2/10/20

Day 8 Class Notes

I. Mental Warmup
A. Ella Fitzgerald “Misty”
1. This video and song is much less theatrical than the other videos we have
watched
2. Her voice and presence speaks for itself and does not require the same
level of theatricality
II. Dr. Marie Curie Cont.
A. “A house without a woman I cannot understand”
1. Pierre says this which demonstrates again how what seems like an equal
partnership still is not one
2. Dr. Curie is busy trying on a dress for the ceremony that night
a) Despite all of her smarts and hard work and breakthroughs, being
truly remarkable she still has to have the “girl takes off her glasses
and is suddenly beautiful” moment
B. Dr. Pierre Curie goes out in the rain to go jewelry shopping for Dr. Marie Curie
1. Dr. Marie Curie is described as having an oval face, golden blind hair, and
calm gray eyes
a) Beautiful coloring, smooth skin, and delicate coloring
b) He believes his wife is “quite beautiful”
2. Dr. Pierre Curie while seemingly lost in thought on his way back from the
jewlery store is run over by a horse and carriage
3. Dr. Pierre Curie’s death really is tragic
a) The movie stops all music prior to Dr. Marie Curie finding out
building the tension of the scene
b) The shock of the moment registers on her face in such a way that
shows how difficult the news is to process
(1) Imagine having to understand what tragedy had just
happened
C. After Dr. Pierre Curie’s death, Dr. Marie Curie has a hard time going on
1. Prof. Perot comes and visits Marie and calls himself a friend of the both of
them
a) Pushes her to continue both or their works because it is what her
late husband would have wanted
b) The professor tells her that he remembers her being impressed by
the idea of catching a star on her fingertip
(1) He tells her that she has caught one but there are still more
stars to catch
 (2) There are always more stars to catch
2. Dr. Curie then goes and finds the earrings that her husband had bought for
her
D. 25 years after the discovery of radium
1. Dr. Curie is given a standing ovation by a room full of white men
a) She is applauded for what she did for science
2. Despite her work being celebrated in her address, she pushes for further
exploration and study
a) She asks everyone to catch their own gleam of knowledge and use
it to help mankind (humankind) better understand the world
b) “Look for the clear light of truth”
c) Science she believes will help heal mankind (humankind)
3. “Take the torch of knowledge and build the palace of the future”
a) She still believed that the job was not done and instead asked her
peers to continue on for her
4. Beautiful that Dr. Pierre Curie’s notes and conversations the had shared
continued to guide her in her research
a) She also was humble enough to recognize the gift that he had left
for her
E. Movie ends
1. Interesting that the movie ends pretty rapidly after Dr. Pierre Curie dies
a) I wish the movie had focused less on their relationship and focused
on telling more about all of her discoveries
2. It sounds like Dr. Curie has done much more after her husband died and I
think it would have been powerful to see what else had been accomplished
and how she had moved past it to continue her research in life
3. Despite her accomplishments, she was still hated by many men because of
her accomplishments
a) Stopped being hated for being a woman, and started being hated
for discovering what other scientists had wished they had
discovered
4. Even though her original plan to go back to Poland never panned out, her
intent, her “why” remained the same
a) She was always on a perpetual quest for knowledge
b) Science was her first true love
(1) Her professors encouraged her to go on not just for Dr.
Pierre Curie but also to go on for herself and for her love of
science and knowledge
III. Ella Fitzgerald (1917-1996)
A. A runner for bet money for local gamblers becomes “the first lady of song”
B. Dr. Donley does not like to use the phrase African American
1. Does not use differentiation between races
C. Ella Fitzgerald grew up during the Great Depression
1. The person that made her a superstar and helped her across the river was
also a woman
2. She performed primarily in segregated places
3. If it was not segregated she was forced to enter the back of the restaurant,
perform and then leave
a) Not even allowed to sit and eat with the people she performed with
4. Faced lots of discrimination in her life especially her childhood
5. Grew up in NY a child of divorce during the depression
a) One of her jobs was running local bet money for local gamblers to
help her family
b) Grew up with nothing
c) She loved playing sports
d) Influenced by her mom, enjoyed singing and dancing and often
listened to Bing Crosby, Connee Boswell, and the Boswell Sisters
e) Began taking the train to see shows with friends at Harlem’s
Apollo Theater
6. 1932 her mother dies
a) She stops going to school, gets in trouble with the police
b) Then sent to reform school where she was abused by her caretakers
c) Breaks free from the reformatory and finds herself on her own in
NY during the height of the Great Depression
7. Despite struggles, she continued performing
a) In 1934 she won an amateur contest at the Apollo singing “Judy”
by Hoagy Carmichael’s
(1) Originally wen to dance and got booed so she then started
singing
(2) Benny Carter was there and he encouraged her to keep
developing her career
(a) Known for taking young vocalists under his wing
and encouraging them (seems kind of suspicious)
b) She met influential drummer Chick Webb who tried her out with
his orchestra one-nighter at Yale University
(1) He helps start her across the river and becomes her legal
guardian
(2) She becomes part of his orchestra and he reworks his show
to feature her
(3) She won over the crowd at this first night