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March 1993

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Subject:
From:
Benjamin Leontief Alpers <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
Film and TV Studies Discussion List <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Fri, 19 Mar 1993 12:29:40 EST
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Let me lodge a dissent from all the _Crying Game_ praise.  IMHO, it is not
that unusual a movie. I think it is a fine film, but fairly standard.
The performances are all first rate; each Oscar nomination was richly
deserved. But it is a fairly standard thriller with an unusual character,
not an unusual thriller. The famed, secret "plot twist" is not a plot
twist at all: indeed, the film-maker (whose name unfortunately escapes me
at this moment) seems to go out of his way NOT to explore the possible effects
that such a revelation might have on the plot per se.
 
What is unusual is the hype, and I can't believe that, in this message,
I am keeping the secret. There was a group of people upset at the content
of _Basic Instincts_ that called itself after the Sharon Stone character, as
in "<that character's name> Did It>; I honestly feel manipulated by the studio
in the case of _The Crying Game_ and wish I had the balls to start a similarly
named group to reveal that film's big secret.
 
What annoyed me about both the secret and the film is that a subject and a
character situation which could have been explored to very interesting effect
is left largely unexplored by the movie. Indeed, the secret itself is so
important to keep since the moment of shock (for those of us who hadn't
already figured it out . . .) to male audience members is about the closest
thing the film comes to actually dealing with the issue. Just ask yourself,
if you've seen the movie, to characterize Fergus' feelings about/towards
the Jaye Davidson character at the film's end. I think the film avoids
giving you any sense of what those feelings are simply because any
exploration of them (even one with ambivalent results) would be a risk
that the film-maker was simply not willing to take.
 
Incidentally, as someone more or less suggested in an earlier posting, I think
Jaye Davidson (do I have that last name right) is the REAL loser in all of the
hype. A great, Oscar worthy performance that has to be kept secret. I hope
he's getting a cut of the royalties!!
 
-- Ben Alpers
   Princeton University

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