Lately I’ve been reading a lot about Miranda July’s work suffering the twee film backlash. I find this mostly unfair since I don’t even really consider her a filmmaker. I’ve always seen her as a performance artist, though she’s really a jack of all trades. Me and You and Everyone We Know and No One Belongs Here More Than You (which has my favorite website in recent years) will seem a lot different to you if you’re already familiar with Miranda July’s work. Mostly her work won’t seem quite so quirky or quaint, if anything it’s a bit sinister. I’m not trying to make some pretentious claim that you could only possibly understand her recent work if you’ve known about her for a while, but I am suggesting that it’s less surprising and makes more sense.
I suppose my biggest problem with this is I just don’t think it’s fair to lump her in with people like Wes Anderson, who make the same movies over and over again with the same cast of characters. If you were to force Anderson to make a movie with none of his regulars, no hipster soundtrack, and without a wardrobe circa 1979 would you still have a movie? Probably not. Whereas beneath the playful facade I think July’s work as a whole hides a critical, self-deprecating interior. Schtick leaves a bad taste in my mouth too, but I think people mistake her genuine eccentricity for kitsch. There’s no irony to her work, and while it may be idiosyncratic, without irony you don’t have quirk.
If you didn’t like her film, consider checking out some of her shorts (you can get one with the first issue of Wholphin) and performance art, particularly The Swan Tool. If you plan on reading her book, do go to her website for links to previous contributions to magazines and zines, or else you’ll be in for quite a surprise. Even some of her cds would make a good primer. If your youth was at all filled with the K Records and Kill Rock Stars queer youth subculture, you’ll find her especially relevant.
Of Note: Alana says Shortbus is in the same vein as No One Belongs Here More Than You. So if you enjoyed that film, you’d probably enjoy her book.
