Catching up, sorta

[bop_radar]

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

Comments

[frolicndetour.livejournal.com]

More serious note: Re. your convo with rose_griffes above, I admit the general tenor of fandom discussion about Meyer's religion makes me uncomfortable. I'm not LDS and I haven't read the books, but I've never encountered anyone who both identifies with that cultural group and views the books as specifically Mormon; more the opposite. Of course, to a large extent we're all influenced by our cultural surroundings, but I feel like if Meyer were a member of a majority group (say mainline Protestant in the US), her specific background wouldn't be made an issue of. So I'd be interested in reading your thesis too!

Non-serious note!: (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? ;) )

Ahaha. That poor boy cannot act at ALL. Which is good, because it adds to the wonderful cheesiness of the whole endeavor and ensures that I won't succumb to the id-candy appeal. A couple of my friends swear he's hot enough to make up for it, but I just don't see it. Not underneath that bad hair and make-up job.

I do like Kristen Stewart's performance though! I can tell even from the movies why she drives people crazy as a protagonist, but Stewart has a whole Girl, Interrupted thing going for her which totally works for the character. And almost makes me care. Almost. Though I hope she improves now that she and Sparkles are finally tying the knot!

[bop-radar.livejournal.com]

I've never encountered anyone who both identifies with that cultural group and views the books as specifically Mormon
Really?! I'm trying to dig out a link to a series of posts from someone who was LDS and who wrote up really funny picspams about them drawing the parallels. So annoying, I can't find them right now.

But I can see why you might feel uncomfortable by people mentioning her Mormonism a lot. For me, it's irrelevant whether she's Morman, Catholic, Protestant, whatever... for me it's religion at all that bothers me (I'm stridently atheist). So I'd be as strident against it regardless but maybe that's different for other people... especially in the States maybe. I'm not surprised though, given the popularity of the books and their overt morality, that people are commenting on her religion.

it adds to the wonderful cheesiness of the whole endeavor
Indeed! And I totally agree about Kristen Stewart's performance! I can't believe how bearable she makes Bella. It's quite uncanny. And I don't even like her looks or the actress herself! And yet I find her so watcheable! Despite hating Bella. Kind of fascinating.

[rose-griffes.livejournal.com]

Really?! I'm trying to dig out a link to a series of posts from someone who was LDS and who wrote up really funny picspams about them drawing the parallels.

You're probably thinking of the posts by... stoney123? 321? She's a former Mormon, and strongly anti-Mormon in tone. I wouldn't claim to be unbiased in my own posts about the books, but she certainly isn't either. I found her posts to be offensive; clearly I'm not her target audience. (Try the keyword sparkledammerung. I think she coined it.)

eta: it's stoney321, and googling the word works--first link on the page

[bop-radar.livejournal.com]

Yes, that's the one! They were hilarious! (I so AM her target audience. *g*) And no one is unbiased. I'm a highly biased atheist.

[frolicndetour.livejournal.com]

For me, it's irrelevant whether she's Morman, Catholic, Protestant, whatever

Hmm, and if she were, say, Muslim? To me, it's problematic when people use the popularity of the books (or the ridiculousness of sparkly vampires) as an excuse to bash a minority group that's faced a history of discrimination.*

* Not that that's what you were doing, but that that's the context in which a lot of the discussion is occurring.

I'm stridently atheist

I'm tepidly agnostic. *g* I think that as such, you and I are in a position of relative privilege in our respective societies. (Especially me, perhaps.) In that, if Dan Brown or whoever comes out with some wildly popular, horribly written series, we never have to worry about whether everyone's going to decide to attribute whatever horrible writing to their secular humanism, and whether we should brace ourselves for the bashing every time we click on a book or movie review. Because we can count on being seen as individuals first, members of a group second. LDS people aren't in that position yet, as can be seen by all the horribly ignorant, 'lolz, sparkly vampires are totally a Mormon thing, right?' comments.

Which is not to say the religion issue should be discussed, but just that it should be done in an informed way - which IMO necessarily includes hearing what actual LDS have to say. I think that was the point of rose_griffes earlier (amusing??) post linked above.

[bop-radar.livejournal.com]

if she were, say, Muslim?
Totally the same! Ayaan Hirsi Ali, an atheist Muslim, is one of my heroes.

I don't think people should be bashed or discriminated against on any basis. And I definitely don't think I was doing that, nor do I condone it if it's happening elsewhere. But I will be totally honest and say that I do not respect religion as an institution (or institutions).

Because we can count on being seen as individuals first, members of a group second. LDS people aren't in that position yet
Really? Honestly I don't see how they're any different from any other religion. Perhaps this is a US thing.

going to decide to attribute whatever horrible writing to their secular humanism
LOL. I don't know if that's such a great example? There was a LOT of religious backlash against Brown... at least there was here.

all the horribly ignorant, 'lolz, sparkly vampires are totally a Mormon thing, right?' comments
Honestly? I haven't seen any such comments. Probably because my interest in Twilight is miniscule (and my investment in it is hating it!). Those comments are crazy exaggerations, and I can see how it could slide into implying all Mormons are batshit, and that sucks, and I support what you're saying.

[frolicndetour.livejournal.com]

Those comments are crazy exaggerations, and I can see how it could slide into implying all Mormons are batshit, and that sucks, and I support what you're saying.

Aw, thanks. And reading it over I see I totally misread your comment above; sorry about that! I probably should not try to post amidst holiday madness.

And yeah, maybe Dan Brown isn't the best example. *g* It's just the absolute worst book I've ever managed to finish and it scarred me! The religious reaction I remember was mostly amusement since the history was just SO bad, but then, I'm not from an intensely religious area.

[bop-radar.livejournal.com]

Oh, that's cool! I didn't mean to give any offence. Dan Brown is definitely VERY scarring! Ugh! (And yeah, weirdly a few VERY upset priests here in Melbourne--and I assume other places too.)

[rose-griffes.livejournal.com]

Can't sleep, so I'm randomly commenting on old posts.

For me, it's irrelevant whether she's Morman, Catholic, Protestant, whatever... for me it's religion at all that bothers me (I'm stridently atheist). So I'd be as strident against it regardless but maybe that's different for other people... especially in the States maybe.

One-quarter of the US population (http://www.gallup.com/poll/26611/some-americans-reluctant-vote-mormon-72yearold-presidential-candidates.aspx) would not vote for a Mormon for president, even if that person were "generally well-qualified." Depending on the poll, that number went up as high as thirty-seven percent (http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1562941-1,00.html). In other words, there are some very real prejudices in the US about Mormons. The Gallup poll suggests that the numbers (1/4) are the same now as they were forty years ago, when George Romney was running for office. (Atheists fared far worse, by the way. As for religions, the LA Times poll shows that Islam is the only one that pulls ahead of Mormonism for losing votes.)

Meyer's religion being constantly mentioned makes me uncomfortable, but that's mostly connected to the tone with which it's done. (Not objecting to yours, by the way, though I'd still argue about how much of the Twilight series reflects Meyer's religious beliefs. I have another post I need to write about that for my own LJ, however.)