Friday, August 7, 2015

The universal "don't take my drink" gesture


Judd Apatow's Trainwreck finally opened here yesterday, and I'm seeing it tonight -- cramming it in despite the fact that MIFF is going on. Also despite the fact that a friend is coming to visit from the U.S. for eight days starting tomorrow, because we'll be discussing this movie on the ReelGood podcast the night he leaves. In fact, despite the fact that I'm seeing my second MIFF screening tonight as well, at 6:30.

But I've been appreciating its poster for a lot longer than that, since about February or March, when I heard about the movie for the first time.

In this poster, Amy Schumer -- I like to think it was her idea -- is putting her finger on (so to speak) something that may never have been discussed out loud, but is instantly relatable: That there is a universal drunk-girl gesture for "Don't take my drink away from me."

Of course, this poster is saying so, so much more than this.

The fact that she is wearing a cocktail dress -- bridesmaid dress? -- would usually indicate that she was at least a respectable drunk girl, or at least a drunk girl who owned a respectable dress. This drunk girl would usually be on her ninth or tenth cosmopolitan.

Instead, this particular drunk girl is drinking cheap wine (or possibly a 40) from a paper sack, which is hobo behavior. This particular drunk girl understands why we would be trying to take her ghetto liquor from her and she still objects.

What I also like is that she looks like she could be arguing a semantic point. "No, you misunderstand me," she could be saying. "But before I explain the myriad ways you have misunderstood me, let me take a sip of my Mad Dog 20/20."

Then of course there's Bill Hader.

Hader is taken aback by her behavior, but not in a "I'd better get the hell out of here" way. It's more like "I better buckle my seatbelts, I'm in for a bumpy night."

And his presence behind her, in a nice tuxedo, indicates that she is also redeemable. This girl is a trainwreck -- we all know one -- but with Bill literally behind her, she may see her way through to salvation.

If I got that much from the poster, I can't wait to see what I'll get out of the movie.

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