The Rice Thresher, Vol. 96, No. 19, Ed. 1 Friday, February 13, 2009 Page: 13 of 24
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Friday, February 13,2009
the Rice Thresher
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Gettin' it on with The Vagina Monologues
By Faheem Ahmed
Thresher Staff
Remember Tim Burton's The Night-
mare Before Christmas? That stop-mo-
tion animated movie that your parents
mistakenly took you to as a child, think-
ing it was just another Disney cartoon
before realizing way too late, after see-
ing images of hurled skulls and burn-
ing bodies, that the movie might be too
twisted for a little kid?
While Coraline might not be as vi-
sually gruesome, it's in the same vein.
Marketed as a children's fairy tale gone
wrong and awarded a PG rating (I'd like
to disagree), this film is surprisingly
adult and definitely way too creepy for
the average six-year-old.
iwrwniroiMiHHii
Coraline
★ ★ 1/2
Starring: Dakota Fan-
ning, Teri Hatcher, John
Hodgman
Rated: PG
Released: Feb. 6
Coraline is directed by Henry Selick,
the visionary behind The Nightmare Be-
fore Christmas and James and the Giant
Peach. Selick is wonderfully imagina-
tive when it comes to animation, using
a mix of stop motion and Claymation
to beautifully illustrate his landscapes
and characters. In addition, Selick of-
ten adds a shade of darkness and twist-
ed humor to his cartoons, resulting in a
very disturbing combination.
The basic premise of this film is that
Coraline (voiced nicely by I Am Sam's
Dakota Fanning) has just moved into a
new house with her parents. Her father
(the Mac commercials' John Hodgman)
and mother ("Desperate Housewives'"
Teri Hatcher) are busy editing a garden-
ing catalog 24/7, thus neglecting Cora-
line on a daily basis. She is incredibly
lonely, and the fact that they live above
a pair of over-the-hill actresses and
ft
Marketed as a
children's fairy
tale gone wrong,
this film is way too
creepy for the aver-
age six-year-old.
99
If you're really aching to go to the
theater this weekend, then Coraline is
probably the most entertaining film to
watch. The plot is predictable, but the
movie is fun and inventive.
By Alicia Hernandez
For theThresher
Mushmellow. Powderbox. Coochi
snorcher. Cunt. Dignity. Gladys
Siegelman. Vagina. Orgasmic moans.
Frank testimony. Righteous anger. You
name it, The Vagina Monologues has it.
Because it is mostly bare, the stage
of The Vagina Monologues is set for
good acting. Costumes are simple
black outfits with small touches of
red. The lighting is simple. Ultimately,
the show is an intimate experience be-
tween the audience and the actresses.
below a mentally-unstable circus per-
former does not help.
After exploring the ancient house,
Coraline finds a small door, which is
actually a portal to an alternate uni-
verse. It is an exact duplicate of her
own apartment, except that her "other"
parents are more caring and willing to
give her all the attention in the world.
Everyone in this universe, however, has
buttons sewn over their eyes. As the
movie progresses, the trips to this other
dimension become more terrifying and
Coraline realizes that her fantasy is
transforming into a nightmare.
The movie has several positive as-
pects, particularly the cinematography.
I watched Coraline in RealD 3D technol-
ogy (I told you this will be the norm for
every movie!). Rather than hurl objects
into the audience's faces, the 3D works
nicely to add depth to the visuals, par-
ticularly to the animals and plants. Ad-
ditionally, Selick has the boldness to
make his movies scary, unlike typical
Disney fairytales.
Despite the originality of the ani-
mation, the plot of Coraline is way too
hackneyed. The "be careful what you
wish for" message has been played
out in several other films and books.
The concept of a little girl discover-
ing a passageway to another world
has been portrayed in The Chronicles
of Namia and most notably in Pan's
Labyrinth, which is the perfect blend
of fantasy and horror.
The Vagina
Monologues
★ ★ ★ y2
Now Showing: Friday
and Saturday at 8 p.m.,
Sunday at 2 p.m., Brown
College Commons
Thankfully, most of the actresses
do a great job. Brown College junior
Caroline Turner in "My Angry Va-
gina" provides comic relief and a
wonderful performance as she talks
about tampons, douches and visits
to the gynecologist. Hanszen College
junior Teresa Bayer, the only double-
cast actress, provides credible and
adorable performances in "They
Beat the Girl Out of My Boy ... Or So
They Tried" and "A Six-Year-Old Girl
Was Asked...", respectively.
