more fablous retro frames

The Wasp Woman 1959

The Wasp Woman 1959
*Glasses used for aging
* Glasses to say the character is smart
*Glasses to make a person unattractive
  The main focus is the character Janice Starlin, played by Susan Cobat. Janice runs a cosmetic company, she is intelligent, and in charge. She wears black frames and I love her very slim sheath dress. The viewer is to make the assumption that she is older, she does Run a company. 
Janice find a a scientist Eric Zinthrop played by Michael Mark who was fired from his previous job. Dr. Zinthrop was fired from the farm he was working at for his experiments on wasps. He  extracts enzymes from wasps to reverse the aging. Not just the appearance of aging, but aging from the inside out. He promises this wasp juice will make a person healthier and more beautiful.
This does sound like a beauty product wonder drug I would read about in Vogue, so yes I see why a woman like Janice would be interested in the research.  One can make a lot of money if something like that works. Also she wants to use it for her self, make herself look younger.
   This wonder drug was first tested on her cat.  almost magically he cat becomes a kitten again. So she starts testing the wasp juice on herself. After the first injection she gains good eyesight, like Spiderman.  Youth, beauty and good health also means good eyesight. I have bifocals at 30 no wonder I get sick all the time.  The Doctor want her to see him for a injection of wasp juice every day, however she sneaks in to his lab at  night and injects herself. I guess it was not working fast enough for her. 
 She goes into work Wow-ing her employees.  Without glasses, and with glamour girl eye makeup, I thought she looked good before the transformation but whatevs. She does put her glasses back on for a minute for a business meeting, but quickly takes the off.
Her secretary is concerned, she finds that Janice is using company money for this wasp research. Two of their mutual guy friends think Janice may be scammed by Dr. Zinthrop.

This Doctor Zinthrop abandons the lab, and it research never to be found, and Janice is starting to get bad reactions to the injections. She turns into DUN DUN DUN a Wasp WOMAN! and she attacks people, mostly the catty employees who teased her before.

I actually feel inspired and empathetic to Janice. I love how she is "in charge" of her own company, she calls the shots, makes the decisions and takes no bs from her employees.  A woman in charge is often ridiculed, a female cannot come off as "too aggressive" or "bossy". She wears glasses because she needs to see, she needs to read all the paper work for her cosmetic company, see all the people she has to deal with. Yet she sell beauty, she sells an ideal surrounded by society's notion of beauty. If you don't fit into that notion  when you work in that field, someone will say something. Being a head of a company is also like being you have to be an example as well.  I think she been around it so much, she took it too far, got desperate and well literally turned into a monster.
Think about it, did you ever try something stupid because you thought it made you look better? Did you try a haircut that looked cool in a magazine, but didn't look cool anymore after a couple weeks? Did you ever try that lip plumping  lipstick, and it burned you mouth like crazy?
I really don't see her as she was out to make a choice, she did choose to abuse the injections, yet I see her more as a victim. A victim of society's pressure on being beautiful.

http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=Wasp+Woman+1995+Full+Movie&FORM=RESTAB#view=detail&mid=25B0DF85D8E17DDD22C225B0DF85D8E17DDD22C2

Suspicion 1941

 Suspicion 1941
* Glasses only in introduction
*Glasses to suggest intelligence
* Glasses to create an outcast

     This Film is Directed by Alfred Hitchcock starring Joan Fontaine. Joan received an Oscar for this role and many agree she should of received one for her previous film with Hitchcock Rebecca. There have been many comparisons with her role in Suspicion and in Rebecca. In Rebecca Joan is a young naïve young lady who fall for a older man with a dark past (Jane Eyre anyone?)
  However in Suspicion I find the role to be the opposite. Yes both characters are shy and lonely, yet in Suspicion I don't find her character as naïve as her role in Rebecca. Joan's character Lina in Suspicion  is older, a spinster bookworm who is very practical and knowledgeable. Her love for Cary Grant and his shenanigans get the best of her.  Rebecca is more about a naïve girl and a older more knowledgeable experienced man , and Suspicion is a practical down to earth woman who falls for a silly naïve  man.  see? do you see? huh?
 The movie begins with her on a train, Lina is by herself wearing glasses reading a book about child psychology. Why this subject?  what is implied here?  The book is not a novel, so she must be super brainy to volunteer to read about psychology. Child Psychology? Does she want to have children one day?  The viewer is not fully aware of her spinster hood at this point of the movie, maybe this book is a visual clue.  In comes Cary Grant, being Cary Grant his characters name is Johnny. Lina is a little surprised that she not alone in the train car anymore and starts to develop a crush on him.  We are unsure what his feeling for her are, he does get her to pay for his train ticket. He didn't have enough money when the train worker came in to collect tickets. Bad first impression if you ask me.

