On one hand I think she can definitely act, and she’s played important roles in many movies that are near and dear to my heart: Eternal Sunshine (omg she's so good in this movie, just like everybody else in it, I totally forget it's even really her), Spider-man, hell, Jumanji. She was one of the best things about Interview With a Vampire (that weirdly old baby face! Creepy McCreeperson). And I love her in Bring it On - so infectiously funny, and so whole-heartedly, unabashedly earnest about being that cheerleader. She played it with this surprising sincerity and sweetness which I think was a touch of brilliance. Really, I think sometimes the hardest roles are the huge, energetic, relentlessly happy ones. How to make that feel geniune? How many characters pull off being a jokey caricature and yet charming and touching all at once?
On the other hand I am decidedly cooler towards her in Virgin Suicides, Wimbledon, Elizabethtown and Marie Antoinette, and she irritated me a great deal in Little Women (but was it just her character? Who can possibly like Amy?).
There is something about this girl that… repels me simultaneously as it attracts. It must be because of her unique, particularly elusive beauty – I mean, on the whole I always have this vague impression of prettiness, but when I actively focus on her features and search for it... it's not there. Like this strange loveliness is shimmering just out of reach, like a mirage, and I’m never quite sure if I’m imagining it.
And her voice, and her personality... something is jarring somewhere, I just can’t put my finger on it. Is it that I think she’s trying too hard to be cool? Or am I secretly jealous of her natural, quirky coolness? Maybe it's her old-soul, wise-beyond-her-years aura that bugs me (Dakota Fanning syndrome - ugh that child). I know the American public held quite a long grudge against her (still going on, somewhat?) because she broke up with Jakey Gyllenhaal, but that’s not my problem.
I hate this. I don’t like not understanding things. Oh well. I guess if there’s anything to say about Kirsten, it’s that she’s a complex kind of star. This proves it. And that makes her perennially intriguing.
(On yet another hand I’ve never been able to get over the fact that her name is an anagram of "Dr. Sunken Tits". And she totally doesn't wear a bra all that often, I am so sure. It seems childish but I honestly believe that means something. What, I don't know.)
Anybody, please feel free to help me think this through. If I can't indulge in my favourite kind of navel-gazing, pseudo-psychological pop culture musings here, where else.
After thinking about what you said I can sum up Kirsten Dunst in three words: girlish, genuine and ... quirky-cool. I didn't use to like her either for some reason I thought she was annoying in Spiderman 2 but after re-watching Eternal Sunshine and thinking about her in Bring It On, Marie Antoinette and even in Jumanji she is indeed very talented. She hasn't been on the big screen much in recent years- but I guess she's probably doing some side projects (like Julia Stiles and her stage career). Dunst has this eternal girlish glow about her. When I think of her, I think of the colour Pink. A soft shade of it.
ReplyDeletei think of a kind of summer-y orange when i think about her (maybe its the hair?) but yeah definitely girlish. i found her really annoying in spiderman. and the only movie she's really won me over with is Bring it On - she WAS the awkward and eternally eager teenager.
ReplyDeletebut still.. i don't know.. there's something about her.. sometimes i find she just looks tired, and other times her energy just shines through. i guess i'm with you kelly, when you say you can't quite make up your mind about her.
See, I like her in Spider-man. Maybe not the sequels, which I have only seen once or twice, but in the first one I thought she was great, the nice geek-fantasy girl next door who had arguably worse problems to deal with than Peter Parker. Definitely my favourite Superhero Love Interest.
ReplyDeleteBut I totally agree with you on the strange tired/energetic dichotomy Huimin. That's exactly it, what confuses me.
Anyway she's in this new thriller-ish thing called All Good Things with Ryan Gosling.
I don't like her teeth. She always plays these Lolita-esque characters which sort of suit her...sounds like I'm talking about Paradis haha but I agree she was brilliant in Interview with a Vampire (made up for Brad Pitt's wimpiness) but I think sometimes she's just mis-casted? Yeah, she looks like an Persian cat - like an ugly sort of prettiness, but intriuging nonetheless...and I dislike her as a blond but that hair colour looks really pretty on her (you chose a pretty picture).
ReplyDeleteI actually used a Wiki picture, which is surprising because aren't all Wiki pictures of celebrities usually the ugliest pictures of them imaginable?
ReplyDeleteThe more I think about the tired/energetic thing the more I think it applies to me too. Maybe I'm jealous that she overcame her lethargy and achieved so much success.