More opinions
Dec. 12th, 2004 10:43 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
tarigwaemirLowell House, on the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe
Haven't done much work today, although have reconciled with Mother, according to my usual cycle. But I have caught up on LJ comments! Mwahahaha. Can I say that I really, really love my friends list? You all make these stressful crunch periods bearable, and moreover you keep me thinking--with all the science courses I've been taking lately, I haven't been able to get into discussions about anything academic. (Science courses do not exactly provide food for discussion, except at a meta level when discussing methodology of learning/doing. They do on the other hand provide plenty of food for bad sex jokes, hilarious professor anecdotes and general hysteria both good and bad.)
Also managed to produce![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
chain_of_fics drabble. I've realized though that it's hard for me to write fiction because I visualize film scenes and then try to describe them verbally, which usually results in imagery as thick as sludge, so thick that it prevents any action or plot from taking place. But one can presumably get away with lack of story development in drabbles--perhaps one can even consider them arias, a frozen emotional frame of a character, and longer fiction proper to be full operas, with the recitative that moves the storyline along.
What was I going to say? Oh yes, the drabble. I wrote it for Chunhyang, which was this gorgeous Korean film based on a folktale about the daughter of a kisaeng and a yangban's son. I was searching for good summaries to link to on the net, and found many (ignorant) reviews criticizing the film for interrupting the narrative with pansori performance (which the reviewers found too stylized and inaccessible), for having a typical storyline à la Pretty Woman and for not being sufficiently feminist. I have no words. I mean, seriously, cultural sensitivity much? The second point galls me to no end because kisaeng are not prostitutes. Furthermore, Chunhyang wasn't a kisaeng--her mother brought her up to be different because her father had been a yangban, and Mongryong was her first (and only) lover (which is the point of the whole story). She insists on the marriage contract because she doesn't want Mongryong to think of her as a kisaeng. The feminist comment is utterly stupid because the folktale originates from a sexist culture, but oh well, what can we say about that except: stop being so self-righteous, all societies were sexist and still continue to be sexist. You can't just ignore that fact.
As for the first comment, it honestly puzzles me why a movie critic would say something so weird. I mean, Chunhyang was released as a foreign film. Of course it will have many alien elements. Does the reviewer think that somehow foreign directors secretly intend their films for Western audiences and will make sure they are perfectly accessible/understandable? A Korean audience would understand and appreciate the relevance of the pansori--even to my ears, I found it intensely moving--and including it was an artistic decision that improved the film in the eyes of its intended audience. Of course, it sounds inaccessible to a Western reviewer who doesn't even understand the original language of the film--does this mean that the film somehow fails to meet an artistic standard as a result? Geez. Also, I think it only proves the reviewer self-centered because when I went to see a pansori performance, the audience was half-American, and they all did their best to appreciate it--and I think they didn't find it inaccessible at all. (Pansori requires audience participation--it is "popular" not "literary", kind of like Commedia dell'Arte in terms of cultural status--and I was surprised to find that the American audience members were more enthusiastic in calling out responses to the performer, in their mangled attempt at Korean. I rather admired them.)
Bleh, I should get back to work now. ::groans::
Yours &c.
Haven't done much work today, although have reconciled with Mother, according to my usual cycle. But I have caught up on LJ comments! Mwahahaha. Can I say that I really, really love my friends list? You all make these stressful crunch periods bearable, and moreover you keep me thinking--with all the science courses I've been taking lately, I haven't been able to get into discussions about anything academic. (Science courses do not exactly provide food for discussion, except at a meta level when discussing methodology of learning/doing. They do on the other hand provide plenty of food for bad sex jokes, hilarious professor anecdotes and general hysteria both good and bad.)
Also managed to produce
chain_of_fics drabble. I've realized though that it's hard for me to write fiction because I visualize film scenes and then try to describe them verbally, which usually results in imagery as thick as sludge, so thick that it prevents any action or plot from taking place. But one can presumably get away with lack of story development in drabbles--perhaps one can even consider them arias, a frozen emotional frame of a character, and longer fiction proper to be full operas, with the recitative that moves the storyline along.What was I going to say? Oh yes, the drabble. I wrote it for Chunhyang, which was this gorgeous Korean film based on a folktale about the daughter of a kisaeng and a yangban's son. I was searching for good summaries to link to on the net, and found many (ignorant) reviews criticizing the film for interrupting the narrative with pansori performance (which the reviewers found too stylized and inaccessible), for having a typical storyline à la Pretty Woman and for not being sufficiently feminist. I have no words. I mean, seriously, cultural sensitivity much? The second point galls me to no end because kisaeng are not prostitutes. Furthermore, Chunhyang wasn't a kisaeng--her mother brought her up to be different because her father had been a yangban, and Mongryong was her first (and only) lover (which is the point of the whole story). She insists on the marriage contract because she doesn't want Mongryong to think of her as a kisaeng. The feminist comment is utterly stupid because the folktale originates from a sexist culture, but oh well, what can we say about that except: stop being so self-righteous, all societies were sexist and still continue to be sexist. You can't just ignore that fact.
As for the first comment, it honestly puzzles me why a movie critic would say something so weird. I mean, Chunhyang was released as a foreign film. Of course it will have many alien elements. Does the reviewer think that somehow foreign directors secretly intend their films for Western audiences and will make sure they are perfectly accessible/understandable? A Korean audience would understand and appreciate the relevance of the pansori--even to my ears, I found it intensely moving--and including it was an artistic decision that improved the film in the eyes of its intended audience. Of course, it sounds inaccessible to a Western reviewer who doesn't even understand the original language of the film--does this mean that the film somehow fails to meet an artistic standard as a result? Geez. Also, I think it only proves the reviewer self-centered because when I went to see a pansori performance, the audience was half-American, and they all did their best to appreciate it--and I think they didn't find it inaccessible at all. (Pansori requires audience participation--it is "popular" not "literary", kind of like Commedia dell'Arte in terms of cultural status--and I was surprised to find that the American audience members were more enthusiastic in calling out responses to the performer, in their mangled attempt at Korean. I rather admired them.)
Bleh, I should get back to work now. ::groans::
Yours &c.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2004-12-12 10:13 pm (UTC)(no subject)
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Date: 2004-12-13 11:57 am (UTC)That sucks.
O.o
(no subject)
Date: 2004-12-13 06:59 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2004-12-14 02:22 pm (UTC)Holy goodness, what do you mean you can't write?! I think you write very well. You have a certain rhythm to your prose, really ... and your imagery rocks.
I also like the "feel" of the tale ... it does have an asian sort of aura to it -- it's rather hard to explain. Though I haven't seen the source material, I didn't have any trouble following your drabble.
Man, I feel bad I'm too late to take the last line, because I really enjoyed it. Bummer. But it's a good thing ... last thing I need is MORE fiction taking up the plate!
Awesome job!
heee!
-muri
(no subject)
Date: 2004-12-14 03:42 pm (UTC)Anyway, I'm glad you liked the drabble! Thanks so much for the compliment--it really means a lot to hear that from a favorite fanfic writer. I think you've just made my day! ^_______^
(no subject)
Date: 2004-12-16 08:39 pm (UTC)I appreciate that you'd even WANT a ficcie from me! That's just mindblowing.
Again, I enjoyed your story a lot, and I hope to see more from you in the future!! Heee! Now I know you can write for real. *G*
cheers,
muri