mostly research stuff
it appears that after decades of portraying librarians in the wrong light, some filmies (including writer/director ann seidl) have separated folks from money and put a film called the hollywood librarian into real production…from ann, “The idea for this film came to me in 1995, when I was entering graduate school in library science. I, like many librarians, have found a conflict between the way I see myself as a librarian and the way others perceive the library profession. The handful of films that exists on this topic neither examine the image and stereotype of librarians, nor portray the real work that librarians do. I want to make a film that does both.”…you can see who has already been interviewed in the ‘production schedule’ at the site, which is a cool thing to make available…
honestly, i’m only concerned that without some of the following key elements, the film might go the way of other obscure documentaries. these possible ideas include (are you reading this ms. seidl?): the love/sex angle - librarians who have had affairs with patrons (sex scenes would be cool); violence - librarians who have totally lost it (aka ‘going postal’ but with staplers and super-sharp microfiche things); and perhaps (on a serious note) the impact of death - like when long time local librarians pass away in small communities (that applie pie element)…add some cg to turn librarians into cool hero/villain types with action sequences and maybe this thing could topple the harry potter empire….
The Hollywood Librarian: Librarians in Cinema and Society is in production already, and from the site it looks like it’s gonna be an outstanding watch, “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… 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. ”
…there are even gonna be a coupla interviews with celebrities who have played librarians, including tim robbins and goldie hawn (too bad goldie’s super hot daughter kate isn’t gonna be feature…) - and supposedly ray bradbury is being interviewed for it too…hey, thanks to amelia for turning me on this upcoming documentary via the buslib list!
this blog is mostly safe for work, though i sometimes throw around a 'fuck' or two. you'll find a bunch of my articles from CI Magazine, SCIP online, other research pieces and some other crap. enjoy. there's lost of content here related to getting information about, around, from and through people and organizations...
Leave a reply