Hiatus/my DVD collection

I’ve been the most terrible blogger. I know, I admit it. I haven’t seen a single film in a week, haven’t read anything film-related and I’ve been neglecting my duties to bring more criticism to the world of cinema. My excuse for this? Last week of term, deadlines next week and head in the clouds of German grammar and Persian painting. Lame, I know, but then there we are. But I am back in my element next week Thursday, with popcorn, nachos and Haribos.

In the meantime, I decided to take a little break from studying and write something about what all of us have on our shelves – my DVD collection. I hope this is sufficiently interesting for you people. I’ve been mostly buying films I can’t find online or rent, so my DVDs are generally either oldies-but-goldies or really obscure films. The larger part is at my parents’ place, some are on an unconditional loan to friends. So, I had to make do with the 1.5 meter high tower of discs by my bed.

And you know what? I’ve discovered something truly astonishing about myself by analysing what I’ve been buying over the years. I am a sexist. Almost every film that I’ve bought myself is about a strong or at least enigmatic female. I have never noticed that before and I was very surprised. Judge for yourself: Bringing Up Baby with Katherine Hepburn, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, Belle De Jour with Catherine Deneuve, Rosemary’s Baby, Gone with the Wind, Who’s afraid of Virginia Woolf? with Liz Taylor, Girl Interrupted, L’Appartement with Monica Belucci, Caramel – Arabic film about women, Jules et Jim with Jeanne Moreau, Angel-A by Luc Besson, La Notte with Monica Vitti, and even Striptease with Demi Moore!!! And I know for a fact that The Fifth Element, Pretty Woman and their likes are waiting for me at home. The macho-driven exceptions are the LOTR trilogy (gift), Sin City (gift), The Great Gatsby (eye-candy), Chinatown (Jack Nicholson…mmmm) and the Godfather (good movie).

It’s funny how I never noticed this trend before. It’s always quite amusing/ dispiriting to see yourself fit in a certain category, be it an Ivy League graduate, a yummy mummy, a fashion victim or a BNP voter. I am a cinematic sexist, which means that I go for pro-women films and avoid the bubble-gum romcom variety because I find them diminishing, the other kind only watch male-populated films about frat houses, gangs, bromances and hoes. I don’t know if I subconsciously choose “women’s” films or that these films are just really good and happen to be about women. I hope it’s the latter.

Conclusions? Well, I guess I am going to be very aware of my pro-women side now. Am I still going to buy these kinds of films? Probably. Am I going to try and macho-up my selection a little bit? Most definitely. Expect a blogpost soon about homoerotic works like Gladiator, Spartacus and Fightclub