Update: You can follower reviewer, David Aria, @the_AriaDavid on twitter.
I read a book review by David Aria on Goodreads.com a few weeks ago and really liked his style. So I contacted him and asked if he would be willing to write a guest post every now and then on pop culture or books...on any topic he wanted, with tie-ins to gay culture. This one talks about the docudrama, House of Versace. It's interesting to read a gay man's POV for a change, especially when it comes to gay culture. And I'm going to make a point of keeping this as an ongoing process.
“VO sace”...F ...O....
By Aria David
It’s always difficult when
commenting on a docudrama not to make cross commentary on the actual historical figure, and
Lifetime's latest cinematic atrocity House of Versace certainly doesn't
make things any easier. House of Versace premiered last week on the “for
women” network, and I often wonder when looking at these films if the LMN
(Lifetime Movie Network) puts out these films with the deliberate intention of
being campy or if there is supposed to be a genuine presentation of pathos involved.
I imagine one day there will be Internet followings of social shut-ins who
exalt that sort of thing just as there are now for various other tropes.
This was also one of the few
times that Lifetime has dipped its manicured toe into the gay pool but still manages to keep from
getting wet by making the Versace story not about the great fashion icon himself
but rather posing his sister Donatella as some sort of tragic heroine who lived
in the oppressive shadow of a gay fashion legend. There are all sorts of
contradictory points to this story that are really quite shockingly amazing...
I write that with a sense sarcasm.
Our heroine does prevail over her
own demons but she's admonished in the process for essentially martyring herself for
the good of her own family and saving her children from certain financial ruin with no help from
her own husband who we never see do anything in the film other than complain
like some nagging housewife of never spending enough time together. Interesting dichotomous role reversal but
annoying nonetheless. Though like most things in the entertainment industry
there's a method to this madness: class warfare. The only real reason why a
network as mainstream as Lifetime would ever dare reach beyond the common
boundaries of middle class American and attempt portray anything to do with the
European jet set elite boils down to a simply perception of pain.
Donatella Versace is about as far
removed from the average American woman as anyone could be but in order for her to be
seen as remotely sympathetic to LMN's demographic audience she has to essentially
suffer for her life of European decadence. It’s a tried and true formula the
media has latched on to since late 90's with the passing of Princess Diana (who
is a subject we'll get into later but for now); a beautiful wealthy woman lives
a gilded life as wife and mother with maybe some part time occupation, is
brought down tragically in or during her own “selfish” plight for independence.
This is also evidenced in House's predecessor Anna Nicole, which
while the trailers seemed promising I couldn't quite bring myself to watch as
I've tactfully avoided Lifetime throughout much of my adult life.
What’s worse is that while most
those stories tend to focus on the trappings of the heterosexual male dominated
paradigm, Lifetime has the audacity to actually take on the gay male glitterati
of the fashion world. While I'm sure that the story of the actual Donatella is
far more compelling and interesting Lifetime's Donatella is somewhat different.
Left alone in in the wake of brother Gianni's death to run an empire for the
sake of her family's survival she commits herself to managing a business that
is half commercial economics and half artistic creativity she and is plunged
into the lonely world of the working woman. Abandoned by the family that she
fought to keep afloat, she's eventually sabotaged by them and written off as a
drug addict. It's only after a brief stint in rehab that she's able to miraculously
overcome an entire life's worth of drug usage and unbridled anger issues to
calmly stand as head of a fashion house and produce a successful collection.
In reality while if any of this
were remotely possibly in the time they give in the film Donatella's resurrection of the
Versace brand name wouldn't have been due to any lacking in her creativity but rather subtle but
specific process of a business model. It even stupidly states at the end of the
film that the brand's resurrection was facilitated by an endorsement of
ready-to-wear and not an exclusive reliance on couture. All this aside its
rather ironic that a network that's supposedly devoted towards the plight of
women actually glorifies their downfall for the cardinal sin of being ambitious
and trying to have it all.
Which takes us to our next point
of discussing some of the more idiotic anecdotes throughout the film. We're
presented with a Donatella who is haughtily confident which we could spend some
time talking about LMN's implied message that women shouldn't have a sense of
self worth? But, we can always write this down to maybe they were trying to
depict her as what was known in 1970's and 1980's soap operas as the Bitch
Goddess. Moving on though we notice that LMN's Donatella is opportunistically
homophobic (by that I mean slurs come out with the anger, you know the type)
and she often lashes out at brother Gianni while they're having one of their
more passionate discussions with phrases and labels like “tired old queen” and
denigrating him with the cliché pseudo-feminist argument of “you'll never know
what its like to be a REAL woman.” Because the people at Lifetime think that
being gay and being a fashion designer of ladies' apparel clearly translates to
secretly wanting to be a woman?
Anyway, authentic Versace designs
are not seen anywhere within the film with the exception to the occasional actual film
footage of Princess Diana who the film likes to really drive the point home that
the Versaces were basically BFFs with. Though the emphasis on Princess Di gives
the accidental impression that the entire Versace line was reliant on her
patronage. Which if it were anywhere near true it would've ensured the brand's
survival long after Gianni's untimely passing; as everything the Princess
touched in life turned to tear stained gold, especially regarding the sacred
reliquary of her garments. Manolo and Jimmy certainly were able to capitalize
on their associations with Di. The truth is that Diana while she might've had
some social acquaintanceship with Versace and his milieu she wore only a select
few of his gowns. She actually tended to favor British designer Catherine
Walker, though some variety was introduced after her break from Prince Charles.
