I saw the new independent film Low and Behold tonight at the Manship Theater; it is an excellent bit of art set in New Orleans just after Katrina, with a clever combination of documentary and fictional narrative.
Afterward, the filmmakers took questions from an audience composed largely of nitwits. Included were many who sought to ask “questions” designed to demonstrate their knowledge of film, art, or Katrina, or perhaps just their general profundity and deep hipness.
It reminded me of why I disliked classroom comments and never spoke: so many questions are just declarations about the questioner.
There was also a complete wreck of a human being acting as moderator, a professor at LSU who managed to convey her sincere vanity, pure jealousy of the film’s success, and her passionate devotion to herself, all while actually kneeling at the feet of the filmmakers and occasionally bowing. It was a very discomfiting demonstration of how narcissists use praise of others to praise and draw attention to themselves.
The Q&A was a shame, because it distracted from the great film, although that’s not the filmmakers’ fault. I won’t do the movie the disservice of synopsizing or discussing it in detail; go to the website and see it if you get a chance!
