made in LA

so tonight i was stuck in b/w two options for thursday night culture. which is utterly surprising, considering how much i complain about this unbelievably atrocious city. (um, no, i'm not bitter or anything. [=S])

option 1: a radio play out at the skirball cultural center -- a venue that i absolutely love and have been meaning to go back to ever since ben and i helped out with a workshop there a few weeks ago. i mean, it's just a really brilliant space. so much light. such modern architecture. plus the radio play (called 'a paris letter') starred neil patrick harris (of doogie howser fame), ron rifkin (the alias bad guy), and JOSH RADNOR. i swear, a few years ago, i wouldn't have thought a thing of him. but ever since eri got me watching 'how i met your mother' i've found him and his dorkiness SOOOOOOOOO adorable. dammit. despite my childhood love of blondes, i think i've converted to brunettes. (they're way more down to earth.) drool, drool. ok, stop it, just stop it.

option 2: a free screening of 'made in LA' up in the dorms. now i must admit that i didn't know a thing about this movie beyond the fact that it was about sweatshop workers in downtown LA AND that kel has been throwing herself into making this screening a success. so despite the fact that i probably had a great seat at the skirball show (row A?!), that i'd already dropped $$ on the ticket, and that i would've looked RIGHT into josh radnor's adorable brown eyes, i chose option 2. (i know, you were all so shocked.)

a couple of things going against the first option: 1) i would've had to cab myself to/from the skirball and 2) i would've had to do so in the RAIN. as many of you know, i absolutely HATE the rain. and to have to schlep myself up TO the dorms in this dreary mess already put a damper on things. thank goodness i got to dress up nice and cute (and not in sweats). why? just b/c i needed to get myself out of this awful moody state. regardless, nice and cute. plus i got a lift home from my beloved chiara. (THANK YOU, MISSY!)

a couple of things going for the second option: 1) i got free dorm food and schmooze time w/kel, amuldena (the director of the film and a former UCLA FTV student -- how cool is that?!), and 2 amanda's, 2) i got to see my DM buddies nick and tej (who will be forever allowed to tease me for not suffering through the whole 26 hours like they did), 3) i got some good QT w/chiara (who schlepped all the way over from SC!), 4) i got to see folks from all my different campus worlds (yay for having so many!), 5) i got to help kel make her screening an UBER success (WOOHOO!), and most importantly, 6) i got to see a really good movie.

i have to say that i'm not one for documentaries most of the time. there's just something too real about them. (yes, i know, that's the point.) but the reason i love films is b/c they're real but not real at the same time. and there's something so creative about the elements of life that filmmakers choose to capture, twist, and throw back to the viewer. and while i suppose documentaries can do that too, they're still too real. and you're made to confront realities you may or may not be ready to confront. but when you're ready, documentaries can be really good for the soul. and when they have happy endings, they make you appreciate how good things can happen. and 'made in LA' did just that.

the film is about garment workers in downtown LA, and how they struggled for fair labor conditions and practices against the oppressive 'forever 21' retailer for over 3 years. given that it was a documentary, the quality of the film was pretty basic. but it wasn't like blair witch project or traffic, where the camera bounced all over the place. the action was well-captured. and more importantly, the characters were well-captured.

sometimes i wonder though if we're just jaded. the way we pass by beggars on the street w/o blinking an eye. b/c the things the characters were saying about being paid $3 a day didn't even hit me really. i suppose b/c my mom sewed pieces for pennies. and that was how things were. that was our reality. i think people SHOULD be shocked. i think people SHOULD gasp. but i guess that was how we lived. and it really just didn't blow my mind or anything to hear about it from someone else. i just wanted to shrug my shoulders and nod. yes, that was what we had to deal with. and we survived.

at any rate, the film was good. what it had to say was good. how it said what it had to say was good. i thought it was a wonderful thing to be able to Q&A w/the director and some of the characters. (do we even call them characters?) and to hear folks ask q's in spanish, it made us seem that much more connected to the film (which was bilingual) and to how the characters communicated w/each other and w/the viewer. i think i'm babbling at this point from fatigue, but i'm glad i made it tonight. for the sake of the movie. for the sake of seeing familiar faces. and for the sake of helping out friends who are trying to do good in the world.

http://www.madeinla.com/