tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-85686332082284551572024-03-19T01:18:30.358-07:00Floating in Space......looking for Tralfamadore.Sonjahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02003122146228192404noreply@blogger.comBlogger74125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8568633208228455157.post-18425733237662263082011-08-17T12:37:00.000-07:002011-08-17T12:55:33.448-07:00Lady Gaga<iframe width="560" height="349" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/X9YMU0WeBwU" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
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<br />So. I saw this the other day. </p><p>I don't usually care one way or the other about Lady Gaga. I hear her and I shrug my shoulders and I continue on my day.</p><p>But honestly? My favorite bit of this video?</p><p>Is when she's being male on the top of a piano in the middle of a cornfield. </p><p>When I say that I wish for nothing else that I could be androgynous? Yeah. That's /exactly/ what I'm talking about. So utterly elegant and male and female in the simplicity of its presentation.</p><p>And don't even get me started on when male!Gaga pulls fem!Gaga in for a kiss. </p><p>It's just so hetero-normative shattering on so many levels that I just end up watching the video again, just to soak it all up. </p><p>(music? what music? who cares about the music?)</p>Sonjahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02003122146228192404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8568633208228455157.post-66435017427119552012011-06-09T17:57:00.000-07:002011-06-09T18:50:30.969-07:00Telly Finales: Which Got It Right and Which Got It Less-RightFinales are tricky things.<div><br /></div><div>Hell. Writing in general is tricky. </div><div><br /></div><div>But I think finales are particularly important. They should tease a person. They should force the viewer to anticipate the return. </div><div><br /></div><div>They should, in fact, <i>torture</i> a person with the agony of wondering what happens next.</div><div><br /></div><div>Unfortunately, shows tend to have a very narrow definition of what it takes to get the audience to that hunger.</div><div><br /></div><div>It's not surprising -- narrow is "safe" and "safe" usually means more money. </div><div><br /></div><div>It's a difficult tension that telly has to navigate. But really good telly navigates it well. </div><div><br /></div><div>Like in crafting a story in general, there are two broad elements that can drive a finale: plot and character. I prefer character stories myself because I find them to be more substantive, but as with all things, whatever floats your boat. I'll be looking at the finales from both of these elements.</div><div><br /></div><div>I only have a few television shows I watch regularly (or somewhat regularly -- SGU pissed me off to no end with it's non-hulu streaming and then the crappy quality on its site, I just waited for netflix to stream it and finished watching it today, so I know I'm way behind on the real finales). </div><div><br /></div><div>So here we go:</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Glee</b></div><div><br /></div><div><i>Glee</i> is a guilty pleasure of mine even though I think the show has its issues. However, looking at it from a strictly craft perspective, I have to say that <i>Glee</i>'s finale failed as a finale. It didn't rip my heart a new one (like another did), and that was nice not having to pick up the pieces (again), but even happy-ish finales can still produce that hunger for more. And <i>Glee</i> still failed in that regard.</div><div><br /></div><div>The lack of character development really crippled the ability for <i>Glee</i> to craft a story that would make an audience hunger for what happens next (obviously, it makes the audience want more, but that's a different sort of want -- it's more of a this-is-tasty-let's-have-some-more, not an agony, I guess). </div><div><br /></div><div>So, even though people are saying "i love you" and characters are suddenly together that never had any real chemistry before just becomes part of the normal scenery that Glee is in the habit of lobbing at the viewer. Basically, there is no resonance (well, for me, obviously) between myself and the people on the screen. I am not emotionally attached to people (well, except for Kurt), so at the finale ends, I'm not really hurting that I won't be seeing these characters for a few months. </div><div><br /></div><div>Therefore there is no agony regarding the welfare of these people either on a plot or emotional level. Character development stalled out long before season 1 even finished its run -- I see no reason why season 3 should change its tune now (so that even rules out hope for something new). I fully expect to see the same melodrama in different clothes spun out in season 3 that was rehashed in season 2 and trotted out in season 1. </div><div><br /></div><div>But it'll be done in song, so it'll be worth it.</div><div><br /></div><div>Even the plot wasn't all that surprising. They couldn't win nationals because then there wouldn't be plot stakes for season 3. And, because there are only so many plots available to a high school glee club, there isn't really a lot of ground that hasn't been covered. </div><div><br /></div><div>Unless they do something daring and surprising in which case -- more power to them!</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Castle</b></div><div><br /></div><div>I lurve <i>Castle</i> in the same way I lurve me some pie. Which is, I'm fond of pie. But I'm not like Dean-Winchester-in-Love-with-Pie. </div><div><br /></div><div>I can survive without pie. </div><div><br /></div><div><i>Castle</i> is one of the more fun procedural shows (which I generally despise) for me to watch. But unfortunately, there isn't a lot of character development that goes on. So, the finale fell back on plot -- oh, no! Beckett's been shot! </div><div><br /></div><div>But really, the viewer can't really feel anxious about her welfare because the chances that she'll live are high -- if she were to die, the atmosphere of the show would be drastically changed. The tenor would be different.</div><div><br /></div><div>It would be a huge risk to kill off Beckett -- and if next season takes it, good for them. </div><div><br /></div><div>But <i>Castle</i> plays it safe. So, even though I'm looking forward to its return, I'm not agonizing over it. The only real stake is if Beckett Will Live Or Die -- and as I've already explained, it's not much of a stake.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Bones</b></div><div><br /></div><div>For procedural shows I supposedly hate, I seem to watch a few of them, don't I? </div><div><br /></div><div>I haven't really cared much for this season of <i>Bones</i> -- I'm not sure why. Something's missing. But the finale bugged me -- Angela had her baby, Booth and Bones dressed up as these ridiculous characters undercover, and then Bones ends up telling Booth that she's pregnant. </div><div><br /></div><div>It's probably just my thing against pregnancy story lines. But just for the record, I find it out of character that Bones wasn't on birth control. </div><div><br /></div><div>I'm not really sure what the stakes are supposed to be here -- how Bones' and Booth's relationship will develop? I feel like this question has posed before though. </div><div><br /></div><div>Anyway, the episode itself was meh. The question it poses is meh and a bit stale. </div><div><br /></div><div><b>Fringe</b></div><div><br /></div><div>Oh<i> Fringe</i>. You know I love you. <i>Fringe</i> had a good season finale I thought -- it opened up new avenues of tension that hadn't been able to be explored before because of how the universes were so separated. But now they're not. That opens up a whole new world of conflict. So that's good--that's always good. </div><div><br /></div><div>But then they made a mistake (I think from a craft perspective) of erasing Peter's character (I haven't kept up with the spoilers, but I'm assuming he's coming back?). But even if the character does return, taking him away essentially "reset" a lot of character development, especially in the case of Olivia.</div><div><br /></div><div>So she used to be hard and emotionally closed off, but Peter helped break her out of that. Without Peter in her life, logically, her character should be reset to Pre-Peter. </div><div><br /></div><div>If it's not reset, then there's issues with the plot and the rules its established. And that's never fun. </div><div><br /></div><div><b>SGU</b></div><div><br /></div><div>SGU had so much potential. And even though I wanted to shake their shoulders over the "Epilogue" episode (where their Other!Selves established a colonization) because they still had the girls in pioneering skirts instead of pants (they were wearing pants on the ship! why would they revert to wearing skirts when that's less practical -- so fucking gendered) and for not showing Ray's date (even though showed whom everyone else ended up with -- I don't care that Ray never got together with anyone but I do want to know who the mysterious "she" was) and for that terrible montage of women giving birth -- alkjadsfkldfsa. </div><div><br /></div><div>deep breath.</div><div><br /></div><div>SGU had its flaws. </div><div><br /></div><div>But it had a beautiful finale. I'm going to classify it as happy, simply because it didn't make me want to pick up the pieces of my heart (again). </div><div><br /></div><div>The plot is relatively simple -- if it had been renewed it would have opened up opportunities for new tensions, just as with <i>Fringe</i>. So, plot-wise, strong.</div><div><br /></div><div>Its real strength, though, were its character moments. Eli comes into his own. And it's so beautiful the newfound confidence he has. And, as I was watching it (I hadn't realized I was on the last episode since I had lost count), I couldn't wait to see how his development would affect the other characters around him.</div><div><br /></div><div>How would he handle himself when he exited the honey-moon period of newfound confidence? Would he regress? Would he change into something new, something great, something dangerous? Could he eventually replace Young as the captain of the ship? How would he and Rush get along? Sure, Rush seems okay with it for now, but there's nothing he can do about it, not when they have to make it for three years. </div><div><br /></div><div>Oh, and yeah, plot question here -- does Eli survive? Does he manage to fix the pod? If he didn't, would he have had the courage to kill himself?</div><div><br /></div><div>These are all questions I want answered. </div><div><br /></div><div>And I will never get them answered because the finale ended on that final moment of endless possibility. </div><div><br /></div><div>It torture knowing that I'll never see those possibilities explored. </div><div><br /></div><div>And yes, this is probably the most surprising of the finales. When I was watching the season, I saw its potential, I saw it finding its feet, but I wasn't expecting the quality that the finale delivered.</div><div><br /></div><div>It was a pleasant surprise.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Supernatural</b></div><div><br /></div><div>The other finales focused on Sam and Dean which, despite my love for <i>Supernatural</i>, was a bit "safe." I mean, the show is about Sam and Dean. No matter what, they're going to pull through all right -- physically and characteristically speaking (not that I find the soulless!Sam plot a waste of time, all these moments of exploration are good too, but they provide different kinds of satisfaction than what a finale should provide, I think).</div><div><br /></div><div>So focusing their what-happens-now moment on the third character that has grown by leaps and bounds and is positively one of the most beautiful and purest characters in the history of the show was a brilliant move, craft-wise.</div><div><br /></div><div>Story-wise, it just broke my heart to fucking pieces. </div><div><br /></div><div>I like the shift from "what-will-happen-to-Sam-and-Dean" to "what-will-happen-to-the-state-of-Cas's-character?" because there are real stakes there.</div><div><br /></div><div>And it just seems to escalate, even though I'm trying not to take whatever I hear too seriously. Knowing that Cas was supposed to die at the end of season 6, knowing that Collins has been demoted from regular to guest just increases the anticipation.</div><div><br /></div><div>Especially since the stakes are actually two-fold: </div><div><br /></div><div><i>will Castiel die either as the Big Bad or in some other fashion early in the season?</i> </div><div><br /></div><div>and, the more important one to me,</div><div><br /></div><div><i>will Castiel be redeemed in character whether or not he dies physically?</i></div><div><br /></div><div>And that's torture.</div><div><br /></div><div>So even though the finale just pounded me bloody (and it's still bleeding my heart, I think about <i>Supernatural</i> all the time), I think it was a really good move from a craft perspective. </div><div><br /></div><div>The agony of not knowing whether Castiel will survive in tact (character wise, especially) is almost overwhelming for me. </div><div><br /></div><div>And then of course, this question also affects the show's core too: how will it affect Dean's relationship with Cas -- and even Sam's, to an extent. Because he just stabbed the person he said he'd die for -- doing that does things to a person.</div><div><br /></div><div>Then of course, there's also the plot element of the wall in Sam's brain being removed, and how he's gonna deal with that trauma. </div><div><br /></div><div>Yeah. Having Cas become God is serving double and triple duty all connected to plot and character elements that are just pregnant with possibility. </div><div><br /></div><div>I just hope they succeed in following it up and choose not to retreat into "safe and easy" territory. Which I don't think they will, it just wouldn't make sense from a craft perspective, but hey. Shit happens all the time.</div>Sonjahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02003122146228192404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8568633208228455157.post-47403983370859528152011-06-05T11:23:00.000-07:002011-06-05T11:48:30.562-07:00Doctor Who: The Story That Almost WasSo I just finished watching "The Almost People." I know this must disqualify me from being a true fan, but ever since my publishing class, I'm reluctant to download something illegally.<div><br /></div><div>No wait.</div><div><br /></div><div>That bit's a lie to make me seem more respectable.</div><div><br /></div><div>I actually just got tired of seeing my favorite telly cancelled for lack of viewership. </div><div><br /></div><div>So I try to keep it all right and proper, straight and narrow, all on the level, as they say.</div><div><br /></div><div>So, in general, I don't like reviewing double-parters (or, as in this instance, tri-parters) -- because it's just not fair to judge something without all the facts.</div><div><br /></div><div>But I have to say, this arc with The Gangers -- just did not do it for me.</div><div><br /></div><div>At all. </div><div><br /></div><div>Character development was so, so shoddy. First Jen (both flesh and genetic) is a sweet girl, and then she turns into a genocidal maniac. Then into a weird, creepy-ass spider thing? </div><div><br /></div><div>I don't know. It was like. <i>Nuance is too hard! Let's go for monstrous instead!</i></div><div><br /></div><div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjk3hFROAmUe2byXEv2d7tAkwWNuHg5KuBH3IqPQSYWyj5Tkh7GoFr8RbL5o6uORk6JD7ZrFm093z_cOLLNlixWO-Fu0BJ0cQXU6bneHDwxNqbud2TF6SDGiTcGt-BZruEVykl0260eb6DV/s320/thumbsupfb.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5614804531233442978" style="cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 300px; " /></div><div><br /></div><div>Just. No. </div><div><br /></div><div>That was boring.</div><div><br /></div><div>And then don't even get me started on Miranda.</div><div><br /></div><div>It's so boring having all these people yelling for someone to die. I mean, I know it happens in real life all the time, but story-telling is a chance to really delve and see why people get all rabid at the mouth for a good old fashioned genocide in the park. </div><div><br /></div><div>And then her random change of heart? Because she's dying from a clot?</div><div><br /></div><div>Say what?</div><div><br /></div><div>So. Let's talk about Amy.</div><div><br /></div><div>Amy. The Almost Person.</div><div><br /></div><div>But, the entire episode has been about how the Almost People are actually People. </div><div><br /></div><div>So -- why did the Doctor disintegrate her?</div><div><br /></div><div>And the look on her face when Rory leaves her. That was. Heartbreaking.</div><div><br /></div><div>And it seemed so unlike Rory to leave Amy -- flesh or genetic. I just.</div><div><br /></div><div>Hmmmm.</div><div><br /></div><div>That bothered me. It really, really bothered me.</div><div><br /></div><div>And I'm trying to figure out how the Silence fit into everything -- but maybe that'll be explained in the finale. Which, yes, I'm waiting a week unless my will crumbles.</div><div><br /></div><div>But, right now, I just can't help but wonder if Moffat has stumbled into a classic story-crafting blunder:</div><div><br /></div><div><i>Trying to be astonishing in all the wrong ways.</i></div><div><br /></div><div>Finding out that someone isn't who you thought they were isn't astonishing.</div><div><br /></div><div>People encounter that every day of their lives. </div><div><br /></div><div>And, I'm sorry, but the main anxiety regarding The Gangers wasn't moralistic -- wasn't, who's more human, who's more of a person -- it was</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Who gets to be the boy's father?</b></div><div><br /></div><div>Now, good fiction doesn't attempt to answer hard questions. It just proposes them.</div><div><br /></div><div>Doctor Who answered that question by tidying everything up all nice and pretty. Gangers and humans survive -- </div><div><br /></div><div>but there is not a double to be seen to ask that terrible question because Jimmy and Miranda and the other one are dead, they're all dead. </div><div><br /></div><div>And the Doctor destroys Amelia Pond, the Flesh. </div><div><br /></div><div>There will be no one asking:</div><div><br /></div><div>Who is the baby's mother -- and wouldn't that have been interesting, Amelia Pond, pregnant and not pregnant on the deck of the TARDIS, experiencing the labor and pain of birthing a baby she doesn't even have in her womb --</div><div><br /></div><div>Who is the Doctor's companion --</div><div><br /></div><div>Who is Rory's partner -- </div><div><br /></div><div>because she's gone. </div><div><br /></div><div>And so, I am disappointed.</div><div><br /></div><div>But not with Matt Smith. Because he bouncing back between Time Lord and Flesh was fantastic.</div>Sonjahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02003122146228192404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8568633208228455157.post-82583713810841470782011-05-20T09:49:00.000-07:002011-05-20T09:56:37.856-07:00Discourse: Daisy, Rosie, and Her MotherOne of the reasons I like Neil Gaiman's <i>Anansi Boys </i>so much is because there is this romantic tragedy going on that never turns towards the melodramatic and is, as the story continues to be spun, quite sensible and unexpected and, dare I say, fresh.<div><br /></div><div>None of the very tired emotional responses that one would expect.</div><div><br /></div><div>But really, I think what I like best of all, is that after frequent and often pronouncements of "I hate you" and "I don't want to ever see you again (even though I secretly love you)," romance is not resolved with a (newly reformed) white knight saving his lady love from the dragon, monster, what-have-you.</div><div><br /></div><div>And it could very well have taken that turn. Rosie and Her Mother are, after all, locked in a dank prison, waiting to be killed by an insane wanna-be predator of a man, yet they don't just simply wait -- they do not expect to be saved.</div><div><br /></div><div>Rosie is quite willing and able to be proactive. And even Her Mother joins in once she dispenses with the obligatory negative, wet-blankety remarks about the liklihood of success and death (one being more likely than the other). </div><div><br /></div><div>But it is Her Mother that distracts the Bad Man and it is Rosie who wallups him on the head with an old chain she tugged down.</div><div><br /></div><div>And it is a ghost who kicks the wanna-be-man-predator-thing in his sensitive areas for so rudely murdering her.