So, I’m really glad we went last night. It prompted us to have good conversations and to think in productive ways.

I liked Tony Kushner. It didn’t bother me when he had to grope for a word or when his comments jumped around. By the time he finished, I could see how his thoughts were connected, and it was cool to watch his mind at work (and to hear what it produced).

I was pretty hungry as we watched the film, and that combined with the annoying people around us was a pretty significant distraction. On that level, I can’t blame Kushner for opting to go have dinner. At the same time, he must have had multiple opportunities in the past to see the movie, so he really should have seen it by now.

I mentioned us being swing state babies partly because of the weirdness of what we see here, but more because with my swing state background I feel like I have some sort of responsibility. I don’t think the audience for the Pogues was all Boston blue collar, though a lot of the people who showed up for the Street Dogs (who I wouldn’t necessarily describe as “kids”) seemed to be. I don’t think EVERYONE there last night would have frozen in their seats if someone like that had stood up to ask a question. (Heh… maybe that Brustein guy would have said something horrific.) Have a little faith! Hopefully some of those folks actually hold to their supposed ideals. (I hope we do.) This came up in our conversation last night, and it continually knocks me out—somehow there is a growing class disconnect among Democrats, while the Republicans—who aside from perhaps a few social issues do nothing at all for the “working class”—are building cross-class unity. They do it in lots of ways, and I can’t say I like their methods (acting stupid insults everyone). [And here some point I made earlier has slipped away. Oh well.]

There was quite a bit of political discussion, and I really liked when Kushner said that elections can make a difference. You could probably tell. I also liked his point that lefties need to get out from under the political cynicism that he draws back to the 1960s. It isn’t helping us any. We have a system in place. If we don’t use it, someone else will. Or someone else will destroy it (and there are some good things about it when it’s working). Take your pick; it’s all happening.

So, the movie. I was annoyed by the people sitting around us for all the reasons you state. I dislike the underlying assumption that they know the single correct way to react to the film. And yes, it is much easier to laugh than to deal with the sad, complicated things happening on screen.

The last time I saw The Misfits, I think I came away with a more positive impression of Monroe’s acting. She’s not amazing, but she does have her moments. She was such a mess when the movie was being filmed—it may have been too late at that point for her to learn to be a really good serious actress. Montgomery Clift is great, and you know I like Thelma Ritter. Clark Gable’s performance is more of a tough call. I found him annoying sometimes, but maybe that was intentional. I feel like I read somewhere that he did some of his own stunts, in spite of his age and heart problems. In a way, he was that character—this masculine ideal, past his prime, pushing forward into an era that has little use for people like him.

As for Marilyn and the focus on her as this gorgeous creature, I’m not so sure I see it the way you’ve described. Was Miller bragging about his hot wife? (She was aging, too—you can see it on the film, and in the way that Gable was his character, Marilyn was very much hers.) Or was he trying to paint a picture of her as someone whose beauty was both a blessing and a curse?