Closer

Closer by Patrick Marber
1999
Weight: 5.6 lbs
Method of Disposal: Donating

In college, I loved this play and this movie.  It just reaffirmed my belief that most people were polyamorous and trying to fit themselves into monogamous boxes.  I watched with a girlfriend (a monogamous one), and it just straight up pissed her off.  Ironically, she would be the one to cheat on me with her ex-boyfriend and eventually leave me for another woman.  I guess that should reaffirm my college beliefs on polyamory!

I reread it last week before giving it up, and I had a totally different experience of it this time.  I would be really interested to see the movie again and see what I think.  I, honestly, think I own it.  This time it irritated me to no end, and I could not stand Dan or Larrry but mostly Dan.  I found all the havoc and heartache and drama that was self-inflicted by all the characters to be ridiculous and disrespectful.  I no longer could even imagine being in their position.  I use to empathize, but I felt so disconnected from it this time.

That being said, the play and the writing are good.  It is a testament to the author that he can make people feel different things and so strongly.

Grace Kelly

Grace Kelly: A Life in Pictures  Jenny Curtis
2002
Weight: 1 lb
Method of Disposal: Donating

I remember the first time I really noticed Grace Kelly.  I was in high school and working at Waldenbooks.  I had made a friend there named Kristal.  She was very into classic movies, amongst other wonderful things.  One day she was swooning about Rear Window, and it sparked my curiosity (she was great at doing that).  On my lunch break, I marched right down to Suncoast and purchased it for around $30-35.  I cannot imagine paying that much for a movie now!  I had no rent payments or utility bills then though and Netflix did not exist.  I guess I should have gone to Hollywood Video, but I was impulsive.

Anyway, I took the movie home, and I watched it.  I fell in love with Grace Kelly and thought she was absolutely beautiful.  Of course, for my friend, it was Jimmy Stewart who was the draw and, of course, Hitchcock.  With three big names like that you are going to have a popular movie!  It was really a fantastic introduction.

I, of course, still think she is beautiful though not at all my type...whatever my type is.

 

Thing of Beauty

Thing of Beauty: The Tragedy of Supermodel Gia  by Stephen Fried
1994
Weight: 8.2 oz
Method of Disposal: Leaving at Joe's in EAV

I came to Gia, like many lesbians people of my age did, through the film in which Angelina Jolie starred.  It is the movie that made me lust for Angie above all others for years, and it is the movie that made me buy a book about a supermodel (something I never would have done).  The sexiness of Angelina and the queer love story snagged me, but the human pain and struggle would have stuck with me no matter what.  The book showed a far more disturbing underbelly to the fashion industry and the young fans of the industry than the movie but, though I hate to admit it, I mostly remember Angelina kicking in a window, desperate for someone to love her, being abusive (though I did not recognize it then as that--though I knew it wasn't good) to the beautiful Linda.  I remember Gia's pain, Linda's turmoil, the drugs, the misunderstandings, the family.

It was absolutely a movie a high schooler would love.  I say that, but I am not trying to take away from the adult pain...just recognizing the obvious.