 He see her again when all the blue bloods are together for a hunt. Lina is all dolled up, (without glasses btw) which is understandable it's a social gathering. Johnny realizes how beautiful she is, now that he can see her without those frames.
 For their first date her invites her to "Church". He finds her reading  at home. she has a news clipping about him. He's known for being a bit of a playboy and liking glamour girl types.  When he invites her to go to church and also asks about putting on "that saucy" hat she wore on the train. Hmm so he was attracted to her when they first met.  Of course she goes, without wearing her glasses.
 They ditch church to go for a walk and then this happens:
http://www.tcm.com/mediaroom/video/274159/Suspicion-Movie-Clip-Your-Ucipital-Mapilary.html

He invades her personal space, she's not used to such closeness with a man. She gets defensive. She still likes him after this. I find "Monkey face" quite insulting even though I think it is meant to be cute. "Monkey face" does show what kind of guy Johnny is, a teasing pulling on your pigtails immature type and a little silly.
When she arrives home she overhears her parents talking. They are discussing how hopeless she is on attracting a husband. Her father in a way defends her saying spinsters still do a lot for their community, still not what one want to hear. 
 In my opinion at this point she becomes quite attached to Johnny. She knows better,  yet she is desperate. Maybe not necessarily desperate to get married, but to be loved to prove to her family and the other blue bloods that she can be loved.
 Before the ball she is first upset that Johnny may not be there, then excited when she hear that he will be there. She changes her dress around to show off her ucipital mapilary that Johnny likes so much, also attends the ball sans glasses.  Johnny and Lina ditch the ball, they confess their love for each other. They get married, she never wears glasses again. After the wedding she is so dolled up in every scene. Is she doing this to emulate a glamour girl type that he was known for dating before her? She different from that, he like her because she is different, right?

 She finds out he is a gambler, and a liar and owes a big debt. However Lina loves him to the very end.   Now a days we say "just leave him"  which she very well could do. However, she may be pressured to be married and stay married due to class, and her own ideas. She may feel she cant do better, and does not have the confidence to be alone. Maybe when she was alone before she hated it. How many people have you known that stay in a bad relationship? it happens.
  The ending of this film was changed, in the original version Johnny because he owes so much money kills Lina for the insurance.  This was changed because Cary Grant not a villain. I wont tell you the end in case you have not seen it, but it does seem made up on the spot after knowing it was a reshoot.

 Maybe Lina never wears glasses after the introduction of her character because she is no longer herself after that. She's trying to impress Johnny, trying to be someone "better" for him. I almost feel sorry for her. In my opinion, no one is worth changing for, especially Johnny

Alfred Hitchcock
 and glasses
     

                                         Madeleine Carroll in  The 39 Steps 1935

                                  Joan Fontaine in Suspicion 1941

                                              Ingrid Bergman  in Spellbound 1945

                                         
                                               Kay Walsh in Stage Fright 1949

                                             Laura Elliott Strangers on a Train 1949

                                     
                                             Pat Hitchcock Strangers on a Train 1949

                                          Barbara Bel Geddes in Vertigo


                                    

She's All That, but without the bag of chips

 She's All That- 1999
*Glasses used to make the character "different"

I remember finding this movie predictable and silly the first time I saw it, around the time it first went to rental. It's a Cinderella tale, outcast girl gets made over and popular because the jock guy placed a bet with his friends. Then he falls for her, she finds out get upset but they all still live happily ever after.
There are things I don't understand in this movie. Such as Usher's role, is he just a dj on the school announcements? if so why does he never go to class? In my high school my principle made the announcements. Is Usher the principle? How does everyone one know the same choreography to dance at the prom? Why does the dancing looks like it comes from an Elvis Presley movie? when I dance like that people call me a nerd. Is Elvis dancing cool in Beverly Hills?  So many questions!

