Hi,noblwish!
It's July 26, ('08) 8:16 am, and a beloved member of the family who is recovering from a recent sickness is sleeping peacefully now and I was able to take a quick look at another message board I'm quite fond of, also post a brief message in two threads there. I was just ready to close the computer to take a nap but then I got curious how this Miss Potter Board is doing since the time I made my last post sometime in February of this year, I remember it was in a thread about Rene's appearance.
This thread is at the top of the board and decided to see what the recent posters have to say. I opened this thread in the nest layout and I get it that your post of July 20 this year is a rejoinder (I hope I'm not mistaken to assume it is so?) to my own - made last September 11 last year. Quite a number of months separating the two posts, isn't it? But thanks, just the same for taking the time.
My post (Sept 11, 2007) I didn't but I felt really bad for Beatrix, it would have been easier for her if she had cried right then and there, but since I suppose her genteel upbringing at the time dictates against open outpouring of emotions, made it even more difficult to bear, made breathing for me difficult understanding the unspeakable grief she was feeling during the scene talking with Millie.
Yours, noblwishBeatrix couldn't cry because she had no official cause. Remember, the sister couldn't think of a reason for the family to even postpone the funeral because the engagement had not been announced. She was, technically, disallowed from mourning in public -- it would have been seen as indecent and any announcement of their secret engagement would have cause a scandal (thank God we live 100 years later!). Even his brothers, her publishers, had no clue, which is why they were so indifferent to her. It must have made her loss so much more terrible to bear.
Yes, her loss was terrible, not only to Beatrix - I think it was too for a lot of those who've seen the movie. There was a lot of empathy for Beatrix in that scene.
I've seen this film sometime August of last year and I've re-watch it for a number of times since then and this scene was really one of the more difficult for me to watch. Beatrix was with Millie, a friend, a very close friend, there was only the two of them in it and nobody else and I was thinking, is it still ethically inappropriate during that time to grieve openly to a close friend?
After watching the movie for about three times, I thought Beatrix must be in deep shocked; she asked Millie when the burial will be and it's been over and done with. She was in the stage of unbelief that Warne is gone, so suddenly. Without her even having the chance to say good-bye for the last time, quietly - certainly not to mourn in public. I felt how emotinally numb-shocked she must have been and naturally, after sometime when she was able to grasp its reality, the dam broke and spilled over in a near total mental and emotional breakdown.
And I kept thinking too, afterwards, why Millie hasn't informed Beatrix about this physical weakness in Warne - not even a hint in the movie, that's why it was so unexpected - even to us viewers.
I was thankful that in the end, Beatrix got over the sadness of it all, and found happiness and her real independent, strong self, as a writer and as a person who really cares about others and all that's beautiful in this world. She deserved it all.
I don't think I'll ever tire of watching this movie.
There's this The Dark Knight movie that I've watched recently, (in the big cinmea yet and felt sorry for myself when I remember how I failed to catch Miss Potter on its limited run here in my country)and though I liked TDK very much, I had to pull my Miss Potter DVD again afterwards to renew my faith about life; since the lead character in TDK had such a lonely, sad ending in the film.
I'm glad to notice however, that Miss Potter is still attracting some positive and broad-minded posters in this board. Like you. And others - the recent posters in the Rene Zellwegger's appearance thread: [b]cynsemele, Sparkling Shiraz, bourne, ohkay43, scot3121.
God, I don't have time for a nap now! But it's alright. It was pleasure being here today in the board.
Bye!
Truth has an inscrutable,inexorable way of seeking out and revealing Itself into the Light.
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Cowleasow
16 years ago
Taorian: Refreshing to see sensible, non-dramatic postings on IMDB for a change! (Not just your postings but from other posters too).
I like sci-fi, blood & gore, car chases, etc, etc but this film proves you don't need any of that to make a good film.
Hope your relation is 100% recovered.
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Cello1949-2
16 years ago
Thank you for such a lovely, thoughtful post. I was so taken with this movie, I saw it only in part on cable tv, then went out the very next day with my daughter to purchase it. It brings back such lovely memories for both of us. When my daughter was small, I was very keen for her to have lots of good books, good music, and to learn to appreciate that which is lasting and classic that life has to offer. it was to my delight that I found very early on that she loved books and reading. I cannot remember a time that my child did not know how to read. I bought the illustrated Beatrix Potter books for her and we spent many delightful hours, reading about the escapades of her wonderful, magical creatures. Miss Moppet was one of our very favorite characters, as was Jemimah Puddle-Duck These lovely books will be passed down to her children, or a library, if she has no children of her own.
A few weeks ago, when Google's icon was of Peter Rabbit, I knew it must be Beatrix Potter's birthday. I was right. I did some research about her life, and found she had been quite an expert on plants, doing a good deal of observation, writing, and drawing on the subject of botany. Her uncle tried unsuccessfully to obtain permission for her to present her scholarly papers at a university, but that request was denied, based on her gender. She remains today one of the foremost experts on botany and plant life, including fungi, and all types of plant genus.
As for this movie, it was the lack of glamour and emphasis on things far more important that appealed to me. I was completely transported back in time, so effect was the historical settings. It was delighful to see the very figures my daughter and loved, come to life on the screen, just as they must have in Miss Potter's rich imagination. I will admit however, that was the most beautiful Christmas tree I have ever seen.
The tragedy of her life was most touching, but her courage and fortitude offset it with admiration for a very brave woman. Her contributions to her country by the purchasing of farmlands, thereby saving them from development, is still of benefit today.
One poster mentioned that Beatrix Potter had Rheumatic Fever as a child. I also was a victim of that childhood malady, and although it didn't affect my hair, I have a slightly weakened heart and a few other reminders of its visitation on my person. I, too, not being able to exert myself in those days, found solice in a love of books, art, and music - the solitary things that one may do without the necessity of being athletic. My child has a genetic club foot, so hers was a similiar situation. We are all very fortunate that Miss Potter lived as long as she did, for in those days, Rheumatic Fever was almost certainly the forerunner of an early death.
What a delight to see the movie industry take note of these remarkable people of days long since past, and bring them, once again, to life on the screen. I hope it will inspire other parents to introduce their children to the wonderful, magical, and extraordinary world of a very extraordinary woman - Beatrix Potter.
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blewellyn
14 years ago
Here it is over two years after you wrote your post and I wanted to comment on this remark you made. I hope you get to read it. I enjoyed your post very much.
>>>>>And I kept thinking too, afterwards, why Millie hasn't informed Beatrix about this physical weakness in Warne - not even a hint in the movie, that's why it was so unexpected - even to us viewers.<<<<<<
I don't know that Warne necessarily had a physical weakness. Medical care was practically non-existant back in those days compared to the miracles of modern medicine. There were no real medical tests to determine what was causing the symptoms one was experiencing, no antibiotics, no steroids... Sanitation inthe cities was primitive at best. Disease was rampant. Wealthy people like the Potters left the city to summer in the country for that very reason.
It sounds like Warne might have caught a cold that weakened his immune system and made him vulnerable to other diseases. Maybe his cold progressed into what is known as walking pneumonia and then when his body could not fight that off into full blown pneumonia. Remember there were no antibiotics to cure him. Most people who got pneumonia died. Or maybe he caught Tuberculosis. They probably didn't even know what the illness really was.
B
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