sofiacoppola2006

[sofiacoppola2006]

commentary

For my project, I decided to make a Tumblr blog where I would collect content from Sofia Coppola’s Marie Antoinette that circulate on the site. Tumblr is not the most widely used social media platform and has a unique reputation as being the origin of a lot of influential online social justice discourse but not being able to retain popularity compared to Instagram or TikTok, however it does have a dedicated and active userbase. In my experience, Tumblr is the best social media platform for discovering media-related content, whether it be in the form of photos, gifs, audio posts, videos, links to other sources, or text discourse between users. The film Marie Antoinette fits perfectly within one of the popular ‘aesthetics,’ which does not have a specific name but can be described as a hyperfeminine romanticization of mental illness and mentally ill female writers (Virginia Woolf, Sylvia Plath, Anne Sexton, etc). Sofia Coppola’s films fit neatly into this category because they all feature (to put it plainly) sad, conventionally-attractive blonde girls who are depressed in pretty settings. I am not going to delve into the prevalence of the romanticization of mental illness on the internet, but I will say that it makes sense for Marie Antoinette the film to become a staple of this online community because of the portrayal of the teenage queen offered by Coppola.

The main feature that I have noticed about online content of Coppola’s Marie Antoinette is its complete divorce from its historical context. Marie Antoinette is no longer a real life historical figure who was caught in a web of complex political events, but rather a sad, lonely, insecure everygirl to whom one can relate. It helps that every shot of Coppola’s film is beautiful, because that makes it even more of an obvious choice with which to adorn one’s personal online museum. In my project, I compile as much Marie Antoinette content as I could find to illustrate the ways in which this film has become ahistorical in its online instantiation. I have tried to find as much different content as I could without it becoming repetitive, because there are many posts of the same few gifs of the film in different orders. I wanted to show the various ways in which Marie Antoinette is used by Tumblr users to express their own feelings of alienation and the ways in which they construct their own identities as (primarily Western) girls in the 21st century. To do this, I have reblogged directly from blogs that post Marie Antoinette content, either ‘aesthetic bloggers’, ‘girlbloggers’, or the few straightforwd history blogs that exist on the site. I have added my own analysis of the relevance and meaning of different types of posts in a comment under the post itself. I chose the username sofiacoppola2006 as my online identity because it mimics a popularly ironic type of username that draws upon the ways in which internet users of the early 2000s would identify themselves on anonymous message boards and forums. Tumblr is still one of the places where most users do not identify themselves by their real names, but rather choose a username that is evocative of the sort of image that they want to project. As sofiacoppola2006, I show that I am a fan of her films and also know how to fit in with the prevailing internet language and trends, even at the double level of irony. The blog title ‘And the sky was made of amethyst’ comes from a Hole song that projects the image of an angry, misunderstood girl and is instantly recognizable as fitting the retro 90s-focused theme, which much of the Sofia Coppola fan community on Tumblr incorporates. For the blog theme, I tried to choose a color scheme that evokes a traditionally ‘girly’ sensibility but is clear and easy to read and navigate. By clicking on the ‘Archive’ button the left-hand side of the page, you can see all of the posts at once in a sort of mosaic layout. However, to read the comments that I wrote under the majority of posts, it is necessary to scroll down and then proceed to the next page. There are 67 posts in total, a mix of audio, video, text, and image. 

I have tried to convey the ways in which a particular historical figure can take on a life of her own in a totally new context if she represents something larger than the circumstances of her life, which for all of Marie Antoinette’s life and after, she has. To me, the ‘girlbossification’ of Marie Antoinette is just the latest phase in the use of Marie Antoinette as a blank screen upon which to project the emotions and attitudes of the day. What is interesting here is that teenage girls and young adult women have brought Marie Antoinette within the fold of their online world, often the most paradoxically private and open space for them to express themselves. It is fascinating to ponder what this tells us about the image of Marie Antoinette as a historical figure.

[sofiacoppola2006]

Well, um, when I was growing up, it was Godard, Truffaut, the French New Wave. The style was so cool to me…I mean, I’ve always been drawn to individuals really, people with their own distinctive but identifiable style that no one else has. That’s all I try to do, find my own distinctive way of doing things.

