I am undone. Trying to write about this movie
has brought me low--three tissues low. Art imitates life, but in a mirror so
that Judy Garland must look at herself critically and respond to the
destruction through James Mason's tragic character. It's too much, yet there's
more. She reenacts her past with the stripping of her identity/name, the
reshaping of her nose and the altering of her unacceptable appearance.
The lines blur as her real life continues to peek through. A piece of property,
to be poked and prodded, medicated and demeaned, so that she will perform
accordingly. I can't watch any of her films without thinking about the too high
price and this movie is the most difficult of all. How do I appreciate properly
something that has cost the giver everything?
