My favourite book into a movie

Thanks for your tips on finding argyle sweaters. I looked today and saw a few but they didn't fit right - some were too long and others were too boxy. I also did a search on eBay and there are a few there that I think I like. I'll keep looking.

I think I remember mentioning that Blindness is one of my favourite books ever. There is so much to the book that every time I read it, I get something new out of it. Now, I'm very excited because the book has been made into a movie (shot partly in Toronto)opening this weekend! The movie isn't getting great reviews but I still hope that it will be a movie worth seeing. From what I've seen, I think I'll like it.

I'm watching a show right now on the making of the movie and it seems like the director really worked to capture the anonymity and humanity (or lack thereof) in the book. Before shooting began, apparently all of the actors had to wear blindfolds and be led around, following the sound of a bell. There are special contacts that the actors wore that prevented them from seeing well during critical scenes so that they would act blind.

I am annoyed that the National Federation of the Blind (NFB) is calling for a protest of this movie because they feel that the movie discriminates against blind people since it shows people becoming monsters after going blind and being unable to take care of themselves. WTF? It's a post-apocalyptic movie! It's not like newly-blind people automatically know how to take care of themselves, and it's likely that they'd make a mess. Think of the mess in the Superdome after Hurricane Katrina - those were sighted people in the dark, and the mess they made and things they did are equivalent to the mess and actions in the movie. And as for monsters - well, people do what they need to survive. If they weren't blind but were in the same sort of situation, they'd still be monsters. I'm thinking that this group hasn't got that much credibility, really, and their protest is a knee-jerk reaction without thinking things through.

Fortunately, no NFB people will be protesting here in Canada. I'm very much looking forward to seeing this movie even though I know that it can't possibly be as fundamentally moving and thought-provoking as the book. Still, I'm interested in seeing how closely the movie follows the book and what, if any, new things the movie brings to the already multi-leveled story.