![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
other than being a wee me and making up stories in a vacuum about characters like Leia! and Gadget from Chip and Dale's Rescue Rangers! and Wendy from Peter Pan! and Firestar from Spiderman and His Amazing Friends/The New Warriors! and Zorro! and Red Sonja! and Eilonwy and many many many others..
Did a web search for Buffy in college, found Slayerfanfic.com and was intrigued. Dug around a little more, found IRC (![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
isabeau! and kidchyron! and katemonkey!), found mailing lists (ahahahahaha Forever Knight fandom! Natpacker and proud of it!) and archives (Gossamer and the main Sentinel one and the DS one and the Highlander one) and personal archives (way too many to count). Um. Mailing lists for a long while and then there was the split from personal mailing lists (listserv) to e-groups/yahoogroups (UCSL for me, brief dabbles in TPM and Xena) and then the kind of nebulous move to personal blogs.
And then there was popslash (which, IIRC, sort of started on a Sports Night mailing list) and the move to LJ in 2001. And then that's been pretty much it for me. Bandom is playing with more tools (and I recognize that other fandoms are doing it too, but bandom is the one where I see things like del.icio.us and myspace and whatnot being used hardcore in a way that I don't see it being done for other fandoms).
of all of them, I prefer LJ the most. Panfannishness ftw. Cross-pollination ftw. Diversified interests ftw.
Of course, this all can go horribly horribly wrong, too. but overall, I like it.
Did a web search for Buffy in college, found Slayerfanfic.com and was intrigued. Dug around a little more, found IRC (
isabeau! and kidchyron! and katemonkey!), found mailing lists (ahahahahaha Forever Knight fandom! Natpacker and proud of it!) and archives (Gossamer and the main Sentinel one and the DS one and the Highlander one) and personal archives (way too many to count). Um. Mailing lists for a long while and then there was the split from personal mailing lists (listserv) to e-groups/yahoogroups (UCSL for me, brief dabbles in TPM and Xena) and then the kind of nebulous move to personal blogs.And then there was popslash (which, IIRC, sort of started on a Sports Night mailing list) and the move to LJ in 2001. And then that's been pretty much it for me. Bandom is playing with more tools (and I recognize that other fandoms are doing it too, but bandom is the one where I see things like del.icio.us and myspace and whatnot being used hardcore in a way that I don't see it being done for other fandoms).
of all of them, I prefer LJ the most. Panfannishness ftw. Cross-pollination ftw. Diversified interests ftw.
Of course, this all can go horribly horribly wrong, too. but overall, I like it.
how to disappear completely
Apr. 25th, 2008 09:55 amlistening to jack johnson always makes me want to watch surfing documentaries. step into liquid is my favorite of them, as it is *gorgeous*.
anyway.
The main serious post I keep waffling on making is a little bit about bandom (and right there I've lost a bunch of people) but it is mostly about race and how one of the things that BUGS THE SHIT OUT OF ME about the way fandom treats race is the disappearing of people of color and *especially* the disappearing of biracial people in the larger context of discussion persons and characters of color.
Because see, I'm still really pissed about some comments that were made last year (I can hold a grudge like you wouldn't BELIEVE) about there being no people of color in bandom (Pete Wentz would like to disagree. As would Travis, Ray, Gabe, Alex Suarez, Matt Cortez, Disashi, Brendon, Tyga and others) because they're there. They're *obvious*. FFS, STOP SAYING THEY ARE WHITE. STOP IT. *breathes* In terms of diversity of race/religion/sexuality, bandom *wins forever* over any other popular fandom I've seen. FOREVER. Black, Latino, A/PI, Jewish, atheist, Catholic, undivulged flavor of Christian, mostly straight but NOT ENTIRELY, bi and out, allies and supporters, actual conversations about sexuality and the perceptions thereof. This fandom owns. Also, Greta and Vicky T and Maja do not have penises.
Um. Hey, apparently I started making this post! But okay, here's why it bugs me and I will try to leave it at that: by calling them white, by making the assumption that they are white without bothering to look, people are basically rendering them invisible. And this is doubly troubling to me because for a lot of them, we're talking about people who are biracial and that's got a whole passel of problems that go along with it.
The other thing that just bugs the shit out of me is the continued European assertion that they don't consider latinos to be of color. That's nice. THEY DO. What they perceive trumps what you perceive. Period. And all of the annoyances at the way Americans frame the discussion of race in American terms and all the different contexts in the world doesn't change that latinos from this particular side of the globe DO NOT CONSIDER THEMSELVES WHITE. There are *other* issues at work with which, frankly, I'm not even remotely qualified to talk about , but the primary issue for me is that they are not white. You can say all day long that they would be considered white in Europe and that's nice, but that's problematic in its own way. Other people than me who are smarter and more articulate should discuss this.
(somewhat relatedly, I got an email a while ago about the Jesus Walks vid which basically said that if Gunn's arc had been anything like that on the show, they would have kept watching. Here's the thing: that *was* Gunn's arc on the show. That vid was me attempting to show everyone else the show I had *always been watching*. It was there for everyone to see, Gunn was AMAZING and it made me sad every day in that fandom that people were being all SPIKE and ZOMG ANGEL IS BEIGE and ZOMG LINDSEY and meanwhile my darling was off kicking ass and negotiating the difference between the greater good and uh, what Angel thought was the greater good -- opening an orphange = good! being emo about how you're not sure you're doing good = lame and boy was there more to talk about with moral ambiguity and beigeness there. ANYWAY. This post is more than long enough and I need to get ready for work.)