</div><div><br /></div><div>And, finally, it is Daisy -- who has no romantic interest in Rosie whatsoever but rather a dedication to justice and the defeat of evildoers -- who shows up with the entire might of the police force at her back. </div><div><br /></div><div>No white knights. No swooping in to save the day. No damsels in distress.</div><div><br /></div><div>Just courage and will. </div><div><br /></div><div>And romance still was found by one and all. </div>Sonjahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02003122146228192404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8568633208228455157.post-15218469388936519222011-05-19T12:36:00.001-07:002011-05-19T14:53:20.124-07:00Regarding Moffat and Doctor Who<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: 'trebuchet ms'; font-size: 14px; line-height: 15px; "><div>I don't really have anything to say about the latest two episodes of Doctor Who -- the pirate one, Gaiman one -- other than I thought that they were fun, and that I enjoyed them immensely (Gaiman's more so than the pirate one, obviously).<br /></div><div><br /></div><a name="cutid1" style="text-decoration: underline; color: rgb(33, 61, 112); "></a><div>I suppose they were both a break from the wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey puzzles of Moffat's openers, and that was nice. </div><div><br /></div><div>Seeing the Tardis in a human body with a human mouth speaking with a voice was beautiful. </div><div><br /></div><div>Seeing the Doctor bite his fingernails when Rory died (again) was poignant.</div><div><br /></div><div>Seeing the Doctor so sad, oh so sad, when the Tardis had to leave that human body and him trying to deal with his grief in his little swing has he tinkers with the Tardis and then the closing scene as he asks the Tardis if she's there and the lever goes down in response was so beautiful and so sad that there really aren't words, no not really. </div><div><br /></div><div>And the idea about how the word "alive" is such a sad word was brilliant and unexpected (I knew Gaiman would never go for the cliche "love" but I couldn't think of what word the Tardis could possibly mean, but then of course, it was revealed and it was beautiful and real and oh so sad yet satisfying). </div><div><br /></div><div>The Tardis demanding to see her thief and then explaining how she stole him because she wanted to see the Universe was glorious.<br /><br />I watch Doctor Who for those moments.<br /><br />But, beautiful and emotionally satisfying as they are, they do not proper blog entries make. Or perhaps, too much was going on at the time when I watched them and I just had to enjoy them and move on, instead of prying them open and taking out all their little parts.<br /></div><div><br /></div><div>But watching and enjoying the small tastes of fan reaction that I allow myself (I refuse to do more than dabble my toes so as not to get burned out -- and also, time restraints) has given me some thoughts over which to percolate.</div><div><br />I've been thinking more about some of the fan complaints about Moffat telling the same story and to tell something different please:<br /><br /><b>Creepy Children</b> (Are-You-My-Mummy boy <-> Time-Lord-Girl)<br /><b>Visual Centric Monsters</b> (Angels <-> Silence)<br /><b>Wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey</b><br /><b>Something that Appears to Be Evil But Is Actually Trying To Do Good</b> (Pirate, 9's story line in World War II)<div> </div><div><br /></div><div>I think there are others, but I can't remember them.</div><div><br /></div><div> </div><div>I don't actually mind the similarities between <b>the Angels and the Silence</b>. I think they're different enough that it doesn't matter. That's like complaining that the Daleks and the Cybermen are too similar because they're both for genocide in order to promote a master race while completely ignoring their more nuanced differences. It just doesn't bother me because in real life, sentient beings and animals have similar drives.</div><div><br />The only difference between a very hungry tiger with a taste for human flesh and a killer bacteria is that one is more tangible the other. A tiger can be shot. One knows how to kill a tiger. One can also run away from a Tiger. </div><div><br /></div><div>But, if the bacteria is a nasty one, you might not even know you're sick until it's too late to be cured. </div><div><br /></div><div>Either way, if all else fails, you still end up dead.</div><div><br />That's how I see the difference between the Angels and the Silence. I, personally, find the Silence to be far more discomfiting than the Angels. I find them to be more complex too. </div><div><br /></div><div>The Angels seem to be more or less your typical predators (like tigers). It's hard to hate them (for me) because they're just doing what all organisms need to do: eat. I can't fault them for that (which doesn't necessarily mean that I'll just let them eat me, no sir).<br /><br />But what about the Silence? Their motives don't seem to be driven by a primal need for survival. What do they want? How many of them are there in the Universe? More than the ones on Earth, for sure, since the Fish-Vampire in Venice saw them, apparently - but then that also raises the question of how she remembered them etc.<br /><br />So, I'll take the Angels and the Silence over the Daleks and the Cybermen any day of the week. In fact, I wouldn't be bothered if there was a long, healthy break before their next reappearance (unless it's something subversive).<br /><br />I don't mind Moffat playing with time travel in more than a<b> Oh-Let's-Go-to-the-Past-or-Future</b> sort of way. I will admit, I am not a fan of the time-loops that are the effect of their cause (last episode of season 5). But I'll forgive it (like I did with <i>Fringe</i>) if the characters are strong enough.<br /><br />Plots are dimes a dozen, after all. It's the people that count.<br /><br /><b>Creepy children</b>. I think that the Time-Lord-Girl and the Are-You-My-Mummy boy are hardly comparable. Of course, they're children, and they're both locked up in a "mask" of some sort. And they're both rather mysterious and don't make sense. </div><div><br /></div><div>But otherwise, no, I don't think so (I may re-evaluate my position once the story is complete, of course). </div><div><br /></div><div>I think that the Are-You-My-Mummy boy was an excellent vehicle to explore some good old fashioned social commentary, particularly the stigma of teen mothers, in a certain time and place that is still culturally relevant today. But to be honest, I don't really see any of that with the Time-Lord-Girl, who has the possibility to be so much more (though hopefully she does not function as a mere device a la the Golux). </div><div><br /></div><div> </div><div>And let's be honest: creepy children is a time honored trope. It just depends on what the writer does with it. In my opinion, the trope was subverted in the first series of New Who. As for the Time-Lord-Girl -- well. It's too early to say.</div><div><br /></div><div> </div><div>The only one I haven't really talked about is the theme that <b>Bad Things Aren't Really Bad Just Mistaken</b>. I don't mind this because the idea of a Bad Thing Doing a Bad Thing Because It's a Bad Thing is boring and simplistic and utterly lacking nuance. And, despite the Pirate's episode similarity to the Doctor Dances, they're not the same story.<br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Though it's been a while since I've seen 9's story, I recall it as more plot-centric. Sure, we meet Captain Jack, but I can't really think of any dynamic changes going on character wise (for either the main ones or the secondary ones, save for Captain Jack). This isn't to say that there weren't great character moments -- because there were -- but it just seemed very plot centric (though not all Plot, obviously).</div><div><br /></div><div> </div><div>On the other hand, the Pirate episode was social commentary slapping superstition in the face. And, I really like that because, even today, people are more willing to attribute something they don't understand to some kind of Nebulous Supernatural Force rather than poking it with a stick and finding out what's going on. So yes, more knowledge > superstition please! I also think it worth noting that this kind of commentary was absent from 9's story in season 1.</div><div><br /></div><div> </div><div>I also think that there were some interesting character insights in the Pirate episode that also serve to differentiate and individualize the similar thematic elements -- for example, the Doctor and the Captain. Both wanderers, but having made different choices in their lives. </div><div><br /></div><div> </div><div>And even Rory and Amy had some insights as well -- even though Rory died again and haven't we seen this before, tash-take-it?</div><div><br /></div><div> </div><div>Well. Yes. We have. Except we haven't. </div><div><br /></div><div>When Rory first died in the Dream-Lord episode, Amy became very Shakespearian in that she would rather be dead than not to have Rory in her life. Very romantic and all that rot, but not especially helpful. Too Romeo and Juliet for my tastes.</div><div><br /></div><div> </div><div>Which is okay, because I think it shows Amy's emotional state -- she's childish. Not quite grown up yet, maturity wise.</div><div><br /></div><div> </div><div>The second time Rory dies, Amy can't do anything but weep. And try not to forget him. She is crippled with grief, a greater grief without the small hope that this world is a dream and that they can wake up and everybody can live again. </div><div><br /></div><div> </div><div>The other times Rory has "died" doesn't count, I think, because Rory didn't die -- no not really because it was either Mind Games or Red Herrings or Let's Pretend, but, in the end, he was never actually, tangibly dead. </div><div><br /></div><div> </div><div>Though, in Gaiman's episode I thought it an interesting dynamic. I don't remember where I read it, but I do agree with the interpretation that Rory's "death" in The Doctor's Wife is more of an insight into Amy's emotional state regarding all the sacrifices that Rory has made for her. Which gives her more depth and dimension. </div><div><br /></div><div> </div><div>But, in the Pirate episode, when Rory is drowned and dead again, Amy doesn't react the same way. She's afraid and she's sad but she's pro-active in that she's not crippled with grief, she's not going to kill herself.</div><div><br /></div><div> </div><div>For the first time, she takes real action to save Rory. And of course, that has a lot to do with the circumstances of the death -- how exactly does one become proactive when Rory is shot/being-erased-from-existence, after all? </div><div><br /></div><div> </div><div>But I still think that the tenor of her emotional reaction is more grown up. More mature. And I like to see that kind of growth in people. And so, even though it is the same, it is still different. </div></div><div><br /></div><div> </div><div>Of course, this is why it's hard being a writer. There are only a few plots in this world (I think it was Asimov who said there were only three), which is why I don't really bother with them when I determine if I like something or not. Moffat does seem to have some familiar themes with which he revisits again and again, but in my mind, he holds them in different lights, exploring them in different ways. </div><div><br /></div><div> </div><div>Familiar is not always bad, just as long as it's not stale. And of course, there is the debate of the responsibility of author and reader. Creation is so subjective. Another person's stale is someone else's revelation. </div><div><br /></div><div> </div><div>I don't think Moffat has reached that point but, to be honest, it's a little hard to judge when series 5 and series 6 are so obviously halves of the same story. So really, it depends on how season 6 turns out, I think.</div><div> </div><div>And I'm patient enough to wait. I love the Doctor and I love Rory and I love Amy. </div><div><br /></div><div>I just want to see them live their fantastic, extraordinary lives.</div></span>Sonjahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02003122146228192404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8568633208228455157.post-313817645625365352011-05-06T20:02:00.000-07:002011-05-06T20:04:39.344-07:00Discourse - Lucifer: Evensong, Volume 11Everything about this was beautiful and amazing.<br /><br />But since this blog is devoted to gender and sexuality issues, I'd just want to say this:<br /><br />Elaine inherited the position of God.<br />Mazikeen inherited the position of Lightbringer.<br /><br />And may I just say that Elaine getting rid of hell -- that is true mercy.<br /><br />Oh my fucking god. I just kind of want to cry and hug everybody forever and ever.Sonjahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02003122146228192404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8568633208228455157.post-36374198826868025922011-05-01T19:19:00.001-07:002011-05-01T20:32:48.681-07:00Doctor Who: Love a Tomb [Spoilers]The more I think about this episode, the more I think it's pretending to answer a lot of question but not really.<br /><br />For example, how on bloody earth did they get from the Warehouse situation to Canton pretending to hunt them down? Or from the Doctor telling Canton to look behind him at the Silence (what a rubbishy name) to having the Doctor all chained up?<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkHf9XTxN6U17bXbqXBPT_eDuCfX64Ail4S7HAOF-GctUWb3vWeiQDNn0ezt9rt9KisHcXbugFzUQkSFp2Py5LiL7YYP2ihoCk1KImHhHpv64UjAdsTKF7QDUSGRkW9jowpErRFOW0Daw8/s1600/rubishybeard.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 318px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkHf9XTxN6U17bXbqXBPT_eDuCfX64Ail4S7HAOF-GctUWb3vWeiQDNn0ezt9rt9KisHcXbugFzUQkSFp2Py5LiL7YYP2ihoCk1KImHhHpv64UjAdsTKF7QDUSGRkW9jowpErRFOW0Daw8/s320/rubishybeard.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5601937995862915410" border="0" /></a><br /><br />With a rubbishy beard <i>and</i> a self satisfied little smirk, completely cool and collected and charismatic in the face of <i>anything</i>.<br /><br />And where exactly did they get the materials to build the knock-off Pandorica? And when exactly did the Doctor and Canton have time to cook up this plan? And how did they get the TARDIS into Area 51? And where is Future!Eleven's TARDIS?<br /><br />Shit has happened in that warehouse and now we're going to have to wait to figure out what, exactly, happened.<br /><br />Bollucks.<br /><br />Just amp up the anticipation and the suspense why don't you.<br /><br />Though, I have to admit, when "three months later" scrolled down at the bottom and it showed Amy running<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEha-PCE0nIvQgvwVv-hUwn4s4JX4Tpa91UGPU5KAVO-N6-mzeaQUuYnPYYGvQiW2vYIslFKTSbaLbaXHMr0dcnJwfzvt7BYXGrS0Vg5IkaY2qIwzzMh2fIk-OKABQLkVznIxn058k_8gZ_B/s1600/nobabybumpamy.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 310px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEha-PCE0nIvQgvwVv-hUwn4s4JX4Tpa91UGPU5KAVO-N6-mzeaQUuYnPYYGvQiW2vYIslFKTSbaLbaXHMr0dcnJwfzvt7BYXGrS0Vg5IkaY2qIwzzMh2fIk-OKABQLkVznIxn058k_8gZ_B/s320/nobabybumpamy.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5601938102167754594" border="0" /></a><br /><br />the first thing that popped into my head THANK THE TARDIS THERE IS NO BABY BUMP.<br /><br />And I was very happy. And then Amy was like oh I was mistaken and I was even happier.<br /><br />Even though I think the Silence is a bollucksy name for them, I do admit that they work fantastically as television monsters. I mean, I don't think their effect would be quite the same in like a novel.<br /><br /><blockquote>As long as there's been something in the corner of your eye or creaking in your house or breathing under your bed or voices through a wall.</blockquote><br /><br />Oooo. Shivers.<br /><br />But this scene here, with Amy, in the orphanage? Chills when I watched it. <i>Chills</i>.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimg_0YHt9UMPHuMFxA1-mZMZWwTkc3zg3KBq5t_vxY-dx7PNBYLcvPzBeFY_j3HoxUv-5bTbNky0JUx5KG5H0jNiDV_oz4jCwcznHf203UhvjI-8D8zHnwa5633JP8qMKMzwKdYgHi809l/s1600/amynomarklookingatredlight.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 252px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimg_0YHt9UMPHuMFxA1-mZMZWwTkc3zg3KBq5t_vxY-dx7PNBYLcvPzBeFY_j3HoxUv-5bTbNky0JUx5KG5H0jNiDV_oz4jCwcznHf203UhvjI-8D8zHnwa5633JP8qMKMzwKdYgHi809l/s320/amynomarklookingatredlight.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5601938264585393122" border="0" /></a><br /><br />First, everything is fine. Creepy, but fine.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2O0aYgVE5V2u_BL1JsVQjVDXx1yOhKym0mPkio_BbwcRJ-4-YoQZmi880IESTr1B5YcmByE5KEwcrTb9WCA7Z897g9fAnSqjXOHp-DDRIWlALA0150opXa_0Hpf_HjtctufEtV3dBQjw0/s1600/amyohnomarksonhands.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 195px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2O0aYgVE5V2u_BL1JsVQjVDXx1yOhKym0mPkio_BbwcRJ-4-YoQZmi880IESTr1B5YcmByE5KEwcrTb9WCA7Z897g9fAnSqjXOHp-DDRIWlALA0150opXa_0Hpf_HjtctufEtV3dBQjw0/s320/amyohnomarksonhands.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5601938403791638194" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Hands! Oh my god! And then the very next frame:<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyDySQQA-r8rGWtI5gNJ-gFMCZSzJ_rXeAVsFG8Rn9znu5pjSmbk31z6Dqjxte2V0mr4lYqVd6Sm9KPViLXVW15f-PVONDhAjwRw7jKczldVW2hIpH6coQ1RoyORHxIH-xPPBOjFbcEswH/s1600/amyohnomarksonface.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 190px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyDySQQA-r8rGWtI5gNJ-gFMCZSzJ_rXeAVsFG8Rn9znu5pjSmbk31z6Dqjxte2V0mr4lYqVd6Sm9KPViLXVW15f-PVONDhAjwRw7jKczldVW2hIpH6coQ1RoyORHxIH-xPPBOjFbcEswH/s320/amyohnomarksonface.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5601938568421683490" border="0" /></a><br /><br />!!!!!<br /><br />WHAT HAPPENED TO YOUR FACE<br /><br />And of course, the weather doesn't help a bit: it was a dark and stormy night. Oooooo.<br /><br />Though, this entire orphanage scene also raises more questions than it actually answers.<br /><br />A). Where did Amy actually get the pen? In the beginning, the episode always showed a pen dangling from their necks. But there is no pen anywhere on Amy's person that I noticed -- just a flashlight. So, who marked her up -- or was it just a continuity error?<br /><br />B). If the pen-less-ness was just a continuity error, then why would Amy mark up her face? That just seems like it would be awkward and unnatural because it would be even harder to see the tally marks (no peripheral). But then Rory was all marked up on his face too, so maybe I'm just overanalyzing it. The marked up faces are more compelling than arms and hands -- but I'd still like a reason. /pout.<br /><br />C). And what happened in the lost time? Something significant or Amy just counting how many of the creepy Silence are haunting the "orphanage" (if it's even still a real orphanage, herrrumph)?<br /><br />And who is this woman?<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjC3caduHJGkC0hrAyG-C1ZTHdB8z6Gq5eh7W3IU06pZXJWjbHQCLw2h_Jg_jOwmbEhNluKoOzNEsY-llKwa216zoZBbwsMA79ceNLfEFApjKLh2_PaHqtEcUBQhwjqn3OnGy88XjvogF8t/s1600/whoareyou.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 216px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjC3caduHJGkC0hrAyG-C1ZTHdB8z6Gq5eh7W3IU06pZXJWjbHQCLw2h_Jg_jOwmbEhNluKoOzNEsY-llKwa216zoZBbwsMA79ceNLfEFApjKLh2_PaHqtEcUBQhwjqn3OnGy88XjvogF8t/s320/whoareyou.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5601938689119243714" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Who's dreaming and what's the dream -- though, to be honest, I'm hoping it's not something similar to what happened in the Library episodes.<br /><br />Still. I'm going to guess there's a perception filter at work here. I bet that bedroom wasn't even real.<br /><br />I hope not because there's this:<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2dcULIBtAxKv8sB-u1GlOUgADrCoOC5BWIoNEr92Sj28lu3XFnyixUz76laB-oZzT_RRLCnIbaHLlUUgu69Y4P12cvX90Ij29a6whwoGWvCQKxlgjOGt6y14B6hXqHzpDnolczlwtCJbx/s1600/pregnancyhopesdashed.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 206px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2dcULIBtAxKv8sB-u1GlOUgADrCoOC5BWIoNEr92Sj28lu3XFnyixUz76laB-oZzT_RRLCnIbaHLlUUgu69Y4P12cvX90Ij29a6whwoGWvCQKxlgjOGt6y14B6hXqHzpDnolczlwtCJbx/s320/pregnancyhopesdashed.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5601938833519283938" border="0" /></a><br /><br />It's like -- ah, can't get away from the pregnancy! But, the closing scenes, the one where it showed the bio scan oscillating from negative to positive gives me hope that a) there won't be a pregnancy period or b) even if there is a pregnancy, there'll be a rousing good story behind it which will hopefully be ultra light on the soap opera aspects so many of these arcs tend to take. (And apparently, the tumblr-verse is calling it Schrodinger's Uterus, which kinda made me smile, I admit it.)