Hanszen senior Abbie Ryan, in
"The Woman Who Loved to Make
Vaginas Happy," shows the most
commitment, especially as she
moans her way from an "almost" to
a "triple orgasm." Her monologue,
one of the last, is probably the most
memorable. Although the acting is
not always great, the rousing per-
formances of Turner, Bayer, Ryan
and many others compensate for
those more novice actresses.
While many of the pieces re-
sult in squeals of laughter, there
are also quite a few serious ones.
Although audiences usually dread
these monologues because they
deal with rape and violence, the
actresses make their cases without
making the audience so overly un-
comfortable. They are serious, yes,
but very watchable. In "My Vagina
Was My Village," Hanszen fresh-
man Kat Skilton provides a touch-
ing look into a raped Bosnian wom-
an's ordeal. Lovett College senior
Allie Janda, in "The Little Coochi
Snorcher That Could," one of the
That's not the Hanszen anti-cheer, it's Brown junior Caroline Turner per-
forming "My Angry Vagina" in The Vagina Monologues, opening tonight.
most entertaining monologues of
the night, gives a frank talk about
her sexual encounters as a child.
Several other serious or semi-se-
rious monologues are presented,
and each is dealt just the right mix
of sensitivity and frankness. Poten-
tial attendees should not be scared
away by seriousness; in The Vagina
Monologues, it works.
The overall production of the
show is decent; symbolic touches
and stupendous acting carry the
show. Unfortunately, the novice di-
recting of Brown senior Amy Bridges
and Brown junior Keisha Harrison is
visible and at times distracting, es-
pecially with a few, scattered mono-
logues that are weakand lack commit-
ment. Adding on to such weaknesses
is a superfluous chalkboard that re-
quires lots of help moving on and off
the stage. For a play with a maximum
of three props per monologue, the
transitions are sometimes very long,
interrupting the show's fluidity. On
the bright side, the audience will
forget all about these transitions 10
seconds into each monologue.
And the directing is not all bad;
Bridges and Harrison have their
strong points. The splotches of
red found in the costumes, set and
lighting do provide continuity and a
nice motif. Furthermore, the perfor-
mance is quite tactful for its subject
matter, which will not alienate the
men in the audience. As a virgin to
The Vagina Monologues, I had previ-
ously shied away from hearing about
my "down-there." This show, how-
ever, was entertaining. Although
empowering by nature, it never be-
came militant. It is definitely a great
choice for a Valentine's Day date or
an outing with friends.
A fair, if somewhat obvious warn-
ing, is that the show uses strong
language. The world "cunt," for ex-
ample, has an entire monologue at-
tached to it. Nevertheless, the tactful-
ness of the show and the instances of
wonderful acting make The Vagina
Monologues a great performance.
B
THRESHER EDITORS' FAVORITE ROMANTIC FILMS OF ALL TIME
hint, hint...
Yan/lily
Sports/Editor in Chief
Yan: The Sandlot.
Lily: Eternal Sunshine
or Lost in Translation
or Almost Famous or,
if I want to be trashy,
Bridget Jones.
Joe
A&E
Love, Actually, because
it's the only one I've
ever seen, and I actu-
ally fell asleep halfway
through.
Natalie
Sports
When Harry Met Sally,
because of the scene
when they're watch-
ing Casablanca and he
moos. And the orgasm
scene.
Daver
Photog
Saw 4. Just kidding, I
haven't seen any of the
Saw movies.
It's Deep Throat.
lulie
A&E
Pride and Prejudice, the
BBC version. It's a six-
hour series. My family
quotes it daily.
Lauren
Photog
Um, Beauty and the Beast,
because Belle's dress is
pretty.
Dylan
Editor in Chief
Dude, I don't even
know... maybe Love,
Actually.7 Oh wait, no,
dawg. Sleepless in
Seattle. I just watch all
the movies that come
on TBS.
Doctor/Faust
Backpage
Doc: Wall-E. Do I have
to give an explanation?
Faust: Double Penetra-
tion 3. Family favorite.
Reminds me of Passover.
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Chun, Lily & Farmer, Dylan. The Rice Thresher, Vol. 96, No. 19, Ed. 1 Friday, February 13, 2009, newspaper, February 13, 2009; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth443007/m1/13/?rotate=270: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.