Damsels in Distress

Carl’s Rock Songbook #71: Swingin’ Tips for Youth Group Leaders, Courtesy of Whit Stillman and Jane Austen

by Carl Scott

This is going to be an odd essay. The argument, in a nut-shell, is that those officially charged with being our youth leaders, whether by religious groups or schools, as well as those who unofficially are youth leaders, simply by being youths themselves that their peers might follow if invited and . . . . Continue Reading »

Carl’s Rock Songbook #70: Social Dancing as a Key to Whit Stillman’s Films

by Carl Scott

Whit Stillman fans know that his first three films are a loosely connected trilogy of sorts, with THE LAST DAYS OF DISCO being the film that ties them together by means of our meeting key characters from the other two in its Club. How then, does his recent DAMSELS IN DISTRESS, a rather stranger . . . . Continue Reading »

The College Scene: “Damsels in Distress” as A Correction to “Charlotte Simmons”

by Carl Scott

Thomas Hibbs has an appetizing preview of Whit Stillman’s new film Damsels in Distress over at NRO. Lots on the importance of dancing, the reason why with suicide, “prevention is ten-tenths of the cure,” and Hibbs’ interesting observation that Stillman’s college scene . . . . Continue Reading »