Monday, September 28, 2009

Why I Loved Joan Crawford

As most of you already know, I make reference to Joan Crawford in many of my posts. And I do this because her onscreen over-the-top persona is quite often the perfect fill-in for how I wish to express myself emotionally.

I guess you could say she represents the part of me that’s screams DRAMATIC.

I can still remember being a small child and sitting in front of the television on a Saturday afternoon watching an old Joan Crawford movie; being both terrified and enamored by her.

She was like watching the scene of a car accident; not wanting to look at it, but at the same time wanting to look CLOSER.

Many of the films I first saw her in scared the shit out of me because of the way she was cinematically lit. She always looked as though she was on the brink of insanity; getting ready to murder someone with a either a hatchet or an envelope opener.

And yet, as I got older I began to see more of her earlier films which highlighted her great beauty, versatility, and true talent.

Back in the days of early Hollywood, actors and actresses had no separation between reality and their onscreen persona. The lines of definition were blurred to the point of not knowing which was which. This is why I think many of them eventually became caricatures of themselves.

And yet, for me, when it came to Crawford and her own caricature, I could always see her true-self peaking through her performances. She allowed her vulnerability and human weakness to show, which caused me to always believe her no matter how dramatic she acted.

Here are some additional faces of Joan Crawford….

Crystal Allen - The Women