There's an excellent post here that talks about some of the same issues: http://ohinternets.livejournal.com/38940.html in Psych fandom.
anyway.
The main serious post I keep waffling on making is a little bit about bandom (and right there I've lost a bunch of people) but it is mostly about race and how one of the things that BUGS THE SHIT OUT OF ME about the way fandom treats race is the disappearing of people of color and *especially* the disappearing of biracial people in the larger context of discussion persons and characters of color.
Because see, I'm still really pissed about some comments that were made last year (I can hold a grudge like you wouldn't BELIEVE) about there being no people of color in bandom (Pete Wentz would like to disagree. As would Travis, Ray, Gabe, Alex Suarez, Matt Cortez, Disashi, Brendon, Tyga and others) because they're there. They're *obvious*. FFS, STOP SAYING THEY ARE WHITE. STOP IT. *breathes* In terms of diversity of race/religion/sexuality, bandom *wins forever* over any other popular fandom I've seen. FOREVER. Black, Latino, A/PI, Jewish, atheist, Catholic, undivulged flavor of Christian, mostly straight but NOT ENTIRELY, bi and out, allies and supporters, actual conversations about sexuality and the perceptions thereof. This fandom owns. Also, Greta and Vicky T and Maja do not have penises.
Um. Hey, apparently I started making this post! But okay, here's why it bugs me and I will try to leave it at that: by calling them white, by making the assumption that they are white without bothering to look, people are basically rendering them invisible. And this is doubly troubling to me because for a lot of them, we're talking about people who are biracial and that's got a whole passel of problems that go along with it.
The other thing that just bugs the shit out of me is the continued European assertion that they don't consider latinos to be of color. That's nice. THEY DO. What they perceive trumps what you perceive. Period. And all of the annoyances at the way Americans frame the discussion of race in American terms and all the different contexts in the world doesn't change that latinos from this particular side of the globe DO NOT CONSIDER THEMSELVES WHITE. There are *other* issues at work with which, frankly, I'm not even remotely qualified to talk about , but the primary issue for me is that they are not white. You can say all day long that they would be considered white in Europe and that's nice, but that's problematic in its own way. Other people than me who are smarter and more articulate should discuss this.
(somewhat relatedly, I got an email a while ago about the Jesus Walks vid which basically said that if Gunn's arc had been anything like that on the show, they would have kept watching. Here's the thing: that *was* Gunn's arc on the show. That vid was me attempting to show everyone else the show I had *always been watching*. It was there for everyone to see, Gunn was AMAZING and it made me sad every day in that fandom that people were being all SPIKE and ZOMG ANGEL IS BEIGE and ZOMG LINDSEY and meanwhile my darling was off kicking ass and negotiating the difference between the greater good and uh, what Angel thought was the greater good -- opening an orphange = good! being emo about how you're not sure you're doing good = lame and boy was there more to talk about with moral ambiguity and beigeness there. ANYWAY. This post is more than long enough and I need to get ready for work.)
There's an excellent post here that talks about some of the same issues: http://ohinternets.livejournal.com/38940.html in Psych fandom.
Mostly because I am trying to decide how best to format an illustrated version of this. Possibly this will need to involve flow charts or an animation.
Please note, this is a *really rough* timeline because there are whole episodes in there that I ignore 'cause they don't matter right this second in establishing What Happened to get the timeline to "Five Years Gone."
( Heroes, timeline A -- original timeline resulting in future!Hiro )
( timeline B - the show as we know it )
( Timeline C. C is for confusing! but not really! )
Good times, y'all. I heart time travel! I am working on the illustrated version of all this, complete with actual dates and stuff, but that needs me to have more time than I currently do so I can watch the series through again.
( footnotes! which are possibly longer than the post! )
Please note, this is a *really rough* timeline because there are whole episodes in there that I ignore 'cause they don't matter right this second in establishing What Happened to get the timeline to "Five Years Gone."
( Heroes, timeline A -- original timeline resulting in future!Hiro )
( timeline B - the show as we know it )
( Timeline C. C is for confusing! but not really! )
Good times, y'all. I heart time travel! I am working on the illustrated version of all this, complete with actual dates and stuff, but that needs me to have more time than I currently do so I can watch the series through again.
( footnotes! which are possibly longer than the post! )
fuck art, let's dance
Jan. 27th, 2007 03:00 pmI have come to the conclusion that I am a very stupid watcher of vids.
Or perhaps not stupid, but a very...obvious watcher of vids. Or something. I don't know. I fail to understand what I am supposed to get out of some vids and it frustrates the hell out of me because other people seem to not only understand what the vidder is trying to convey, but they can like, do analysis on the how of it all. Meanwhile, I am still going, "I don't get it. What...? Huh? I...why?" and then there is much head-scratching and plaintive, "Help me, I do not understand!" Except I never say that to people I don't know because I have this morbid fear of being thought stupid.
The flip side of this is when I watch a vid and go, "...yeah, and?" Which is...yeah. Okay, so sometimes I watch a vid and fail utterly to grasp the point. Other times I watch the vid and it tells me nothing I didn't understand about the text from the text itself[1]. Pretty much this covers about 70-80% of vids for me.
And you know, I totally understand that I vid...er. Functionally. But then, I totally construct vids like I am making an argument. So there's a thesis and there's a primary text with supporting evidence and there is an outside text which supports the thesis and it is all very...functional. And lord knows, I try to make it *pretty*, because who wants to watch something that is not pretty? But...yeah. And I'm not usually trying to say something deep (and god knows, my theses are usually something like, "OMG XYZ IS SO AWESOME I COULD DIE!"), but I like to think that I get at least the OMG SO AWESOME across a little.
