Grey Gardens
so i recently streamed "grey gardens," the 1975 documentary about jackie bouvier kennedy onassis' relatives--big edie and little edie beale. they were high society women who squandered their fortune and ended up living in squalor.
I came upon the documentary, because someone had mentioned it on this blog when talking about hoarders and weird people and the things they do. i have had this obsession with "hoarders" on a&e lately, and i can't get enough of it. it's so mesmerizing and jaw-dropping. i mean, i collect stuff and have a hard time getting rid of a cute shirt or other item, but some people are really attached. but...i digress.
anyway, "grey gardens" was really interesting. you don't really learn a lot of back-story on how this mother and daughter get to the point of living among raccoons and cooking their meals on an electric stove by their bed. i was so intrigued with their story that i was hoping to find a book about them, but lo and behold! hbo did their own version of "grey gardens," and aptly named it "grey gardens." it stars drew barrymore, jessica lange and jeanne tripplehorn to name a few. there was a lot more research into these women's lives and the docu-drama (as i call it) brings more to light of their life stories. and i gotta say, jessica and drew did an amazing job channeling big edie and little edie. 
so if you want something new to watch, check these 2 out. the use of headscarves is very inventive, and cats make a cameo.
9 comments:
oh man. i love both these movies so much...but especially the original documentary. so completely fascinating. i love little edie! and after watching the docu-drama and seeing the backstory, i was so mad at big edie for how she selfishly ruined her daughter's life.
i know! big edie seemed really selfish. i did read an article about the lady who bought grey gardens from little edie, and she commented that little edie seemed like a happy person still. she said that although the house was disgusting and looked like a place where bad things happened, it did not seem the case when she met little edie and walked around the house with her. i thought that was comforting and sort of goes to show you how amazing little edie was.
she definitely made the best of her circumstances. i would have loved to have seen her cabaret show.
Still love your blog! I never know what I am going to find! Reading this I feel like we are standing at the info desk talking about this. Can't wait for you to get back to MN!
i started watching the original grey gardens a couple of months ago, but i think i wasn't in the right mood for it because after 10 minutes it just bummed me out. maybe i'll give it another try.
you should, sarah. it is kind of sad, but it's really worth it. old documentaries are very grainy, to me. once you finish the first one, the second one will be so much better. the second one is a bit happier, and there is a nice ending.
i'm so watching these! too bad i can't join the conversation now, but somehow i'm already excited about this. thanks for the info.
i watched the first half of the documentary. i still need to finish it. tim was watching it with me, and we couldn't help but laugh at some of their crazy conversations. maybe i shouldn't have been laughing . . .
nah. i was laughing too. some of the stuff they said was just nuts. bound to happen when you are living the way they were.
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