How TEENAGE TRAMP changed my blog

The main function of this blog is to help me gain discipline. I needed an outlet, an excuse, to write more regularly and a blog seemed like a natural choice. I decided to randomly choose one film a week, good or bad, and create a post. That was the conceptual structure and all I needed now was the discipline to maintain that low standard. This seemed easy enough, that is, until I randomly selected the painfully dull TEENAGE TRAMP. The conventional wisdom among film critics (or maybe any critic) is: it’s easier to write negative criticism than positive. Exposing flaws is one of the fundamental tenants of criticism. So naturally, running down a film for its shortcomings makes for a simple task. Working up the motivation to write such a critique is another matter entirely.

I don’t mind writing about a poor film as long as it fails in an interesting manner. This is where TEENAGE TRAMP comes in. Exploitation films are a double edged sword. When done well there’s nothing better, but when done badly there’s nothing as vapid. TEENAGE TRAMP falls into the second camp. There were only two potential angles to explore, which I won’t describe here, you’ll just have to trust me that after closer examination neither of them had any legs. They were cute observations, nothing more. I was left with only the option of describing how bland and empty the film was, which doesn’t make for a very rewarding writing (or reading) experience. So I stalled, telling myself I should write, if for nothing else than to gain the discipline this blog was created to instill. But, I just couldn’t bring myself to do it. Not about a film that offered so little, what would be the point? (Well discipline for one, shh …)

I spent over a month postponing the review feeling that if I moved onto another film I had somehow failed. It took me a month of procrastinating to realize the inanity of that notion. Now, in order to avoid this lapse in posts again, I’ve decided to only write about films I find interesting, good or bad. I will no longer pick an arbitrary movie from my week’s viewing, rather the best of the week or something I love from the past or even the occasional ire inspiring misstep – in short, something worth writing about. This will hopefully make for better and more frequent posts.