So, I dunno. I think I would rather watching something that is maybe not technically brilliant but which communicates effectively than something that *is* technically brilliant which fails to convey its message *to me*. I feel this way about commercials and regular music videos and pretty much everything I watch. Your vid/movie/music video/television episode/commercial/dance/random performance may be the best edited, most beautifully written/scored/filmed/choreographed whatever, but if I don't get what you are trying to tell me, then I'm not interested. At bare minimum, I should be entertained by *something*. I am not so much entertained by confusion.
I want to understand! I *really really* want to understand! And if I don't understand, I'm going to assume that it's a failing on my part, but -- and here's the thing -- I'm not going to watch any more vids by that person. Because I do not actually like feeling stupid and I tend not to invite that feeling on any more than I need to.
Anyway. Structureless and incoherent rambling!
ETA: Seriously, my favorite Bam and Dunn/VLB clip evah. They are so adorable!
The Jackass 2 opening. With bulls.
Jackass 2: Party Boy Bollywood
A Shaun White video, with a brief appearance by Tony Hawk.
[1] Sometimes I am totally down with this, as in when I am watching Bam/Dunn 'shippy vids which are largely not technically brilliant, but by *god*, they're effective at showing me how fucking adorable those guys are together. But. I think there is a difference between a vid that is showing you something you already know in a kind of celebratory way and a vid that is showing you something you already know but thinks it is telling you something new. And while I might find the latter type kind of boring, at least I understand what they are trying to tell me and thus I do not get really frustrated and start feeling dumb and become really hostile.
Or perhaps not stupid, but a very...obvious watcher of vids. Or something. I don't know. I fail to understand what I am supposed to get out of some vids and it frustrates the hell out of me because other people seem to not only understand what the vidder is trying to convey, but they can like, do analysis on the how of it all. Meanwhile, I am still going, "I don't get it. What...? Huh? I...why?" and then there is much head-scratching and plaintive, "Help me, I do not understand!" Except I never say that to people I don't know because I have this morbid fear of being thought stupid.
The flip side of this is when I watch a vid and go, "...yeah, and?" Which is...yeah. Okay, so sometimes I watch a vid and fail utterly to grasp the point. Other times I watch the vid and it tells me nothing I didn't understand about the text from the text itself[1]. Pretty much this covers about 70-80% of vids for me.
And you know, I totally understand that I vid...er. Functionally. But then, I totally construct vids like I am making an argument. So there's a thesis and there's a primary text with supporting evidence and there is an outside text which supports the thesis and it is all very...functional. And lord knows, I try to make it *pretty*, because who wants to watch something that is not pretty? But...yeah. And I'm not usually trying to say something deep (and god knows, my theses are usually something like, "OMG XYZ IS SO AWESOME I COULD DIE!"), but I like to think that I get at least the OMG SO AWESOME across a little.
So, I dunno. I think I would rather watching something that is maybe not technically brilliant but which communicates effectively than something that *is* technically brilliant which fails to convey its message *to me*. I feel this way about commercials and regular music videos and pretty much everything I watch. Your vid/movie/music video/television episode/commercial/dance/random performance may be the best edited, most beautifully written/scored/filmed/choreographed whatever, but if I don't get what you are trying to tell me, then I'm not interested. At bare minimum, I should be entertained by *something*. I am not so much entertained by confusion.
I want to understand! I *really really* want to understand! And if I don't understand, I'm going to assume that it's a failing on my part, but -- and here's the thing -- I'm not going to watch any more vids by that person. Because I do not actually like feeling stupid and I tend not to invite that feeling on any more than I need to.
Anyway. Structureless and incoherent rambling!
ETA: Seriously, my favorite Bam and Dunn/VLB clip evah. They are so adorable!
The Jackass 2 opening. With bulls.
Jackass 2: Party Boy Bollywood
A Shaun White video, with a brief appearance by Tony Hawk.
[1] Sometimes I am totally down with this, as in when I am watching Bam/Dunn 'shippy vids which are largely not technically brilliant, but by *god*, they're effective at showing me how fucking adorable those guys are together. But. I think there is a difference between a vid that is showing you something you already know in a kind of celebratory way and a vid that is showing you something you already know but thinks it is telling you something new. And while I might find the latter type kind of boring, at least I understand what they are trying to tell me and thus I do not get really frustrated and start feeling dumb and become really hostile.
...ARE YOU PEOPLE FOR FUCKING REAL?
From http://www.scifi.com/sfw/news/:
Terry Rossio and Ted Elliott, who co-wrote the screenplays for all three Pirates of the Caribbean films, told SCI FI Wire that they were bothered by the critical lashing of the second film, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest—not because the reviews were negative, but because they were poorly written. "The thing that you really want are reviews that are critical,that are analytical, eloquent, insightful and actually help elevate the understanding of the movie," Rossio said in an interview promoting the release of the film on DVD Dec. 5. "A lot of times critical reviews aresort of disconnected from the actual movie, and that's not really interesting or helpful."
Elliott added that he values creative criticism, but hasn't seen much of that in the press. "The one that always bothered me is that three-paragraph-long extended metaphor where you're comparing the movie to something that happened to you at Disneyland," he said. "That's not telling the filmmakers anything about the craft. Terry and I have debates about this, but I actually genuinely feel that there is dialogue between the critic and the artist—and I'm using artist here to mean somebody who works in the art realm; we're not making claims of any sort—and there are reviewers outthere, there are critics out there, who do that. But for the most part, I mean, the level of film criticism right now, I think, is incredibly poor."
