Feud

Hurrah for Ryan Murphy. He avoided the obvious trap of super camp. This human tragedy is told without winks and secret giggles. It is a tragedy no matter how funny. Two mega stars of its day drowning in personal pettiness and fear. Now with the benefit of hindsight and with the help of their daughters memoirs we know that fame and fortune is not the happy place most people imagine. Jessica Lange's Joan filled me with sadness, something Joan, the actress, could never do. Susan Sarandon's Bette made me want to shake her like she did Miriam Hopkins in "Old Acquaintance". Alfred Molina as Robert Aldrich deserves a mention all his own. Brilliant!

It's amazing that someone so self-destructive and backstabbing has had so many movies and shows based on their fairly unremarkable life, but then that seems to be what warrants longevity. I'm not sure if Ryan Murphy is a Capote fan or is taking the daring step to show a dark underside of the gay community, because it's certainly not all rainbows. I'm a gay man and have never clicked with the community, for nearly 40 years since I came out at age 16. The prominent hypocrisy is the demand for equality, yet many have proven to be the most judgmental of anything that doesn't fall into the stereotype. You must support any publicly gay entertainer or politician without question, listen to certain music and act certain ways. Theater and Musicals are a requirement if you want to hold onto your membership card. The worst is pitying the extremely few of us out there who choose monogamy. If your self-worth is determined by how many partners you have, I find that tragic. I was always my own person and have been persecuted by the community for 'not fitting in'. I'm fine with who I am, are you?

Negative stereotypes exist for a reason, they're not just fabricated. Capote fits so many of these stereotypes that I can attest are in fact true, back in the 80's and today. Whether it's the fun side with snarky humor that can easily cross the line, or the self-loathing/self-destructive nature that results in destroyed relationships and any variety of chemical dependencies. There's a big lack of self-awareness. Not to mention the overt sexuality that seems to work for Capote, such as making advances to his 'straight' plumber who then becomes one of his part-time tricks. He's a tortured soul who goes out of his way to sabotage anything of benefit to him, and apparently has zero control over it. I can only assume publishing private details of his closest friends were an attempt at the ultimate self-sabotage, and it worked. It's hard to feel sympathetic towards someone who was given such a wealth of positives and achievements only to systematically ruin each one. On one hand, it's clear he is a very unhappy person who seeks the occasional distraction with friends and flirtations, but to go on TV incoherent and doing things that are in nobody's best interest seem to be the real person inside.

This season is meticulously produced with obvious attention to detail. While I've seen remarks about the acting being over the top, I expect that was the goal. They're presenting rich people with an obvious superiority complex because, once again, stereotypes often exist for a reason. The story would meander from time to time but it wouldn't be long until Capote was drunk again or there was another social lunch with lots and lots of smoking. I'm basing my rating on the overall storytelling and production, not necessarily the story itself.

Why was I thinking that it couldn't work? Maybe because it never does. But "Bette and Joan" present us with that always welcome exception. The introduction of this two icons has sharpness and shine. Both walking a very tight rope. Joan with desperation, Bette with defiance. It is a terrific treat to see Jessica Lange and Susan Sarandon going for the real centers rather than the caricature. Alfred Molina is priceless as Robert Aldrich and Stanley Tucci reinvents Jack Warner to a delightful perfection. The late entrance of Joan/Jessica at the theater where Bette/Susan is playing in The Night Of The Iguana is one of my favorite film moments of the young 2017 season. Now, needles to say, I can't wait for the next chapter.

Ryan Murphy managed the virtually impossible. Finding a tone and the tone has to do with the humanity of this Hollywood gargoyles. I wonder if young Joan and Bette knew where they were heading. Those women that their daughters wrote about, were they who they were or who they became. Jessica Lange throws a light on Joan Crawford that made me, already, re-think her myth. Her fear is actually tangible. Great, great performance. Susan Sarandon captures Davis's temperament and allow us a glimpse into the contradictory nature of the woman. Brilliant, succinct observation - when she throws herself into the role of wife and mother, she was thoroughly miscast. Alfred Molina is superb as Robert Aldrich and Stanley Tucci is terrific as Jack "I show you my hemorrhoids" Warner. I can't wait for the next episode.

As someone who worked with actors all his life I'm enormously grateful to Ryan Murphy for putting together with such seriousness and such care this series about a subject that is very rarely if ever touched. And when it is, it tends to be a caricature, a satire, an exaggeration of an exaggeration. Here the drama was tangible and the work of Jessica Lange and Susan Sarandon, superlative. They managed to transport us from the times of Bette Davis and Joan Crawford, as women and actresses, to our times, without betraying it. The characters were one hundred per cent present and the actresses playing them were one hundred per cent present. If acting is an art, and it is, that mysterious fusion between actor and character is the manifestation of it. - Many young actors I'm working with at the moment, some of which had never heard of Steve McQueen, let alone Bette Davis or Joan Crawford, saw "Feud" and compelled and inspire them to want to know more. In the last few weeks I've had them come to me with stories of "All About Eve", "Humoresque", "The Little Foxes", William Wyler, George Cukor... So "Feud" has become a tool, an agent provocateur, a gateway to history, the history of their own profession. It's not wishful thinking on my part. I see it in the young one's faces. Discovering passionately, and their horizons broaden automatically. It's a joy to see. As I close this comment a heartfelt hurrah to Alfred Molina and Stanley Tucci for their fearless, remarkable performances and to everyone involved, thank you very much.