<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyWUVrCXt_802S7YZacXQB0XjoCaJ4NXDpq_BNsmI5u3OOWn1zqRCry6kBDGnrPW2vgmbrAl8C22FuV5QUR8CBaCtBSVQuUZyC3nGe_mDChzN_3ZI5bXfLZ0CO2tiSdc-jJhWuWzrE5KX2/s1600/framedprofiles.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 182px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyWUVrCXt_802S7YZacXQB0XjoCaJ4NXDpq_BNsmI5u3OOWn1zqRCry6kBDGnrPW2vgmbrAl8C22FuV5QUR8CBaCtBSVQuUZyC3nGe_mDChzN_3ZI5bXfLZ0CO2tiSdc-jJhWuWzrE5KX2/s320/framedprofiles.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5601939005780939842" border="0" /></a><br /><br />I adore the framing of this scene, just fyi.<br /><br />I love Rory. What a beautiful man.<br /><br /><blockquote><b>Rory</b>: She can always hear me, Doctor. Always. Wherever she is, and she always knows that I am coming for her, do you understand me. Always.<br /><br /><b>Amy</b>: Doctor, are you there, can you hear me? Doctor -- oh god. Please, please just get me out of this.<br /><br /><b>Rory</b>: He's coming, I'll bring him I swear.<br /></blockquote><br /><br />I love how the show still highlights Rory's insecurities, but how it never dwindles into some machismo bullshit. How, even when he's not sure whom Amy loves in that one scene, it seems like his love for her transcends the territorial, melodramatic relationship patterns that is so stereotypical of so many shows these days.<br /><br />And that's so, so beautiful. (Though, now that it's established that Amy loves Rory, I hope the show won't keep on pointing it out to the viewers, no matter how sweet it is.)<br /><br />And I love this weird, little, simple, beautiful relationship that is beginning to form between the Doctor and Rory.<br /><br />Especially when they talked about Rory as a roman in more than an off-the-cuff sort of joke:<br /><br /><blockquote><b>Rory</b>: Rome fell.<br /><b>Doctor</b>: I know, I was there.<br /><b>Rory</b>: So was I.<br /><b>Doctor</b>: Do you ever remember it? 2000 years, waiting for Amy - the last centurion?<br /><b>Rory</b>: No.<br /><b>Doctor</b>: You're lying.<br /><b>Rory</b>: Of course I am.<br /><b>Doctor</b>: Of course you are. Not the sort of thing one forgets.<br /><b>Rory</b>: But I don't remember it all the time.<br /></blockquote><br /><br />And in this moment, Rory becomes more than the boy who waited for Amy all those years, but he becomes someone more -- it's acknowledged (understatedly, which are the best kind of statements), that Rory is, technically, <i>older</i> than the Doctor. That he is, in some ways, equal to the Doctor -- and yet, in many ways, not because he doesn't remember it all the time, unlike the Doctor. But, I thought this would be an interesting aspect to have in the companions (because Amy isn't typical either, what with the whole of time pouring through her head growing up) and I wasn't sure if it'd be ignored or what -- but, here it is. And it's so lovely.<br /><br />And it's part of what makes this relationship between Eleven and Rory so endearing that I can't even describe it -- it just, made my heart melt whenever I saw him interact with Rory, how he sort of looked at them out of the corner of his eye when they were kissing their I-love-yous. It was just.<br /><br />That's true love, there. In all its forms.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRUybbRMpjhkP1CbX2Yck6clcLsFweXEgoYe7qX4Om6XPhjQpKe63sXcPAvX11UILgJ9YXLMjv1sBrm6-8u-WAzGWlYzwmvsKrTsKhyztQlysVkNIXGwZDho8fHJCZZDE3q9qlqMqNQk9U/s1600/likeindianajonesbutcooler.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 295px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRUybbRMpjhkP1CbX2Yck6clcLsFweXEgoYe7qX4Om6XPhjQpKe63sXcPAvX11UILgJ9YXLMjv1sBrm6-8u-WAzGWlYzwmvsKrTsKhyztQlysVkNIXGwZDho8fHJCZZDE3q9qlqMqNQk9U/s320/likeindianajonesbutcooler.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5601939188736073778" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><blockquote><b>River</b>: My old fella didn't see that did he? He gets ever so cross.<br /><b>Rory</b>: So, what kind of doctor are you?<br /><b>River</b>: Archeology. Love a tomb.</blockquote><br /><br />Oh, River Song. You are cooler than the sum of Indiana Jones and Lara Croft put together.<br /><br />Also? Why don't Americans use the word "cross" more often? What a lovable word.<br /><br />And the Doctor's description of her:<br /><br /><blockquote>This is my friend River. Nice hair. Clever. Has her own gun. And unlike me she doesn't mind shooting people. I shouldn't like that, kinda do a bit.<br /></blockquote><br /><br />Aw. Excuse me, I'm going to go melt into a puddle of goo at their little relationship/flirty/type-thing they've got going on.<br /><br />I suppose it'd be a rubbishy sort of review/musing/squee-fest if I didn't talk about the girl, the nameless girl, the Time-Lord-Girl:<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0pFaZqdRid6JM82SePLJDDy-je85wdL1kvqD5rkYJLSCUF839swwEpDMALHYOiuGy-b9yYjkNpxAaaIcyPz-PqTikBdCjGtmpYlhbv5QDf1Jp2B2k8A4tkN5CWfn055FyhfPpawEWeLNg/s1600/timegirl.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 232px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0pFaZqdRid6JM82SePLJDDy-je85wdL1kvqD5rkYJLSCUF839swwEpDMALHYOiuGy-b9yYjkNpxAaaIcyPz-PqTikBdCjGtmpYlhbv5QDf1Jp2B2k8A4tkN5CWfn055FyhfPpawEWeLNg/s320/timegirl.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5601939324053232434" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Couple thoughts:<br /><br />1). The girl is the "honour" that the Silence spoke of to Amy, maybe? ("We do you honour. You will bring the Silence. But your part will soon be over.") Except a pregnancy isn't exactly "soon," unless they were planning to go all <i>Fringe</i>-y on her.<br /><br />2). The girl is out of time -- because of the photo Amy found. So, how did she get into the time she is now? With the knock-off TARDIS? But why would the Silence need a space suit if they had the technology to make a knock-off TARDIS?<br /><br />3). Speaking of the life-supported Space Suit, perhaps the girl needs it to live -- which is why she is dying six months later. But why would it take her six months to die if she needed the suit to live? And if she needed the suit to live, why would she just regenerate? Unless the process would fix why she was dying or why she needed the suit in the first place? If something happened in the six months, then what and why weren't the readers privy to it. *grumble (but only the good kind of grumble)* I also noticed that with the three months later notation at the beginning of the episode + the six months later at the end = nine months, which is always a significant number because of the whole birthing metaphor-imagery-thing at work. Balls.<br /><br /><blockquote><b>Doctor</b>: Incredibly strong and running away -- I like her.</blockquote><br /><br />(aside, I do like that the show isn't always gung-ho about its heroes having to be strong and bold and facing whatever's coming with squared shoulders and what-not; it doesn't mind celebrating the Trickster nature of the hero, and that I love.)<br /><br /><b>Misc. Thoughts</b><br /><br />I love how the show establishes how Nixon became so paranoid (record everything!) which basically is a fan-fictiony explanation for Watergate:<br /><br /><blockquote><b>Doctor</b>: Oh, Dickie. Tricky Dickie. They’re never going to forget you.</blockquote><br /><br />Oh, excuse me while I giggle.<br /><br />Also, I wasn't really expecting this:<br /><br /><blockquote><b>President</b>: This person you want to marry. Black?<br /><b>Canton</b>: Yes.<br /><b>President</b>: I know what people think of me, but perhaps I'm a little more liberal --<br /><b>Canton</b>: <em>He</em> is.</blockquote><br /><br />And, despite the Doctor's wishes, it still hasn't happened yet! Hello, Social Commentary. And they science fiction isn't relevant. ;)<br /><br />Also: Eleven and River kissing. I love how he doesn't know what to do. It's so adorkable. I just melted inside.Sonjahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02003122146228192404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8568633208228455157.post-42242836290535614142011-04-24T12:50:00.000-07:002011-04-24T14:43:41.172-07:00Doctor Who: Swearing on Fish Fingers and Custard since 2010 (spoilers)<span style="font-weight: bold;">Spoilers for <span style="font-style: italic;">The Impossible Astronaut</span> below</span>.<br /><br />When I finished watching this the first time, I was incoherent and could only manage a Ten-like triple-what.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Second First Impressions</span><br /><br />Before I go in depth, I don't really like blogging about two part episodes. They're evil with eviler cliffhangers and evil half-stories. So it's rather like trying to evaluate a book you haven't actually read yet, and I always feel like whatever I end up writing is just shallow, shallow, shallow. But here goes.<br /><br />I was proud of myself for avoiding spoilers for the most part. Still, I was not expecting the sheer unpredictable-ness of the story itself.<br /><br />The Doctor dying before the first ten minutes? What the heck. And for some reason, probably because of Mark Sheppard's affinity for villains, I was expecting Delaware III to be a bad guy -- but then he wasn't! I also wasn't expecting Rory and Amy to be keeping house together while the Doctor is swanning off in balloons, gadding about under lady's dresses, and generally having the most ridiculous adventures in the history of ever.<br /><br />So yes. I felt like the beginning had put me all off center because I was expecting everyone to be in the TARDIS all nice and proper instead of. Well.<br /><br />Separated.<br /><br />So that was interesting and new. I mean, series 2 started with newly regenerated Ten and Rose. Series 3, 4, and 5 Rose is all gone, but at least the Doctor is still in his TARDIS, which is more than can be said for Future!Eleven -- because, where is Future!Eleven's TARDIS? I mean, don't get me wrong -- he looked quite dashing on the hood of his red car but it's not his transportation of choice...is it?<br /><br />And he knew that Amy saw those creature-things. Could see it in his eyes. And he knew the astronaut was coming.<br /><br />And the Impossible Astronaut is impossible not because it came from a lake, but because the astronaut is a child in a man's suit.<br /><br />I'm guessing.<br /><br />But really, the beginning and the rest of the episode really demonstrated Matt Smith's acting ability I thought. I kept on thinking as I was watching it the first time -- this is off. This isn't like proper Eleven. He's got a diary! Not even Ten started keeping a diary. And then he was always looking so old and sad.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWC-sPpF3puWvSJVmbGXvL3G-fqsrccGKU8LasO2C-qddJAhyphenhyphenGJIJQ7gYCfJbVt6L2UqxEKg2KFP6J_CQz5jwBRGedp7gUP5bkD90O8CfzUkqa6pPc4Y1PG47lIA2DdMeO58lDStj0ZaMg/s1600/thedoctorissadsaving.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 198px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWC-sPpF3puWvSJVmbGXvL3G-fqsrccGKU8LasO2C-qddJAhyphenhyphenGJIJQ7gYCfJbVt6L2UqxEKg2KFP6J_CQz5jwBRGedp7gUP5bkD90O8CfzUkqa6pPc4Y1PG47lIA2DdMeO58lDStj0ZaMg/s320/thedoctorissadsaving.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5599242249960540610" border="0" /></a><br /><br />And he tipped his hat -- got his tenses all wrong:<br /><br /><blockquote>A lot more happens in 1969 than anyone remembers. Human beings. I thought I'd never get done saving you.</blockquote>And of course a lot more happens because there's aliens buggering about that make people forget them if they're not looking at them! Then there's the parallel language that appeared in the first angel episode of the fifth season--except it was in the present tense, not the past: "I'll never be done saving you."<br /><br />I doubt I'd have caught it on a first viewing if I hadn't spent most of yesterday evening and night having a Doctor Who marathon.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Character Development</span><br /><br />Since this is the first time in the new series where all the people are the same (Eleven, Rory, and Amy), I was concerned that there'd be either stalled or ignored character development. But when Future!Eleven dies, Rory says,<br /><blockquote><br />There's a boat. If we're going to do this, let's do it properly.</blockquote><br />And I can't really imagine pre-Roman Rory saying that at all. So it was nice that his character remained developed.<br /><br />Then the bit in the TARDIS where Eleven is borderline paranoid about everybody and just wants to ship them off back home.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO43U8phJTh6j65GdvRkRL9VOh7ZDpkUy-j8nlPkLr2dqFrjKnNjkYm9BgsWnbWqL7LUDE93ypREv39_4dzhO0Ijq3SDLROO4ygiw-RX5by0OPt0JygxFLeoIB47nbgqENTEqJxv5ZjkKr/s1600/doctorisrunningaway.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 198px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO43U8phJTh6j65GdvRkRL9VOh7ZDpkUy-j8nlPkLr2dqFrjKnNjkYm9BgsWnbWqL7LUDE93ypREv39_4dzhO0Ijq3SDLROO4ygiw-RX5by0OPt0JygxFLeoIB47nbgqENTEqJxv5ZjkKr/s320/doctorisrunningaway.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5599243844323637330" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Conflict! Tension! Stakes!<br /><br />And then, there was the look on River's face when he chose to trust Amy over her. Poor, poor River.<br /><br />Her little monologue gave those episodes in the library new, emotional punch:<br /><br /><blockquote>When I first met the doctor, a long long time ago, he knew about me. Think about that. Impressionable young girl, suddenly this man just drops out of the sky, and he's clever and mad and wonderful and knows every last thing about her. Imagine what that does to a girl. Trouble is--it's all back to front. My past is his future. We're traveling in opposite directions. Every time we meet, I know him more, he knows me less. I live for the days that I see him. But I know that every time I do, we'll be one step further away. The day is coming when I'll look into that man's eyes - my doctor - and he won't have the slightest idea who I am. And I think it's going to kill me.</blockquote><br />Which is just even more compounded by the look on Rory's face and how he's making these connections between River and Amy and my god.<br /><br />Tragic.<br /><br />I also can't help but wonder how Amy using a gun will change their relationship. It'll be interesting to see if the Writers-That-Be will mess with the usual Doctor/Companion relationship that has been sort of defined in the previous series, particular in season 4 with Donna and Ten, where she basically told him he needed a companion to keep himself human, to keep himself from going too far (in fact, "Turn Left" was basically an entire episode about the importance of the companions in the Doctor's life).<br /><br />Now though -- it's Amy who's gone too far -- who is, in fact, acting a little bit like Ambrose from series 5 -- so, it'll be interesting how or how far they'll tweak the typical Doctor/Companion relationship in that respect (though I can't blame them if they don't decide to be ultra-bold with it...it is, after all, one of the most defining aspects of the show).<br /><br />And what's character development without a bit parallelism?<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg34wqKGP2W41RWo8w75J5M96xQt2Ac4UIfP-1cEEx-_0-ew29vhQrrTFwNh_yfsE3Jg1kBeriIEOm3yLtFJmi6aGj54lekwhh5gYCUyDkf_BZe-mSvRzSOugYPnRyIQ5NF1cA_Z8DSu2Jg/s1600/symmetricalpoke.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 198px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg34wqKGP2W41RWo8w75J5M96xQt2Ac4UIfP-1cEEx-_0-ew29vhQrrTFwNh_yfsE3Jg1kBeriIEOm3yLtFJmi6aGj54lekwhh5gYCUyDkf_BZe-mSvRzSOugYPnRyIQ5NF1cA_Z8DSu2Jg/s320/symmetricalpoke.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5599253421963779618" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Symmetry of the oh-my-god-i-thought-you-were-dead-but-you're-not-not-really-how-can-this-be-poke.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">The Kid</span>.<br /><br />The first words we hear from the kid are:<br /><br /><blockquote>I'm scared, Mr. President. I'm scared of the space man.<br /></blockquote><br />And of course everybody thinks the "space man" is the Impossible Astronaut that Killed our Beloved Eleven from the Future.<br /><br />Eleven, who doesn't know about the astronaut-intent-upon-his-death, believes that the girl has told the president everything he needs to know, and he just isn't listening. Hmm.<br /><br />But then it turns out that the kid is the astronaut -- unless the thing in the astronaut took her inside...but that seems an odd method of kidnapping.<br /><br />I can't help but wonder if the Space Man is actually the Doctor. I mean, Donna was always calling him Space Boy. And why else would the astronaut kill the Doctor?<br /><br />But that doesn't make any sense. The timing is all wrong because the child was talking on the phone to the president before the Doctor came, and the dialogue and actions don't match up if there were some wibbly-wobbly timey-wimey moments at work.<br /><br />So maybe it is just something similar to what happened in the library episodes...vashta-narade-like creatures eating people in space suits.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Cause and Effect, or, the Curse of the Headache-Inducing Nature of Time Travel</span><br /><br />Okay. So. After the Doctor is killed but before they meet him in his-his present, they all agree that the Doctor wanted them to do something, that he still needed them. Then they seemed to agree, on the TARDIS, that they were going to save him.<br /><br />But then River told Amy that they couldn't stop the astronaut in '69 because then the inciting event in 2011 wouldn't happen, thus creating a paradox.<br /><br />I wonder, when Matt Smith decides it's time or whoever else decides, will keep this ending -- or if this will manage to re-write itself somehow, cause and effect be damned to davey jones locker.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Amy Pregnant</span><br /><br />wut.<br /><br />See that. I'm so disappointed I can't even bother to spell my indignation properly.<br /><br />Dear yoda help us, I swear to god. What is up with the pregnancy storylines? I mean -- <span style="font-style: italic;">Fringe</span>, <span style="font-style: italic;">Stargate</span>, ergh! BIRTH CONTROL people.<br /><br />I'm hoping it's not going to be /just/ a pregnancy storyline. I'm hoping it's not going to incredibly dull and melodramatic, like these things typically are. I'm hoping she's not pregnant at all, though she seemed rather certain (I'm hoping that since River and Amy were both sick after seeing the monstery forget-me aliens, she's just...assuming she is). I can't really imagine Rory not being more protective of her if she was...he seems to be the type (but in an adorable kind of way).<br /><br />Unless he doesn't know either.<br /><br />Grr.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Assorted Bits of Awesome</span><br /><br />You know, the Future!Eleven prologues his upcoming death, funeral, and wake with this:<br /><br /><blockquote>I've been running. Faster than I've ever run. And I've been running my whole life. Now it's time for me to stop. And tonight, I'm going to need you all with me.<br /></blockquote><br />When I heard it in the trailer, I thought it was a bit generic. I mean, the Doctor running (running, in and of itself, in its various contexts and definitions) is -- pardon the pun -- a running theme in the show, but in context with the entire episode, this sounds rather specific. I wonder if the show is going to dip into some Classic Who.<br /><br />These are the times when I curse my continued procrastination to watch Classic Who.<br /><br />Geek fail.<br /><br />The forget-me-aliens -- when they first appeared, they seemed to be quite threatening. Imposing, even. But then, when River ran into them in those old tunnels, they reminded me of rats and that's not an imposing image at all (though, it was frightening how Rory and River would see them, and, though they're still literally gasping with terror, still say, all's clear and all's well and it's like oh-my-god).<br /><br />Though that would explain why the Old Tunnels were old and nobody knew about them. I've bet the forget-me-aliens have been there for just as long, making everybody forget about them and the tunnels and their little knock-off Tardis.<br /><br />I wonder if they built the one in "The Lodger" too...<br /><br />I wonder why they're so interested in the Doctor and him knowing all the things he must and mustn't know.<br /><br /><blockquote><span style="font-weight: bold;">The Doctor:</span> [regarding the presidents]. Lovely fellows. Two of them fancied me.</blockquote>That made me smile.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span><blockquote><span style="font-weight: bold;">Delaware III</span>: What's going on here?