You know why the reviews of the movie sucked? BECAUSE THE MOVIE SUCKED. There. Which one of you lives in my town? I will hunt you down and explain in exacting detail what the criticisms of the movie were.
The criticism wasn't good enough? Seriously? THAT'S your witty riposte defending your movie? THE CRITICS JUST DIDN'T GET IT? SERIOUSLY? They didn't discuss the existentialist aspects of the movie *because you failed at depicting them*.
What the fuck?
No love at all,
S.
P.S. The link includes T&T talking about the end of AWE which doesn't spoil AWE terribly much, but which does spoil DMC if you haven't seen it.
From http://www.scifi.com/sfw/news/:
Terry Rossio and Ted Elliott, who co-wrote the screenplays for all three Pirates of the Caribbean films, told SCI FI Wire that they were bothered by the critical lashing of the second film, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest—not because the reviews were negative, but because they were poorly written. "The thing that you really want are reviews that are critical,that are analytical, eloquent, insightful and actually help elevate the understanding of the movie," Rossio said in an interview promoting the release of the film on DVD Dec. 5. "A lot of times critical reviews aresort of disconnected from the actual movie, and that's not really interesting or helpful."
Elliott added that he values creative criticism, but hasn't seen much of that in the press. "The one that always bothered me is that three-paragraph-long extended metaphor where you're comparing the movie to something that happened to you at Disneyland," he said. "That's not telling the filmmakers anything about the craft. Terry and I have debates about this, but I actually genuinely feel that there is dialogue between the critic and the artist—and I'm using artist here to mean somebody who works in the art realm; we're not making claims of any sort—and there are reviewers outthere, there are critics out there, who do that. But for the most part, I mean, the level of film criticism right now, I think, is incredibly poor."
You know why the reviews of the movie sucked? BECAUSE THE MOVIE SUCKED. There. Which one of you lives in my town? I will hunt you down and explain in exacting detail what the criticisms of the movie were.
The criticism wasn't good enough? Seriously? THAT'S your witty riposte defending your movie? THE CRITICS JUST DIDN'T GET IT? SERIOUSLY? They didn't discuss the existentialist aspects of the movie *because you failed at depicting them*.
What the fuck?
No love at all,
S.
P.S. The link includes T&T talking about the end of AWE which doesn't spoil AWE terribly much, but which does spoil DMC if you haven't seen it.
god, lj, I'm so sorry
Nov. 24th, 2006 06:13 pmI...failed to know about and, more importantly, to inform you all about the Sci Fi movie marathon this weekend. I have brought shame upon my fandom of three.
OMG Y'ALL, BASILISK: THE SERPENT KING HAS YANCY BUTLER AND JEREMY LONDON AND THE BLACK GUY FROM SLIDERS. IT IS CALLED BASILISK: THE SERPENT KING!
But right now my hard choice is between watching Inferno (global warming kills LA!) or Jurassic Park (raptors! grar!).
And, to make this less embarrassing, some half-assed movie reviews!
I picked up Feast (McSteamy with a shotgun fightin' monsters!) and Blade: Trinity a few days ago so I could, you know, keep on keepin' on with evaluating Eric Dane vs Ryan Reynolds as the Roy Harper in My Head. After much consideration (and ogling and entertained woohoos), I still have to give it to Eric Dane. Ryan Reynolds is very pretty but...I dunno. He seems lacking in a kind of cocky, charming...assishness[*] that I associate with Roy. But my, Ryan is pretty.
Anyway. ( Feast, spoilery if you care )
( Blade: Trinity )
Feast is a $6.99 and below movie, Blade: Trinity is a $9.99 and below movie.
*I think Roy Harper is charming, mostly shallow, kind of an asshole, incredibly well-meaning, and prone to leaping conclusion-wards. But mostly, I think he is a *joyful* character. And I like my joyful action heroes to be charming, assholish, competent bastards. Because okay, my basic feeling on them (and on Roy in particular) is that they are good at what they do and you can respect them for that, but the rest of the time you just kind of laugh at them 'cause they are OTT with the "How YOU doin'?" and yet you are charmed anyway because you know they'll, like, totally have your back and probably say that you have a nice ass while they're doing it. I do not know why I find them charming, but I totally do. Whatever, I am totally fucking shallow and I'm okay with that.
Man, I totally fucking need a Raptor icon. Or a Mammoth one.
OMG Y'ALL, BASILISK: THE SERPENT KING HAS YANCY BUTLER AND JEREMY LONDON AND THE BLACK GUY FROM SLIDERS. IT IS CALLED BASILISK: THE SERPENT KING!
But right now my hard choice is between watching Inferno (global warming kills LA!) or Jurassic Park (raptors! grar!).
And, to make this less embarrassing, some half-assed movie reviews!
I picked up Feast (McSteamy with a shotgun fightin' monsters!) and Blade: Trinity a few days ago so I could, you know, keep on keepin' on with evaluating Eric Dane vs Ryan Reynolds as the Roy Harper in My Head. After much consideration (and ogling and entertained woohoos), I still have to give it to Eric Dane. Ryan Reynolds is very pretty but...I dunno. He seems lacking in a kind of cocky, charming...assishness[*] that I associate with Roy. But my, Ryan is pretty.
Anyway. ( Feast, spoilery if you care )
( Blade: Trinity )
Feast is a $6.99 and below movie, Blade: Trinity is a $9.99 and below movie.
