Reading log
Dec. 19th, 2002 05:32 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
tarigwaemirAd Mundo Exteriore,
Finished The Lovely Bones, which was excellent all the way to the end. And indeed, the writing was absolutely wonderful. (Well, it had its weak moments, but very few.) I feel strange saying that I "loved" it, sort of like saying that I "loved" The Chosen or Crime and Punishment. Those are books that shook me, not books that made me squeal or read certain scenes over and over like a girl fawning over the photos of her favorite actor. (That is, Lyd-chan.)
I have to wait until Saturday to see the Two Towers. Was there ever such injustice in the world? Midway only shows at 12:00 and 4:00, and I can't possibly get home in time for the 12:00 show. Can't go to the 4:00 because must go to confession, it being Advent and all.
Which reminds me, I read the New York Times review (by that idiot, Elvis Mitchell, may his eyes rot) for the movie, and I was most offended. He criticizes it for being too hard to follow if you haven't watched the first movie or read the books. What on earth are you doing, watching the second movie without dutifully borrowing the FotR from the local Blockbusters if you haven't seen it already?! Sheesh. And the lack of strong female characters? Honestly, what's with this stupid politically correct movie idea? It's not as if Tolkien insults women. I've never felt "excluded" simply because no main character of my gender was present. It's not as if a character has to be female for the female half of the audience to identify with it! And most annoying of all was the subtle insinuation that since Lord of the Rings is "just" an "action/fantasy film," it was no better than a thriller. The ever so slightly derisive scorn for Peter Jackson's devotion to the books, the stupid comment at the end about how he wants to see the next film that Jackson directs after LotR...What happened to the entire philosophy behind Tolkien's books? The archetypal hero's journey? The potential for nobility and greatness in the smallest? The deep-felt sorrow at a world that is passing away, for the changes brought with time, no matter what the heroes do to try to save it? Oy vey. You don't need to invent far-fetched allegories to find meaning in The Lord of the Rings! It's there! ::takes a deep breath to calm down::
I don't mind the other movie critics--despite their belief that praising any movie except Hayao Miyazaki's anime films is a mortal sin--but I absolutely detest Elvis Mitchell's reviews.
...Tari
Post-script: Still sick, even after drinking mouth-scalding "herbal tonics" brewed from ginger, dates and Chinese radish. With a spoonful of honey to sweeten the taste. Argh. I also absolutely detest stuffed sinuses. -_-
Finished The Lovely Bones, which was excellent all the way to the end. And indeed, the writing was absolutely wonderful. (Well, it had its weak moments, but very few.) I feel strange saying that I "loved" it, sort of like saying that I "loved" The Chosen or Crime and Punishment. Those are books that shook me, not books that made me squeal or read certain scenes over and over like a girl fawning over the photos of her favorite actor. (That is, Lyd-chan.)
I have to wait until Saturday to see the Two Towers. Was there ever such injustice in the world? Midway only shows at 12:00 and 4:00, and I can't possibly get home in time for the 12:00 show. Can't go to the 4:00 because must go to confession, it being Advent and all.
Which reminds me, I read the New York Times review (by that idiot, Elvis Mitchell, may his eyes rot) for the movie, and I was most offended. He criticizes it for being too hard to follow if you haven't watched the first movie or read the books. What on earth are you doing, watching the second movie without dutifully borrowing the FotR from the local Blockbusters if you haven't seen it already?! Sheesh. And the lack of strong female characters? Honestly, what's with this stupid politically correct movie idea? It's not as if Tolkien insults women. I've never felt "excluded" simply because no main character of my gender was present. It's not as if a character has to be female for the female half of the audience to identify with it! And most annoying of all was the subtle insinuation that since Lord of the Rings is "just" an "action/fantasy film," it was no better than a thriller. The ever so slightly derisive scorn for Peter Jackson's devotion to the books, the stupid comment at the end about how he wants to see the next film that Jackson directs after LotR...What happened to the entire philosophy behind Tolkien's books? The archetypal hero's journey? The potential for nobility and greatness in the smallest? The deep-felt sorrow at a world that is passing away, for the changes brought with time, no matter what the heroes do to try to save it? Oy vey. You don't need to invent far-fetched allegories to find meaning in The Lord of the Rings! It's there! ::takes a deep breath to calm down::
I don't mind the other movie critics--despite their belief that praising any movie except Hayao Miyazaki's anime films is a mortal sin--but I absolutely detest Elvis Mitchell's reviews.
...Tari
Post-script: Still sick, even after drinking mouth-scalding "herbal tonics" brewed from ginger, dates and Chinese radish. With a spoonful of honey to sweeten the taste. Argh. I also absolutely detest stuffed sinuses. -_-
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(no subject)
Date: 2002-12-19 06:30 pm (UTC)Yes! Thank you! I mean, look at Gundam Wing: they stuck Relena in there so the girls would have someone to identify with, and the female fans responded by writing six million fics in which Relena dies a slow painful death.
And most annoying of all was the subtle insinuation that since Lord of the Rings is "just" an "action/fantasy film," it was no better than a thriller.
Aaarggh, I know. What these critics don't understand is that even though the story isn't literally true, and doesn't happen on our literal Earth, the values expressed in the story are absolutely applicable to daily life. It's not escapist at all (not that escapism is necessarily a bad thing).