Unringing ‘Bell’

“PEOPLE, they always criticize paintings . . . but people love to love movies,” Julian Schnabel postulates. Actually, there does exist criticism of film, but unfortunately it is not to be found in Paul Brownfield’s interview with the so-called neo-Expressionist painter-director [“The Eyes Have It,” Dec. 22].

It is unacceptable, for instance, to premise one’s plot on a cliche. Yet nothing is more trite than “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly’s” motif of self-absorbed man suffering tragedy, regret and redemption, and “A Christmas Carol” is much more entertaining.

The Muse is also a rather stale notion, and Schnabel’s direction and protagonist primarily advance through their fixation on the supermodels who somehow found their way into Bauby’s hospital room.

Finally, there is criticism that encompasses both art and film, challenging the reification of hyper-masculine, self-indulgent, lame artists celebrating and exploiting white male privilege in the name of abstracted individual expression.

Joshua Sperber

New York