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Catching up, sorta
I really suck at life balance. I lurch from prioritising one thing totally over all else to prioritising something else completely... for six months or so it was work, and then a month ago I realised that the rest of my life had fallen into ruin, so now I'm on a 'get fit/healthy, get organised, get a life back' kick. Who knows if I can strike a balance at any stage?
Anyway, I'm struggling to fit fandom in, in either case, and am falling ever more hopelessly 'behind'. There are so many things I could or should be doing and I am not doing... sigh. I have lots to post about at the moment (had I the time!) so this is going to be one of those terrible, catch-all, catch-up posts... that won't really catch me up very far at all! :p
First up... Smallville. I now watch a week behind everyone else so I haven't seen 'Pandora'. But this delay means I'm spoiled considerably by icons, etc. So I knew that 'Idol' was a big Clois episode and had The Dread going in because the Clois has slowly been sucking my soul dry all season. I don't think anything constructive will come of me talking about my sadness that now, at the time I should be MOST into Smallville (when Lois finally is getting considerable screentime and show presence, and the show is focused on Clark/Lois), I have never felt more empty or distant from my show. A lot of it is self-protective to stop me feeling rageful at the way they're writing things (which I know I would if I didn't distance myself a lot). It's not just the Clois... Callum Blue is so atrocious as Zod I don't know what to do when I watch him. I can't even laugh, it just makes me feel hollow! And it's all taken a toll...
Only, actually, I was pleasantly surprised with 'Idol'. :) It didn't make me want to gouge my eyeballs out or block up my ears! And there were a couple of genuinely cute scenes (the glasses ZOMG!) and I even liked the kiss at the end. I liked it MUCH MUCH better than the one where Clark swooped in on Lois randomly for no reason. I also liked the cute little siblings and I think they need to go hang with Ollie (but they won't). So maybe, just maybe, I may rally to write an actual review of an episode... Maybe. Or maybe 'Pandora' will be soul-sucking again.
I went to see the new Twilight movie for the LOLZ. I was prepared for it to be worse than the first movie, but I found it more enjoyable. There was a lot more to laugh at and it was far less dreary. Jacob's pecs brightened things up CONSIDERABLY. (Wow, Edward, you are such a dreary dweeb... and is it just me, or was Pattinson not really feelin' it in a couple of those scenes? ;) )
Thank god for Jacob and his clan of implausibly clad werewolves (werewolves are apparently all about the PANTS and not much at all about the SHIRTS. Become a werewolf and you will never wear a shirt again). I was a bit sad when the CGI on his chestal area slipped up briefly though... or did they have to recut a scene and he'd lost a bit of tone maybe? Er, yes, I was paying CLOSE attention to the plot.
Oh, come on! What plot? Seriously I WILL NEVER UNDERSTAND how this stupid story is considered so compelling. But it was great fun to laugh at:
- The camera panning round and round emo!Bella's head to represent time passing without Edward.
- The LITERAL moon in the credits (though it was very pretty). But wow, these movies are so unsubtle.
- Bella screaming from her nightmares (LOL, I never expected that to be portrayed on screen! Too funny!).
- The desperate attempts of the screenwriters to downplay the soul/Christianity/marriage aspect. I can't wait to see how they try to stranglehold the increasingly overt Mormonism of books 3 and 4...
- Bella falling over and falling off a bike. So much fail! Yet, movie!Bella is surprisingly likeable despite that, so I laughed in principle but admired the actress for overcoming the ridiculous character premise.
- WAVE out of nowhere!
- Bella's 'oh, my life is so hard, I just have TOO MANY GUYS TO CHOOSE FROM' emo.
- Dakota Fanning (Twihard, yes?) shooting 'Pain' from her eyes.
- And finally the marriage LULZ. Always good to enter the credits with tears of laughter...
Meyer's minimalist approach to world building is laughable, but I do admire the film creators' for overcoming that with all their beautiful cinematography. Also, it makes me LOL when they pull crazy dramatic SFX on a scene that was a couple of lines long in the book.
Watched Friday Night Lights 4.4, and while I don't have time for a full review I do need to say... MAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATTTTTTTTTTTT!!!!! OMG! That final scene really took me by surprise, I did not see it coming, and it had the intended shock value for me. I'd been delighting in having Tim and Matt in scenes together (they always delight me), and it never occurred to me we were heading for a fall of this sort! :( Ouch! And oh, GRANDMA!
