Week 4 - Feb 18th (Reading)

After reading about Althea Thauberger one main point kept arising in my head. The fact that her work is a voice of the ordinary girl reaching out to millions is what stood out in my head. The lines “They are ordinary. They are like us, and yet they are speaking subjects, empowered to tell what they have to tell. If we can empathize with them, if we can be moved, we must acknowledge that we too, have the power to move.” I think this line best demonstrates Thauberger’s appeal and gives a good insight to how her work differs from much of the work seen in today’s world. She keeps things simple and forces the viewer to relate to the characters in a matter to which it is believable. While adding a musical touch may sway some viewers into thinking it’s a satire, I believe she is just touching upon the old forms to which emotion was shown. Early on before tv and movies, people watched plays, theater performances, and operas. I think (especially “A Memory Lasts Forever”) is a comment on the old form of expressing emotion through the use of a musical and memory of an event that happened to her. I think because it was done on a reasonable budget and with unknown actors it appears laughable because we are so used to the big-budget fake realism. I think that in a sense Thauberger’s portrayal is more realistic but is just misconstrued as something that is unintentionally funny. I think too many people have widely seen satires so that is their impression of the film when in fact it is actually touching a upon a realistic event in the form of old means. I view this piece as an “internet opera.” A modern empathetic take on an old form.