of the man; Christian Bale, Richard Gere, Cate Blanchett and four other actors all play Dylan in one way or another.

I was really excited about the movie and from reading reviews and thought it was a brilliant idea. After seeing it I must admit I'm a little disappointed. The movie doesn't necessarily follow events of Dylan's life as they happened and it is told in a non-linear style, this is part of what attracted me to see the film. But I found myself not engaging with the characters or the story unless it was a part of his life I was familiar with. I also found myself wondering "is this from a poem Dylan wrote or something from the screenwriter?". I went in to the movie thinking that the non-linear non-factual style would be quite effective in portraying the personality and impact of an icon, instead I felt unfulfilled and detached.

I will say the movie is quite ambitious and worth seeing because of that alone. Cate Blanchett, the stunning woman she is, plays a male character embodiment of Dylan, there's Richard Gere as Billy-the-Kid-Dylan, and a young black hobo named Woody Guthrie as Dylan. Fine movie, still not in my Top Five.

Everyone need to go and read my Cousin Kathy's Blog. She tackles health care much more eloquently than I did earlier in the year. My favorite excerpt:

There's this ugly sense of "me, me, me" in this country that really irks me. "Why should I have to pay for..." and similar lines of thinking overlook a very critical element of building a strong country: A strong country is made up of strong communities. Strong communities are made up of people working together toward a common goal. Protecting your own interests to the exclusion of the wellbeing of your community is selfish and short-sighted.

Preach on Preacher! Preach on!