Jeanine Basinger, Corwin-Fuller Professor of Film Studies and the Chair of Film Department, leads a much more glamorous life than one might expect from any ordinary academic. Film studies pioneer, Huskies diehard, prolific writer, and family woman, Basinger tells us about her inspiration, current projects, and what she does when she is not rocking the film world.

The Argus: So what got you into film in the first place?

Jeanine Basinger: Well, this is a question no one has asked me in about 40 years. There really is no answer to that; I suppose I have never not been into it.  I’m not someone who decided to major in film, I’m someone who, by the time I was three years old, was a serious, hardcore film-goer.  It’s been my lifelong interest and my lifelong pursuit.  I’m one of a group of people known as “film crazies,” people who made efforts to go out and preserve film history, find film history, talk to the people making film history, at a time when the field of film studies was not yet formulized in any way. So I didn’t decide to get in it, I just…woke up and I was in it.

A: Was there a time when you had to make a choice to be a professor of film?

JB: There was a hideous moment, yes, when it was presented to me that I really should continue teaching and become a professor. If you had got me when I was your age and told me I was going to be a professor I would have cut my throat on the spot. I had no plans of being a professor, no interest in being one, and here I am.  Which just goes to show you that you don’t always know how your life’s going to turn out.  I actually love teaching, and I even love my students-—who may be surprised to hear it, since I’m always yelling at them.

A: Many professors have a PhD in their subject—do you have one in film?

JB: I have a Master’s degree in Communications, which for someone my age was the degree for what was not yet the field of film studies.  I’d been teaching 10 years before PhDs were offered in film.  Film is a relatively new field, so I’m too old to have been part of the academically educated film studies group my younger faculty are part of.  In my day, it was not possible to study film in college in that way.

A: You’re publishing an article for an upcoming issue of the Washington Post—how often are you involved in projects like that? What are you currently working on?

JB: Well, I do a lot like that. I do maybe 60 to 80 interviews and radio and television appearances in a school year.  I do a lot of book reviews and writing assignments that come to me. I don’t seek them out, but if they come to me, I’ll generally do them.  I’ve completed a new book, called “I Do and I Don’t,” about marriage in the movies.  I’m busy, but I always try to put my classes first.  I like teaching and being in the classroom.  The students I have here are very bright and dedicated about learning film, so it’s very rewarding to teach here.

A: What else are you passionate about, outside of film? What do you do in your free time?

JB: Well, I love my family and I’ve been happily married for 42 years. I have huge circles of friends around the world that I’m in touch with all the time and visiting often.  I’m also an avid reader, I’m always reading. I like basketball and watch it a lot. I played basketball growing up in South Dakota, and in my day, it was unusual that we played basketball the way we did. That’s part of the why I’m a big fan of the UConn women’s basketball team. I love Gino Auriemma and the way he runs the program. I collect things like vintage paper dolls, old movie posters, and magazines.  And, you know, I like to go on dates with my husband.  I used to cook, but now I don’t have time.  But I like to eat!  I have a rich, full life, and I’m blessed in that I’m doing the things I want to do in life. I am supported by a very big world full of people that have been life-long, caring friends to me.

A: What is the best film you’ve seen in the past five years?

JB: I can’t really answer questions like that.  You have to realize that I see every film that comes out.  I’m happy to see any movie; regardless of whether it’s a bad one or a good one, I learn from it and have something to take away from it.  I never walk out on a film and am very, very into it. While I do have favorite movies, they change over time and from one day to another depending on my mood.  But, the films I love the best are those that I teach in my classes, especially those that come from the Golden Age of Hollywood by the great directors like Hitchcock.

A: Do you have any favorite movie critics or websites?

JB: No, I don’t read the critics; I don’t need them to tell me what I think.  I’m going to see the film myself and make up my own mind about it.  If I were going to look, I would go to A. O. Scott, who spoke on campus last semester, to The New York Times or the New Yorker. I’ll see if the review is positive or negative, but I like to form my own opinions. Plus, I see a lot of the films before they’re released anyway, so there’s no critical point of view on them yet.

A: Did you ever consider making films?

JB: Well, I know how to make a film, but I’d have to say no, because I’m too impatient for the whole process.  I like watching films and being the audience of films.  The pleasure is not in the filmmaking process for me.

A: Is there anything that you would want the greater student body to know about you that they might not if they’re not in the film program?

JB: That’s a good question. Well, there’s always a big difference between who you are and who people think you are.  For me, I love being able to teach people about a subject that I love.  It’s a great joy to be a teacher for bright students who are willing to learn about something that you care about.  So, I’d like for people to think of me, above all else, as what I am, which is a teacher.