The film is also unintentionally
comedic in several ways for example the dialogue in this film is hilarious to
hear. The actors all speak in these weak muddled Italian accents and speak and
argue with each other in broken English. As if they all have an unspoken code
of agreement for using the lingua franca as opposed to the ease of the mother
tongue with occasional terms of affection or curse words in actual Italian.
While it probably would've looked equally ridiculous if the actors had used
plain American English accents or possibly received English it still could've been
written and executed better than how it was portrayed. Though it does contribute
greatly to the camp factor.
The LMN's proclivity for
melodramatic kitsch never ceases to amaze/amuse me and this film is chalk
filled with it. Just an example the utilizing of Italian opera is particularly
hilarious as it tends to play during the most blatantly pathetic attempts at
pathos scenes in the film. And whats even more hilarious is that they use the
same operatic piece throughout the film and only a certain stanza of the aria
which while I don't personally understand Italian I can hear that the lyrics
are singing something about a “donna tella”.
So who knows what the song is
actually about or what opera it's from but the fact that it's Italian and that the one or two lyrics
are about a “donna tella” obviously for contextual artistry it has to be
thrown in there and played whenever a tear jerking scene comes up. While I must
admit it is slightly beautiful when rendered in maybe one scene where
Donatella walks off the runway and realizes her grief and solitude it is sort
of a cheap trick on the director's part. Opera really should only be used sparingly
in films just enough so that the audience can establish a nexus between a story
from old Europe with whatever modern plot they are witnessing. It helps them
feel more cultured than they really are. More successful examples of this are
Tom Hanks in Philadelphia, Cher in Moonstruck, and (okay, fine,
just this once I'll admit it) Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman.
More melodrama can be seen in a
key point in the film where actress Gina Gershon (Donatella) really should be awarded for the
most sashay shantay worthy fainting spell to ever be captured on a film
reel. I honestly don't think that Vivienne Leigh could've done it better
herself.
Casting Gina Gershon as the
fashion icon may or may not have been the best move on the film's part. Specifically for the reason
that previous to the film Gershon had done a satirical impersonation of Versace
on the show Ugly Betty a show which is a light dramedy but a comedy more
so. So I'm once again brought back full circle to my question of whether or not
these films that LMN releases are really supposed to be taken in seriousness or
if they're made purely for nostalgic superfluous purposes. Gershon to her
credit despite the fact that the plot and the premise of the film are just
awful she gives an amazing performance. With regard to accepting the script as
pure kitsch conjures images of all sorts of equally campy kitschy films of the
60's and 70's. Watching Gershon go through the whole film with all that pill
popping and ass kicking in a blonde wig it's almost like instead of channeling
the fashion icon she's channeled Pam Grier as Foxy Brown playing Jennifer North
(Sharon Tate) in Valley of the Dolls. While Gershon's performance is
utterly amazing unto itself the decision to cast her without the comedic
implication is still puzzling. Its almost would be like if they made a biopic
of Bjork and cast Wynona Ryder as the lead. (brownie points to those who
know what I'm talking about)
Iconic actress Raquel Welch
unfortunately while she looks amazing for her age doesn't really deliver
anything noteworthy, however child actress Madison McAleer who plays
Donatella's young daughter Allegra probably give the best authentically
dramatic performance of the whole cast. Which I'm not entirely sure if
that's sad or impressive. Nonetheless the girl gets my vote for best actress in drama
this year.
To tie things off it seems that
we're entering a new era of Lifetime movies. It appears that the writers over
there are finally moving on from those cheap and cheesy stories about the
average American woman marrying the wrong guy and escaping with her life and
children, or those awful stories about the women of real life court room drama
to depicting the forlorn lives of women apart of what Christopher Hitchens once
described as “the jet set trailer trash elite.”
While these films are so far
appear to be benign and at times entertaining in the ironic sense the only thing
that we as the viewer should be outraged about is their seeming justification
of homophobia.The writer's of House of Versace clearly think that
homophobia is acceptable so long as it's orchestrated by women towards gay men.
The film's Donatella is never apologetic for the string of homophobic slurs she
hurls at Gianni and his boyfriend. Regardless of whether they were said in anger
or not. She is never remorseful of the fact that the last thing she said to her
brother was a condescending tone of “goplay with your boyfriend.” She never
reconciles with her late brother's boyfriend who she and her family ostracize
after Gianni's passing because they don't consider him family. Tensions between
the surviving Versaces and Antonio (Gianni's boyfriend) are only aggravated
further when its learned that like any two persons who are for all intents and
purposes married Gianni remembered Atonio in his will.
The real life Donatella Versace
has made public clarifications that while she respected her brother's relationship she never
cared for or got on with Antonio as a person. This distinction is never really
made in the LMN film and it comes off that the Donatella didn't respect the
relationship for what it was. This is chiefly the stupidest part of the film as
its kind of difficult to be homophobic and work in the fashion industry. The
writer's at Lifetime should realize the feminist movement and the gay rights movement
has not come as far as it has only to subvert one another.
In closing the cheap tawdry
nature of House of Versace really reminds of a scene in the filmNext
Friday where an exchange between two characters asks the spelling the brand's
name in order to establish a sense of authenticity. And this cheap knock off made
for TV movie is really just a commercial way of comforting the insecurities of
suburban American housewives so that they don't feel bad about living in the
drug rattled world of the Euro-trash fashion elite.
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