*I think Roy Harper is charming, mostly shallow, kind of an asshole, incredibly well-meaning, and prone to leaping conclusion-wards. But mostly, I think he is a *joyful* character. And I like my joyful action heroes to be charming, assholish, competent bastards. Because okay, my basic feeling on them (and on Roy in particular) is that they are good at what they do and you can respect them for that, but the rest of the time you just kind of laugh at them 'cause they are OTT with the "How YOU doin'?" and yet you are charmed anyway because you know they'll, like, totally have your back and probably say that you have a nice ass while they're doing it. I do not know why I find them charming, but I totally do. Whatever, I am totally fucking shallow and I'm okay with that.
Man, I totally fucking need a Raptor icon. Or a Mammoth one.
superman returns: more stuff
Jul. 26th, 2006 12:27 am( Because this is making me nuts every goddamn time I see it )
( And as somewhat of an aside: )
My Superman canon consists of the following so far:
Superman: The Movie
Superman II
Superman Returns - movie, novelization, comic adaptation
Look! Up in the Sky...
Kingdom Come
The Death of Superman
Superman: Red Son
Superman: Birthright
Superman: For All Seasons
Mythology
Superman/Batman: Public Enemies
Superman/Batman: Supergirl
Superman/Batman: Absolute Power
Batman: Hush
JLA -- assorted collections
Trinity
Justice League -- the animated show
Also?anonymous_sybil wrote fic. Which you should read. Yes.
( And as somewhat of an aside: )
My Superman canon consists of the following so far:
Superman: The Movie
Superman II
Superman Returns - movie, novelization, comic adaptation
Look! Up in the Sky...
Kingdom Come
The Death of Superman
Superman: Red Son
Superman: Birthright
Superman: For All Seasons
Mythology
Superman/Batman: Public Enemies
Superman/Batman: Supergirl
Superman/Batman: Absolute Power
Batman: Hush
JLA -- assorted collections
Trinity
Justice League -- the animated show
Also?
anonymous_sybil wrote fic. Which you should read. Yes.potc meta and random fic
Jul. 13th, 2006 12:26 am'Cause people asked. This is the stuff I had memoried and I am way too lazy to go back right now and find everything else. Anyway. It's very memory lane-esque:
06/30/03 - http://mimesere.livejournal.com/167330.html - Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl, premiere
10/30/03 - http://mimesere.livejournal.com/228767.html - Fic I *still* want to write, Jack vs Norrington
11/06/03 - http://mimesere.livejournal.com/234445.html - Jack and Norrington = MFEO
11/18/03 - http://mimesere.livejournal.com/236787.html - Things What I Like About the Sparrington. And Norrington.
12/05/03 - http://mimesere.livejournal.com/246223.html - Viva la sparrington!
12/06/03 - http://mimesere.livejournal.com/247000.html - Love triangles and Norrington as Austen hero.
12/12/03 - http://mimesere.livejournal.com/250630.html - Peas in a pod, darling.
12/22/03 - http://mimesere.livejournal.com/256796.html - Sparrington and Why It Is Teh Hot. And logistically problematic.
01/31/04 - http://mimesere.livejournal.com/280489.html - Will and metatext.
05/01/04 - http://mimesere.livejournal.com/342568.html - Thoughts upon watching the movie.
05/02/04 - http://mimesere.livejournal.com/342950.html - BP picspam + commentary, part 1
05/03/04 - http://mimesere.livejournal.com/344175.html - BP picspam + commentary, part 2
05/05/04 - http://mimesere.livejournal.com/345407.html - BP picspam + commentary, part 2b
05/06/04 - http://mimesere.livejournal.com/346170.html - BP picspam + commentary, part 3
05/07/04 - http://mimesere.livejournal.com/346521.html - BP picspam + commentary, part 4
02/03/05 - http://mimesere.livejournal.com/425962.html - I have never in my *life* been so glad to be wrong.
02/07/05 - http://mimesere.livejournal.com/426810.html - "He's a blacksmith." "No, he's a pirate." Aaaaaaagh with the rage.
02/11/05 - http://mimesere.livejournal.com/428062.html - A thing to love about the sparrington and a review of especially hot Norrington sequences.
02/12/05 - http://mimesere.livejournal.com/428304.html - Is Jack Sparrow a hero?
*
Oh, my sad inability to finish any story. Woe.
12/01/03 - http://mimesere.livejournal.com/243861.html - Norrington meets Gillette
12/14/03 - http://mimesere.livejournal.com/252177.html - Immortal sparrington. Well, it still makes *me* laugh.
01/02/04 - http://mimesere.livejournal.com/262463.html - Ghost ship!
01/03/04 - http://mimesere.livejournal.com/264382.html - More from the ghost ship.
01/05/04 - http://mimesere.livejournal.com/265271.html - The ghost ship story is really freaking long, okay?
02/13/04 - http://mimesere.livejournal.com/292453.html - Heartless voodoo Norrington. I am *so mad* at myself for not finishing this.
11/08/04 - http://mimesere.livejournal.com/401319.html - Jack and Norrington, kisstag.
11/21/04 - http://mimesere.livejournal.com/404557.html - Jack and Norrington, more kisstag.
06/30/03 - http://mimesere.livejournal.com/167330.html - Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl, premiere
10/30/03 - http://mimesere.livejournal.com/228767.html - Fic I *still* want to write, Jack vs Norrington
11/06/03 - http://mimesere.livejournal.com/234445.html - Jack and Norrington = MFEO
11/18/03 - http://mimesere.livejournal.com/236787.html - Things What I Like About the Sparrington. And Norrington.
12/05/03 - http://mimesere.livejournal.com/246223.html - Viva la sparrington!
12/06/03 - http://mimesere.livejournal.com/247000.html - Love triangles and Norrington as Austen hero.
