Skip to main content
It’s not difficult at all to figure out why Susan Seidelman’s Desperately Seeking Susan (1985), screening at 4 pm Saturday, April 13, at the Tomorrow Theater, is part of PAM Cut’s Social Cinema program (it will be followed, fittingly, by a showing of the documentary Madonna: Truth or Dare).
Yes, a Madonna dress-up night designed to get the audience to interact with the experience seems obvious enough. But after rewatching Desperately Seeking Susan, the iconic nature feels so casual and friendly, rather than imposing.
All of the cult-film feminist elements are certainly there, but they’re icing on the cake for a New York odyssey of two women (one seemingly liberated, the other not) trying to find their place in the world (while exhibiting ’80s fashion like never before or since). Every memorable scene isn’t straining to be memorable, just like Madonna isn’t straining to be an icon. She just is.
As Susan, Madonna truly has a unique confidence. She struts down the street, not knowing where she’s going to crash next, wearing a jacket with an Illuminati-style pyramid on it, oozing empowerment and sexual liberation. It’s shocking that she wasn’t even the first choice for the role; they could just as easily called the character Madonna. Cliché as it sounds, she was born to play this character.
While most people want to be her, most of us are actually Roberta (Rosanna Arquette), a housewife who becomes so obsessed with Susan that she effectively becomes her. Arquette creates an amazingly relatable person who can only truly be free if she does away with her previous self...with the help of the costumes. Good Lord, the costumes.
Production and costume designer Santo Loquasto reportedly found inspiration for Susan in Madonna’s own wardrobe, creating outfits that have echoed across generations, becoming staples in the fashion industry. Akin to The Rocky Horror Picture Show, it’s attire that reflects individualism, not some corporate product.
A classic screwball story of mistaken identity and amnesia suits Desperately Seeking Susan’s perfectly innocent vibe. Almost everyone in the film is constantly confused, yet the narrative itself never becomes confusing for us as viewers.
That’s because the story is digestible but beside the point, allowing us to focus instead on our two fantastic leads. One is beautifully awkward, while the other is beautifully charismatic, and that old-fashioned combination of character archetypes is just right, even though Arquette and Madonna barely interact the entire movie.
Desperately Seeking Susan is a compelling story of female friendship, making a statement about the power of companionship. All that makes this particular screening important for a city known for its inclusion. In this critic’s opinion, the film is tailor-made for a diverse Portland crowd to stand up and cheer.
Tickets ($15) are available at tomorrowtheater.org.