#myarclight

On Friday, October 25, my friend and I went to a special screening at the Arclight Hollywood. The screening was of one of my favorite movies of all time, American Beauty. Following the screening, there was scheduled to be a Q&A with Thora Birch, the amazingly talented woman who played Jane Burnham at just 16 years old. My friend and I were appropriately thrilled to get tickets and watched the movie excitedly on the big screen again.

When we arrived, a man who claimed he "did all the marketing" for Arclight introduced the film, and surprised us with the fact that not only was Thora Birch going to be there to do a Q&A, but we were going to get a bonus Mena Suvari and (perhaps) Wes Bentley Q&A as well. I was jumping up and down in my seat. 

The movie rolled, and it was exactly as amazing as I remembered.

After the credits finished, the stage was set for the Q&A. Since the theater wasn't full (seriously?!), my friend and I moved down to the lower area so we could see better. Wes Bentley hadn't been able to make it, but Mena and Thora were just a few feet away!

Here's a blurry picture I took.

The Q&A started with the guy on the far right (who I believe was still "the guy who did all the marketing") introducing Ms Birch and Ms Suvari, praising their performances and appearance. He decided to ask the first half dozen or so questions himself (which may be standard practice). But right up front is pretty much when the disaster started.

Over the course of the <45 minute Q&A, this man did the following:

1. Explained the film to the stars of the film - Ms Suvari reported that the ending of the movie struck her in a completely different way as an adult - she now understood what it all meant at a level she didn't as a 19 year old actress. Marketing guy followed up this question with (paraphrased) "what the movie is about is Lester's transformation, his birth, his imprisonment, and his rebirth and what he does along the way." To clarify, Marketing guy was talking Directly to Ms Suvari, not to the audience. Not that we ALL hadn't JUST seen the film. Ms Suvari looked a little dumbstruck. 

2. Explained "Dailies" - Marketing Guy asked Ms Birch and Ms Suvari whether they had watched the dailies while working on the film. When they both answered no, he told them what dailies were, as though they must have misunderstood his question for not knowing a basic industry term. These are two women who have been working in film for the last 20 years. 

3. Made numerous sexualizing and objectifying comments:  - When Ms Suvari said she had never done nudity before this film, he sarcastically and creepily said, "Oh, were you nude in this? I didn't notice." - When Ms Suvari commented on how young and "green" she felt she looked in the film, she commented she was 35 now. He said "no, I don't care what you say, you'll be 23 forever."

4. Implied that the women were competitive and unprofessional - Marketing guy warned the audience that a "cat fight" was likely to break out when he asked them both a question and they had conflicting answers. 

Overall, the experience left a terrible taste in my mouth. Ms Birch and Ms Suvari had taken time out of their schedules to come and talk about their film, and were met with sexism, objectification, and disrespect. While this man was incredibly unprofessional (and not to mention creepy), the actors took his BS with the utmost aplomb and grace. I won't be patronizing another Q&A at the Arclight until this man is reprimanded, and I suggest you do the same.