12/12/03 - http://mimesere.livejournal.com/250630.html - Peas in a pod, darling.
12/22/03 - http://mimesere.livejournal.com/256796.html - Sparrington and Why It Is Teh Hot. And logistically problematic.
01/31/04 - http://mimesere.livejournal.com/280489.html - Will and metatext.
05/01/04 - http://mimesere.livejournal.com/342568.html - Thoughts upon watching the movie.
05/02/04 - http://mimesere.livejournal.com/342950.html - BP picspam + commentary, part 1
05/03/04 - http://mimesere.livejournal.com/344175.html - BP picspam + commentary, part 2
05/05/04 - http://mimesere.livejournal.com/345407.html - BP picspam + commentary, part 2b
05/06/04 - http://mimesere.livejournal.com/346170.html - BP picspam + commentary, part 3
05/07/04 - http://mimesere.livejournal.com/346521.html - BP picspam + commentary, part 4
02/03/05 - http://mimesere.livejournal.com/425962.html - I have never in my *life* been so glad to be wrong.
02/07/05 - http://mimesere.livejournal.com/426810.html - "He's a blacksmith." "No, he's a pirate." Aaaaaaagh with the rage.
02/11/05 - http://mimesere.livejournal.com/428062.html - A thing to love about the sparrington and a review of especially hot Norrington sequences.
02/12/05 - http://mimesere.livejournal.com/428304.html - Is Jack Sparrow a hero?
*
Oh, my sad inability to finish any story. Woe.
12/01/03 - http://mimesere.livejournal.com/243861.html - Norrington meets Gillette
12/14/03 - http://mimesere.livejournal.com/252177.html - Immortal sparrington. Well, it still makes *me* laugh.
01/02/04 - http://mimesere.livejournal.com/262463.html - Ghost ship!
01/03/04 - http://mimesere.livejournal.com/264382.html - More from the ghost ship.
01/05/04 - http://mimesere.livejournal.com/265271.html - The ghost ship story is really freaking long, okay?
02/13/04 - http://mimesere.livejournal.com/292453.html - Heartless voodoo Norrington. I am *so mad* at myself for not finishing this.
11/08/04 - http://mimesere.livejournal.com/401319.html - Jack and Norrington, kisstag.
11/21/04 - http://mimesere.livejournal.com/404557.html - Jack and Norrington, more kisstag.
What follows is in no way critical or coherent. Mostly it is me being terribly flaily and full of bored-at-work and highly sleep-deprived squee. Forgive me!
Okay, so I have now seen the movie twice: once in a regular theater and once in IMAX 3D and I want to talk about the latter one a little bit in detail (just for the technical stuff and only about the four sequences of the movie that were in 3D).
I need to say upfront that I'm totally biased in favor of liking Superman because a) he's Superman and thus b) he's totally one of those characters I saw as a kid who influenced *everything* that came after[1]. I love Lois. I love Clark. I love Jimmy and Perry. Up until Smallville, I was a hugely faithful viewer of the Superman texts. I watched George Reeves, I watched Lois and Clark, I watched Superboy. And leaving all the *character* love aside, I love Bryan Singer. More than that, even, I trust Bryan Singer as a director and as a storyteller; he's a fantastic person to have running the show on a superhero movie because he's proven that he can do it and that he can do it with sincerity and deep, abiding love for the characters. So, that puts runners on first and second, with the movie itself stepping up to bat.
And, for me, Superman Returns knocked it out of the park. It had everything I wanted from a Superman movie and, maybe more importantly, it had everything I wanted from a movie about a hero.
( Kal-El and Superman )
( the supertext )
( kick ass! )
( a brief, digressive rambling about secret identities and performativity. Yeah, I don't know where it came from either. Also, Clark Kent is teh awesome. )
( Everyone else )
And, quite frankly, I think I have gone on long enough but um. Yes. Love! Lots and lots and lots of love.
1 - Superman, Zorro, Robin Hood (specifically Outlaws of Sherwood and even more specifically Marian, Cecily, Little John, Eva, and Sibyl), Dorothy and Ozma, Taran and Eilonwy, Leia and Han and Lando (I um. I totally thought Billy Dee Williams was super hot when I was like, seven, and also he was charming! And yes, he was a dick in ESB, but he was a dick to protect his city and thus I cannot really hate him for it *and* he made up for it later), Red Sonja, Madmartigan and Sorcha, Batgirl from the old tv show, Spider-man and His Amazing Friends, on and on and on.
2 - Movie-verse Batman. The Tim Burtons and Batman Begins.
3 - Pun only intended a little bit. But seriously, the supertext: the official movie guide, the visual companion, various interviews and articles, the novelization, the prequel comics, and Superman 1 and 2.
4 - This whole thing makes me want to be Bryan Singer's platonic babymama. I *love* that he used this movie as a metacommentary on why the character's necessary. It works for me the way Magog's breakdown in Kingdom Come works for me and it's why I don't have a problem (the way many seem to) with the idea of Superman as savior. But then, I actually have way more of a problem with ET as Christ figure, so I may not be entirely reasonable on the subject.
Okay, so I have now seen the movie twice: once in a regular theater and once in IMAX 3D and I want to talk about the latter one a little bit in detail (just for the technical stuff and only about the four sequences of the movie that were in 3D).
