Ginger and Rosa
Sally Potter: Ginger and Rosa (2012)
Ginger and Rosa are two best friends growing up in the London in the Sixties.
- Account for the setting (time and place) of the film, including the Cuba Missile Crisis.
- For inspiration take a look at JFK’s address to the nation on the Crisis on http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/jfkcubanmissilecrisis.html
- Characterize Rosa and Ginger. How are they different? How are they alike?
- What are the girls’ mayor concerns?
School?
Boys?
Their physical appearance?
The Cuba Missile Crisis?
The same things as today’s young girls? - Analyse the father-daughter conversation (16 minutes into the film) and what is said about God, parenthood, authority and autonomy.
- In what sense of the word does Ginger regard herself a militant? You may consider how Emmeline Pankhurst used in the word in her “Freedom or Death” speech.
- Comment on Roland’s choice of words. What does he mean when he talks about
Bourgeois death-traps?
What is normal?
Emotional blackmail? - In what way(s) are Ginger and Rosa’s mothers role models to their daughters? In what way(s) are they not?
- What does Bella represent to Ginger?
- What is Ginger’s birth name and why did her father choose this particular name for her?
- Why does Bella object to the title of poetess? Is it a valid argument for not saying poetess about a female writer?
Find other examples of gender-specific nouns other than poet/poetess. - Why and how do Rosa and Ginger move in different directions?
- Is Roland a good or a bad father? What does it say about his attitude to his daughter that he calls her a good girl and a born radical at the same time?
- How does Roland define love? What does he mean by a Siren Call?
- What does Bella mean by calling Roland’s ideal about personal freedom convenient?
- How has Natalie’s life changed after the separation?
- How is the film about forgiveness?
- Is the historical context important to the course of events or could the film as easily have been set in the 1980s or this day and age?
