The Notorious Bettie Page

Last night I went to a special screening of "The Notorious Bettie Page" here in Los Angeles. Star Gretchen Mol and director Mary Haron were there to discuss it.

I really enjoyed the movie. It was a really good representation of Bettie's life, at least what I know of it from my own readings (I have, of course, been a Page fan for many years). Mol was great as Page. I wasn't sure what actress could really be Bettie, but Mol did a great job. I completely forgot that it was an actress portraying Bettie (until, of course, the nude scenes - Mol just can't replicate Bettie's curves. She acknowledged that during the Q&A but came to terms with it)

This film, though, is a pretty straight-forward retelling of her life. I find that most people either know Bettie Page and know a good amount of her story, or have no clue who she is at all. When the Q&A was opened up to the audience, a lot of the audience seemed very confused. It seemed that the bulk of the confusion came from Bettie's sunny, almost happy-go-lucky disposition, of which she is known for. Several questions came up, asking how she could remain so sunny after her abused background, how she could be such a religious girl, yet not find any moral problems with her bondage photos, etc. One woman actually asked if the parts about Bettie being sexually abused were real or if it was something the director put in to make the story more interesting (this question offended me - the thought that a director, especially one with a documentary background, would put in such tragic moments just to make the film seem like more. Not like it hasn't happened, but still. One look at the woman asking the question, though, caused me to let it go. She looked like life had dealt her several bad hands).

Maybe it was the audience we were seeing it with (I figured out later that the bulk of the attendees held tickets to a series of events held at the theatre. I got my tickets via a film networking group). The vast majority of the audience was old enough to remember the Kefauver hearings as they took place. The target audience for this film really seems to be modern-day hipsters with a renewed interest in pin-up culture. I think Bettie is still to marginal a figure to truly break into the mainstream. It is hard for me to view the film objectively because i KNOW that Bettie was known for her disposition, for her ability to make a bondage scene look fun, almost innocent. That was her charm. Call it the virgin/whore syndrome. But she was damned cute.

What is the moral to the story? "The Notorious Bettie Page" was damned good. If you go see it and you aren't familiar with Bettie, familiarize yourself. Or, go in as a blank slate - just don't ask stupid questions later.