<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Doctor</span>: Nothing. She's just a friend.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Rory</span>: I think he's talking about the possible alien incursion.</blockquote><br />Falling in love/flirt, despite his trust issues.<br /><br />It seems like, with the forget-me-aliens, memory is going to be another important theme, just like it was in last series. I wonder how they'll play with the idea in new and intriguing ways.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRLW2pkJZNuZF2L7_I6ymuHqg7dUymz8xY4-iz7a3n_5dKXuM_k-t6MgAlxsoXAJSLsGkhvclczb3sd0BJMZn-1Y__ZAT6VlhYyQJKSCrGJ9FrR075z5xzcuhsWPu0TifNuJA8afNjV-5c/s1600/doctorfacesastronaut.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 198px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRLW2pkJZNuZF2L7_I6ymuHqg7dUymz8xY4-iz7a3n_5dKXuM_k-t6MgAlxsoXAJSLsGkhvclczb3sd0BJMZn-1Y__ZAT6VlhYyQJKSCrGJ9FrR075z5xzcuhsWPu0TifNuJA8afNjV-5c/s320/doctorfacesastronaut.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5599253255512226354" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Beautiful and sad.Sonjahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02003122146228192404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8568633208228455157.post-11628120528808667642011-04-20T15:13:00.000-07:002011-04-20T15:47:43.594-07:00Discourse -- Lucifer: Exodus, Volume 7 by Mike CareyThis is the volume in which two things (continue to) occur:<br /><br />1). Mazikeen is awesome.<br />2). Elaine is awesome.<br /><br />So now that Heaven is up for grabs, basically, some titans think they can just go out and claim it. Then Lucifer goes Doctor-Who on them as he defeats them in a timey-wimey fashion.<br /><br />But forget that. Let's talk about how Mazikeen strides into heaven, doesn't give a single fuck that she's not wanted there, in order to warn Lucifer and foil their plans. See, the titans had created a Bizzarro-Lucifer from the memories of a waitress who used to work at Lux. So Mazikeen drags the waitress, works some magic, and voila! good guys win the day and then the angelic host is all grumpy because demons are bad and god forbid they be sullied with the presence of the likes of Mazikeen, right?<br /><br />Behold the power of lesbian-love:<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidkREjLuFyyhHj1j7Qf8RUUmAP1t8szUUTgxwUv3fsNfvbrzYkhaoUdt40dRWL4eprWn_uhYfsNnklGRSx4PF3ZW9x166MMjrK6MfJJgr4Y5Ru47kMIpjbLD4taGjFGElCK-g66nvuOc1D/s1600/IMG_1717.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidkREjLuFyyhHj1j7Qf8RUUmAP1t8szUUTgxwUv3fsNfvbrzYkhaoUdt40dRWL4eprWn_uhYfsNnklGRSx4PF3ZW9x166MMjrK6MfJJgr4Y5Ru47kMIpjbLD4taGjFGElCK-g66nvuOc1D/s320/IMG_1717.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5597794444347543106" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDnea4nH8C24Q5I5GaMRbVuiK8po30gAXm-Xth5DfccFAsWtGnSn2CF_NcUcWoEThjw-z1HdRPBQTAFERBxyDJuqJv2nrjcmq9c7dEye44htU2DwMARCzNktRfDpMS9Lj1lXyc5NzhJquY/s1600/mazikeenneedstoblaspheme.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 190px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDnea4nH8C24Q5I5GaMRbVuiK8po30gAXm-Xth5DfccFAsWtGnSn2CF_NcUcWoEThjw-z1HdRPBQTAFERBxyDJuqJv2nrjcmq9c7dEye44htU2DwMARCzNktRfDpMS9Lj1lXyc5NzhJquY/s320/mazikeenneedstoblaspheme.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5597796164608330210" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimdVyPUeXIF0LNHU1Z7cWrJLBk0B_mSVMLJ2ReVHg1Mf0ZaotlKnKiSgVazyGwpC0o7ejRJHh8z4wcMceNNlgKM47gQElcoMyhzGp_dccASqMljROYgRZC_88Gbetc_UtFNeetk90_28vn/s1600/IMG_1725.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimdVyPUeXIF0LNHU1Z7cWrJLBk0B_mSVMLJ2ReVHg1Mf0ZaotlKnKiSgVazyGwpC0o7ejRJHh8z4wcMceNNlgKM47gQElcoMyhzGp_dccASqMljROYgRZC_88Gbetc_UtFNeetk90_28vn/s320/IMG_1725.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5597796364336818034" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Oh. Beautiful.<br /><br />And as for Elaine -- check this out:<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkp8q6b6KgtdjhtpJyh_L4NJfOkbxRH3lMo1dvuObz8zCyJw5mM5vC7H_unsKHR0MaX51fKgvht5ild2vNMAgssjgiQIWrdR9kEchzuOyt_FyZJj430bU5iJ6p1j13NnSnNhI9X9Rc8doH/s1600/IMG_1740.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkp8q6b6KgtdjhtpJyh_L4NJfOkbxRH3lMo1dvuObz8zCyJw5mM5vC7H_unsKHR0MaX51fKgvht5ild2vNMAgssjgiQIWrdR9kEchzuOyt_FyZJj430bU5iJ6p1j13NnSnNhI9X9Rc8doH/s320/IMG_1740.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5597796737812822834" border="0" /></a><br /><br />She became a guardian to Lucifer's world in the last volume, but she was still in her little-girl school clothes. But now now she's grown up and her clothing changes to reflect that.<br /><br />I find this absolutely refreshing in a society that infantalizes women. And, of course, the clothes continue to symbolize her Grown-upness -- there's a scene towards the end where she's disappointed with herself and angry at the job she had to do and she reverts to her school-girl uniform and then reverts back when Mazikeen tells her she's acting like a child.<br /><br />Cool stuff.<br /><br />But, I think the most poignant story of this volume was the one about Thole and Martin.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxnID52QC9MODKWa6I6SekaPK1GW9Yh6gV_xhw_MiD6aov2f5dbE2NGGLfLp1kE8FJOAoyBtUf5Tr6a5O08Vln9__kWRQOQQum14OjOMs09FVIrNWN_1OEeJJXVa4iPBfAY8EcBrksB5Ho/s1600/IMG_1726.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxnID52QC9MODKWa6I6SekaPK1GW9Yh6gV_xhw_MiD6aov2f5dbE2NGGLfLp1kE8FJOAoyBtUf5Tr6a5O08Vln9__kWRQOQQum14OjOMs09FVIrNWN_1OEeJJXVa4iPBfAY8EcBrksB5Ho/s320/IMG_1726.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5597797543158075458" border="0" /></a><br /><br />It was like a dark version of Dr. Seuss.<br /><br />The story was wonderful -- playing with themes like love and self-hood:<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhadQMBJLTpr3PNceJAAlVPrRFx-JZgBkgkFLZomHVMI9lvd9JURFdWagMP8P67DUCXqN6m-hhKl9EdSbMoBAXVVmR2U5VtQGFv2Wmh4ST7htQGj5ThrX7v2bXdHF-oa0SR88TPzzx_5FWf/s1600/IMG_1728.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhadQMBJLTpr3PNceJAAlVPrRFx-JZgBkgkFLZomHVMI9lvd9JURFdWagMP8P67DUCXqN6m-hhKl9EdSbMoBAXVVmR2U5VtQGFv2Wmh4ST7htQGj5ThrX7v2bXdHF-oa0SR88TPzzx_5FWf/s320/IMG_1728.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5597797916706601394" border="0" /></a><br /><br />I like this because it touches on a common theme in speculative fiction -- ideas of perception and selfhood. Are we humans entirely sure that the beings we mindlessly other are not individuals too, granted with "personhood" as well?<br /><br />But the theme isn't hammered over the reader's head -- it's just there, in all it's simplicity.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1PBMhx_bStgfa9AV0w9jMvIqNLKq2mLKiptU6gW9WLc95lApJluf7CHN7XmQmxhWNjOKAFDASKZ-Ux4A-HUvVwxu0h0sJcaIoGF5tU-VUSUCmD0_VZDJomhqi4NWn2Q8SzL4Fu2QrrVZK/s1600/IMG_1729.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1PBMhx_bStgfa9AV0w9jMvIqNLKq2mLKiptU6gW9WLc95lApJluf7CHN7XmQmxhWNjOKAFDASKZ-Ux4A-HUvVwxu0h0sJcaIoGF5tU-VUSUCmD0_VZDJomhqi4NWn2Q8SzL4Fu2QrrVZK/s320/IMG_1729.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5597798336029564834" border="0" /></a><br /><br />I like this because it recognizes what a complicated emotion love is. Sometimes I feel that it's always so simplified in a lot of stories.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFCjZBg7A7ncFq4ak0yu63iUvQb8U2RBgc_TKyyAlGwCZvpRUQ28dDjD-KLb-xBGlaQmmxYOjJ57owMPA9LmLPOlLgvG_YFj-tTnwITZnmp-xrBJmuoHYkmirNc02XtkNZlvJB_6ZlvVP1/s1600/IMG_1736.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFCjZBg7A7ncFq4ak0yu63iUvQb8U2RBgc_TKyyAlGwCZvpRUQ28dDjD-KLb-xBGlaQmmxYOjJ57owMPA9LmLPOlLgvG_YFj-tTnwITZnmp-xrBJmuoHYkmirNc02XtkNZlvJB_6ZlvVP1/s320/IMG_1736.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5597798641594301170" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Awwww.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLb34kEZi7J9HH6fTdZAa16AjMdwsiioyOYnGs3fHKdvMlSQRI1LZ5bRCEXYzjZJQzj0bc_PUbvFuF6N5YvPmDoypyw81vVuFKV6bv0mm6RVCJCAWAeLbBwE0ryGFjWpPC9tk__0_zpe8V/s1600/IMG_1743.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLb34kEZi7J9HH6fTdZAa16AjMdwsiioyOYnGs3fHKdvMlSQRI1LZ5bRCEXYzjZJQzj0bc_PUbvFuF6N5YvPmDoypyw81vVuFKV6bv0mm6RVCJCAWAeLbBwE0ryGFjWpPC9tk__0_zpe8V/s320/IMG_1743.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5597798860315321826" border="0" /></a><br /><br />I adore this image. Anyway, upshot is, Thole ends up attracting himself a mate and, in the fashion of black widows, she is a bitch from hell. Of course, Martin feels rejected and, in a fit of pique and jealousy, throws away the self-stone Thole had made him.<br /><br />I found the gesture to be an incredible metaphor. How many times do we everyday people just throw ourselves to the mercy of our emotions -- allow ourselves to surrender to some of our darker impulses? And I couldn't help but wonder that, somewhere when that happens, when we become villains in our own stories, that we are throwing away our selves in anger or pain or grief.<br /><br />I love the background -- the fragments of faces, of identity.<br /><br />Poignant. Beautiful.<br /><br />Another moment of Elaine-Awesomeness:<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmjoBGj-pGQCN7fftsPglBmSmIZ2Se3RfoTNnohxw6X1iK_4Ufaxn1Gw5hx73an_o0SYHCSp_uIajizH_QuaKh7mbJRCdQ6hbsEKQJq3H8oIYWOwRFmBQvoGp1Yy5yvC1Nmwwbs2-ydVhs/s1600/IMG_1748.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmjoBGj-pGQCN7fftsPglBmSmIZ2Se3RfoTNnohxw6X1iK_4Ufaxn1Gw5hx73an_o0SYHCSp_uIajizH_QuaKh7mbJRCdQ6hbsEKQJq3H8oIYWOwRFmBQvoGp1Yy5yvC1Nmwwbs2-ydVhs/s320/IMG_1748.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5597799686003783474" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Whereas Mazikeen fulfills the imperative of Lucifer to get rid of all the immortals in his universe with the sword, Elaine does so with the mind.<br /><br />And she takes away Thole's immortality:<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj5hPliGlPwJyUC8j7MD5TqItbD6ybZ1y9JpNLOkC6V7Zs7GC8OiJy3iYmUAPYnjbTboU4Ya_CvukwOYJAw5DZZReObb1iNBz4rG4U-UMG89sikjMrjVeP9TnkSq9-NOzdXBQInsDhUesI/s1600/IMG_1750.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj5hPliGlPwJyUC8j7MD5TqItbD6ybZ1y9JpNLOkC6V7Zs7GC8OiJy3iYmUAPYnjbTboU4Ya_CvukwOYJAw5DZZReObb1iNBz4rG4U-UMG89sikjMrjVeP9TnkSq9-NOzdXBQInsDhUesI/s320/IMG_1750.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5597800004273126898" border="0" /></a><br /><br />I may have gotten teary eyed at this point in the story:<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhm4H1RXNKMfydrIW-Nvqy1NKWW_QrVUEo6s8o_FT8VuTzTt2k-hNpniK19y6Ff_eAayQGTwYTU7amVCKxB8o9ibYPYjp6EH-bDMIPNDHWQI1_A85UxtUEkEAm6Irw-hqv_LU-8qnZbv_R0/s1600/IMG_1751.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhm4H1RXNKMfydrIW-Nvqy1NKWW_QrVUEo6s8o_FT8VuTzTt2k-hNpniK19y6Ff_eAayQGTwYTU7amVCKxB8o9ibYPYjp6EH-bDMIPNDHWQI1_A85UxtUEkEAm6Irw-hqv_LU-8qnZbv_R0/s320/IMG_1751.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5597800278132416034" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqJGuMmIcy1nzpQhSaejcpap1df2dJz2UAk_zCYjhu4ZUO6Fl192w1_5TVNfOUJmGlEvtGDuq5V6Kt8RkrdNStK36oc3VKfYPBnQd_inbApJGK2KbxBifXo9wMmgRUU5Lvh5aRYvl_ZCAK/s1600/IMG_1754.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqJGuMmIcy1nzpQhSaejcpap1df2dJz2UAk_zCYjhu4ZUO6Fl192w1_5TVNfOUJmGlEvtGDuq5V6Kt8RkrdNStK36oc3VKfYPBnQd_inbApJGK2KbxBifXo9wMmgRUU5Lvh5aRYvl_ZCAK/s320/IMG_1754.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5597800535370090370" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCcM4s1dSc_EzE4X37VxroBhgBrivXSaBpwtf0CRUodsr4-m_Fvn3fYBGskGqDVeedn79GldACvfNIU24ThW99HmvYIL3R_OwbWr8f3v6H5MOmzJ8rlTU2V-TVbpM7Mz-KOB0M8jHw9Z8x/s1600/IMG_1755.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCcM4s1dSc_EzE4X37VxroBhgBrivXSaBpwtf0CRUodsr4-m_Fvn3fYBGskGqDVeedn79GldACvfNIU24ThW99HmvYIL3R_OwbWr8f3v6H5MOmzJ8rlTU2V-TVbpM7Mz-KOB0M8jHw9Z8x/s320/IMG_1755.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5597800712962021842" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Martin is obviously more adjusted than me. I think that Death would have been proud of him.<br /><br />On a happier note: Mazikeen looking sexy and awesome as all hell<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2wW9gm9js_IOQ9MDyOfIWG4KNdkyFAToMEMTVbrpKEc46gypfXO9NMJ-3LnrK6CfqEsM0ZTjsCjXSw9N-iPxHsxVs4uIPzCjd0also2M9Zrj_u11vdq0pTV6krDWeeOJO2WgiWKz24TG4/s1600/IMG_1759.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2wW9gm9js_IOQ9MDyOfIWG4KNdkyFAToMEMTVbrpKEc46gypfXO9NMJ-3LnrK6CfqEsM0ZTjsCjXSw9N-iPxHsxVs4uIPzCjd0also2M9Zrj_u11vdq0pTV6krDWeeOJO2WgiWKz24TG4/s320/IMG_1759.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5597800990860031602" border="0" /></a>Sonjahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02003122146228192404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8568633208228455157.post-24947632671517511692011-04-20T14:08:00.000-07:002011-04-20T15:04:37.909-07:00Discourse - Lucifer: Mansions of the Silence Volume 6 by Mike CareyAt first, it seemed that this was a fairly plot centric volume: find Elaine. Talk to God the Father.<br /><br />And then wham.<br /><br />Surprise visit of Holy-Shit-They-Actually-Went-There.<br /><br />Yes. That is a literary term.<br /><br />Meet Jill Presto:<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7Gv0RjQCM3Soiwe2HSYP3aq8IG2MBW1iYC0GXUBTezDRwduqjcXMUzvWeCL2q__NEQLFkgylWlrPDbEakKRxO3cG5DCdKu_J5BQlWuenmOfVH8Fw0kNdb7uwXcTFuyMK4u0Zc9UsqqgVd/s1600/IMG_1693.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7Gv0RjQCM3Soiwe2HSYP3aq8IG2MBW1iYC0GXUBTezDRwduqjcXMUzvWeCL2q__NEQLFkgylWlrPDbEakKRxO3cG5DCdKu_J5BQlWuenmOfVH8Fw0kNdb7uwXcTFuyMK4u0Zc9UsqqgVd/s320/IMG_1693.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5597789657887318162" border="0" /></a><br /><br />mother to be of a magical baby because the tarot people raped her and impregnated her with it. Throughout the course of the story, the boy has become corporeal and is trying to cozy up to mother dearest, declaring his love for her and trying to convince her that she must love him too:<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrsiIvptd3Lrx1YoYV5TM7J_XM4EIJB6MQ4FckGa7QnJvDtj0A0Bhu5MOk0LZhe07uesOI6F-dtakQE6gxcWZC92PbKS90kd2P7jbBUprZHYwZxUgEPZRC1c4UKeJcLhaNy892OuVGOf-5/s1600/jill+challenges+son.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 298px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrsiIvptd3Lrx1YoYV5TM7J_XM4EIJB6MQ4FckGa7QnJvDtj0A0Bhu5MOk0LZhe07uesOI6F-dtakQE6gxcWZC92PbKS90kd2P7jbBUprZHYwZxUgEPZRC1c4UKeJcLhaNy892OuVGOf-5/s320/jill+challenges+son.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5597785534555544594" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXkEQ-_26Yfj718PMS_xcT1mV73KItYg4u3s6AICQvV38iIOI8TGprcQ_Hb6MoBwqIozORlBeq3viICvo99XfF4IMJC-rXZCLFsM1coIPXyh8gsS1tIk3v21A9GNmLBlsB_wOupoZfTU_f/s1600/IMG_1706.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXkEQ-_26Yfj718PMS_xcT1mV73KItYg4u3s6AICQvV38iIOI8TGprcQ_Hb6MoBwqIozORlBeq3viICvo99XfF4IMJC-rXZCLFsM1coIPXyh8gsS1tIk3v21A9GNmLBlsB_wOupoZfTU_f/s320/IMG_1706.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5597785717727877058" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Then he becomes injured in the course of the story as he steps in to protect his vessel/mother.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2KCp-E_wBdIexi26InoKeTppOSN0o62J1YjYl2MlSnIxTXrsI4qxK_YVUuX-lXshS8tcJ9-m1HSyy94oEwquEiCGJMXgXb4Fn4FZER6N-TiX1q2wMf1Q8D6WmlGPdEOs7rlyKI-FWMPAr/s1600/IMG_1713.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2KCp-E_wBdIexi26InoKeTppOSN0o62J1YjYl2MlSnIxTXrsI4qxK_YVUuX-lXshS8tcJ9-m1HSyy94oEwquEiCGJMXgXb4Fn4FZER6N-TiX1q2wMf1Q8D6WmlGPdEOs7rlyKI-FWMPAr/s320/IMG_1713.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5597785965558838802" border="0" /></a><br /><br />And she does make her decision:<br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZyoaPA6eJo6Pdk5KvBjuovLrhB3f9awRM6tlM1U3KXxD_A4-ll2Nx3faockws5hQ5UB52rR297u1p8B5Yz4YnT9du2NMtk9gusdqsyizZt9bapwOgVP1b3QYeOxbSx5i7Xbc5_LbMKh3d/s1600/IMG_1712.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZyoaPA6eJo6Pdk5KvBjuovLrhB3f9awRM6tlM1U3KXxD_A4-ll2Nx3faockws5hQ5UB52rR297u1p8B5Yz4YnT9du2NMtk9gusdqsyizZt9bapwOgVP1b3QYeOxbSx5i7Xbc5_LbMKh3d/s320/IMG_1712.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5597786636899706562" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Please, Jill. Tell us how you /really/ feel. This is where I first began to stagger. I mean, you just don't see mothers acting like this in a lot of pop cultury things. I mean, even Gabriel still loved her demon spawn from <span style="font-style: italic;">Xena: Warrior Princess</span>.<br /><br />But then this took the cake:<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0T2G_lhEnl6UynvuID6dh7vBAFVyJET4OdrV3Ul1CD1I4ThQTiJJcP5DAyTUtUU4qI0S0HL1uu4YqwudpEfuNpuJoDhcOAoreQRQducKjRflXK4B3M-ROB4fgaIseURXYf-T98spPleTR/s1600/IMG_1714.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0T2G_lhEnl6UynvuID6dh7vBAFVyJET4OdrV3Ul1CD1I4ThQTiJJcP5DAyTUtUU4qI0S0HL1uu4YqwudpEfuNpuJoDhcOAoreQRQducKjRflXK4B3M-ROB4fgaIseURXYf-T98spPleTR/s320/IMG_1714.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5597787205902554482" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Excuse me while I have a holy-shit moment.<br /><br />Perhaps this doesn't seem so significant if viewed in a bubble -- but consider:<br /><br />Take <span style="font-style: italic;">Fringe</span> for example. Where "abortion" is never even mentioned as an option (even when it's later revealed that the pregnancy would probably kill both mother and child).<br /><br />Then there's another show called Invasion -- it's about aliens, but what's the first symptom that aliens have been fiddling with the humans? When women stop acting like mothers. So -- you have a mother abandoning her kid (side character played by the chick that plays Peggy on Mad Men, btw). Then you have another primary character who's a doctor. She doesn't seem to be Off because she stops being such a good job. Oh no. Something's wrong because she stops being a good mom. She doesn't call her kids and tell them that she's going to be late after a big ass hurricane.<br /><br />It's the Monstrous Mothers trope -- women so far perverted that they reject the very fiber of their being -- their motherhood -- and thus become irredeemable monsters.<br /><br />And here this is being subverted in a glorious fashion.<br /><br />Jill doesn't want to be a mother. She wants to have a career and have good sex. She is furious when someone tries to tell/force her that she needs to love this child. I really appreciate how they position love as a choice, as an action springing forth from someone's agency, instead of something natural.<br /><br />It's self-validating. Individuality first, role second.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjM1v_ZemJorDRVHrcKQnnSsVrxZvYi9FkvKDvJUsOA8jjBjLuFgLj-MjI8ovI0PMZcp2eNDxx4J3PnO4Ms_MUq8mFK-890Y2vr6sEVkvvq2SgemccF-nK0TLbrJrVlOLOjGgYTu4CV04Wu/s1600/IMG_1699.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjM1v_ZemJorDRVHrcKQnnSsVrxZvYi9FkvKDvJUsOA8jjBjLuFgLj-MjI8ovI0PMZcp2eNDxx4J3PnO4Ms_MUq8mFK-890Y2vr6sEVkvvq2SgemccF-nK0TLbrJrVlOLOjGgYTu4CV04Wu/s320/IMG_1699.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5597789467337545650" border="0" /></a><br /><br />But the volume wasn't just about motherhood -- it was about fatherhood too. Because God the Father is abandoning the Silver City and randomness/chaos is about to ensue. Gabriel feels betrayed, Lucifer is hardly surprised. Though perhaps my favorite line so far in regards to Lucifer and God the Father is this:<br /><br /><blockquote>FOR YOU ARE THE KING OF CONTRIVANCE AND MANIPULATION, MY SAMAEL, BUT IN THAT, AS IN ALL THINGS -- YOU LEARNED FROM YOUR FATHER.</blockquote><br />Slytherins! The lot of them. And I fucking love it. I'm hoping the fatherhood theme will play out more in further episodes, but I just find the juxtaposition of a masculine character and a feminine character abandoning certain roles society has thrust upon them to be fascinating.<br /><br />And, of course, I like the subversion of the typical concept of God so prevalent in Judeo-Christian societies. I mean, I don't think that "contrivance" and "manipulations" would be the first adjectives the average person would use to describe "god."Sonjahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02003122146228192404noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8568633208228455157.post-38116851846447714022011-04-18T16:40:00.000-07:002011-04-18T16:43:23.005-07:00Regarding Game of Thrones (spoilers)So I thought that the first episode of <span style="font-style: italic;">Game of Thrones</span> (which I watched on youtube) was mostly good.<br /><br />Except for one part which I find really, intensely irritating.<br /><br />It was after Dany weds Khal Drogo and they go on their ride, which preludes their sexual intimacy. Well, if it can be called intimacy.<br /><br />It sucks being a wife/female and all in Westeros, we'll put it that way. And because of that, it just makes what the writers' change all the worse, in my opinion.