There were many other moments I loved in the episode, and overall it's once again the show I'm enjoying most on television (though it has little competition).
I did watch the Doctor Who special but found it too OTT.
I'm up to speed with Dexter but it's been patchy all season for me.
Community continues to please me. Abed and Troy's duet FTW this week.
Have read a few good books and have several more I want to get to! Wish I had time to natter about them. Hmm. Wishlists are going round, yes? Wave a magic wand for more time for me? :D
Anyway, I'm struggling to fit fandom in, in either case, and am falling ever more hopelessly 'behind'. There are so many things I could or should be doing and I am not doing... sigh. I have lots to post about at the moment (had I the time!) so this is going to be one of those terrible, catch-all, catch-up posts... that won't really catch me up very far at all! :p
First up... Smallville. I now watch a week behind everyone else so I haven't seen 'Pandora'. But this delay means I'm spoiled considerably by icons, etc. So I knew that 'Idol' was a big Clois episode and had The Dread going in because the Clois has slowly been sucking my soul dry all season. I don't think anything constructive will come of me talking about my sadness that now, at the time I should be MOST into Smallville (when Lois finally is getting considerable screentime and show presence, and the show is focused on Clark/Lois), I have never felt more empty or distant from my show. A lot of it is self-protective to stop me feeling rageful at the way they're writing things (which I know I would if I didn't distance myself a lot). It's not just the Clois... Callum Blue is so atrocious as Zod I don't know what to do when I watch him. I can't even laugh, it just makes me feel hollow! And it's all taken a toll...
Only, actually, I was pleasantly surprised with 'Idol'. :) It didn't make me want to gouge my eyeballs out or block up my ears! And there were a couple of genuinely cute scenes (the glasses ZOMG!) and I even liked the kiss at the end. I liked it MUCH MUCH better than the one where Clark swooped in on Lois randomly for no reason. I also liked the cute little siblings and I think they need to go hang with Ollie (but they won't). So maybe, just maybe, I may rally to write an actual review of an episode... Maybe. Or maybe 'Pandora' will be soul-sucking again.
I went to see the new Twilight movie for the LOLZ. I was prepared for it to be worse than the first movie, but I found it more enjoyable. There was a lot more to laugh at and it was far less dreary. Jacob's pecs brightened things up CONSIDERABLY. (Wow, Edward, you are such a dreary dweeb... and is it just me, or was Pattinson not really feelin' it in a couple of those scenes? ;) )
Thank god for Jacob and his clan of implausibly clad werewolves (werewolves are apparently all about the PANTS and not much at all about the SHIRTS. Become a werewolf and you will never wear a shirt again). I was a bit sad when the CGI on his chestal area slipped up briefly though... or did they have to recut a scene and he'd lost a bit of tone maybe? Er, yes, I was paying CLOSE attention to the plot.
Oh, come on! What plot? Seriously I WILL NEVER UNDERSTAND how this stupid story is considered so compelling. But it was great fun to laugh at:
- The camera panning round and round emo!Bella's head to represent time passing without Edward.
- The LITERAL moon in the credits (though it was very pretty). But wow, these movies are so unsubtle.
- Bella screaming from her nightmares (LOL, I never expected that to be portrayed on screen! Too funny!).
- The desperate attempts of the screenwriters to downplay the soul/Christianity/marriage aspect. I can't wait to see how they try to stranglehold the increasingly overt Mormonism of books 3 and 4...
- Bella falling over and falling off a bike. So much fail! Yet, movie!Bella is surprisingly likeable despite that, so I laughed in principle but admired the actress for overcoming the ridiculous character premise.
- WAVE out of nowhere!
- Bella's 'oh, my life is so hard, I just have TOO MANY GUYS TO CHOOSE FROM' emo.
- Dakota Fanning (Twihard, yes?) shooting 'Pain' from her eyes.
- And finally the marriage LULZ. Always good to enter the credits with tears of laughter...
Meyer's minimalist approach to world building is laughable, but I do admire the film creators' for overcoming that with all their beautiful cinematography. Also, it makes me LOL when they pull crazy dramatic SFX on a scene that was a couple of lines long in the book.
Watched Friday Night Lights 4.4, and while I don't have time for a full review I do need to say... MAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATTTTTTTTTTTT!!!!! OMG! That final scene really took me by surprise, I did not see it coming, and it had the intended shock value for me. I'd been delighting in having Tim and Matt in scenes together (they always delight me), and it never occurred to me we were heading for a fall of this sort! :( Ouch! And oh, GRANDMA!
