Jim and I watched this over the weekend. It left me feeling sad. Yes, Joan Rivers's humor has always been crude. Yes, she's made a life out of saying ugly things about many, many people. But I couldn't help feeling sorry for her. Joan Rivers is trying desperately to stay young, to be funny, to remain relevant in her field at the age of 75. She still works; she'll take any gig, sell any product. She is focused on making money and being productive, yet she is isolated and lonely in her ivory tower. In the course of the film, her long-time manager leaves her. She says that he was the last person who lived through the major events of her life with her, the only one with whom she could relive her earlier days in comedy. Comedy is a fickle business and a terribly difficult one for a woman to find success in let alone keep success in. How do you age gracefully in such a field? There is no comedy equivalent to Audrey Hepburn or Meryl Streep. There is no elegance. You have to claw and grab and cling to the face of the rock or plummet to the ground below. And Rivers isn't letting go.
Monday, January 3, 2011
Documentary
Jim and I watched this over the weekend. It left me feeling sad. Yes, Joan Rivers's humor has always been crude. Yes, she's made a life out of saying ugly things about many, many people. But I couldn't help feeling sorry for her. Joan Rivers is trying desperately to stay young, to be funny, to remain relevant in her field at the age of 75. She still works; she'll take any gig, sell any product. She is focused on making money and being productive, yet she is isolated and lonely in her ivory tower. In the course of the film, her long-time manager leaves her. She says that he was the last person who lived through the major events of her life with her, the only one with whom she could relive her earlier days in comedy. Comedy is a fickle business and a terribly difficult one for a woman to find success in let alone keep success in. How do you age gracefully in such a field? There is no comedy equivalent to Audrey Hepburn or Meryl Streep. There is no elegance. You have to claw and grab and cling to the face of the rock or plummet to the ground below. And Rivers isn't letting go.
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4 comments:
Your review was really well-written, Christine. I've heard a lot of good things about this documentary, and I'm tempted to watch it even though I've never been a huge Joan Rivers fan.
On the subject of women who have aged gracefully in comedy though, and still have somewhat of a following, I submit Betty White. Although much of that is due to Golden Girls; she never really did stand-up as far as I'm aware.
Thank you, Lisa. Good point with Betty White, but did she do stand-up? If she did, it has not been what she's best known for or what she continued to do for very long. I maintain that no woman has yet aged gracefully in stand-up. On the other hand, there have been some classier men to survive in stand-up, Cosby and Seinfeld to name a couple, although Seinfeld is still on the young side.
Carol Burnett?
That's another good one, Mary. But stand-up?
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