Party Girl, 1995
House Music, Pita, and an MLS.*
Seen with Tony in June 1995 at the Angelika.
You very well might have missed Party Girl, which came and went from theaters quicker than you can say "library card." While many reviewers judged it mainly on the merits of lead actress Parker Posey (Tales of the City, Dazed and Confused), with Entertainment Weekly and People magazines giving it "B" ratings, this fun little film rises in ratings appeal when seen from the librarian's point of view.
[INLINE] Our protagonist is Mary, a doyenne of the Downtown scene. When her latest illegal rent party is busted by the police, she is bailed out by her godmother (played by Sasha von Scherler), a NYPL librarian. To pay off her debt, Mary becomes a clerk at a branch library (a Jersey City library posed as a NYPL branch for this film) and is immediately challenged as irresponsible and not up to the "challenge." Mary eventually memorized the DDC20 and begins her quest--better living by getting an MLS.
Along the way, Mary is also involved in helping her disc-jockey friend, Leo (Guillermo Diaz) get a job, and in a romance with falafel vendor Mustafa (Omar Townsend)
I noticed that the scenes I reacted to most did not concur with the audience's. Those who reacted along with me must have also been librarians and other likeminded people. Hearing the librarians' professional bickering, seeing the fans blowing on water-damaged books, and other little touches would most likely only be best appreciated by those in the know. Scene to watch for: Mary confronts a patron who reshelves a book improperly.
What really makes Party Girl stand out, from the MLS (Masters of Libary Science) point of view, is that becoming a librarian is seen a constructive, positive objective, rather than a punishment. Fifty years ago, the worst thing that could have happened to Mary Baily in It's a Wonderful Life is to have become a librarian. After decades of Hollywood showing the profession in the most unflattering poses, Party Girl shows us a hip downtowner deciding to improve her life by getting an MLS. A nice change of pace and certainly worth looking for in the videostores.
Basically, if you are somewhat familiar with libraries, falafel, the Dewey Decimal System, house music, babganoush, or New York City, you will probably enjoy this movie. The perfect break for those times your not at the library yourself.
Note: This review originally appeared under this title in KEYWORDS, the Newsletter of the Queens College Graduate School of Library and Information Studies Student Association. Reprinted with my permission (since I wrote the review and edit the newsletter).
Librarians will also enjoy Desk Set (1957). _________________________________________________________________
Copyright (c) 1997 Seth J. Bookey, New York, NY 10021
More movie reviews by Seth Bookey, with graphics, can be found at http://www.geocities.com/Athens/2679/kino.html
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