I just watched a really cool documentary on the Doc Channel called The Cinderella's of Santa Fe. I taped it because it was set in New Mexico which I have developed a strange obsession with recently, but that is another post. It turned out to be a great example of indie work all around. It follows a group of women and one token guy who want to live out their creative dreams but have to make ends meet by working other jobs instead. Sound familiar? I thought many of you could probably relate and would like to know that you are not alone.
I loved all of the arty details of the film including the graphics and the music. I would recommend it if you are someone who dreams of being able to live life on your own terms. These ladies may not have all of the answers but it is nice to see the issues explored. Many of them complain about how the arts are so unappreciated in our country. They talk about their counterparts who have the same college degrees as themselves and are supported in their countries by grants and funding to be able to create full time. One of the slides said that the U.S. Armed Forces currently has close to 200 bands and that the funding that goes to support them is twice the annual budget for the National Endowment for the Arts. All I can say to that is WHY?
There was also some interesting discussions of the Jungian archetypes of Cinderella, Evil Stepmother, and the Fairy Godmother, etc. I did not know that the Cinderella story was first seen in a Chinese tale dating back to 860 A.D. and has been seen in many cultures since. I like how they described the Stepmother/Stepsisters as representing all those people/forces keeping us from our dreams. For some of the girls the evil stepmother was actually found inside of themselves, including doubts of their abilities and talent. I think we can all relate to that.
It looks like the Doc Channel owns the rights to the film and it is on their regular rotation of films. The same filmmakers also made American Waitress, New Mexico which I have set to record later in the week. I'm looking forward to watching it too.
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6 comments:
Wow that's pretty darn cool! I was also very surprised to read the Chinese version of Cinderella... there is a very gorgeous book called "Yeh-shen" http://www.myseveralworlds.com/2007/08/02/yeh-shen-the-chinese-cinderella/
Wish I had seen doc it sounds very interesting great post and by the way I am now following your blog
Sounds very cool. I know the evil stepmother is living inside of me...lol
Sounds really interesting- I'll have to check it out.
New Mexico is a great place to be obsessed about. If you ever want to know anything specific though, drop me a line. I was born and raised here and have been to almost all the major New Mexico attractions.
I love the overlapping and nebulous history of faerie tales.
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