Watching the Unwatchable

a trip to the theater : Margot at the Wedding
(directed by Noah Baumbach)

One of the reasons we go to the movies is to experience things we wouldn't normally get to experience : a lifestyle, an event or a place etc. Part of the process of experiencing these things through watching a film is having a protagonist that you can align yourself with, that you can relate to in some way, so as to go through what they go through in the film. So when a film is stock full of folks that are so despicable that you can't relate to them, it's sometimes a lonely day at the theater.

Noah Baumbach's Margot at the Wedding is one of those films that requires you to take the journey all by yourself. The main characters are all East Coasters whose background has afforded them the ability to spend their time thinking of only themselves. Their self absorption and associated neurosis makes the entire Margot crew seem inherently unlikable, and with the exception of Margot's husband (played by John Turturro) and her son (played by Zane Pais) all involved are in need of a reality check or at least a lesson in keeping quiet ( although I suppose all the fun would be lost is they kept quiet, for here we don't get to travel with the characters, but instead we get to laugh and cringe at their dysfunctionality).

Films like these always leave me feeling a tad mixed up inside, much more so than films that have more disturbing content. I've seen Fatih Akin's Head On at least 10 times, adore all of Fassbinder and even enjoy revisiting Lars von Trier's Breaking the Waves now and then, so I'm not turned off by discomfort.

But while films like Head On and Breaking the Waves may deal with rougher issues than something like Margot at the Wedding, the main characters, no matter how messed up, are still better people deep down than I suspect Nicole Kidman's Margot is and ultimately I care about them despite the mistakes they make during our time together. This being said, I may not care for Margot, but the more I think on it, the more I enjoy Margot at the Wedding, I may have made the journey on my own, but it was a rewarding one nonetheless.