The movie begins with  Rachel Lee Cook's Character named  Laney Bozz. (Or Lady Boggs, I think her name really Laney but at times it sounds like "Lady") painting and making a collage in her basement. She strolls into school with her painting apron on.  Wet paint is uncomfortable, on your apron it sticks to you body makes it hard to walk in, usually you take it off and hang it up. I know this because I went to art school. She is wearing glasses and her "hair" is pulled back. Her wigs in this movie are not convincing enough to me to be perceived as real hair. To quote the movie "MAJOR WIG-AGE"
    Her pants shoes, portfolio are majorly smeared in brightly colored paint.  Quite cartoonish if you ask me, well mostly everything about this movie is quite cartoonish.  The movie makers want you to know SOOOOO badly she's an artistic outcast in a rich kid school. They practically hit you over the head with it.
In art class two rich gothy looking girls talk to her about her art. "in Spain we were talking" yada yada, "By the Way it may be a good idea to kill yourself"  even other outcasts are mean to her.

   Freddy Prince Jr.'s character is introduced as him walking around in a varsity jacket, being Freddy Prince Jr.  His brunette Barbie bimbo girlfriend named Taylor breaks up with him because she met a MTV Real world star over spring break.  Of course he's a little upset and talked about it with his friends. He says to them Taylor is an illusion, just clothes makeup and attitude. Any girl can fake that illusion. So his friends create a bet where they pick a girl, dress her up, make her popular and piss off the ex-girlfriend.

  He finds her after school working and like always in these movies she is wearing an embarrassing bad uniform. She is suspicious, when he talks to her. Her friend who just so conveniently hanging out at her job  invites Freddy to see her art performance that night.
She wears her glasses during the performance. After the show  Freddy asks her "Do you always wear those glasses?" She replies that she had contacts but is uncomfortable putting stuff into her eye balls.
CONTACTS! it was discussed normally it is not.  Then he says:

   As if she is suppose to go "Awww" and remove her eye wear and go off into the sunset with him.
She makes fun of him for saying that.
 Their next date he convinces her to go to the beach. His friends find them there and his one friend  says "She almost looks normal" as she takes off her overalls to reveal her swimsuit. I guess she would look completely normal if she removed her glasses with the overalls.

Somehow they got invited to a house party, she is uncomfortable on going. She makes an excuse that she has to clean her house. Freddy shows up to her door with the school's soccer team and cleaning supplies. So she has no excuse not to go. He even brings his sister (who is played by Anna Paquin btw) to do her hair and makeup and he gave her a tiny (really tiny) red dress to wear too.

Laney comes down the stairs looking gorgeous of course, sans glasses. All those paint splattered clothes, glasses and bad wig was hiding her beauty. I do remember being able to see her eyes with the glasses, oh well she put her contacts in maybe just this once she will try them again. Freddy did say her eyes were beautiful without them.
At the party silly stuff happened; Matthew Lillard  dances badly and Laney  gets revenge on that gothy girl from art class. Then Taylor (Freddy's ex) poured her dink onto Laney.
 Laney run away crying and Freddy finds her. She is sad, says she shouldn't of came to the party and wants to go home and be herself again. Freddy takes her home.

You think after a night of being dolled up like somebody else and having it end badly you want to just be you again. Well Laney is in her art clothes and apron again, but not wearing her glasses.
She does not put her glasses again for the rest of the movie. not even once. I understand she has contacts it was mentioned,  "I have them but never wear them" statement implies the ones she has are probably old. So did she get new ones? Is she wearing expired contacts? why?  I mean if you hate putting things into your eyeballs, (which she also said) why take the extra effort ? especially after a bad night like that party.
Oh right;
because Freddy said your eyes are beautiful

  So the bet is revealed to her by Freddy's friend (who is also the Fast and the Furious guy, I kept wanting an epic chase scene in this movie with him but never happens)  tells Lanely and also asks her out to the prom.
 Prom night she hanging out in the basement telling her dad she is not going. We know she will change her mind and go to the prom and WOW everyone by looking like everyone else now. Maybe Freddy with show up at her door with a prom dress for her to wear or something. She goes with the Fast and the Furious guy ( good point of the movie to add a high speed chase scene, tanks, aliens, Godzilla, Anything? please movie director person make this more interesting) Where did she get the dress from? how did she know how to do her hair? Before Freddy's sister did her hair and makeup. When Freddy's sister was tweezing Laney's already non- existing eyebrows it was discussed that Laney did not know how to do makeup, hair or the like. Does the removal of glasses and the insertion of contacts, also magically make you a beauty expert?
At prom her friend,  Freddy's sister and Freddy ; learn that the Fast and the Furious guy is a jerk and want to bring her to a hotel room for unno
Freddy saves prom night
She never wears glasses again and they both go to college after graduation
They live happily ever after
the end

1950's fashion frames

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LT_5who36wY

Hell Comes to Frogtown- 1987
* Glasses for introduction
* Glasses to show a character is a careerist

As I said in the introductory post; some movies I will be writing about are classic and some are well not so classic.
This film will never be put in the category of Citizen Kane or Gone with the Wind, but it sure is entertaining with it's ridiculous premise and overacting.

