I was browsing selections on the main page of HBO Max when I came across a documentary from the 70s called Grey Gardens.
The description mentioned it was about an elderly mother and her spinster middle-aged daughter (I mean who uses the terms spinster anymore you can tell that's from a different era) who are relations to Jackie Kennedy Onassis and though once from wealth and prestige, have fallen on hard times and now are just living an isolated and disturbingly destitute life in their decrepit, neglected old East Hampton mansion. I think it failed to mention how batty the two were, though it did have in its category listing right next to “documentary" it said “comedy.” I thought, “How would this be a comedy?” After watching it, I got it.
But I think there's no way this film would be made today. The filmmakers would be lambasted for taking advantage of the ladies' dire situation and obvious mental health issues. In many ways, it's quite sad to see how they lived in this house which, though once grand, had certainly become nothing more than a dirty, insect-infested, rodent warren, and haven for all sorts of perhaps feral cats and questionable hangers on.
But, on the other hand, the gay man in me screams out “Oh my God what fabulous camp they both are!”
Swooning and crooning and striking poses with makeshift ratty clothes, awkwardly whispering bizarre ideas, lost hopes and faded dreams, all while they boiled up corn on the cob on a hot plate in their single used, cat shit covered bedroom of their 28 room house and the daughter striking up a jaunty dance to a military march with a tiny American flag in hand.
If this were made today, you'd suspect that the filmmakers would have scripted much of it like a lot of "reality" TV and movies are, but I really think that this stuff is the real deal. I get the feeling that the documentarian came in with a cameraman and sound man and just let the cameras roll and the gals just did their thing.
Hey, and I'm not the only one to be mesmerized by this fascinating movie. Just look at the massive amount of fandom this has garnered. This film, a low budget documentary done in 1975, became a hit pretty much right away, despite the fact that documentaries in general don't get a lot of notice. In the time since then, there's been a Broadway play, an HBO miniseries...
