Great Expectations
Norah Jones – After the Fall
Dress: SM Store. Necklace: Surf Beads Guam (similar). Ring: Kenneth Cole (Macy’s) (similar). Shoes: SM Store.
Photography by Jessica Peterson.
The Inspiration
The latest BBC adaptation of Great Expectations finds Gillian Anderson as Miss Havisham (although she is forever Scully to me). She plays the insane dumped spinstress with aplomb, her white dress more sullied, and her opulent house more cobwebbed with each scene. The casting of Estella, Havisham’s manipulated adopted daughter, was a miss. The actress is neither magnetic nor heartless enough for the role of the deeply damaged marionette to Havisham’s Gepetto. Pip is played by Douglas Booth, a chiseled pretty boy, who nails the innocence-turned-arrogance of Dicken’s protagonist. Very easy on the eyes, I might add.
The Music
I was acquainted with Norah Jones during our high school years. We both grew up in Dallas. I went to her performances at Booker T. Washington School of the Performing Arts whenever our mutual friend was playing. She kept her father’s identity (Ravi Shankar) secret and lived a modest existence, totally void of celebrity. Anyway, I was excited when she hit it big, but was never engaged by her maudlin style. That all changed when I heard Little Broken Hearts, her latest release. Danger Mouse produced it and while it does sound like Broken Bells (a good thing in my book), the coffee shop curse has been officially exorcised! Hearts is moody and jazzy and even a little bit soulful. It’s also dark. Jones kills a couple of two-timing men and their mistresses, namely a title-character, Miriam. “I’m gonna smile when I take your life,” says Jones, humming condescendingly. Tori Amos, anyone? The video for “Happy Pills“ also explores the singer as a homicidal sex kitten. And I remember when the singer/pianist was a bookish teenager with lunch lady glasses.