Roddy Piper pro wrestler and star from the Carpenter's classic They Live, plays and outlaw turned hero named Sam Hell who is imprisoned in the beginning of the film. To gain his freedom he has to go on a mission with two army women to save a group of kidnapped females. oh yeah I forgot to say this all takes in the future, after an unexplained apocalypse so whomever not human is a weird human frog mutant. These frog people have their own city and the king is holding the group of women. Sam Hell with two female companions have to save them and thus, Hell comes to Frogtown.

The one character Spangle is a blonde with big black frames who is in charge of the mission. Her character seems promising, she is a leader of the mission, smart  etc.  Three quarters into the movie and she is still wearing her glasses, "can this be true? " I thought to myself " is she going to wear them the entire movie? even though she is pretty much now the love interest?"
 Yet I was still disappointed.
The scene is Spangle and Sam Hell are in disguise to sneak into Frogtown. In an attempt to perfect Spangle's disguise Sam takes off her glasses. I was crossing my fingers that he was going to put them into his pocket. The glasses were thrown into the dessert, never to be found again. Maybe after the mission the army can give her a new pair? I think after an apocalypse resources for eye glasses are scarce.
I can understand taking them off temporarily to go incognito but throwing them into the dirt far away as if they are worthless? She needs to see! seeing is important!
The rest of the movie is as predicted, lots of action, one liners and she is shooting, running and fighting along Roddy's side as if she never need glasses in the first place. 

An Introduction

Allo World!
 Where do I begin? let's see

Dorothy Parker was a writer and critic for Vogue, The New Yorker and Vanity Fair. She is known for her satire and for focusing on  the subject of young middle class women. She is also known for;
 "Men seldom make passes at girls who wear glasses"

A statement, you think people wouldn't care about today.

I started wearing glasses in sixth grade. I was not bothered by the fact I had to wear them, because my whole family wears glasses. My grandparents wore them, my parents wore them my aunts and uncles wore them, the cousins I have met wore them. I figured one day I would wear them too. I didn't think they were unattractive at all. My parents never complained about wearing glasses.
 However my peers thought differently. Once I was noticed for wearing glasses everyday other girls my age were telling me I should get contacts, because "don't you want someone to see your eyes?"
The "someone" I assume would be male. I never understood that question. My response to that was; I'm not wearing sunglasses, they are clear prescription frames you can see my eyes if you bother to look.
I got this attitude all through high school and college. every couple of years I needed a new eyeglass prescription. Doctors on those visits asked if I wanted to try contacts, the answer is "nope".

I feel I look weird without my glasses, like really weird, I don't recognize myself, also my vision is rather bad without them so I cant recognize anything.

Where do people get this notion that to be attractive you must have 20/20 vision, or fake it with contacts? Is it from the hunter gather days of survival, the healthiest are the most attractive? If so then why do so many have poor eyesight today? I also wonder how many people really are un-attracted to people who wear glasses?  it's hard for me to believe a beautiful person with glasses is ignored because he or she have poor eyesight.

So here we go,

I watch a lot of movies, and I notice that often when a character is wearing glasses they are some sort of type. A nerdy, smarty pants type, comical character to laugh at but not with. Often female characters with glasses only wear the specs in the beginning of the movie because they are a scientist, or doctor  and after meeting the lead male character she no longer wear glasses and she become an accessory to the lead male. the viewer is suppose to believe the male character likes her because she's smart, not because she all dolled up for the rest of the film. I guess a smarty pants glasses wearing viewer that I am see through all that and finds it idiotic.  I find myself asking questions like " how can she see? she's driving running etc." " Is she wearing contacts now? wait no she just threw her frames off" " were they just reading glasses?"

Why cant the character wear glasses through out the movie?
why do I feel I cannot identify with 99% of film characters?



This blog is exploring how glasses are portrayed in movies,
 now I watch a lot of movies, good and bad, so some of these movies may be classics, some may be
well not so classic. All do show attitudes toward the wearing of glasses

I hope you keep reading on
have fun
explore movies you may not of heard, or watch movies again with a different perspective

enjoy!