I need to say upfront that I'm totally biased in favor of liking Superman because a) he's Superman and thus b) he's totally one of those characters I saw as a kid who influenced *everything* that came after[1]. I love Lois. I love Clark. I love Jimmy and Perry. Up until Smallville, I was a hugely faithful viewer of the Superman texts. I watched George Reeves, I watched Lois and Clark, I watched Superboy. And leaving all the *character* love aside, I love Bryan Singer. More than that, even, I trust Bryan Singer as a director and as a storyteller; he's a fantastic person to have running the show on a superhero movie because he's proven that he can do it and that he can do it with sincerity and deep, abiding love for the characters. So, that puts runners on first and second, with the movie itself stepping up to bat.
And, for me, Superman Returns knocked it out of the park. It had everything I wanted from a Superman movie and, maybe more importantly, it had everything I wanted from a movie about a hero.
( Kal-El and Superman )
( the supertext )
( kick ass! )
( a brief, digressive rambling about secret identities and performativity. Yeah, I don't know where it came from either. Also, Clark Kent is teh awesome. )
( Everyone else )
And, quite frankly, I think I have gone on long enough but um. Yes. Love! Lots and lots and lots of love.
1 - Superman, Zorro, Robin Hood (specifically Outlaws of Sherwood and even more specifically Marian, Cecily, Little John, Eva, and Sibyl), Dorothy and Ozma, Taran and Eilonwy, Leia and Han and Lando (I um. I totally thought Billy Dee Williams was super hot when I was like, seven, and also he was charming! And yes, he was a dick in ESB, but he was a dick to protect his city and thus I cannot really hate him for it *and* he made up for it later), Red Sonja, Madmartigan and Sorcha, Batgirl from the old tv show, Spider-man and His Amazing Friends, on and on and on.
2 - Movie-verse Batman. The Tim Burtons and Batman Begins.
3 - Pun only intended a little bit. But seriously, the supertext: the official movie guide, the visual companion, various interviews and articles, the novelization, the prequel comics, and Superman 1 and 2.
4 - This whole thing makes me want to be Bryan Singer's platonic babymama. I *love* that he used this movie as a metacommentary on why the character's necessary. It works for me the way Magog's breakdown in Kingdom Come works for me and it's why I don't have a problem (the way many seem to) with the idea of Superman as savior. But then, I actually have way more of a problem with ET as Christ figure, so I may not be entirely reasonable on the subject.
groove is in the heart
Jun. 2nd, 2006 11:46 pmyou know who I hate more than anyone else in Romeo and Juliet?
I fucking hate Friar Laurence, the shady, shady dickweed. I hate him more than I hate the emo manpainy asshattery that is Romeo. Even the outrageously awesome scenery chewing that is Pete Postelthwaite's Laurence cannot make up for the fact that he's a hubristic ass who should be beaten to death with his own crapulence.
I fucking hate Friar Laurence, the shady, shady dickweed. I hate him more than I hate the emo manpainy asshattery that is Romeo. Even the outrageously awesome scenery chewing that is Pete Postelthwaite's Laurence cannot make up for the fact that he's a hubristic ass who should be beaten to death with his own crapulence.
a comment on race in SF/F
Apr. 2nd, 2006 09:53 pm"Aw, come on! That's a bunch of horse shit! Lando Calrissian was a black guy, you know. He got to fly the Millennium Falcon! What's the matter with you?"
"Who said that?"
"I did. Lando Calrissian is a positive role model in the realm of science fiction/fantasy."
"Fuck Lando Calrissian, uncle tom nigga. Always some white boy gotta invoke the holy trilogy. Bust this: those movies are about how the white man keeps the brother man down, even in a galaxy far, far away. Check this shit. You've got cracker farmboy Luke Skywalker -- nazi poster boy, blond hair, blue eyes -- and then you got Darth Vader, the blackest brother in the galaxy -- Nubian god!"
"What's a Nubian?"
"Shut the fuck up! Now, Vader, he's a spiritual brother, down with the Force and all that good shit. And then this cracker -- Skywalker -- gets his hands on a lightsaber and the boy decides he's gonna run the fucking universe. Gets a whole clan of whites together and they gonna bust up Vader's 'hood, the Death Star. Now what the fuck do you call that?"
"Intergalactic civil war?"
"GENTRIFICATION! They're gonna drive out the black element to make the galaxy quote unquote safe for white folks. And Jedi's the most insulting installment! Because Vader's beautiful black visage is sullied when he pulls off his mask to reveal a feeble, crusty old white man. They tryin' to tell us that deep inside we all want to be white!"
"...Well isn't that true?"
It never stops being funny to *me*. (right click save)
"Who said that?"
"I did. Lando Calrissian is a positive role model in the realm of science fiction/fantasy."
"Fuck Lando Calrissian, uncle tom nigga. Always some white boy gotta invoke the holy trilogy. Bust this: those movies are about how the white man keeps the brother man down, even in a galaxy far, far away. Check this shit. You've got cracker farmboy Luke Skywalker -- nazi poster boy, blond hair, blue eyes -- and then you got Darth Vader, the blackest brother in the galaxy -- Nubian god!"
"What's a Nubian?"
"Shut the fuck up! Now, Vader, he's a spiritual brother, down with the Force and all that good shit. And then this cracker -- Skywalker -- gets his hands on a lightsaber and the boy decides he's gonna run the fucking universe. Gets a whole clan of whites together and they gonna bust up Vader's 'hood, the Death Star. Now what the fuck do you call that?"
"Intergalactic civil war?"
"GENTRIFICATION! They're gonna drive out the black element to make the galaxy quote unquote safe for white folks. And Jedi's the most insulting installment! Because Vader's beautiful black visage is sullied when he pulls off his mask to reveal a feeble, crusty old white man. They tryin' to tell us that deep inside we all want to be white!"
"...Well isn't that true?"