<br /><br /><a name="cutid1"></a>Here's the scene in the book (though they skipped the part where Dany unbraids his hair):<br /><br /><blockquote>He began to undress her.<br /><br />His fingers were deft and strangely tender. He removed her silks one by one, carefully, while Dany sat unmoving, silent, looking at his eyes. When he bared her small breasts, she could not help herself. She averted her eyes and covered herself with her hands. "No," Drogo said. He pulled her hands away from her breasts, gently but firmly, then lifted her face again to make her look at him. "No," he repeated.<br /><br />"No," she echoed back at him.<br /><br />[. . .]<br /><br />After a while he began to touch her. Lightly at first, then harder. She could sense the fierce strength in his hands, but he never hurt her. He held her hand in his own and brushed her fingers, one by one. He ran a hand gently down her leg. He stroked her face, tracing the curve of her ears, running a finger gently around her mouth. He put both hands in her hair and combed it with his fingers. He turned her around, massaged her shoulders, slid a knuckle down the path of her spine.<br /><br />It seemed as if hours passed before his hands finally went to her breasts. He stroked the soft skin underneath until it tingled. He circled her nipples with his thumbs, pinched them between thumb and forefinger, then began to pull at her, very lightly at first, then more insistently, until her nipples stiffened and began to ache.<br /><br />He stopped then, and drew her down onto his lap. Dany was flushed and breathless, her heart fluttering in her chest. He cupped her face in his huge hands and looked into her eyes. "No?" he said, and she knew it was a question.<br /><br />She took his hand and moved it down to the wetness between her thighs. "Yes," she whispered as she put his finger inside her.</blockquote><br /><br />In the television version, Drogo skips the foreplay, never asks her permission, and, most importantly, Dany's agency is never acknowledged in the HBO version when she says yes.<br /><br />I find this very problematic for me on all sorts of levels.<br /><br />1. It completely removes Drogo's complexity. In the telly version, he's just a stereotypical savage who wants what's "his." He just takes off her clothes and bends her over. He's just a type--and a really harmful cultural stereotype at that, too.<br /><br />2. I don't really understand why they toned down the brother's physical abusiveness (pinching her nipple, primarily) -- though, in fairness, they did get the emotional abuse spot on -- and increased Drogo's. I just think that there was a difference between the two in how they treated Dany as a sexual woman, and that the Writers-that-Be completely removed the difference by not showing the rest of the scene.<br /><br />3. Dany is so awesome. None of her dialogue should be removed -- ever! (I'm only half-serious, but they really shouldn't have axed the "yes," imo).<br /><br />Everything else was amazing. I love the guy who plays Jaime -- the look on his face at the end, when Bran discovers them. It's not really until later in the series that Jaime becomes one of my favorite characters because, in <span style="font-style: italic;">Game of Thrones</span>, you don't really see his complexity. But here -- with a real actor being able to show it, without the filter of a little child's eyes, you see it plain as day. And that's beautiful.<br /><br />They covered a lot of ground in a short while. Dany's final scene with Drogo (grumble grumble) is on page 85 of my book and the closing scene with Bran is on page 71.<br /><br />One more caveat -- Robb? Theon Greyjoy? I'm not sure if Greyjoy made an appearance, but I think the guy who plays Robb (who I think is Robb?) would make a better Greyjoy. I never pictured Robb as being so douchey.Sonjahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02003122146228192404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8568633208228455157.post-87949990272546811812011-04-16T21:05:00.000-07:002011-04-16T21:21:23.254-07:00Discourse - Lucifer Volume 5: InfernoI have to say that this is probably my least favorite of the series so far. Which isn't really saying anything because I stayed up past my bedtime reading it, Mazikeen is still my personal hero, and Lucifer is still up to his usually charismatic, trickster self.<br /><br />I guess I got the feeling that this text was all about setting pieces in order for more substantial character arts and Awesome Happenings -- which is totally okay. Set-up whets the appetite for more. If every minute of everything was awesome, then there would not be an awesome.<br /><br />I wasn't really expecting Mazikeen's husband to show up. That was an interesting story-line -- I like how she defeated him, how because she was a woman, nobody taught her, nobody expected her to learn -- but she did. Empowering.<br /><br />I also liked the character Lys. She's been infected with humanity, she's scrabbling for her father's authority. All good stuff. Looking forward to see what'll happen next with her.<br /><br />I think when one of the most tender moments was when Duma came to Lucifer's aid. There is so little compassion -- true compassion -- like that left in the world. I find it utterly beautiful wherever I see it. And when he tells Lucifer that three have defied God's will -- he looks so sad.<br /><br />Speaking of compassion -- there was an odd little arc about Miss Zim'et and Sabah. There is this trope that the Big Bad is always going to want human life, babies, or some virgin -- but they wanted Sabah's tumor, thus saving his life. I wasn't really expecting that, and I thought it hinted at an interesting direction. I hope to see more of where this leads.<br /><br />I guess the most surprising character was Solomon -- I wasn't really expecting him to show up. I'm glad that they kind of commentaried on that blind fanatacism, forcing them to question whether they truly are doing God's will, even if they think they are.<br /><br />Good stuff.Sonjahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02003122146228192404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8568633208228455157.post-87652839401395667052011-04-15T18:58:00.000-07:002011-04-15T19:24:59.220-07:00Supernatural First Impressions<span style="font-style: italic;">Supernatural</span> "My Heart Will Go On" (6.17): Spoilery<br /><br />I heard that this episode had Fate in it. And I was really dreading it because one of the things I like about <span style="font-style: italic;">Supernatural</span> is that it's very gung-ho about free will and giving Destiny the bird and what-not. And when I heard "Fate" I translated it as a personification of the fate that we see in texts like Beowulf, etc. So I was very much leery of the idea, to say the least.<br /><br />But I was wrong! It was the Greek goddesses of Fate, which was a huge relief. And it renewed my appreciation for how well Supernatural navigates the tension between fate and free will because it's a rather nuanced idea that flicks like Star Wars always failed to properly explore.<br /><br />Also -- Fate was a badass. Not only was her librarian look super hot, but she was a strong female character -- which <span style="font-style: italic;">Supernatural</span>, despite it's otherwise awesomeness -- rather lacks (since we're talking about strong female characters, it was nice to see Ellen and to hear that Jo was off being an awesome hunter).<br /><br />I really loved how Fate called Castiel out on the carpet. I thought she was complex -- she's angry that the world is suddenly a chaotic-topsy-turvy mess more so than usual, she's angry that she's lost her job--that the rug's been pulled out from under her feet, and she's angry that Castiel has been abusing angel privileges and saving boat-loads of people to fund his angelic civil war. And instead of wringing her hands, she goes through the proper channels, and then when that fails, does something about it. Very cool.<br /><br />And you know, since we're talking about gender (I know, it's all I can think about these days--hopefully that part will get turned off soon, it gets a little exhausting sometimes), I really liked how the show sort of played with some stereotypes that are so commonly applied to women:<br /><br />Don't be so emotional, Castiel tells her. You're confused. And the show subverts that by really playing off the different emotional dynamics at work here -- both the individual ones and the cosmically broad ones.<br /><br />Sometimes I think the problem with shows is that they go too far in a polarized direction: either a woman is a stereotype in that she's passive or what not, or she's either the kick ass standard bearer that says This Show Believes in Feminism Because Look At How Macho This Woman Is. And so I liked that <span style="font-style: italic;">Supernatural</span> did have her being emotional and reasonable at the same time. It was realistic and three dimensional and awesome.<br /><br />And, if we're talking about three dimensional characters: Castiel.<br /><br />I think it takes guts to take a fan favorite and to put him in circumstances where his motivations and desires will, perhaps, conflict with what made him so lovable in the first place. In Season 4, he was heaven's bitch, just accepting what he was told. In Season 5, Sam and Dean showed him what it meant to be human. But then he got put in charge of heaven and now he has some serious decisions to make. And he has conflicting motivations, and he must choose, and instead of doing the right thing, he tries to have his cake and eat it too (I couldn't help but think that his little speech to the boys about how they taught him about freedom etc. was sort of preluding a course of action that he knows they probably won't agree with in a future episode).<br /><br />I love how palpable his shame is: even as he's denying Fate's accusations about his motivations for saving the Titanic, you can just see it (and he's obviously not used to lying, that's so adorable and beautiful and simultaneously sad that he's learning how to -- especially in context of that one episode where he asked Dean why people lie). And, even though he stopped Balthazar when she threatened to have Dean and Sam killed, I can't help but think that it was also because he knew she was right. <br /><br />And then of course, he lies to Sam and Dean, covering for himself, blaming Fate because he's not brave enough to blame himself.<br /><br />I can't say I'm thrilled with the direction that Castiel is being taken from a personal, squeeing fangirl point of view, but I have to say that, as a writer, I really respect the show for not keeping Castiel as Sam and Dean's backseat angel buddy. I feel like there are high stakes for the character, like the show is taking the opportunity to explore more of his character to make him round and full and real, and it just thrills me.Sonjahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02003122146228192404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8568633208228455157.post-59811276761636390282011-04-10T14:42:00.000-07:002011-04-10T14:58:39.806-07:00Gender Alert: Mad MenIn the fourth season of <span style="font-style: italic;">Mad Men</span>, the second episode "Christmas Comes But Once a Year" has a mini-arc involving Peggy in which she must decide whether she wants to accept or reject the advances of her current boyfriend, who wishes to have sex with her.<br /><br />He says to her that he wants to be her first--and she does not correct his assumption that she is a virgin (though the first season established her fling with Pete and the subsequent child, along with exploring tensions between her choice as a career woman vs. a mother).<br /><br />The reason I mention it is because my human sexuality class recently had a superficial discussion regarding virginity (superficial because the class is one hundred plus people and we were already behind). Needless to say, the topic was rather hot and controversial, but it came about that it is still popular for women to be less than truthful about how many people they've slept with or simply outright saying they are still virgins, even if it's not so.<br /><br />I find it sad that we are in such similar circumstances where women are forced to censure themselves simply because of how they will subsequently be viewed by society (indeed, I find even the idea of "virginity" to be a relic of an ignorant past and best to be abandoned entirely).<br /><br />There is, in fact, no winning in this kind of situation. For Peggy, she is objectified no matter what she chooses. Because the boyfriend wants to be her first--whether as a status claim or "to take her" is not entirely clear through the course of the episode, but I can't help but think it's one or both of those motivations--he objectifies her from a person to a thing of conquest.<br /><br />If she corrects his assumptions (assumptions which limit her sexuality is an individual), then she will be labeled a slut or a whore--denigrating terms in and of themselves.<br /><br />Obviously the issues aren't so strong today, but they are still present.<br /><br />That's really one of the reasons I like Peggy so much--it's fascinating to watch her (and Joan) navigate these power structures so deftly.<br /><br />Speaking of Joan, I rather loved her scene in "The Good News" when, after she receives flowers from Lane, she storms into his office, confronting him about he has infantalized her, making her feel like a "helpless little girl." Of course, it was a result of a mix-up in flowers, but that her beliefs regarding Lane's motivations were even an option reveal the sort of disrespect she has to navigate on a daily basis.Sonjahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02003122146228192404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8568633208228455157.post-78305642514328126822011-04-06T12:23:00.000-07:002011-04-06T12:52:42.500-07:00Discourse - Lucifer Volume 4: The Divine ComedyUnfortunately, again, I cannot remark at length about the text and must limit myself to highlights only.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Lucifer as Anti-hero, Lucifer as Character<br /><br /></span>This text introduced an interesting juxtaposition of Lucifer.<br /><br />First, it begins with Lucifer revealing himself to the citizens of his newly populated world. He towers above them, a figure of strength, and a taker of no bullshit.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEild5W0fZtyoiryFHJrg4UBdpCf9K2VHZawpaJqrOixh_FfzBQpebs-Rcj1Aj7QeXNo1ZNpIkvQhkTmsgptbOzNqKSQmWIFamPlA6wzqzoRNfCGeeLU54klfwXqqTVA-yLqAHSakW5dCP4I/s1600/nobullshit.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEild5W0fZtyoiryFHJrg4UBdpCf9K2VHZawpaJqrOixh_FfzBQpebs-Rcj1Aj7QeXNo1ZNpIkvQhkTmsgptbOzNqKSQmWIFamPlA6wzqzoRNfCGeeLU54klfwXqqTVA-yLqAHSakW5dCP4I/s320/nobullshit.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5592557732204146946" border="0" /></a><br /><br />His first command is the forbidden commandment of worship.<br /><br />This is, inherently, an image of strength. Lucifer is beautiful in his rebellion, in his absolute self assuredness, in his confidence, and, most importantly, in himself.<br /><br />However, as the draws towards its end, that strength is undercut with a newly revealed aspect of his character.<br /><br />It's not when he falls when the Cards attempt to establish themselves as gods in his universe. It's not when he falls prey to a magical attack from behind (a plot point simmering since volume 2), it's not even when he goes forward into hell to face the angel completely powerless (which is, ironically, an image of strength in and of itself).<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0-w5modR7QoaRM3teXjyCQefZrbZhSpDT1ckdIfLWHwCplx9Ys6x-xESnQuTT7G5ReQ6ANtlpcJB-DiD81PQK9Ai23TQ7ap2EC1TmYxQ9SXKsYtv1m0eH5VzGxiN-6kJ2N31vPEpJ4dO_/s1600/luciferishonourable.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0-w5modR7QoaRM3teXjyCQefZrbZhSpDT1ckdIfLWHwCplx9Ys6x-xESnQuTT7G5ReQ6ANtlpcJB-DiD81PQK9Ai23TQ7ap2EC1TmYxQ9SXKsYtv1m0eH5VzGxiN-6kJ2N31vPEpJ4dO_/s320/luciferishonourable.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5592559138237153074" border="0" /></a><br /><br />It's when he converses with Death that he reveals the fragility of his character, of his inexorable will.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTX3H59x683gKxFlk5YLKT2b8vhFM5RMwhwJJYZBeu4kRhDa-0u-o_64uCBO-pR5pfhmheKkpwDT-aXBw0CdT3wSNnFll7nY83L-s5VDp5Upw2r_OUNl-KNK-7NBcUyg7CDVZApf6aUBeb/s1600/death2.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTX3H59x683gKxFlk5YLKT2b8vhFM5RMwhwJJYZBeu4kRhDa-0u-o_64uCBO-pR5pfhmheKkpwDT-aXBw0CdT3wSNnFll7nY83L-s5VDp5Upw2r_OUNl-KNK-7NBcUyg7CDVZApf6aUBeb/s320/death2.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5592559481579073682" border="0" /></a><br /><br />He does not accept death, he flings himself against her in anger and denial - and she cooly, confidently gives him a piece of her mind and advice while she's at it.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhp0Ojxzur4cCcaJzZ1ZGoro4pfdR6wPC27RYZBSgiRQ2zf-9Ema5KQKCpshpe_Dzd3arERkG_UfhJanvnH8tI80qdun7jMgylopQKhUbwfnk-dq_yvj1LmSD4rom8fmpb-ZkbiGXdyQUcK/s1600/death7.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhp0Ojxzur4cCcaJzZ1ZGoro4pfdR6wPC27RYZBSgiRQ2zf-9Ema5KQKCpshpe_Dzd3arERkG_UfhJanvnH8tI80qdun7jMgylopQKhUbwfnk-dq_yvj1LmSD4rom8fmpb-ZkbiGXdyQUcK/s320/death7.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5592560112309761682" border="0" /></a><br /><br />The differences between their manners is staggering -- and it adds more depth to an already complex character.<br /><br />I think that's one of the reasons I love this image so much:<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0GoIXi6lAA46kWMXMQgkZQn8ET6fMjErPGThrj3XbNAGixDEUNR67BJ9RBfjnySktsJIVUkzwBlaWjL18hpyK1Lz8-qkUWoPizBrg3TXqjO74MSANO7bEtPasvbt7uGfgMwNbgkUoLPD0/s1600/292785-80054-death.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 206px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0GoIXi6lAA46kWMXMQgkZQn8ET6fMjErPGThrj3XbNAGixDEUNR67BJ9RBfjnySktsJIVUkzwBlaWjL18hpyK1Lz8-qkUWoPizBrg3TXqjO74MSANO7bEtPasvbt7uGfgMwNbgkUoLPD0/s320/292785-80054-death.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5592560281304283010" border="0" /></a><br /><br />It incapsulates the very nature of their conversation.<br /><br />And it is beautiful.<br /><br />As for the anti-hero - Lucifer knows how Elaine adores him. How she loves him. How she'd do anything, absolutely anything. How young she is.<br /><br />And he does not warn her that in giving life to him, she will sacrifice it for herself.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9dad6ed7PqswVJu5ZIKhIKu81ux4RqAtenaueIzS1mTcJQyB8jw_oYbdAt-wOtKdtDxsiU1RPFB_ndFqAF9rzmvfrrPBSf4Ol9WUdXmnDp85yEHw4p0Ggnheltxjafj8rzcl7vRP-XExP/s1600/deathandelain6.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9dad6ed7PqswVJu5ZIKhIKu81ux4RqAtenaueIzS1mTcJQyB8jw_oYbdAt-wOtKdtDxsiU1RPFB_ndFqAF9rzmvfrrPBSf4Ol9WUdXmnDp85yEHw4p0Ggnheltxjafj8rzcl7vRP-XExP/s320/deathandelain6.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5592560518060112642" border="0" /></a><br /><br />That moment is so poignantly sad.<br /><br />I love how Carey isn't afraid to make it absolutely real.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Lucifer, Michael, and Yahweh </span><br /><br />I liked how Lucifer and Michael became two sides of the same coin essentially. Lucifer is full of this inexorable will, Michael full of creative power. Without them both, the new universe would never have come to be.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6eqpvJ6syBLazGTpnbZ6lK-du73OvgtoqP6_cWg-NnT-ZVcYjCbMb9d08M1spaQ5f2_NdnGpytrP6egBif6r9qiYeNtYT3Qc2sFlXN3gm8rIhPfrrYiTiarnQ-nzbI4W6uML0dIgDu-Hg/s1600/twosidesofcoin2.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6eqpvJ6syBLazGTpnbZ6lK-du73OvgtoqP6_cWg-NnT-ZVcYjCbMb9d08M1spaQ5f2_NdnGpytrP6egBif6r9qiYeNtYT3Qc2sFlXN3gm8rIhPfrrYiTiarnQ-nzbI4W6uML0dIgDu-Hg/s320/twosidesofcoin2.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5592560742009751906" border="0" /></a><br /><br />They are, in a way, a circle, incomplete without the other. And this is seen even more clearly in Michael's fall.<br /><br />I'm eager to see how volumes 5 and onwards will explore this circle that's sort of coming into light. And, of course, I could be misreading it, but I hope I'm not.<br /><br />I love how offended Lucifer was when Death compared him to Yahweh -- even as he conveniently ignores all their other similarities: creation (the big bang encore), a first people, appearing on high and delivering a commandment - simply differing on the nature of the commandment.<br /><br />It's interesting that in this and other literature about the devil, folks have always commented on Lucifer's pride, the pride that eventually lead to his downfall.<br /><br />Yet, he commands people not to worship anybody -- not even him.<br /><br />And, on the contrary, the god of the Bible is a jealous god, demanding the sole worship of himself.