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Michael Garcia Mujica

"Currer Bell is neither man nor woman, but an abstract thing, an artist."

• Michael Garcia Mujica, Lead Educator in Arts and Film History.

Echoing the sentiment about Charlotte Brontë's pseudonymous voice, Michael lends his expertise not only as a writer and visual artist but also as a Lead Educator in arts and film history. Based in Coral Gables, Florida, he is the principal of Vintage Brooks, Inc., where he passionately revitalizes the legacy of silent film star Louise Brooks. His acclaimed blog, Naked on My Goat, serves as a living tribute to Brooks's enduring influence in film, her profound writing, and her broad appreciation for the arts.

Just as Brontë made an indelible mark in literature despite the societal constraints of her time, Michael accentuates Brooks's trailblazing spirit within the film industry. In his role, he ensures that Brooks's iconic voice continues to resonate within the cultural lexicon of the 21st century, celebrating the intricate victories of women in the arts, both past and present.

Explore more about the abstract persona of Charlotte Brontë in Michael's piece, "The Abstract Persona: Understanding Charlotte Brontë's Pseudonymous Journey as Currer Bell."

“I am satisfied that if a book is a good one, it is so whatever the sex of the author may be. All novels are or should be written for both men and women to read, and I am at a loss to conceive how a man should permit himself to write anything that would be really disgraceful to a woman, or why a woman should be censured for writing anything that would be proper and becoming for a man.”

• Anne Brontë, The Tenant of Wildfell Hall

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Latest posts by Michael Garcia Mujica (see all)

• Ctrl+Alt+LULU: A Tribute to Louise Brooks - November 20, 2024
• Louise Brooks: A Muse of Shadows and Light - November 14, 2024
• Lost Souls in the City of Dreams: Angelo Badalamenti’s Love Theme and the Fragile Illusions of Mulholland Drive - September 1, 2024

Rising to fame during a time when America was obsessed with the glitz and glam of the dark contrasts of black and white on film, Louise Brooks stood above the rest. 

Louise brought a sense of rebellious sensuality to silent films, embodying the 1920s flapper culture that women were embracing in retaliation of social norms. 

Flappers were a social rebellion against what was expected of women in the 1920s in America. Instead of the quiet and reserved housewife that women were expected to portray, both in film and in the home, flappers presented themselves with short bob hairstyles, dark makeup, short dresses, a casualness about sex, and a penchant for cigarettes and booze. They lived as they wished, free from the expectations of men and society at large. 

Louise Brooks embraced this culture and transmogrified it into film that remains timeless and unforgettable nearly a century later. Able to convey so much through simply a gaze or a lilting smile, Louise pushed seraphic sensuality and sophisticated sex appeal through the black and white celluloid of the 1920s. 

Raised a simple girl named Mary Louise Brooks in Wichita, Kansas, Brooks made her way to New York City, where she was a featured dancer on Broadway in the Ziegfeld Follies. She was noticed by top Hollywood executives and was soon traveling to LA to begin her film career. 

However, the role that resonates most with her fans and the film world at large is a film that she was cast in, in Germany. Pandora’s Box (Die Büchse der Pandora), directed by Austrian filmmaker G.W. Pabst, is Louise Brooks’ most memorable film, where she portrays the epitome of the type of woman that is most akin to the flapper movement in both demeanor and dress. 

Her erotic and amoral portrayal on-screen in Pandora’s Box had G.W. Pabst casting Brooks as his lead once again in his next film, Diary of a Lost Girl. Again, Brooks’ sexuality and her disdain for the world of men shine through and are expertly portrayed by her intensely deep eyes and a beauty that is marred by struggles. 

Louise Brooks was an accomplished actress who lived her life on screen as she did in the world. She was a lover of the arts and was always immersed in one of German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer’s books. Brooks even penned a short autobiography named Naked on My Goat, a title taken from Goethe’s Faust. 

It is her ingenuity, class, and her flair for enjoying life to its fullest that we celebrate here at Vintage Brooks. We are a collection of Louise Brooks exclusive artwork, curated for her most sophisticated fans. We invite you to peruse our exclusive original artwork, celebrating the silent film star.