Sofia Coppola

[sofiacoppola2006]

Regardez "Marie Antoinette Shopping Scene Sofia Coppola 2006" sur YouTube

the most infamous moment of 'marie antoinette' - the clearly visible chuck taylor high tops in the background during a scene wherein the rest of the setting is strictly 18th century. despite the fact that the scene is already anachronistic due to its use of 80s pop music (as is a large portion of the film), it is this moment that people remember and remark upon. it reveals coppola's intention to make the film relatable to her, not to make a historically accurate film: 'for me it was quite a challenge...how do you make a film in that period but also do it in my style and make it personal to me?' - sofia coppola

[sofiacoppola2006]

In Defense of Sofia Coppola’s Marie Antoinette

[sofiacoppola2006]

two opposing takes on the historical figure of marie antoinette. it is difficult to say which sources have informed these users' opinions because they are often posted incongruously next to other unrelated content and not as part of an ongoing historical debate. interestingly, they are often posted in the tags of a post (as seen above), not as a post itself.

[sofiacoppola2006]

tags on photos of the film marie antoinette that often have nothing to do with the historical figure or the film itself, but rather denote the photos' association with a certain 'vibe' or 'aeathetic' that is currently popular.

[sofiacoppola2006]

sofia coppola is known for her well-curated film soundtracks. this magazine article positions her as a ‘cool older sister’ type who introduces you to bands you’ve never heard of. it appears to be from the early 2000s based on the styling (and reference to a pager), which places it before the release of the marie antoinette film. this reaffirms milam’s interpretation of coppola and her audience:  “This is part of the experience of Cool in Coppola’s film, to feel part of a group that understands and recognizes references, sharing a creative moment with the director. These creative moments are not tied to the historical past either.” (Milam, 51)

[sofiacoppola2006]

sofia coppola as an ‘it girl’ in her own right

Sofia Coppola

[sofiacoppola2006]

[sofiacoppola2006]

here is an example of a post that is interested not in using marie antoinette the person as a stand-in for oneself, but in the dissemination of historical facts. despite the relative anonymity that a post like this will have, it will appeal to a small group of users who come to tumblr to find content regarding their specific historical interests.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Marie-Antoinette met in Vienna in 1763. They were six and seven years old at the time. Wolfgang promised to marry Marie-Antoinette after she helped him up when he slipped and fell on the polished floor. The outfit Wolfgang wears in this portrait was a gift from Empress Maria Theresa. 

[sofiacoppola2006]

Bts Marie Antoinette 💋

[sofiacoppola2006]

marie antoinette cosplay with historical notes

A la fin du XVIII°s, Rousseau et les naturalistes, tels que Buffon, promeuvent un "retour à la nature". En effet, des romans tels que "La Nouvelle Héloïse", très à la mode dans les cercles féminins, font l'apologie du bonheur simple et champêtre. Cette utopie véhicule la mode des bourgeois exploitant eux-mêmes leur terre.

En parallèle, on redécouvre la peinture hollandaise, de Gabriel Metsu ou de Pieter de Hooch, qui est à l'origine de la vogue du blanc dans la mode. Cette robe blanche est avant tout le symbole des valeurs de l'enfance qu'on essaie de préserver ou de retrouver. L'enfant est perçu, à cause de ses qualités de spontanéité, de naturel et d'innocence originelle, comme le représentant le plus proche de la Nature sur terre.

De plus, les élégantes de Bordeaux lancent aussi la mode à leur façon, en portant les robes des créoles de Saint Domingue, de longues robes blanches, avec des décolletés et poignets bouillonnés.

Marie-Antoinette -habillée par Rose Bertin, une modiste parisienne surnommée "la ministre des modes"- s'installe au Petit Trianon, et fait construire le Hameau, au fond du parc de Versailles. C'est un faux village campagnard, avec fermette, moulin, lac, tourelle... On y trouve d'authentiques paysans installés là par la Reine, et des animaux de ferme...

Au Hameau, Marie-Antoinette joue à la fermière.

Elle adopte donc des tenues plus en phase avec l'image romanesque qu'elle se fait de la vie à la campagne, et se met à porter une de ces robes apparue à la fin des années 1770 dans Galerie des Modes, Cabinet des Modes, des catalogues de modes d'alors.