<br /><br />It's just interesting, the juxtaposition of the two characters in parallel with each other.<br /><br />I also liked the subtle (and not so subtle) commentary on religion. Lucifer's world was perfectly happy and content without religion -- they were beautiful and intelligent, so much so that Rachel slips into that universe with wonder and amazement.<br /><br />This world - torn apart by war and there are still nations living impoverished and uneducated.<br /><br />And it's only when the Cards come claiming to be gods that true, national disaster strikes.<br /><br />My atheist heart thrilled.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span>Sonjahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02003122146228192404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8568633208228455157.post-88642084698607464502011-04-04T19:38:00.000-07:002011-04-04T19:42:32.463-07:00Lucifer and Death<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpul5mQ__n-N_NfcVC8TaBM_OqMAzU1iCTmD6sVLoyZHpDKYkOePo6T0vPIJ4yWbxc67I_ozg70jIfq-ZAKYyPJNHc74oYONBKx8zh8vjWnGd9VVCkEboh1a-RzYSAQW6thj3uJXk7r4rG/s1600/292785-80054-death.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 206px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpul5mQ__n-N_NfcVC8TaBM_OqMAzU1iCTmD6sVLoyZHpDKYkOePo6T0vPIJ4yWbxc67I_ozg70jIfq-ZAKYyPJNHc74oYONBKx8zh8vjWnGd9VVCkEboh1a-RzYSAQW6thj3uJXk7r4rG/s320/292785-80054-death.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5591923659789901154" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Words cannot adequately express how much I love this image.<br /><br />It's so rare to see a woman carrying a man like this. Or a man in such a vulnerable position.<br /><br />Oh my god.Sonjahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02003122146228192404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8568633208228455157.post-77061923570318289862011-04-04T14:18:00.000-07:002011-04-04T18:21:44.199-07:00Discourse - Lucifer Volume 3: Dalliance With The Damned<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZVHibb47keg3s5RUz2hqRa3W9JlJhyphenhyphenW2s3OnDleCAMLCMoirBrnz8QKwRjN321PFfEOd18nzPXlmFPOahws0-SoO_SHB_brI89BFbbaZnjhVZEcGT48y-aWdUWRFc8XkbhESN0jKF_7X9/s1600/51NNGEMWG3L._SL500_AA300_.jpg"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZVHibb47keg3s5RUz2hqRa3W9JlJhyphenhyphenW2s3OnDleCAMLCMoirBrnz8QKwRjN321PFfEOd18nzPXlmFPOahws0-SoO_SHB_brI89BFbbaZnjhVZEcGT48y-aWdUWRFc8XkbhESN0jKF_7X9/s320/51NNGEMWG3L._SL500_AA300_.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5591903476929649074" border="0" /></a><br />Unfortunately, this is going to be less a review and more of a highlights. So, without further adieu (since I still have Volume 4 to read and it's due back at the library tomorrow):<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Lucifer as God; Angels as Demons</span><br /><br />Still enjoying the inversion that's going on here. Lucifer makes his realm and his only command is<br /><br /><blockquote>Bow down to no one. Worship no one. Not even me. Do you understand?<br /></blockquote><br />So beautiful.<br /><br />And then of course one of the angels comes to the man in the form of a serpent, inspiring doubt in the man's (the man's! gender-bender) about Lucifer's role as creator as well, the paradox (so popular in Christian mythology) of freedom in slavery to a deity, polarizing opinions of good and evil, the philosophy that the end (or, in his words, the intent) justifies the means, the nature of desire, and other things of a philosophical nature that I wish I had the time to more thoroughly think about.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUGvNGPgx5nkmx7wSzfBMI1umf8o6tZ0aFKD_hBq4z0A8jFh36jWpFnS9VBn6CUdaKv-43q0TWSpuaEhwoNZkLFlE5CdobR5V5tOAiD_zLFg3w_s6WeeBKhqziTeTsytnATPFumk8aiTmc/s1600/polarizedmoralsarebad.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUGvNGPgx5nkmx7wSzfBMI1umf8o6tZ0aFKD_hBq4z0A8jFh36jWpFnS9VBn6CUdaKv-43q0TWSpuaEhwoNZkLFlE5CdobR5V5tOAiD_zLFg3w_s6WeeBKhqziTeTsytnATPFumk8aiTmc/s320/polarizedmoralsarebad.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5591901926832898258" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Still. Gender-bendery goodness, nature of good and evil, all good stuff.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Mazikeen</span><br /><br />Yesterday, I enthused how Mazikeen didn't tie herself down to Lucifer and how she went off on a journey and how I still liked it, regardless of how much the reader saw of her journey or not.<br /><br />Well. I'm here to tell you that Mazikeen's journey was bad ass.<br /><br />She goes to find her identity, and is instead elected leader of the Lilim after she outwits her trial (since her fellows thought she had betrayed them by staying with Lucifer).<br /><br />And when in hell, someone introduces her as Lucifer's consort? Oh no. She's having none of that.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyMpUSvfZD5NOXUGAy9nQwz9MTm90kJKMqtFxwKcMvvGGcyay1tLV3-mM53rl6dRH9rF7o_acjHKzVr0An4HDY1jNJYYRj-yinfQ4M6P33DDHm_Fw45L6j6iMJVjAh4UH7d5IjGQpvMNbl/s1600/mazikeenisherselfandnooneelse.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyMpUSvfZD5NOXUGAy9nQwz9MTm90kJKMqtFxwKcMvvGGcyay1tLV3-mM53rl6dRH9rF7o_acjHKzVr0An4HDY1jNJYYRj-yinfQ4M6P33DDHm_Fw45L6j6iMJVjAh4UH7d5IjGQpvMNbl/s320/mazikeenisherselfandnooneelse.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5591902378572373346" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Also, I really love how she refused to play act by costuming to the period that Hell had set as its desktop.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhb642urjQL5nEcH3t7Ls1EuS6eCl4V-DjFpIZ_G_KKxuhj3jTnUVhPPgwOTDRVLmHwTRycG1z35W2bB_Q-VIG5gfVbh12MNl56dqXGEPWF9QuUhzzoM3lEJTxXyBrXudrq3W6sHHT2FJBr/s1600/mazikeenisherself.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhb642urjQL5nEcH3t7Ls1EuS6eCl4V-DjFpIZ_G_KKxuhj3jTnUVhPPgwOTDRVLmHwTRycG1z35W2bB_Q-VIG5gfVbh12MNl56dqXGEPWF9QuUhzzoM3lEJTxXyBrXudrq3W6sHHT2FJBr/s320/mazikeenisherself.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5591902156127846146" border="0" /></a><br /><br />I also think I want her t-shirt: <span style="font-style: italic;">normal consciousness will be resumed.</span><br />I think I know my next Halloween costume. Oh yes.<br /><br />So, in volume 2 she left to find her face -- a quest for identity. And then she found her identity in a role of leader of the Lilim. And when Lucifer refused to ally himself with them -- she didn't stay again. She left with her people. I think that's so great.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGq1W0s0jPsO7nMKLRnJJKm4neSpLx0aMpjxRfTuGrPNI04xRLdle9cvtnjFAhiiorOtudUbmdpnx_lHZKhmhqhAjiF3Q4__eFg0l7_Qv-K3UijhYXAf59VE-jNPaiSZooPW1O6ydeTAln/s1600/mazikeenisherpeople.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGq1W0s0jPsO7nMKLRnJJKm4neSpLx0aMpjxRfTuGrPNI04xRLdle9cvtnjFAhiiorOtudUbmdpnx_lHZKhmhqhAjiF3Q4__eFg0l7_Qv-K3UijhYXAf59VE-jNPaiSZooPW1O6ydeTAln/s320/mazikeenisherpeople.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5591902821254073634" border="0" /></a><br /><br />And you know what's also great? That Lucifer isn't threatened by her not staying with him all the damn time.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Pain As A Drug</span><br /><br />One of the things I've learned in my writing class is that people -- and especially writers -- thrive off the misfortune of others. We love to gossip about it. Etc.<br /><br />I've often thought about this -- noticing the little ways I myself take pleasure in the pain or discomfit of others (I can only speak for myself, but I think every individual has their own private bit of themselves that enjoys the non-happiness of others in their own unique way).<br /><br />And that was illustrated (heh, pun) here, with the pain powder that was...orgasmic. But it was orgasmic because it wasn't true pain, not like he later describes:<br /><br /><blockquote>One of the nobility of hell has picked me out to be her toy. Compared to you I am happy indeed. But somehow it rings like false coin. Do you remember the first lad or lass you loved? When you felt your chest was too narrow to hold your heart? When it seemed the world was made anew by your passion? And do you remember the fear that comes with love? The fear that it cannot last? The fear that you cannot be worthy of it? Truly we were not. none of us. But did it not come anyway? How we have poured our souls into another's lips and eyes. How we have died and been born again in the ebb and flow of their breath. All gone. The flesh you loved is dust. The words you whispered stir no echoes. And it may e that the one you loved most dearly sits at supper now with angels, and has forgotten your name. They think they mortify us with whips and wheels. But then, they have neither lived, nor loved. In truth -- they know nothing of pain at all.</blockquote><br />I found that an interesting concept.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Lucifer as Anti-hero</span><br /><br />There's this problem, see, with anti-heroes in stories. Anti-heroes walk a fine line. They can't be too base because then they'd make poor protagonists and then nobody would like them anymore.<br /><br />Sometimes writers try to avoid this by defanging or declawing them, as it were. Spike sort of went through something similar (unfortunately).<br /><br />It's difficult because you don't want them to stagnate and be boring, but they can't really be someone whom they're not at the same time (I fancy all characters have this problem, it's just really obvious and more noticeable with anti-heroes in my experience).<br /><br />So, there are these two scenes where Lucifer is a magnificent anti-hero -- and the writers could have shied away and had him done something more palatable.<br /><br />But they didn't.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIZeAWHfowGU8mmxYrfoqWdPpbpjx-3YeWxzjzhoRfOkPP7tCjTo083YD1R-8qWvL71YSv-HdHRq-B4Cg05tYebU_ayG6bLuATrfZsfUIcuHmMyIaBL0KtPBdSpc7b_TjcLwM-9XadYUUp/s1600/luciferasantihero.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIZeAWHfowGU8mmxYrfoqWdPpbpjx-3YeWxzjzhoRfOkPP7tCjTo083YD1R-8qWvL71YSv-HdHRq-B4Cg05tYebU_ayG6bLuATrfZsfUIcuHmMyIaBL0KtPBdSpc7b_TjcLwM-9XadYUUp/s320/luciferasantihero.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5591903095902820562" border="0" /></a><br /><br />First, he gives a demon a soul. I mean that's just. Wow, that's just cruel. And I'm in awe of it and yet, at the same time, that's...cruel (well, I suppose one doesn't become lord of hell for nothing). But yet - it's a testament to the multi-facetedness of the character.<br /><br />The second bit was when some kids snuck into his house -- and prayed to God. Of course, he wouldn't save them for that. It reminded me of those people who are like -- and thank god my loved one survived this terrible accident when, in reality, it was because someone was a damned good doctor who gave a shit about his job.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTyGI4Md8OJIwfkqrYkMOgczdwK3dRk498d404Ii7vtzsHwxxXV327l_PK8kxVdq7U-DNh0mw79KvYr-0nRRMvHlTWTk0YuVdeOrgKv715sjm0BF63Q64NfzJYlDChiKN4Xx4Sv9wc8ztB/s1600/luciferasantihero2.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTyGI4Md8OJIwfkqrYkMOgczdwK3dRk498d404Ii7vtzsHwxxXV327l_PK8kxVdq7U-DNh0mw79KvYr-0nRRMvHlTWTk0YuVdeOrgKv715sjm0BF63Q64NfzJYlDChiKN4Xx4Sv9wc8ztB/s320/luciferasantihero2.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5591903285629099266" border="0" /></a><br /><br />So I really enjoyed that scene as a writer -- because Lucifer's still an anti-hero here instead of bowing out and taking the noble option -- and as a person who is appreciative of social commentary, wherever it can be found.Sonjahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02003122146228192404noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8568633208228455157.post-8336420437915339062011-04-03T16:45:00.000-07:002011-04-03T17:35:15.811-07:00Discourse - Lucifer Volume 2: Children and Monsters<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjRXZzoWXna8ZNWbc8nwWsOniG55cqnMltv3E5HjE0fRJ8VNmGZpF70Jlc6A9jYX35nz-yESo_HPY_2nbt9NSbtznh9UWTNsrZwrUxTb2qDJRNW7Gw4mnslmkSIldjOCfG96av1dVDqUTK/s1600/dd9db220dca07a40519a2010.L._AA300_.jpg"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjRXZzoWXna8ZNWbc8nwWsOniG55cqnMltv3E5HjE0fRJ8VNmGZpF70Jlc6A9jYX35nz-yESo_HPY_2nbt9NSbtznh9UWTNsrZwrUxTb2qDJRNW7Gw4mnslmkSIldjOCfG96av1dVDqUTK/s320/dd9db220dca07a40519a2010.L._AA300_.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5591520457907397154" border="0" /></a><br />I really liked this one, especially in light of traditional Christian portrayal of Lucifer.<br /><br />For example, it's continuously stated throughout the text that Lucifer is too proud to lie, which is in direct opposition to texts like Paradise Lost that portray Lucifer as the great deceiver (I really want to write about that but I'm afraid it's going to have to wait, cry cry cry).<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivHOeiD81yLOVm6vXw8eG_R-_6BGh6ZkObHPx52mrqVtEi1PpB6vINKc78XE0VJDHfa_yTEsnQ2wp3nTHJpWNVB62BykGBop8ME3iQc_b7Kq6i1xF_4C9bl0xSQLmAj0yKkkRLJ1aonaz6/s1600/luciferaschristinset.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivHOeiD81yLOVm6vXw8eG_R-_6BGh6ZkObHPx52mrqVtEi1PpB6vINKc78XE0VJDHfa_yTEsnQ2wp3nTHJpWNVB62BykGBop8ME3iQc_b7Kq6i1xF_4C9bl0xSQLmAj0yKkkRLJ1aonaz6/s320/luciferaschristinset.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5591519173295805282" border="0" /></a><br /><br />My rebellious, atheistic spirit also appreciated the parallel of Lucifer to Christ: three days in "hell" -- with a kind of resurrection. I think it's good to have antagonistic characters like Lucifer - it keeps people on our toes about what we think of as good and evil.<br /><br />I also enjoyed the portrayal of the angels as major assholes without a care who gets caught in the crossfire in their desire to eradicate Lucifer and expand the domain of heaven (wow, sounds almost human). In fact, one of the characters even calls them "scumbags." Again, I think this challenge of what people typically consider good is an excellent way to keep people examining their value systems.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQI6FaHYGbUQ86lXhCh3UxVeCQS2gtvvwQDONm19obZkPQNI1QtWKmUFYRTzUsuanZdWei91EaWOLLT5dHZShn4fSUmKYCXpefr-yY8IRhV6WAAn81H6-xDKuN8BQ8wk1mnz5GHRR7oPQO/s1600/angelsarescumbags.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQI6FaHYGbUQ86lXhCh3UxVeCQS2gtvvwQDONm19obZkPQNI1QtWKmUFYRTzUsuanZdWei91EaWOLLT5dHZShn4fSUmKYCXpefr-yY8IRhV6WAAn81H6-xDKuN8BQ8wk1mnz5GHRR7oPQO/s320/angelsarescumbags.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5591518913063466066" border="0" /></a><br /><br />(I wouldn't be even slightly surprised if Eric Kripke admitted he slept with both Sandman and Lucifer under his pillow.)<br /><br />Finally, even though she wasn't a really player in this volume, I really appreciated the character Mazikeen. Throughout the books, she's constantly shown with a mask over her face (I don't remember if the reader ever saw her without the mask in the Sandman volumes or not), and finally, in this Lucifer volume, the reader gets to see how the other half of her face looks like.<br /><br />Well, throughout the course of the action, a well-meaning character manages to heal her entirely -- in other words, her face is now completely healed.<br /><br />In fact, she is beautiful.<br /><br />But it isn't <span style="font-style: italic;">her</span> face, and Mazikeen is very resentful of that someone took it from her.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCEwfs-43e3PE5deuIifB7jKRp_OjSq7z2Bc1tarVaEXF3npW4Zt8pzKQ4e3WKwDrG-FEOR2RoQoIYKgUGA0MYeby0HJAoUBV3oX2eOQoXqOzoo1-HZfpCnzJJt09NbM8ADyKeOt2mz5Nu/s1600/mazrobbedofidentity.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCEwfs-43e3PE5deuIifB7jKRp_OjSq7z2Bc1tarVaEXF3npW4Zt8pzKQ4e3WKwDrG-FEOR2RoQoIYKgUGA0MYeby0HJAoUBV3oX2eOQoXqOzoo1-HZfpCnzJJt09NbM8ADyKeOt2mz5Nu/s320/mazrobbedofidentity.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5591519416229804898" border="0" /></a><br /><br />I really like this on several levels.<br /><br />One, her identity is not rooted in her level of attractiveness. So many times there are these stories that show women pursuing this societally constructed definition of beauty, in fact, rooting their identity in such a cause (I'm thinking of flicks like the Princess Diaries where you having the ugly duckling transformed into the beautiful swan and somehow finding herself in the journey from average jane to stunning sex-bot).<br /><br />I find Mazikeen's a delightful twist on this particular trope in literature.<br /><br />Two, for a long time she has served Lucifer. However, she refuses to wait for him to help her and, when he is busy with his own plots and schemes, she goes off on her own to find her face. To find her identity.<br /><br />I don't know how much of her journey the reader will see, but that she just went off on her own was such a delightful and unexpected example of women going off on their own journeys. So many times, women are presented as sacrificing their own identities in order to help men along on their own coming-of-age journeys, and it was just so nice to see something different and empowering.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-xmXYsEDThZpjFpAi2C8GE1LFovQE9n4ZIYZs9K0xYIdJBGxRk3z7erAb613SRtLDP4UAXTnMlyVbllG3vj7Oi3Bmi3mrGOVhAmSlO-mwyVUJBzw4YtzA9RiJQTocYHEfkqNCQ0TAue-q/s1600/mazcantwait.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-xmXYsEDThZpjFpAi2C8GE1LFovQE9n4ZIYZs9K0xYIdJBGxRk3z7erAb613SRtLDP4UAXTnMlyVbllG3vj7Oi3Bmi3mrGOVhAmSlO-mwyVUJBzw4YtzA9RiJQTocYHEfkqNCQ0TAue-q/s320/mazcantwait.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5591519657939613666" border="0" /></a><br /><br />I am seriously crushing on Mazikeen. Not beautiful Mazikeen, but masked Mazikeen.<br /><br />Just the inversion of so many tropes - so many times, masks are seen in literature as personas that hide a true identity. Yet Mazikeen uses the mask to express her identity - it is a part of her.<br /><br />Yes. Much love to Mazikeen.Sonjahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02003122146228192404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8568633208228455157.post-55527199452185608432011-03-31T18:01:00.000-07:002011-03-31T18:17:34.260-07:00Discourse: A Brief Note About Lucifer the Graphic Novel<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwIg1hz7rA7CbgPeapYa41oBz_X8I68tHTUMpco61pmhWv3pTVPq9xIHiDycmE4pWBlfe3cibEyRN5lfgRHdrER6ru7DAl7UIr015_bb7ompUU2b6ZdSJ8vh8rJTkoXQbgiBbIwp2dMwnN/s1600/51NQK6CMG6L._SL500_AA300_.jpg"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwIg1hz7rA7CbgPeapYa41oBz_X8I68tHTUMpco61pmhWv3pTVPq9xIHiDycmE4pWBlfe3cibEyRN5lfgRHdrER6ru7DAl7UIr015_bb7ompUU2b6ZdSJ8vh8rJTkoXQbgiBbIwp2dMwnN/s320/51NQK6CMG6L._SL500_AA300_.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5590417643948150434" border="0" /></a><br />I just finished reading Lucifer: Devil in the Gateway by Mike Carey.<br /><br />This is a spin off from Neil Gaiman's amazingly epic and awesome Sandman books. And if you haven't read them, go and do so. I highly recommend it because they are beautiful and wonderful.<br /><br />Unfortunately, I was an idiot and dropped off this particular graphic novel (the Lucifer one) at the library because I temporarily forgot I was blogging about the books I read. Oh well, I think the strongest story was the Six Card Spread storyline anyway.<br /><br />I learned two things.<br /><br />1). I should really, really educate myself regarding the Tarot<br />2). Lucifer is a delicious anti-hero and I would kill to see Mark Pellegrino play him in a tv series (or mini series!) based on the graphic novels.<br /><br />However, there was this one particular moment in the Six Card Spread issue that was very - poignant. It was set in Germany, and one of the characters, a blond-headed boy (Karl), got himself messed up with some. Well, let's just call them Nazis, shall we? They would find people who weren't like Them and beat them up. Because they could.<br /><br />Unfortunately, there's another boy who has a crush on Karl. He is not German (Indian, I believe). And he is a homosexual.<br /><br />And he finally gathers the strength to ask out Karl. Who meets in an alley with his Nazi friends who commence beat the shit out of him. And do something nasty to his genitalia.<br /><br />It's a very disturbing scene. More so because it happens in real life.<br /><br />Anyway, Karl goes out drinking with his friends, then excuses himself to piss in order to call an ambulance. He's obviously a bit emotionally distraught and when the ambulance people are being thick, he shouts that he will show them where his victim was.<br /><br />While he's waiting, he runs into his employer (who is an angel, a bookstore keeper, and distraught since Lucifer has dealt him a very nasty blow) who understands what has happened. And there is an exchange between the two of them that I wish I had photographed and put up here because I think it's beautiful - even if it is maybe on the cliche side, with the focus on bullying lately, etc. Though maybe it's not, since it was published in 2001.