In the movies
I just discovered a very interesting film project currently underway: The Hollywood librarian : librarians in cinema and society / Ann M. Seidl. The website explains,
It should be interesting. I wonder if anyone other than librarians will watch it. I certainly will order a copy for my branch and put it on the DVD display... of course I'll want first dibs.
On a related note, my library was recently graced with the presence of the Man himself, the Muscles from Brussels, "Wham, bam, thank you Van Damme." Yes, our building was set upon by hordes of self-important film underlings and numerous minions of Hollywood. They had, in fact, occupied the rec. center that we share our building with, and not unlike the American military in Iraq, they ran roughshod over the local inhabitants. As Grand Moff Tarkin once said, "Fear will keep the local systems in line." Indeed, their not having control of the library didn't stop them from attempting to usurp our half the building. There was one particular incident where an actor (who I'm sure I recognize from Highlander the TV series) and a puffed-up production assistant wire hiding in our foyer, trying to stay out of a shot, I think, with very a loud walkie-talkie. I hate to perpetuate the myth of the shushing librarian, but it was quite loud, inappropriate and unnecessary, so my colleague, who was in charge at that time, went to speak with them. They got in his face, told him off... after all, they were making an important movie, (yea right, it's called The Hard Corps and is going straight to DVD). He asked to speak with their site manager, which he did. They weren't so much of a pain in the ass after that.
I did get to see the Jean-Claude though. He's shorter than I thought, and even at his advanced age more bendy then I could ever hope to be. Coming to martial-arts later in life (around the age of 25) I've never achieved great flexibility, but Jean-Claude is in a significantly lighter weight class than I had expected and still bendy enough to kick me in the head. I would have invited him in to the library to check out our back issues of Black-Belt Magazine, but I was afraid of being swarmed by production assistants.
The Hollywood Librarian: Librarians in Cinema and Society, now in production, will be the first full-length film to focus on the work and lives of librarians in the entertaining and appealing context of American movies. American film contains hundreds of examples of librarians and libraries on screen -- some positive, some negative, some laughable and some dead wrong. Films such as Sophie's Choice, Philadelphia and It's a Wonderful Life show librarians as negative stereotypes. The librarians in Lorenzo's Oil, Desk Set and The Shawshank Redemption, on the other hand, are competent and professional. Dozens of interviews of real librarians will be interwoven with movie clips of cinematic librarians and serve as transitions between the themes of censorship, intellectual freedom, children and librarians, pay equity and funding issues, and the value of reading.
It should be interesting. I wonder if anyone other than librarians will watch it. I certainly will order a copy for my branch and put it on the DVD display... of course I'll want first dibs.
On a related note, my library was recently graced with the presence of the Man himself, the Muscles from Brussels, "Wham, bam, thank you Van Damme." Yes, our building was set upon by hordes of self-important film underlings and numerous minions of Hollywood. They had, in fact, occupied the rec. center that we share our building with, and not unlike the American military in Iraq, they ran roughshod over the local inhabitants. As Grand Moff Tarkin once said, "Fear will keep the local systems in line." Indeed, their not having control of the library didn't stop them from attempting to usurp our half the building. There was one particular incident where an actor (who I'm sure I recognize from Highlander the TV series) and a puffed-up production assistant wire hiding in our foyer, trying to stay out of a shot, I think, with very a loud walkie-talkie. I hate to perpetuate the myth of the shushing librarian, but it was quite loud, inappropriate and unnecessary, so my colleague, who was in charge at that time, went to speak with them. They got in his face, told him off... after all, they were making an important movie, (yea right, it's called The Hard Corps and is going straight to DVD). He asked to speak with their site manager, which he did. They weren't so much of a pain in the ass after that.
I did get to see the Jean-Claude though. He's shorter than I thought, and even at his advanced age more bendy then I could ever hope to be. Coming to martial-arts later in life (around the age of 25) I've never achieved great flexibility, but Jean-Claude is in a significantly lighter weight class than I had expected and still bendy enough to kick me in the head. I would have invited him in to the library to check out our back issues of Black-Belt Magazine, but I was afraid of being swarmed by production assistants.
posted by Samurai Librarian at 4:27 PM
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