Addressing a crowd of about 175 people, lesbian director Kimberly Peirce spoke about her filmmaking career through the lens of humanitarian issues at Francis W. Parker School's Diane and David B. Heller Auditorium Nov. 9.
Peirce's talk was presented as a part of the Chicago Humanities Festival's annual Karla Scherer Endowed Lecture Series for the University of Chicago in partnership with the Center on Halsted and the Francis W. Parker School. "Animal: What Makes Us Human" was the theme of this year's festival. Alison Cuddy, WBEZ's arts and culture reporter, moderated the conversation.
Director of the award-winning Boys Don't Cry, Stop-Loss and recently released modern retelling of the Stephen King novel and classic movie Carrie, Peirce is also an alumna of the University of Chicago.
Following an introduction by Tracy Baim, publisher and executive editor of this newspaper, Peirce and Cuddy discussed Peirce's film career. Prior to the discussion, Cuddy showed the audience a video of Peirce's work.
In discussing the theme of the festival, Cuddy asked Peirce about the character of Carrie and what it means to be human. Peirce said that when she reread the novel she was overwhelmed with sympathy for Carrie and her need for love and acceptance. In talking about the character of Margaret, Carrie's mom, Peirce noted that Margaret had an ambivalent relationship with Carrie beginning when Margaret gave birth to Carrie. Peirce said that Carrie's powers were her one way to survive the abuse and bullying both at home and at school. In an attempt to better understand who she was and as a way to defend herself, Carrie did research and came to the conclusion that she was human and normal even though she had these powers, Peirce remarked.
Cuddy said that Peirce humanized the characters in Carrie in a way that Brian de Palma, the director of the first Carrie movie, didn't. Peirce spoke about portraying Margaret as a complex individual who wants to be a good mother but doesn't know how to. Peirce also talked about the collaborative process she shared with Julianne Moore, who played Margaret, while shooting the film. Peirce said that both she and Moore wanted to make sure to that Margaret wasn't a caricature.
Cuddy noted that the real life issues of bullying and violence are threads throughout the film, asking Peirce if she thought about those issues during the process of making Carrie. Peirce noted that she researched contemporary bullying and interviewed principals and teachers about what is happening in the schools. Using a recent example of kids bullying other kids, Peirce explained that what was interesting was that the bullies, including the example she gave, are experiencing ramifications that wouldn't have happened in other eras.
Another aspect of bullying that Peirce noted was the issue of cell phones and social media. In doing her research, Peirce said her desire in making Carrie was to reflect the reality of our culture.
Cuddy remarked that Peirce's films show a fascination with violence, although Peirce herself is anti-violent. Peirce said that violence is personal, political and historical and that it comprises emotional, verbal and physical abuse. As for the portrayal of violence, Peirce said that all violence is dangerous—and that people who love each other want to hurt each other.
Peirce explained that it is hard not to sensationalize violence but if one's heart is in the right place then violence tends not to be sensationalized. Peirce used the rape scene in Boys Don't Cry as an example of when she listened to audiences who screened the movie, toning down that scene so the audience wasn't taken out of the movie.
Regarding casting, Peirce said that it is the hardest aspect of filmmaking to do. Boys Don't Cry was her graduate school film, she said, and it was hard to cast since LGBT culture was repressed and actors didn't want to play LGBT roles. It took three years for her to find Hilary Swank. Peirce said that Swank smiled and exuded warmth when she shifted into the character of Brandon—a quality she looks for in everyone she casts. As for Stop-Loss, Peirce said she found Channing Tatum before he was a big name. Regarding Julianne Moore, Peirce explained that she was the perfect combination of a killer and a lover.
During the Q&A session Peirce was asked about her career path, overcoming sexism in Hollywood, actors as collaborators, and the interrelationship between violence and sexuality, among other things.