It never stops being funny to *me*. (right click save)
A question:
Feb. 12th, 2005 09:10 amUsing the definition below, is Jack Sparrow a hero in the traditional sense of the word?
Discuss, citing specific examples from the movie.
hero:
1) a man of great strength and courage, favored by the gods and in part descended from them, often regarded as a half-god and worshiped after his death
2) any man admired for his courage, nobility, or exploits, esp. in war
3) Any man admired for his qualities of achievements and regarded as an ideal or model
4) The central male character in a novel, play, poem, etc., with whom the reader or audience is supposed to sympathize; protagonist
5) The central figure in any important event or period, honored for outstanding qualities
(Webster's New World Dictionary of the American Language, second college edition)
Keep in mind that I consider #4 to be true and it really wouldn't be a discussion point. Alternately, discuss the difference between a hero and a protagonist and tell me why Jack Sparrow is one or both of those things.
Discuss, citing specific examples from the movie.
hero:
1) a man of great strength and courage, favored by the gods and in part descended from them, often regarded as a half-god and worshiped after his death
2) any man admired for his courage, nobility, or exploits, esp. in war
3) Any man admired for his qualities of achievements and regarded as an ideal or model
4) The central male character in a novel, play, poem, etc., with whom the reader or audience is supposed to sympathize; protagonist
5) The central figure in any important event or period, honored for outstanding qualities
(Webster's New World Dictionary of the American Language, second college edition)
Keep in mind that I consider #4 to be true and it really wouldn't be a discussion point. Alternately, discuss the difference between a hero and a protagonist and tell me why Jack Sparrow is one or both of those things.
a thought I want to go over later
Feb. 7th, 2005 08:00 amstrangemuses, here:I know that we were supposed to think that she 'grew up' by encountering Barbossa and realizing that not all pirates were "teh kewl" but I don't think that she learned that lesson at all. If she had, she wouldn't have embraced Will at the end with words, "He's a pirate," she would have said, "He's a good man."
That? THAT? Is exactly why I hate her last line. HAAAAATE. Flames! flames on the side of my face!
Given the conflation of pirate and good man, Elizabeth could have said, "He's a good man," which would have meant pirate and it WOULD NOT MAKE ME ABSOLUTELY INSANE.
And you know? I have no earthly idea why I spend so much time waxing the meta fantastic about PotC. I utterly realize it is a movie based on a theme park ride and that it is not that deep? But it is helping me nail down a bunch of stuff about what I value in characters and, well, I like doing it. and, you know, if there can be a book on Harry Potter and Philosophy, I can damn well do the same thing for PotC.
Also: GIP! from
latxcvi! for me day!PotC 2 and Norrington
Feb. 3rd, 2005 11:28 pmWith much help and input from latxcvi
( in which I blather on about why I will not see PotC 2 if Norrington isn't in it and why I feel that his character is important. )
latxcvi( in which I blather on about why I will not see PotC 2 if Norrington isn't in it and why I feel that his character is important. )
*snerk* So, Keith Richards has agreed to play Daddy Sparrow? I guess that tips odds in favor of Bootstrap. Interesting.
*sneakily does picspam instead of writing*
( Commentary catch up: Jack as pirate )
( The calm before the storm. )
( Peas in a pod, or Why I Sometimes Want To Stab Elizabeth in the Eye With a Rusty Nail. So if you don't want to see me absolutely lose my shit about her, give this set a pass. )
( Where I get a mite more reasonable )
( Jack and Will and Barbossa, oh my! Er. These aren't sequential with battle on the Dauntless caps. )
( Will can only hope that one day he will be as badass as these two )
( Blood is compulsory -- they're all blood, you see. )
( wrapping stuff up at Isla de Muerta )
The next, and last, post is much less ranty.
*sneakily does picspam instead of writing*
( Commentary catch up: Jack as pirate )
( The calm before the storm. )
( Peas in a pod, or Why I Sometimes Want To Stab Elizabeth in the Eye With a Rusty Nail. So if you don't want to see me absolutely lose my shit about her, give this set a pass. )
( Where I get a mite more reasonable )
( Jack and Will and Barbossa, oh my! Er. These aren't sequential with battle on the Dauntless caps. )
( Will can only hope that one day he will be as badass as these two )
( Blood is compulsory -- they're all blood, you see. )
( wrapping stuff up at Isla de Muerta )
The next, and last, post is much less ranty.
PotC: Curse of the Black Pearl, part 3
May. 6th, 2004 06:04 pmWhile I wait for the CLEA software to do its integratey thing, picspam! Commentary! I make deep insightful observations like, "OMG! So pretty!" and "The reward/punishment to selfishness ratio in this movie is ON CRACK!"
But mostly, "ooh! pretty!"
( In which we leave the good commodore behind for a bit )
( The commodore returns! Woo! )
Dude, that was long.
But mostly, "ooh! pretty!"
( In which we leave the good commodore behind for a bit )
( The commodore returns! Woo! )
Dude, that was long.
PotC: Curse of the Black Pearl, part 2b
May. 5th, 2004 11:53 amSo I took a brief break there to go watch some girls kicking ass and that was nice. But now I'm back! With an hour and a half to kill before class. And we all know this means picspam!
And this time, more than two pictures!
( Norrington as strategist, part 1 and Why Will Often Makes Me Want to Smack Him Upside the Head. Though he is pretty. )
Off to class now. la la la la.
And this time, more than two pictures!
( Norrington as strategist, part 1 and Why Will Often Makes Me Want to Smack Him Upside the Head. Though he is pretty. )
Off to class now. la la la la.
