Lost in Post-Punk Paradise
by Kelly Tong
I am thinking about suing the Dunkin’ Donuts Corporation for their poor cup design. Though seemingly stable and sealed with its cap, the cup could not handle the blow dealt by my arm as I reached for the keyboard. If I had known that a tsunami of coffee lava would rupture from its poorly constructed cap the moment the cup toppled, I wouldn’t have put it on the table. My pants are uncomfortably wet and oddly sticky (I didn’t ask for sugar), and I am stranded in a library, forty minutes from home.
I just want new pants. That is all I am asking for. World peace would be nice, but dry pants would be nicer. But this phenomenon of spilt coffee is intriguing as much as it is embarrassing. Prior to spilling the coffee, I was in the midst of criticizing US foreign economic policy, but immediately after the incident, my only anxiety is getting new slacks. The $8.5 trillion dollar debt, our failures in Iraq, and North Korea’s eagerness to test a second nuclear weapon despite U.N. sanctions – solving these dilemmas will not contribute anything to my personal predicament. I have become a materialist!
It’s nothing to be proud about, and at least I am being honest about my personality. I care about whether or not my pants are clean. However, to judge my character solely based on this one erratic moment would be unfortunate and inaccurate. In a matter of minutes, I’ll return from panic mode and regain my normal persona. Shouldn’t I deserve a second chance?
On October 16, 1793, approximately around 12:15 PM, the blade of the guillotine ended the life of Marie Antoinette, leaving her a reputation as the shallow, materialistic failure of a queen to live on through history. In 2006, at Cannes, director Sofia Coppola attempted to reveal a personality behind her superficiality. Critics claim that her new film Marie Antoinette, somewhat exonerates the young queen from her failure as a leader. However, critics at the Cannes Film Festival were not so accepting of her alternate history and bombarded Coppola with jeers at the film’s conclusion.
Repeatedly, Coppola had been asked about her political detachment in the film. Instead, the movie focuses on the emotional strain suddenly placed on Marie’s life when she was, in essence, sold for marriage to the dauphin of France. Kirsten Dunst, portrayer of Marie, accentuates the queen’s naivety and obviousness in an attempt to draw sympathy from the audience.
But the real queen represented a time of elitists and lethargy. Her effigy is reminiscent of a weak government that did nothing to resolve the public suffering amongst the peasants. To exonerate Marie Antoinette for her crimes against society is to legitimize elitism, which history has taught us, isn’t a good thing. So no wonder Marie Antoinette was booed – it celebrates the glamour and glee of a lifestyle most will never taste. However, this is hardly Sofia’s intent.
Those who perceive Marie Antoinette as a tale of a shallow girl with too much money and power are the same people who walked out of The Godfather thinking that organized crime is “cool.” Advertisers have implied that the film is about a party girl of the past. She’s fashionable. She’s hip. She listens to 80’s post-punk rock like New Order. She has what teens wish they had, and she went out with a bang.
Think of Coppola’s protagonists from her other films – Charlotte from Lost in Translation and Lux from The Virgin Suicides. She essentially reuses the same archetype in each of her films. Her female leads are young women unable to find their identity in an imprisoning and dizzying world. Thus, it seems that Marie Antoinette perfectly fits that model. She was married at age fourteen into a royal family. When we were still getting allowances for taking out the trash and cleaning dishes, the dauphine already had everything she wanted. Yet, she had no understanding of the value of money or the role it plays in society. Her sheltered lifestyle kept her naïve and ignorant, unresponsive to public scrutiny, which ultimately led to her demise. Coppola isn’t trying to make a political statement about elitism. Rather, she attempts to portray Marie Antoinette as a victim of the extravagant lifestyle.
So is it fair to criticize my persona based on one freak occurrence of spilt coffee? What if an entire lifetime is a series of odd events that prevent you from being who you really are? At age 14, Marie was married and at age 18, she was queen. She was trapped in a world of privilege, in one extended moment of confusion in which only her current situation was her concern. Doesn’t she deserve a second chance? Granted, it’s too late to bring her back and apologize, but Coppola understands that as a consolation, her reputation can be made humane and less soulless.
Do I believe that Marie Antoinette should be forgiven? Let’s just say that the young queen was never given a chance for her pants to dry.