La "Chemise à la reine" ou "en gaulle" est née. Il s'agit d'une longue robe blanche de mousseline, ou de linon d'Alsace, serrée à la taille par une large ceinture.

Lorsque Marie-Antoinette pose ainsi pour Elizabeth Vigée-Lebrun pour le Portrait de la reine, à l'occasion du Salon de 1783, c'est un scandale. On accuse la Reine de poser en "chemise", c'est-à-dire en sous-vêtements.

On lui reproche également de vouloir ruiner les manufactures de soie de Lyon, en préférant le coton et le linon. Or, ces manufactures sont sous protection royale, c'est donc une accusation très grave.

Elisabeth Vigée-Lebrun dut refaire son tableau, qui devint « Marie-Antoinette à la rose ». Quant à la robe portée par la Reine sur son scandaleux portrait, Marie-Antoinette l’envoya à son amie Georgiana Spencer, Duchesse du Devonshire, qui lança alors la mise en Angleterre.

[sofiacoppola2006]

art from the time of marie antoinette

An engraving of Marie Antoinette and her children at the Trianon, after a drawing by Lespinasse. This engraving would have been done before the death of the first Dauphin in 1789.

In her book Louis XVII, Hélène Becquet writes that she believes this is a rare engraving which depicts Ernestine, one of the children adopted by Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI; she would be the young girl on the right, next to Marie Thérèse.

[sofiacoppola2006]

"For the winter the Queen had generally twelve full dresses, twelve undresses called fancy dresses, and twelve rich hoop petticoats for the card and supper parties in the smaller apartments."

"She had as many for the summer; those for the spring served likewise for the autumn. All these dresses were discarded at the end of each season, unless, indeed, she retained some that she particularly liked. I am not speaking of muslin or cambric gowns, or others of the same kind—they were lately introduced; but such as these were not renewed at each returning season, they were kept several years. The chief women were charged with the care and examination of the diamonds; this important duty was formerly confided to the tirewoman, but for many years had been included in the business of the first femmes de chambre.

The public toilet took place at noon. The toilet-table was drawn forward into the middle of the room. This piece of furniture was generally the richest and most ornamented of all in the apartment of the Princesses. The Queen used it in the same manner and place for undressing herself in the evening. She went to bed in corsets trimmed with ribbon, and sleeves trimmed with lace, and wore a large neck handkerchief.

The Queen’s combing cloth was presented by her first woman if she was alone at the commencement of the toilet; or, as well as the other articles, by the ladies of honour if they were come. At noon the women who had been in attendance four and twenty hours were relieved by two women in full dress; the first woman went also to dress herself. The grandee entrees were admitted during the toilet; sofas were placed in circles for the superintendent, the ladies of honour, and tirewomen, and the governess of the children of France when she came there; the duties of the ladies of the bedchamber, having nothing to do with any kind of domestic or private functions, did not begin until the hour of going out to mass; they waited in the great closet, and entered when the toilet was over.

The Princes of the blood, captains of the Guards, and all great officers having the entry paid their court at the hour of the toilet. The Queen saluted by nodding her head or bending her body, or leaning upon her toilet-table as if moving to rise; the last mode of salutation was for the Princes of the blood. The King’s brothers also came very generally to pay their respects to her Majesty while her hair was being dressed. In the earlier years of the reign the first part of the dressing was performed in the bedchamber and according to the laws of etiquette; that is to say, the lady of honour put on the chemise and poured out the water for the hands, the tirewoman put on the skirt of the gown or full dress, adjusted the handkerchief, and tied on the necklace.

But when the young Queen became more seriously devoted to fashion, and the head-dress attained so extravagant a height that it became necessary to put on the chemise from below,—when, in short, she determined to have her milliner, Mademoiselle Benin, with her whilst she was dressing, whom the ladies would have refused to admit to any share in the honour of attending on the Queen, the dressing in the bedchamber was discontinued, and the Queen, leaving her toilet, withdrew into her closet to dress."

Memoirs Of The Court Of Marie Antoinette, Queen Of France, by Madame Jeanne Louise Henriette Campan

Memoirs Of Marie Antoinette at Gutenberg

[sofiacoppola2006]

songs to soundtrack your winter

[sofiacoppola2006]

(This playlist is not mine)

[sofiacoppola2006]

I made this 80s playlist a while back and thought I'd share ❤