There were many other moments I loved in the episode, and overall it's once again the show I'm enjoying most on television (though it has little competition).
I did watch the Doctor Who special but found it too OTT.
I'm up to speed with Dexter but it's been patchy all season for me.
Community continues to please me. Abed and Troy's duet FTW this week.
Have read a few good books and have several more I want to get to! Wish I had time to natter about them. Hmm. Wishlists are going round, yes? Wave a magic wand for more time for me? :D
no subject
I've read a lot of the more amusing links on your bookmarks already, I confess. ;)
no subject
This is not to say that none of its points are valid. In fact, I'll take a look at it later (next week, probably) and give you some more specific feedback. But getting back to the point you mentioned in this post, that Twilight has increasingly overt Mormonism as the series progresses: some of the author's points in that paper have to do with what isn't in the books, rather than what is*. A lack of anything isn't necessarily going to resonate with most viewers as being typically Mormon. There's not much to repress to avoid overt Mormonism in the film series if what's making the book a reflection of Mormonism is what isn't in it.
Well, other than sex. That's the one I see mentioned a lot. And while I've said in one of my posts about the series that the lack of sex could be viewed as a Mormon aspect of the books**, it's also part of the style in some romance novels--lots of lead-up but no sex until near the end, close to the 'happily ever after' stuff. (Plus Mormons didn't exactly copyright abstinence before marriage, either.)
*Some of the other aspects mentioned in the paper are viewpoints that are common in lots of religions, and for lots of non-religious people as well, such as the importance of marriage and family in life, the idea that we have the ability to choose.
**When I've asked other Mormons if they view anything in the books as being obviously influenced by our religion, the no-sex-before-marriage is the one (and usually only) thing they mention.
no subject
You really don't have to! I'm not that invested in this discussion--I just provided the thesis link because you wanted it. I know this a topic that is obviously close to your heart, and I appreciate that, but honestly, I don't really see this discussion going anywhere. I'm a hardcore atheist. I take issue with religious views, whatever their origin, wherever I find them.
Some of the other aspects mentioned in the paper are viewpoints that are common in lots of religions
Oh, totally! It happens to be Mormonism in Meyer's case, but it the conservative morality speaks to lots of different people and backgrounds (except me, LOL!). By the 'increasing' aspects, I was thinking specifically of the way the Cullens function as a closed community and the treatment of the pregnancy (and the way it so swiftly follows marriage). As well as the no sex before marriage thing, but that's common to a great many religions, as you say. I thought the paper made a good case about the community dynamic and pregnancy. (The pregnancy stuff made no sense to me until I read it.)
Look, I can understand you being defensive about Meyer. Frankly, I wouldn't want her as a representative of my religion, if I had one, either. But I totally do not think she represents all Mormonism, so you should chillax about that. I just think her personal background influenced some of her preoccupations. *shrug* As it would for most people! And I don't like heavy-handed religious or conservative morality ... so I baulk at it when I read it.
If it reassures you at all, I'd be equally offended/annoyed/disliking it if she was a Catholic, piling the novel up with guilt. All religions are annoying to me.
no subject
Oh good. I didn't want to be totally dismissive of something you found useful, but I'm really not interested in reading all of it.
I'm guessing we take a different approach to reading fiction. I usually don't care about authorial background or possible motivations in writing. Even in reading something written with a more purposeful agenda, I'm generally more concerned about being entertained. I even liked Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy in spite of the not very hidden anti-religion message. They were interesting stories. (Okay, the ending of the third book made me want to throw it against the wall, but until then I was enjoying it.)
The exception to this would be if I'm unsure about something. Like with Wuthering Heights--was it meant as a romantic tragedy or a cautionary tale? Either way, I think Cathy and Heathcliff deserved each other, but only to avoid torturing everyone else who ended up falling in love with one of them. *laughs*
no subject
If I am truly entertained, then I don't tend to engage as much with that stuff. But that's quite rare these days and definitely didn't happen with Twilight--just not my 'thing'.
the ending of the third book made me want to throw it against the wall, but until then I was enjoying it.
Hahaha, SO TRUE. I remember you writing about that a while back. And I think I was in a recluse-y time, but I so agree. I had blocked out that ridiculous ending from my memory, it was so bad!
Cathy and Heathcliff deserved each other, but only to avoid torturing everyone else who ended up falling in love with one of them
Haha, too true!