<br /><br />He told Karl that it wasn't the fact that the boy he had just beaten up (I wish I could remember his name) was attracted to him that had made him angry, but because Karl was angry with himself for being sexually aroused by him.<br /><br />And I was like - yes. This.<br /><br />So many people are afraid to love themselves, to accept themselves. And it's so destructive not only to the individual in question, but to those around them.<br /><br />Anyway, it was particularly heartbreaking when the parents of the boy thanked Karl for calling the police, because he might not have been found alive otherwise.<br /><br />That just about broke my heart.<br /><br />I wasn't very old in 2001 -- only about 13, raised in an ultra conservative household where I didn't even know homosexuality existed. So to me, looking back - this seems like such a powerful thing to say. And I really appreciate that.<br /><br />Anyway, excellent series so far -- highly recommend it.Sonjahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02003122146228192404noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8568633208228455157.post-25638125403343106662011-03-19T14:12:00.000-07:002011-03-19T14:53:40.236-07:00Fringe: The Tragedy of Agent Farnsworth<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEvr8l1hV51nJ5EUXOJt1KhWc9sNRHnMOwGRrx7r4rEJruvIdwvwlGsuZnpr4M50N7DyWlVol8317OvJB4vSv2XRJ5MhIc3eC0nA5FoFNbRtuyi7BnOu6iv6-lt-J6Der4v3wSdLqCgmA_/s1600/astrid1.jpg"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEvr8l1hV51nJ5EUXOJt1KhWc9sNRHnMOwGRrx7r4rEJruvIdwvwlGsuZnpr4M50N7DyWlVol8317OvJB4vSv2XRJ5MhIc3eC0nA5FoFNbRtuyi7BnOu6iv6-lt-J6Der4v3wSdLqCgmA_/s320/astrid1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5585912279268513746" border="0" /></a><br />Last night's <span style="font-style: italic;">Fringe</span> reminded me of how little the show views Astrid not only as a character, but as a person.<br /><br />Astrid has always been one of my favorite characters, and I hate how she is often delegated to the role of Walter's caretaker. This is always niggling at me -- for example, in a past episode when Walter is beginning to realize that the fabric of the universe is beginning to unravel on Our Side, he asks why people aren't fetching the stuff that he requires. Peter and Olivia are both there, but it's Astrid who must go and fetch it.<br /><br />It's Astrid who has to cater to Walter's (very adorkable, mind you) whims. It's Astrid who has to clean up the messes.<br /><br />It's Astrid who's delegated to doing every Uncool Thing in the Fringe Division.<br /><br />And that's just sad.<br /><br />In this latest episode ("Stowaway"), Bellivia nicely illustrates how insignificant the scientific patriarchs view Astrid, despite her oft-stated intellect (particularly her linguistic abilities).<br /><br />Bellivia hits on Astrid so often that she's forced to button the top of her blouse to alleviate the discomfort of his advances. And though it's clearly shown as (humorously) inappropriate, I feel that it opened larger issues that the show must at some point address because the exchanges between Bellivia and Walter demonstrate not only why but how the show needs to revise the way it is currently portraying Astrid.<br /><br />I don't mind that William Bell is a misogynist asshole. Flaws assist in making characters three dimensional after all. On a character level, I didn't even mind when Walter and Bellie were considering putting Bell's consciousness in the cow and William says, "But I'd have to milk you." And Bell returns with the idea of assigning Astrid to do it.<br /><br />First, it shows an anxiety on the males' side about same-sex touching in a sexualized context (because I doubt most people would view milking a cow as sexual if the breasts/nipples weren't involved in the context of body-hopping). This actually reminds me how few heterosexual men consider their own breasts as erotic, and how homosexual male couples are more likely to foreplay with each other's breasts than straight couples are -- possibly because heterosexual males find it to be effeminate (this from my human sexuality course).<br /><br />This sexual-orientation anxiety is combined with the long history of milkmaids, which is of course (obviously) usually seen as a female occupation.<br /><br />So in that brief exchange, there's anxiety regarding both gender and sexuality.<br /><br />But this is okay - it's human to be anxious about such things.<br /><br />What is not okay is that the show has not provided the same privilege to Astrid. If they were to assign her to milk Gene-as-Bellie, I can't imagine her saying no -- because she has never been given the opportunity to assert her agency and say no to being Walter's caretaker -- even when it has caused her physical harm as it did in Season 2.<br /><br />That's all she /is/ in the show: Walter's babysitter. The show never shows any other side to her -- leaving such character developments to the imagination of disgruntled viewers.<br /><br />Simply put, her agency is in question because she's never been allowed to express it.<br /><br />So, when you have an exchange like the one between William Bell and Walter, it frustrates me not because they're being assholes, but because the show is not actively rebutting them by showing the audience that Astrid is more than how they are denigrating her.<br /><br />If anything, the show is reinforcing the way these men view Astrid by <span style="font-weight: bold;">only</span> showing her in that minimizing, de-personifying context.<br /><br />And that I find inexcusable.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXmewAEMyFoNkXBsW7fdAqN-LhADxgW19k4yZqcbNNUN1zHE0IfYV6DNxUZexqN2eL6CT-ghrzDDEClm0nWILPKZavBEOhsOkrcNSdUMzEqOb9G5UdgYkCNJzxy4U2PxkHtMy6NnDdwJJA/s1600/astridalt.png"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 266px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXmewAEMyFoNkXBsW7fdAqN-LhADxgW19k4yZqcbNNUN1zHE0IfYV6DNxUZexqN2eL6CT-ghrzDDEClm0nWILPKZavBEOhsOkrcNSdUMzEqOb9G5UdgYkCNJzxy4U2PxkHtMy6NnDdwJJA/s320/astridalt.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5585911804606935554" border="0" /></a>I had hopes that the Alternate Universe would provide a more complex, nuanced view of Astrid, but so far, I am still disappointed. Instead of a handmaid, Astrid serves the role of a biological computer (though I do treasure moments when the show allows glimpses of her that reveal her to be more -- such as when she suggested the Fringe Division put out a request for people to call regarding information about a certain something or other -- but even that was more in her facial expression and tone than by the dialogue itself -- and that is a testament to Jasika Nicole's sorely underused acting abilities).<br /><br />I know that part of the reason Alternate Astrid is so detached and distant is because in that universe she has aspurgers -- but even people who have autism are still complex individuals. I desperately desire that the show will portray either Astrids' complexities in a meaningful, significant fashion.<br /><br />I think an opportunity was lost when Fauxlivia was posing as Olivia on Our Side. She's meets Our Astrid, who is so different from the Other Astrid -- and yet, the show doesn't even explore how Fauxlivia would react to that. Instead, we get a typical male-female romance between the leads complete with a plot deviced pregnancy instead an exploration of female-female friendship in a context that would have been amazing and significant.<br /><br />How would have Fauxlivia reacted to our Astrid? How would Astrid react to the possibility of a reaction with Whom-She-Thinks-Is-Olivia-But-Is-Actually-Fauxlivia? How would she have reacted when this Olivia, whom is so much friendlier and open than the Olivia once knew, turned out to Feauxlivia? How would that have affected her friendship with Olivia when Olivia returned? Does Astrid prefer to Olivia or Fauxlivia?<br /><br />The viewers don't know -- it's almost as if Astrid's relationship with Dunham doesn't matter if it's Fauxlivia or Olivia -- and that is unrealistic! It just is.<br /><br />A wonderful, unique opportunity that lost out to the typical triangular romance that viewers have already seen a thousand other times and that I of which am most heartily weary.<br /><br />I heard rumors that there is an upcoming episode that will be Astrid-centric: basically, everyone else is otherwise incapacitated, and she will save the day.<br /><br />I hope these rumors are true, and I look forward to that episode because seriously. It's been three seasons. And she's the only main character who has not had any character growth.<br /><br />It's a travesty, is what it is.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_uz9GRstBEjzybNMkIZniVRnBlxuQ4eeXgtkI7yoxB-ioJuzmTqLGROVDLeIGOZhzoXpjTaeU6Zfst5dcF6PqjhtlvnmMeqgmVTAC1-xkNxlNKRiXRQ5jFacHn1BxXtf9LUKqRcVmfz-N/s1600/astrid2.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_uz9GRstBEjzybNMkIZniVRnBlxuQ4eeXgtkI7yoxB-ioJuzmTqLGROVDLeIGOZhzoXpjTaeU6Zfst5dcF6PqjhtlvnmMeqgmVTAC1-xkNxlNKRiXRQ5jFacHn1BxXtf9LUKqRcVmfz-N/s320/astrid2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5585912068791899042" border="0" /></a>Sonjahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02003122146228192404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8568633208228455157.post-55386758285151854792011-03-18T07:00:00.000-07:002011-03-18T07:35:47.673-07:00Regarding Ramona<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDNCFxV1p3w74kC8zPmfLgJ9bprO_f3LmukClttZgCMsKBIlvEj2P6WTFiowqyiNyExadc6aKSC-VUvJ6KC3eiOxQpjZC9yjA9k_12znzRsNoxA0mE6lLGaOHguJirY25pdj9NRsdQt3sX/s1600/SCOTT-PILGRIM-Mary-Elizabeth-Winstead-with-her-THOR-Hammer.jpg"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 222px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDNCFxV1p3w74kC8zPmfLgJ9bprO_f3LmukClttZgCMsKBIlvEj2P6WTFiowqyiNyExadc6aKSC-VUvJ6KC3eiOxQpjZC9yjA9k_12znzRsNoxA0mE6lLGaOHguJirY25pdj9NRsdQt3sX/s320/SCOTT-PILGRIM-Mary-Elizabeth-Winstead-with-her-THOR-Hammer.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5585420018741275090" border="0" /></a>The problem with <span style="font-style: italic;">Scott Pilgrim vs. The World</span> is that there was a severe lack of Ramona using her hammer.<br /><br />Which was kick ass.<br /><br />Thus one can understand why I wanted to see her whip that sucker out and start whaling on her "evil" exes herself.<br /><br />It's not really surprising that my problems with <span style="font-style: italic;">Scott Pilgrim</span> as a film is its presentation of gender. And it bugs me because I really think that they were trying to deconstruct a lot of the annoying constructions that populate the typical rom-com/action movie.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">First, Ramona</span>: I know they excused her passivity with the Gideon-chip (which, btw, should have had more screen time), but I would have liked more than a few second reference to it in which she just glosses over it with her fingers.<br /><br />I would have really liked to have seen her actively fighting against it.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Second, the Evil Exes</span>: I understand that the conceit of the film is that Gideon has some issues regarding relationships and women in particular. In this way, he never gets over the idea (unlike Scott, supposedly) that women are objects to be fought over, won, etc. Thus it is in character that he would view it as necessary that the exes fight Scott because, in his perspective, the woman has no agency in a relationship at all.<br /><br />However, the movie doesn't fully succeed in rebutting this idea. The Evil Exes represent to some extent Ramona's emotional baggage -- not Scott's. Thus, though Scott defeats the exes, he's essentially fighting her battles for her. At the end of the movie, she's still running.<br /><br />It's frustrating because this is, to some extent, a movie about a romance -- a relationship. Throughout the show, Scott has been portrayed as not being her equal, but at the end, they are still "unequal" in how they have grown: Scott has (supposedly) learned an Invaluable Lesson and Ramona is still running away from her emotional baggage, just like she was at the beginning of the movie.<br /><br />I would have much preferred it if she had played a much larger role in defeating Gideon than simply kneeing him in the groin. And even though the line "let's both be girls" was funny (and yes, I laughed) - oh my god. The gender implications is head-desk worthy. Off the top of my head, it denigrates the female sex while also portraying Ramona as an emasculator of men, which is sort of an undercurrent in the flick (particular when Scott asks if she's always been the dumper, not the dumpee, which is evocative of Scott's own dumping experience).<br /><br />Also, it was not lost on me that the only time Ramona really does get a chance to fight her evil ex is the female one. The second time she gets to fight is Knives. I don't think it's possible to separate these two fights from their connotations - there has been a long history of sexualizing women with their catfights. And even though I don't think the idea that women should only fight women because it's sexy or whatever was going through Wright's mind, I think those involved failed to see that by only having Ramona fight (primarily) women -- there just seemed to be a lack of awareness in those particular instances.<br /><br />Which, don't even get me started on Knives. I'm glad she matured though, even if it was a bit hasty. But why couldn't Ramona mature too? Gah.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Third, Scott</span>: I think the movie nicely deconstructed the idea that "love" involves fighting over women by having Gideon shatter the weapon Scott unlocked by learning the power of love. That was super nice. However, they promptly undermined it by having Knives, at the end, say that he had been fighting for her all this time.<br /><br />Which is why I've addendumed all of my Scott-learned-his-lesson bits with a "supposedly." Because. I mean, really. If he had been "really" fighting over her, he wouldn't have gotten his sword of self-respect (which, by the way, is a weapon that Ramona needs to unlock and it would have been nice to have seen an equivalent /grouse).<br /><br />I also liked that Scott had a bit of the Trickster about him in the way he defeated the Skater guy and the Vegan ex. That was pretty cool.<br /><br />Tricksters for the win! Mind over matter! yeah.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Final thoughts complete with Dream Ending</span>:<br /><br />I know that it is unreasonable to ask that people consider the stories they're making and that they tailor their art to address society in some way. <span style="font-style: italic;">Scott Pilgrim</span> is very refreshing as a film, and I really enjoyed it, even though the industry is inundated with films about boys becoming men with the help of a woman (eg, the scene where Scott is dead and Ramona appears to him on her skates). So, in that context, it would be nice to see more movies where the movie focuses on how a woman changes -- or at least acknowledges that it would happen without brushing it over (Knives) or not addressing it (Ramona).<br /><br />And yet, I also know that it is unreasonable to expect that a person must change. Some people don't (but it's never as simple as that, of course - the nuance must be found). So, in that context, I don't mind (on some level) that Ramona is still running from her emotional baggage. However, I would also like to know more about the "why" -- as she stands in the film, she's less Ramona and more a catalyst to kick off Scott from boy to man.<br /><br />I think that Ramona and Knives had more in common. Knives is this love sick girl who's obsessing over Scott (even to the idea that she thinks Ramona "stole" Scott - an idea that always makes my skin crawl) - and of course, she gets a reality check when Scott confesses what really happened, which is probably my favorite moment in the film (paraphrased):<br /><br /><blockquote>Ramona: you cheated on me?<br />Scott: No, I cheated on Knives with you.<br />Ramona: There's a difference?</blockquote><br /><br />I let loose an internal cheer because -- yes! Exactly.<br /><br />Anyway, I feel that Ramona and Knives are these two girls who are trying to come into their own selves -- and it would have been so much cooler if they went off together to have their own adventures rather than having Scott join Ramona.<br /><br />It's not because I want some lesbian love between Ramona and Knives. I think this movie would work better if it wasn't about the romance, the need for Scott and Ramona to end up together in some ways.<br /><br />After all, if Scott truly self-respected himself and truly loved Ramona, he would not need to end up with Ramona at the end of the film.<br /><br />And it would have been nice for the film to follow through its sometimes strong, sometimes weak deconstructions of the genre with a killer bitch-slap like that.Sonjahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02003122146228192404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8568633208228455157.post-32854847648111722342011-02-24T23:20:00.000-08:002011-02-24T23:36:43.043-08:00Pregnancy on Fringe: Tash Take It<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHrJXlXQkntIR5FONUzoa9djCbFJq6UHEvDukkKF3jjJb1qV6qzaLcYI9c75BXXnOdmvGoFMpbDnO9tT4EmnNFZTN-_pBAcWyN5Rb0g0HC1YyQpmncY3KAyzjvLYuG9fDBfq4F1Bz3A5Rg/s1600/fringewallpaper.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHrJXlXQkntIR5FONUzoa9djCbFJq6UHEvDukkKF3jjJb1qV6qzaLcYI9c75BXXnOdmvGoFMpbDnO9tT4EmnNFZTN-_pBAcWyN5Rb0g0HC1YyQpmncY3KAyzjvLYuG9fDBfq4F1Bz3A5Rg/s320/fringewallpaper.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5577523978487705490" border="0" /></a><br />The top two reasons I find Faux-livia's pregnancy to be epic fail:<b><br /><br />1. Birth Control</b><br /><br />What agent worth her salt doesn't have birth control? Especially if this agent already has a fairly good sex life with a respectable partner? Especially if she had no immediate plans to become a mother?<br /><br />But even barring that - if she's on assignment to get cozy with <i>the enemy</i> on the <i>other side</i>, why the hell would she want to risk having a child with someone who was, at first anyway, an <i>assignment</i>? And even if she did actually fall in love with Peter, why would she go off birth control?<br /><br />It just irritates me that in a fantastic (in both meanings of the word) show where science reigns and weird creepy stuff is per the norm, the very idea of "birth control" seems like an absolutely foreign idea that is totally unaddressed. And that is just - unbelievable.<br /><br /><b>2. Abortion?</b><br /><br />I'm pro-choice. I believe that if a woman finds herself pregnant then she should have all options available to her whether that means keeping it or aborting it.<br /><br />And it peeves me the hell off that nobody even mentioned <i>abortion</i>. Don't get me wrong, I do appreciate the elevated levels of Pure Creepy-Crawly-Skeeviness when Walternate was essentially seeing Faux-livia as a pod-mom for his future grandchild (making her officially part of the Bishop family and blah), but that <i>no one</i> mentioned it? That they didn't depict Faux-livia at least making a decision one way or the other instead of passively accepting what happened?<br /><br />Unfreakingbelievable.<br /><br />I understand that there is a lot of controversy over abortion that a network trying to make a profit would be reluctant to bring up. But the fact is, abortion does exist - has existed. To not even bring it up is a gross error that ruins the authenticity of the narrative.<br /><br />I personally believe that abortion is not the first choice - that it would be better not to get pregnant at all. Which is why it irritates me that in the mainstream/networked shows like <i>Fringe</i>, they show people having willy-nilly <i>unprotected</i> sex.<br /><br />Sometimes a show (not <i>Fringe</i> in this case) might depict a used condom, but the connotation always seems negative to me because they're usually found in parking lots or skeevy hotels where shame seems to be the message instead of safe and responsible sex.<br /><br />However, I still can't think of a show (of <i>Fringe's</i> genre/calibre) where the pill has been directly mentioned or seen in context with safe sex. I don't think that it should be beat over the viewer's head, but simply showing Faux-livia pocketing a disk of bc and maybe even a package of condoms or <i>something</i> would have been nice.<br /><br />But no. Instead, we get this traditional perspective of sex that everything must be so hush-hush and secretive. We know they're having it, but instead of showing that they're mature enough to have protected sex, we'll just have Faux-livia get pregnant.