I know, I know, I'm a little late getting my binge on for Mozart in the Jungle. I mean it's been out for a whole week, yeesh. Anyhoo, I started yesterday and I'm up to episode 7, We Are Not Robots. This one stuck in my craw. Spoilers ahead so stop reading now if you're late binging like me.
So not only did the predictable happen with "Jai alai" but the producers failed to explore a topic that's near and dear to my heart. Yes, they touched on the inherent sexism in a male dominated profession, but they missed an opportunity to discuss a hot topic that the creators of Black Panther are all over: can a person who is outside the experience of the person or group of people from whom he/she is appropriating work really understand that work. In a rare moment of fence-sitting, I'm going to posit yes and no.
Let's start with why I say yes. So one of the pieces Hailey must conduct is by Berlioz and Rodrigo makes the comment that when Berlioz wrote the piece when he was young man, in love and on opium. While, I can't speak to Hailey's life experience (the character, not the actress), I can tell you I have been young, in love and opiated all at the same time. Three out of four ain't bad. So what I'm not male. I think I could dial in on the emotion and expression of the piece. And Hailey does conduct the the shit out of it, despite Rodrigo's later criticism.
Why the panic at Mahler's sixth then? In one scene, Hailey complains the piece is just dark music that you push through only to find more darkness. History tells us Mahler wrote the nihilistic piece during one of the happiest times of his life. Every artist, regardless of format, is nodding their head right now. You can't process tragedy through your work while it is happening. You need space, perspective, and a little healing before you can put pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard, brush to canvas, hands to clay....you get the picture). Just what tragic moments in his life Mahler was processing is up for debate because he had plenty to choose from. Or maybe it was all of them at once, purging himself of the darkness so he could embrace the light, love, and success surrounding him. Sounds about right to me.
So, where I a conductor, do I think I could do Mahler's sixth justice? Hell yeah. Again, I'm not male so therein I think would lie the variation of approach. As a product of my society, I have been socialized to behave and emote differently than males. **Note I wrote, "emote differently" because anyone who says males are less emotional than females has clearly never lived with a group of them. Trust me, here at Casa de Cindy, one of them is always on his "man-strual" cycle. My point being, when Hailey is given the advice from the only female judge to take Mahler and "shove it down their f@%king throats", I'm thinking yeah! Do to it what you did to the Berlioz. And I thought she would lose because the male judges wouldn't like her interpretation. She of course would despair, blaming her propensity to choke even though she didn't and there'd be this big discourse about a female conductor being able to do justice to male works.
That's not how the story went. Total disappointment.
Time to cross to the other side of the fence.
Here's why I say no, someone without similar life experience cannot do justice to a piece of art created by or about someone or something they don't understand. Hailey made it clear she has no darkness to wallow in. She has nothing to draw from to shove the Mahler down the judges f@%king throats. If season 4 has shown us anything, it's that Hailey isn't that interesting a character. She's a middle class girl from a small town who was a little bullied by her father who ran from her hometown to NYC and wasn't been eaten alive by it only because of Rodrigo's affection for her. Yet another fact she won't embrace.
Needless to say, season 4 has not impressed me in the way the first 3 seasons did. Hailey has turned out to be yet another whiny "look at me, don't look at me" female character that TV and movies are fraught with. That is, though, because those characters are usually created by men. Not exactly the case for Mozart in the Jungle since Ms. Blair Tindall (the author of the book that inspired the series) appears to have been involved in the show's creation, though the actual list of the show's creators on IMDB is a sausage fest.
Who's to say?
Maybe the show has reached its logical conclusion. I shall reserve judgement until I've finished my binge. Please, Jai Alai, you've gotta find the blood you had in the first season!
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