Last night I went to see Napoleon by Ridley Scott and I couldn’t help being struck by the similarities with today. In the opening scenes, the people of France are marching in the streets, protesting at the prohibitive cost of food. Today, many people online are promoting a boycott of Woolworths and Coles supermarkets in response to their price gouging, poor working conditions for staff, and the new, invasive security systems that treat customers like criminals.
Today, I am going to join my online comrades and eschew the major supermarkets in favour of small businesses. It’s going to take time getting used to, and yes, there will be times when I will fall back into old ways, but from here on in, the major supermarkets are going to be my fallback, not my go to.
Napoleon is a spectacular film, with brilliant performances. Joaquin Phoenix makes a wonderfully intense and charismatic Napoleon and Vanessa Kirby is a compelling Josephine. The story of their relationship is woven throughout the film with Napoleon as a devoted, albeit cuckolded husband, forced to give up the love of his life by the powers that be. The film shows Napoleon in a somewhat sentimental light with regards to Josephine, however Stephanie Parkyn tells a different story in her historical fiction novel, Josephine’s Garden, you can read my review here https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/52195680-josephine-s-garden
In true Hollywood tradition, the film is all about the bloke, even when the woman has an interesting and equally important story to tell. Aristocrat, Josephine, survived the Reign on Terror followed by marriage to a tyrant, and her story is just as valid as her husbands; I would love to see a film about that.
In the meantime, I will head down to my local shops and visit the greengrocer, baker, and butcher in favour of my usual supermarket run. I am going to buy my Christmas groceries from Aldi ahead of time and join the boycott of Coles and Woolworths on December 22nd and 23rd, their biggest shopping days. I hope you will join me.
Viva La Revolution!
