Knit flicks

It remains to be seen whether trekking to Cincinnati for tonight's Reds-Cubs game is a mistake--rain is forecast--but I guess I'm going to take my chances. Thus, an early post for the day...

I mentioned that Marge is seen knitting in The Simpsons Movie, which prompted Donna to exclaim that it occurs twice. I know! She also asks what Marge is knitting. My best guess is that it's a dishcloth. I suppose it could be a doily--are those knit?--but both objects appear to be things that would ordinarily be embroidered and hung on the wall.

The larger question, though, is why did we delight in seeing a movie character, and an animated one at that, knitting? I smiled to myself when I saw this on-screen knitting, but I bet it's not up there for more than five seconds. I've usually made a point here to draw attention to knitting in TV and movies regardless of its importance. (I forgot to say that the older babysitter in No Reservations is seen putting away her skein of yarn when Catherine Zeta-Jones comes home.) At least in The Simpsons Movie it delivers two jokes. Usually knitting in the movies is merely background color.

Escapism is one reason for watching films, but we also like to see ourselves reflected on the screen. What I derisively (but shouldn't) refer to as old biddy films--basically anything with Joan Plowright, Maggie Smith, or Judi Dench in a primary role, possibly with more than one of them--cater to an audience that is largely ignored. Typically these films stick around the local arthouse for awhile because Tea with Mussolini and Ladies in Lavender, dreadful movies but never mind, give targeted moviegoers the rare opportunity to see their screen surrogates doing and saying the things they might like to do and say. I'm not suggesting that it is impossible for those outside the demographic to identify with them or enjoy the pictures, just that the intended viewers may derive more enjoyment from them because it goes beyond basic judgments of artistry.

That's why I get a small thrill now to see knitting in a movie or a TV show. Seeing knitting depicted is like receiving validation even if there isn't any rhyme or reason for its inclusion by those behind the camera. Depiction often implies approval, which is why many people get exercised about immoral behavior and the levels of sex and violence in popular culture. I think it's more complicated than that--art is not life--but I can understand the thinking.