VID: Damned If She Do [American Crime Story | Marcia Clark]

[runawaynun]

Damned If She Do
Song: Damned If She Do - The Kills
Source: The People v. OJ Simpson: American Crime Story

Summary: "I just can't take it." "You'll do fine." Marcia Clark comes alive on her last legs.
Notes: A vid trying to encapsulate 22 years of love and admiration. Maybe it got close!

Stream (on Vimeo) || Download (205.5 mb, .mp4) || Youtube

password = play

Damned If She DO from kb on Vimeo.

Comments

[chaila]

Yessssss you did it and it's here! Your feelings just ooze out of this all over the place. I LOVE how swaggery it is, and how expressive, how much of Marcia Clark's feelings about the situation are clear. Sarah Paulson's face is excellent and you use it excellently. I think the juxtapositions between the public/media images and her personal/private feelings are really effective. Like it isn't just a fuck-you, though it is that too, it's the actual nuanced exploration of a reluctant public figure that we were denied at the time. And omg I ship it too. *hangs head in shame* But look at the TWIRLING to the MUSIC, I mean seriously. You use the music really well throughout the whole thing, but it is especially good in that little instrumental section of shipping.

[runawaynun]

Aw, you leave the best comments! <3

I had to make it swaggery because there's no way a woman working her way up as a trial lawyer could have gotten as high as she did without swagger. Also Chris Darden wrote in his book that "You could hear Marcia Clark’s high heels from twenty feet away, clicking on the tile floor in her purposeful, arrogant walk." which I've decided to interpret as swagger. :D

What's so interesting too is that while I can portray the juxtaposition of public and private through the show, that Marcia Clark said in an interview that in the court scenes, Sarah Paulson was able to show so much more emotion than she was able to do so when she was living it.

THE SHIPPING PART. I spent so much time on that to make sure everything was ON THE BEAT. But then I would watch and start giggling to myself because I felt so ridiculous and happy at the same time. (And the twirl! THE TWIRL! And their faces!)

[brainwane]

I was feebly aware of Marcia Clark during the trial, two decades ago when I was (honestly) barely sentient, but had not thought to reflect on her work and struggle until your vids caused me to. What a hand she was dealt! Thank you for capturing that.

I like that in this vid you do not try to cut out all the times her lips are visibly moving. This is a lawyer whose words are her weapons and I can tell that her refusal to stop speaking is her refusal to give up.

And it's a great song with indomitable spirit.

Thank you for making and sharing this!

[runawaynun]

Thank you! Marcia Clark came into my life when I was 12/13 years old and she opened my eyes to so much. I grew up in a conservative Christian environment and to see a woman arguing with men was just an amazing experience. And the way she was treated taught me that feminism was something that was needed in the world - not something that was sinful.

But I am really glad we're revisiting the trial now, with this miniseries and also the ESPN documentary. The trial dealt with some of the hardest issues of American life - racism and sexism - and in the '90s, we treated (at least the mainstream media) so much of it stereotypically. Marcia Clark was the shrewish, incompetent bitch and Johnnie Cochran was the charming huckster. Both he and Marcia Clark and Chris Darden and the others involved have been given much more complexity in our current cultural retrospective.

Yes! Her words are her weapons! And so many of the scenes where she's speaking I kept the world because she's fighting and I loved the line of dialogue that went with it. And the show made her a competent equal to the defense lawyers whereas she's been portrayed as grossly incompetent for years.

It is such a great song! I'm so glad chaila convinced me to use it for this vid even though she did such an amazing vid for Birgitte Nyborg with it.

Thank you so much for watching. <3

[brainwane]

The trial dealt with some of the hardest issues of American life - racism and sexism - and in the '90s, we treated (at least the mainstream media) so much of it stereotypically.

YES. I did not recognize that nearly as deeply contemporaneously as I do now, and, like, NO WONDER it was such a flashpoint.

And if becomes a trope or a meme to make awesome vids with this song then I will not mind one bit. :)

What might you make next?

[runawaynun]

chaila and I think every awesome woman character should have a vid to this song. I hope others start to use it. :D

I have no idea what I'm going to make next! I'm still looking for a song for a few fandoms and who knows? My Jessica Jones vid was only made because the song came up on shuffle and I thought it was such a great song for her.

[cyborganize]

OMFG! I feel like smart people already said everything, but YES. I too appreciated how you used talkyface – it was thematically strong and you edited it in a way that wasn't distracting. There are a lot of really effective rhythm and motion choices beyond that too. It must be pretty static footage, but you wove in the weird angle courtroom shots and moving camera in ways that kept it visually dynamic. The handshake on the beat stood out to me. And of course Sarah Paulson's faaaaaaaaace! There's so much story and social commentary in her face.

ALLLLL the vids about powerful complicated female public figures working within sexist institutions should be made to this song! Now I want a Hillary vid, sorry not sorry.

[runawaynun]

OMG, I never got notified about this comment! AHHHH!

Thank you! Marcia deserved a good vid! And I'm glad the rhythm worked b/c so much of this vid seemed to be throwing clips on the timeline and rearranging it until things happened on the DAMN BEAT. Those were the rules - on the beat and there had to be some motion in the clips. SARAH PAULSON'S FACE ALLOWED THIS VID TO BE MADE. And I thank her from the bottom of my heart to allow me to make a Marcia Clark vid because I LOVE HER SO MUCH.

When the inevitable Hillary biopic is made, I'm sure either chaila or I will make the Damned If She Do vid for it. :D

[goodbyebird]

Oh man, I am super up for you and chaila turning this into a series. Awesome vid! ♥

[runawaynun]

Thank you! <3

Every woman stuck in sexist institutions so should have a vid to this song!

[kuwdora]

*pulls out a megaphone and turns it on*

BASICALLY WHAT EVERYONE ELSE SAID, BECAUSE YAAAAAAAS, THIS VID IS EVERYTHING. god, this is a damn fine vid, damn fine vid. great job!

[runawaynun]

Thank you so much! I'm so glad you enjoyed it.