An interesting review on the documentary, from Dana Thomas' Substack (the person who wrote Gods & Kings).
Oscar-winning director Kevin Macdonald's documentary on British fashion designer John Galliano
open.substack.com
Excellent review! I had some of these questions too while watching it. To be frank, trying to fully restore his career back to full glory does seem kind of pointless but that's Anna for you (remember when she was trying to restore Syria's First Lady? 🥲). Does he deserve to live exiled from his field after paying his dues? no, but he's fine at Margiela, he's no Grandma Moses, he's not going to suddenly peak in his 60s, because.. cautionary tale: the damage of addiction is irreversible, consider your brain fried, and the way you can absorb, encapsulate and communicate culture in just the right vocabulary.. that's youth for you, it doesn't happen again, certainly not after being corporate. So why all this campaign instead of giving young people the opportunities John was afforded in the 80s? why is it always soo goddamn important to receive the stamp of approval by fashion's equivalent of Pepsi and Coca Cola?. With enough love for fashion, you probably don't want to recycle the past, and with enough appreciation and gratitude for Galliano, you probably don't want him (who will always be an addict) back in the toxicity of these companies.
I also don't think the other side (accusers, doubters, you name it) are above questioning. I think it's so convenient that the person who received the Asian slur goes on and on about being ill since 2011, but doesn't say of what, and what triggered it. His lawyer says that one word can have catastrophic consequences in someone's life, which is true, but for that to happen, you need a series of events, what is the context here? he said he woke up to his name being all over the press and the internet, could that have contributed too? why is there no mention on the role of this unwanted exposure for something denigrating and how that, in a way, contradicts him agreeing to interviews (when his lawyer could handle it) and giving mixed statements and taking back things he's said? he wants a letter or a call, but he already received an apology in court. Who in their right mind would want a letter or a call from their abuser when you have already taken him to court and the judge ruled in your favor and justice was served?, sorry but I think that if the abuser was a nameless truck driver from the yellow vests, he would not want neither a call nor a letter.
And yeah, McQueen, Steven, it's all handled superficially but I think the key to that is that Galliano, as much as he finds being in front of a lens irresistible, he's just too fcked up and has waaaay too many unresolved issues that he will not solve in this lifetime and that makes it hard to extract something truly meaningful out of him, and you see this in the way he freezes in the exchange with the Dior employee and how he doesn't know how to respond to her warmth. His background, how he suffered his homosexuality and what he did to himself through addiction make these connections almost impossible to convey for the viewer and that's okay, unless you're campaigning for something...