Fonda's film choices

Fonda has made a lot of fine films that stand up to this day. COMING HOME and JULIA to name a couple. Fonda has said MONSTER IN LAW is the smartest film choice she ever made. That film may have relaunched her career but I feel it will be BARBARELLA that proves her smartest because that's the film that will stand the test of time. I don't think she knows how special the character she created is. It's easy for cynical viewers to get stuck on the costumes and the 60's special effects and the sexual overtones of the piece, but beneath that stands a character similar and in the same league with Judy Garland's Dorothy in THE WIZARD OF OZ. Innocent, warm, unpretentious, genuine, relatable and oddly unique for as simple as the character is. Fonda's Barbarella goes beyond your typical beautiful actress. Fonda has never relied on her looks or lead with it in any part she played or in real life. She's an actress first and foremost and the beauty always came second if it came at all. She doesn't rely on Vadim making her beautiful to make Barbarella interesting. That's why the character is so special to so many of us because she made the character funny and like Dorothy, in wonder and exploration. It's a character both adults and children like. Fonda herself is not always the best judge. In interviews she always comes off critical and dismissive of her earlier self, only seeing the person she was at that time outside of the part she created. But to many of us, her BARBARELLA will always be a source of wonder and artistic inspiration.

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