<br /><br />Because that's what happens when you have sex.<br /><br />Unprotected sex, at least.<br /><br />Because women shouldn't be having sex for the pure enjoyment of it. Else we'll punish her by having her get pregnant.<br /><br />And, I know that sounds like a way over-reaction, especially since I mostly think the pregnancy is a misguided attempt to force the story into a certain direction instead of a commentary on confident women like Faux-livia, but I can't help but think it was Faux-livia that got pregnant. Faux-livia who is definitely a non-traditional female, a woman who enjoys and even exudes sexuality. While Olivia is just - not as obviously and blatantly comfortable in her body as Faux-livia is.<br /><br />Granted, this rather-admittedly-stretched theory of mine cracks a little in light of last week's episode which showed Olivia guiding Peter by the hand upstairs to the bedroom into a fade to black moment.<br /><br />But again - I have to wonder if this sex they're about to have is protected or not.<br /><br />I don't understand why it's okay to have obvious characters obviously having sex, but why there seems to be such stigma/shame/reluctance to show them practicing <i>safe</i> sex - as if having condoms or the pill somehow makes it less worthy, more dirty somehow - when the very opposite is true.Sonjahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02003122146228192404noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8568633208228455157.post-4881715121464554092011-02-13T19:03:00.000-08:002011-02-13T19:19:24.904-08:00More Snark Than Anything Regarding the Portrayal of Certain Primary CharactersOne of these is not like the others.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDbzLVc0CyEseVSvoateyfKdQ7ItblSwGoOuUY6JtlF16Z0DIt5M5HFd8ApzR5m2TS7CPMbLfrgp-KdY5D7dqr5GcDLC6AoLRANa8cFHRYeDwfdjlmWyY1z58Fij8_Y_67e9AJTrsBkOdS/s1600/omwf0334.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 180px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDbzLVc0CyEseVSvoateyfKdQ7ItblSwGoOuUY6JtlF16Z0DIt5M5HFd8ApzR5m2TS7CPMbLfrgp-KdY5D7dqr5GcDLC6AoLRANa8cFHRYeDwfdjlmWyY1z58Fij8_Y_67e9AJTrsBkOdS/s320/omwf0334.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5573377163776733090" border="0" /></a><br /><br />In <i>Buffy the Vampire Slayer</i>, women gather around a table to discuss (or sing as the case may be) how to best save the world from musical-catalysted-spontaneous-combustion. (Or, also as the case may be, conspire to get themselves in a more private space in order to have some quality time with each other.)<br /><div class="asset-body"><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiq2Bw_AX7ct9Zy86E-CxAPEfvGTLsKn0GqxQe_9NZUH5AOmjHCcrHK1zp5g2s1VL1f5fN9RjWjYZsS4O8PdJDl6qO5C7Oi7C0YDzjjT_Ll5Z6k2nv_tIu-NRq4lFVC9VNRLtXS13IoiwXb/s1600/Promo517.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 181px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiq2Bw_AX7ct9Zy86E-CxAPEfvGTLsKn0GqxQe_9NZUH5AOmjHCcrHK1zp5g2s1VL1f5fN9RjWjYZsS4O8PdJDl6qO5C7Oi7C0YDzjjT_Ll5Z6k2nv_tIu-NRq4lFVC9VNRLtXS13IoiwXb/s320/Promo517.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5573377342500321778" border="0" /></a><br /><br />In <i>Supernatural</i>, Very Attractive Men gather around a table to discuss how to best go about saving the world. The likelihood of any of them bursting into spontaneous song or special kinds of quality time are low, low, low (except in the wildest imaginations of the most besotted fangirl).<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBNs98qUnRAhRSRKCi4fw3FdeEzCvoEE-bGgHdo8PqYIhyphenhyphena-qURGZYl8FGbb25fCOBgEhdTzWr_-BZDl0M28E1pYFHJqtZrJT5hS_XlAU0qMRWkyFanOlVl2mGh6vD7qdu2fvZIF22zyB8/s1600/VD102a_0103.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBNs98qUnRAhRSRKCi4fw3FdeEzCvoEE-bGgHdo8PqYIhyphenhyphena-qURGZYl8FGbb25fCOBgEhdTzWr_-BZDl0M28E1pYFHJqtZrJT5hS_XlAU0qMRWkyFanOlVl2mGh6vD7qdu2fvZIF22zyB8/s320/VD102a_0103.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5573377527189991250" border="0" /></a><br /><br />In <i>The Vampire Diaries</i>, girls gather around a table to discuss --<br /><br /><b>boys</b><br /><br />and the kissing thereof.<br /><br />________________<br /><br />In the interests of being fair and being up front with first impressions, I've only seen a handful of episodes of Vampire Diaries. So its tone could change. And hopefully it will.<br /><br /></div>Sonjahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02003122146228192404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8568633208228455157.post-83295569831979765942011-01-29T22:00:00.000-08:002011-01-29T23:40:35.464-08:00Chilling Off The Twi-Hate<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmVPqJwLrs-ABap_D7VWYh-f00qMTDq4FtKhJiZw3vKeVdrzwNDAoVwiXlbpl4q0sl2ozX5UqD0w1jHemFJnrd8PezvkLdUPdQCf79MXkRE-jb4w76aDf0jI_3Ek5HqbUzgFdPIOjpoXR0/s1600/buffystakeedward.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 274px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmVPqJwLrs-ABap_D7VWYh-f00qMTDq4FtKhJiZw3vKeVdrzwNDAoVwiXlbpl4q0sl2ozX5UqD0w1jHemFJnrd8PezvkLdUPdQCf79MXkRE-jb4w76aDf0jI_3Ek5HqbUzgFdPIOjpoXR0/s320/buffystakeedward.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5567868157655549586" border="0" /></a><br />Hypocritically, I'm rather fond of bashing <span style="font-style: italic;">Twilight.<br /><br /></span>Monsters that sparkle? Is she for real?<br /><br />Attaching a woman's value to whether she is desired by a man? Fuck that shit.<br /><br />She calls herself a writer? Why don't I have a book and movie deal making me disgustingly rich, vaulting me out of this craptastic working class life I now live?<br /><br />And more, of course.<br /><br />However, I've recently noticed something that I find vaguely troubling. See, in my college class, there was this Letter of Introduction post that asked the students to answer what we thought the most overrated book was.<br /><br />Many people (most of them male), put down <span style="font-style: italic;">Twilight</span>.<br /><br />This is an academic setting. Nobody in academia takes <span style="font-style: italic;">Twilight</span> seriously. Nobody but the extremist of fans even rate <span style="font-style: italic;">Twiligh</span>t as literature-with-a-capital-l. Most realize it is pure, escapist fantasy.<br /><br />The only reason to put <span style="font-style: italic;">Twilight</span> down in this particular setting would be to participate in Twi-hatred, which is fun - but let's get real here. There's no place for it in an academic setting. The characters are flat, the themes are trite, the writing is bad, the significance is trivial. Let's move on.<br /><br />But then I realized that something is off in this picture. Something is not quite right. And it's not just about the thoughtless bashing in an academic setting.<br /><br />It goes beyond that.<br /><br />It's the disgust for Stephanie Meyer that goes beyond her obvious lack of talent. It's the disgust that people impose upon the raving fangirls.<br /><br />Where is the masculine equivalent of <span style="font-style: italic;">Twilight</span>? Almost every single, male-centric escapist action movie laden with gratuitous violence has problematic portrayal of heroes (they may not sparkle, but then, <span style="font-style: italic;">sparkling</span> is the least of Edward's problems).<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCXehaQdRIrkoeIy6evKshNsNiRoo4qrPd1aYYfck_ryByOl7oH5Afh4IsqF9TTh8qIQhe-uajOQ61BO12BSpflCB0QSB-CLbvTHb2gy0SQORfQN11d2FG4oXUHWRZbhSUI5ZH7gmtUCRm/s1600/whereisthetwihate.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 187px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCXehaQdRIrkoeIy6evKshNsNiRoo4qrPd1aYYfck_ryByOl7oH5Afh4IsqF9TTh8qIQhe-uajOQ61BO12BSpflCB0QSB-CLbvTHb2gy0SQORfQN11d2FG4oXUHWRZbhSUI5ZH7gmtUCRm/s320/whereisthetwihate.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5567868927051798082" border="0" /></a><br /><br />It's still hard to find a movie that doesn't put women in secondary positions to men, especially if it's the pulp action films that are so prevalent in the summer months (and lets not even consider sexualized violence which is a problem everywhere, but especially with <span style="font-style: italic;">Twilight</span> and this sort of male-centric popcorn escapism).<br /><br />Hardly any of the scripts for such films could hardly be considered quality-with-a-capital-q.<br /><br />I truly believe that such films are more prolific in this society than Twilight could ever hope to be.<br /><br />Yet, these films-for-boys hardly receive the same vitriol. The audience (usually male) do not receive the same disregard as the fangirls of <span style="font-style: italic;">Twilight</span>.<br /><br />Few men would even be reluctant/embarrassed to admit that yeah, they do like that kind of escapism because it's so normal and okay and accepted to like that kind of crap - it just doesn't carry the stigma that <span style="font-style: italic;">Twilight</span> does.<br /><br />The directors, the producers, the screenwriters (usually male?), do not receive as much flak as Myers does.<br /><br />Why is that? Is it just a gender thing, or is there something more?<br /><br />Consider:<br /><br />Twi-Moms have a rep for publicly swooning over Edward or what's-his-face-the-werewolf. There have been snide little fail-blog images or whatever saying that if men were to publicly lust like that over girls of a similar age, they would be considered perverts.<br /><br />But let's stay real here.<br /><br />Women are infantalized all the time. Women are trivialized all the time. Women are never supposed to grow up. And they are portrayed that way, constantly, in all kinds of male-centric (and, unfortunately, even films "meant" for women - whatever that means) escapist literature and film. And yet --- silence.<br /><br />It's okay when Michael Bay is directing. Boys will be boys, am-i-rite?<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihOF43Pn0dyb95ZCtKQfK8cKSQ3L7ve03aY9LcPUeq_Swx5dfB7jcLIeaTi9DbuIlYH0Ft7nZl4CpY2zIqGTGAZwAhU19RuQfJ5bMRBf_XM1zv25Z5EMLF0S0rEM_SgQz8I4WD7pIiSCIC/s1600/twibashing.png"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 315px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihOF43Pn0dyb95ZCtKQfK8cKSQ3L7ve03aY9LcPUeq_Swx5dfB7jcLIeaTi9DbuIlYH0Ft7nZl4CpY2zIqGTGAZwAhU19RuQfJ5bMRBf_XM1zv25Z5EMLF0S0rEM_SgQz8I4WD7pIiSCIC/s320/twibashing.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5567869167954524050" border="0" /></a><br /><br />(I actually like the commentary <span style="font-style: italic;">Supernatural </span>did on the typical reaction toward women assuming what is traditionally seen as a masculine drive towards sex:<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span><blockquote><span style="font-weight: bold;">Bella</span> [on seeing Dean all dolled up]: You know, when this is over, we should really have some angry sex.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Dean</span> [after a moment of awkward silence in which he is rendered temporarily speechless, both tempted and revolted by the idea]: Don't objectify me.</blockquote><br />Oh, it never stops being funny and relevant.)<br /><br />I don't know - I can't stop thinking about the Twi-hate, especially in consideration of the lack of an equivalent reaction toward the other kinds of male-focused entertainment that espouses the same issues that <span style="font-style: italic;">Twilight</span> does.<br /><br />And that truly does make me sad. Women are being punished throughout the spectrum:<br /><br />Why is a woman writing Bella as faceless, self-less person?<br /><br />Why is the pop criticism so focused on the sex of the fans, of the author (boys write and like crap too, you know)? Sometimes I wonder if the non-academics hate Edward because he's pretty or because he's manipulative and abusive - but that just might be the cynic in me.<br /><br />Why is something that is supposedly so bad so loved by fans and haters alike?<br /><br />Why are women so condemned in this? Both for their cardboard presentation and, simultaneously, their sexuality?<br /><br />Hmmm. Maybe <span style="font-style: italic;">Twilight</span> does somehow manage to transgress gender boundaries in its own little (though mostly harmful) way.<br /><br />But there's something else beyond the strange (well, maybe it's not all that strange) gender issues with the Twi-hate that has been percolating in my brain for a while:<br /><br />I don't want to praise <span style="font-style: italic;">Twilight</span>. It has its problems, no doubt about it. But it's not the only thing that does.<br /><br />In fact, it's not even Super Special with its problems - our culture is saturated with its issues, yet it seems to be a primary scape-goat, which is unbelievable compared to the prolific male-centric escapist entertainment that espouses the same causes - except, usually, the heroes in that sort of entertainment are mucho-masculine as opposed to the fae-dare-i-say-feminine/androgynous-Edward. Which of course, just introduces other issues defining not just women but also men - and it is just ultimately harmful to both.<br /><br />And the sad thing is that most people probably don't even know why they hate it so much. I'd hazard to guess that my fellow male students would be at a loss to offer a coherent argument about why they considered it the most overrated book - they probably just put it down because vampires don't sparkle gosh-darnit and Cedric Diggory is just too damn pretty.<br /><br />I once wrote a poem about how life would be if <span style="font-style: italic;">Twilight</span> would never be. It was supposed to be a little bit of fun Twi-hate because I was bored and had a bad case of writer's block.<br /><br />It came out different though. It was sad and sympathetic.<br /><br />Because let's be honest here - we all have our escapist fantasies. Maybe, even, our fantasies indulge in certain aspects of ourselves that we would be uncomfortable with - playing with situations in which women and men aren't complex creatures at all because life is hard enough - why should our fantasies be anything but spun cotton candy?<br /><br />I don't know. I'm not saying I'm a telepath or anything - but I would hazard to guess that the majority of people who bash Edward and Bella have their own version of Twilight.<br /><br />And that's okay. It is, really. It's okay to like or even to love something while still having a problem with it.<br /><br />It's human. It just is.<br /><br />But don't pretend to be better than someone just because your fantasy/guilty pleasure doesn't happen to include sparkling vampires.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"></span>Sonjahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02003122146228192404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8568633208228455157.post-7593238292102432282010-12-28T12:16:00.000-08:002010-12-28T12:19:15.631-08:00Doctor Who: Universally Recognized as a Mature and Responsible Adult ~ A Lie Too Big (finally)<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'trebuchet ms'; font-size: 13px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 18px; ">So, unfortunately, I succumbed to reading io9's <a href="http://io9.com/5718094/a-christmas-carol-moffats-doctor-who-in-its-most-perfect-form" id="link_0" style="text-decoration: underline; color: rgb(33, 61, 112); ">review</a> of the Christmas Special before writing my own, but I've avoided others. But you know, I do think they were right when they said that this was probably the most fairy tale of the Moffat's Who.<br /><br />And that is it's biggest problems, I think.<br /><br />All the plot holes are all very fairy tale-ish. The mysterious, clock-work illness where, for some impossible reason, she only has 8 days to live scream magic, not science. Abigail wasn't a character at all - mostly just a plot device on par with the psychic paper and the screw driver in order to get Stuff Done like changing Sardick into a Nice Guy and being the tool to save all those people.<br /><br />It wouldn't have been so bad if she had come up with the idea or even volunteered for it - but no. The Doctor thought of it, Sardic unlocked her, and she just goes off and does whatever it is they want her to.<br /><br />She actually reminded me of a combination of Snow White and Sleeping Beauty - Snow White because she's essentially in a coffin posing as a freezer, already DOA (remember that old movie, where the guy's poisoned with a deadly, lethal substance with no known cure and has to find his killer even though he's already, like, dead?) and Sleeping Beauty because she never wakes up on her own. Oh no, she's gotta have men wake her up.<br /><br />Fairy tales can be cool - and I didn't mind the fairy tale elements of the fifth series at all - but they usually are wanting when it comes to the treatment of female characters, and this is no exception. Of course, their insistence in clothing her in white, her constant angelic appearance, was also aggravating.<br /><br />Even the magnificent Amy Pond had next to nothing to do.<br /><br />However, after reading the monstrous <i>Bleak House</i>, I do think that it captured something very Dickensonian: the exploitation of poor people (just for the record, Dickens - like many other Victorians - was also a fan of women being Angels in the House, so yeah, Moffat got that spot on too).<br /><br />I really liked how Gamdon portrayed Sardic - it was nuanced and complex. Still, I think the latter half of his character development was contrived, much how a lot of the plot was, I suppose. Meh.<br /><br />I was really excited when I saw<br /><br /><a href="http://pics.livejournal.com/polemically/pic/000932hc/" id="link_1" style="text-decoration: underline; color: rgb(33, 61, 112); "><img width="320" height="180" border="0" alt="" src="http://pics.livejournal.com/polemically/pic/000932hc/s640x480" style="border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; " /></a><br /><br />Because Rory is awesome and an official companion!<br /><br />And then he didn't do anything. Disappointed!<br /><br />Though, I did like all the nods to Gaiman:<br /><br /><a href="http://pics.livejournal.com/polemically/pic/000948k4/" id="link_2" style="text-decoration: underline; color: rgb(33, 61, 112); "><img width="320" height="180" border="0" alt="" src="http://pics.livejournal.com/polemically/pic/000948k4" style="border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; " /></a><br /><br />This reminded me of the fishies in <i>Mirror Mask</i>, and one mustn't forget Delirium's penchant for the little buggers too.<br /><br />And at one point, the Doctor says, "Better a broken heart than no heart at all" which is similar to a line from the<i>Stardust</i> film (can't remember if it was in the book).<br /><br />This just makes me even more excited for The Awesome that is Gaiman.<br /><br />I have to say (going back to the problematic fairy tale essences), that I found some of the dialogue delightful and annoying at the same time. For example, then they were talking about what to do when girls are crying, how the Doctor suggested talking about girls (and how it wasn't something he normally did, aww), the dangerous times combined with being boys - it was funny, and part of me enjoyed it (because Matt Smith is unendingly adorkable), but at the dame time it was just very gender-divided and I like my gender bended.<br /><br /><br />I know it sounds like I didn't enjoy it - even though I did on some sort of level. The frame of the story itself was sheer genius - they way Moffat took a well beloved Christmas story and changed it, made it science fiction and fairy tale while playing with ideas of change and time was great - but there needed to be more follow through. I thought the Doctor was brilliant - I fell in love with him all over again, and there were so many great lines there was no way I could possibly keep up with them all - but, at the same time, I honestly, think I would have enjoyed it more if it had focused on the idea that the Doctor had literally screwed with someone else's life without asking permission, which Sardic was not really pleased about at first - but these issues were never really addressed.<br /><br />I guess such topics wouldn't be all warm, gooey, sugar-plumish enough for Christmas. :(<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.75em; margin-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; font-size: 1em; font-weight: normal; "><a href="http://pics.livejournal.com/polemically/pic/00095yc0/" id="link_3" style="text-decoration: underline; color: rgb(33, 61, 112); "><img width="320" height="180" border="0" alt="" src="http://pics.livejournal.com/polemically/pic/00095yc0/s640x480" style="border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; " /></a></p></span>Sonjahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02003122146228192404noreply@blogger.com0