Blogs He Linked
Sunday, June 14, 2015 at 12:25PM The Dissolve Disney's announces the replacement voice cast of The Good Dinosaur - what is going on with that movie?
Guardian this sounds really cool. Director Gillian Armstrong (Little Women, Mrs Soffel) has made a documentary about the Oscar winning costume designer Orry-Kelly called Women He Undressed. He had a fascinating career and was quite a famous figure in Hollywood's golden age, friends with Bette Davis and more than friends (rumored) with Cary Grant
They Live By Night "This is our Furiousa" a reflection on a rare quiet moment in Mad Max Fury Road
Elle randomness! Talking to the art director of the cover of Madonna's debut album
NYT talks to the cast of Goodfellas on their 25 year old classic
The Playlist new images from Terrence Malick's Knight of Cups. Isn't it time to release this one? (I'm getting a To the Wonder vibe)
The Guardian looks back at Helen Mirren's breakout part at 22 (!!!) in Age of Consent (1969)
Shadowplay has a super fun series called "The Sunday Intertitle" and the latest is about Tarzan (1929). I was brainstorming a similar series years ago but never committed so I'm so happy someone else has one! My only complaint is there is no way to link the complete series.
Pajiba wonders why critics and the internet are turning on Game of Thrones for doing the exact same things it's always done (gorey violence, lots of rape, brutal torture, etecetera). I knew to get out after the first season and second book -- definitely way too sadistic/sexist/exploitative for me -- so I've found the recent outrage peculiar since it's describing the show I saw five seasons ago to a T.
EW Mark Harris on the sudden pop culture fascination with actual transgender celebrities as well as their fictional counterparts, particularly on television
Geeky Fandom
CineMunch continues their amusing favorite actress podcast showdowns. This one's about Pfeiffer, Witherspoon, Binoche, and The Lovely Laura Linney among others
Toybox Penny Dreadful action figures!
New Statesman Excellent piece on the enduring appeal and fan obsessiveness towards Star Wars
HuffPost Disney princes reimagined in queer context
Twitter Mulder & Sculley reunited
Two stories from the real world.
The first is horrific and the second heartwarming. A gay man has been severely tortured and his family's business vandalized in Delta, Utah. I bring this up because I've actually been to this tiny tiny city innumerable times in my life. My mom lives near there in an even tinier city and I've even posted about Delta's one movie theater before. Because that story is just too terrible to contemplate -- it could have been me or any LGBT person or any person thought to be gay whether they were gay or not and will likely be someone else in the future of any stripe (hate & violence being dumb, nonlogical, non discerning and pathological) unless the people are caught. Because that story is too depressing for words, here's a cute story about a NYPD officer who saved a kitten and now the kitten is named after him! Awwww.
Reader Comments (11)
Sorry, but Game of Thrones is not sexist. It´s probably the most liberal show right now. It actually shows the horrible things men can do to women and vice versa. The show portrays women in so many different roles. Especially this year. The focus on the female characters is so strong. With Arya, Sansa, Cersei, Brienne, Margaery, Daenerys, Ellaria Sand and her Warrior-Daughters. What more do you want? What exactly are you complainig about? Enlighten me.
therealmike: I don't think Game of Thrones is sexist, per se, but I found myself turned off from time to time by my perception of the show's motivation for lingering on certain scenes of sexual violence. I can think of a scene with Joffrey and two prosititutes, and another scene of Ramsay hunting a woman that felt more torturous than just simply "showing the horrible things that men can do to women and vice versa." I also saw the rape of Cersei as very fan-service, "she deserved it", and I hated that.
BUT I think the show was doing a lot of things right for a long time too. There are tons of strong women on the show, as you mention, and that's still pretty novel for a show of its nature. I had issues with the moments I brought up, but they didn't poison the whole show for me. However, I stopped watching pretty early this season because I was bored as freaking hell.
therealmike -- i think you missed my entire sentences there and just focused on the "sexist" word. I should admit that i didn't see enough of the show to know for sure whether it was sexist but it felt sexist to me (these things are subjective of course) at least from the camera work which definitely lingered on women's bodies (and not male bodies) in a "male gaze" kind of way and for no reason than because it wanted to and because the women were subservient it made me feel that it would only get worse over time. I was especially uncomfortable with the story of the woman sold off to a sadistically violent sexist husband and then deciding she loved and worshipped him after being prostituted for him for power (Kaleesa or hwatever her name is).
But whether or not it is sexist it was definitely SADISTIC and EXPLOITATIVE (just loving its own gore and pain) in the first season and so i'm glad i quite early. It made me feel gross watching it.
That's also why i quit Hannibal which critics love... the latter seemed to really be wallowing / getting off on the grim beauty of its murders and i just got literally sick to my stomach one episode and i was like 'i can't do this. why am i doing this to myself?" so even though i actually though it was very well constructed/admirable in some ways I felt good about my decision.
Nathaniel, I think the reason is two-fold.
a) In season four, there was a scene that was a fairly clear depiction of rape. But the director actually said it wasn't meant to be. It's one thing to depict rape as a trope, but quite another to depict it and then argue, essentially, she "kind of wanted it."
b) It's cumulative. There's a storyline this season that, if it doesn't go in a specific arena, will essentially be a repeat of another story we saw.
c) Then again, at least the creators haven't said "I can't wait to get to the rape scene" a la Diana Gabaldon of Outlander, so that's a plus.
I think Game of Thrones will go down as one of the greatest shows ever, fwiw.
Game of Thrones IS one o the best tv shows ever.
Those are just "politically correct" people correcting the show.
The time depicted in the show is the one of war, so naturally every batshit crazy thing happens.
Awful story out of Delta, Utah. I'm sorry this sort of stuff still happens. I grieve for humankind.
I think the "Game of Thrones" outrage is pretty easy to explain. As someone who watched and loved the show for three and a half seasons for its marvelous world-building, superb acting and grand scale storytelling; however the show's increasing proclivity to wallow in torture/rape/gore-fest and after about four or five arcs where it looks like things just might work out this time that *surprise* end with the grisly murder of a beloved or interesting character, good fails, evil triumphs, there is no justice, etc; drove me away. It upset me not only because a show I once loved now I mainly think of only in relation to the bad taste it left me with, but also because I defended the show against complaints similar to the ones I now espouse, and that is infuriating. I figure that the outrage this season is based in fans having similar experiences.
Nathaniel R,
After listening to the CineDrunk podcasts, how many of their decisions do you actually agree with?
Whoopi over Holly Hunter? Winslet over Moore AND Streep?
Nathaniel,
I'm TOTALLY WITH YOU on Game of Thrones (which is definitely sexist) and how weird it is that it took some fans five season to notice what people like us saw as glaring problems from the very beginning. I'm curious though, why did you put yourself through the torture of reading the second book? Wasn't the first book bad enough? (I couldn't even finish it)
Hey Nathaniel, I could give two shits about Game of Thrones "violence" when there's plenty in the real world, as you noted in links to the two stories from the real world.
I moved back to Upper MI after living decades elsewhere. On the one hand, it's Fox News country. Sigh. On the other, there's a number of gays and lesbians living out, and nobody seems to mind. But who's to say some neander-fuck couldn't make somebody's life miserable with their stupidity and hate? But I truly think my hometown wouldn't put up with it. And I hope this guy in Delta, Utah gets some support in his!
And kitties and firemen...always good!
Thanks for your fine blog, Nathaniel--it runs the gamut of greatness ; )
Those CineDrunk podcasts gave me so much anxiety! Disqualifying Moore and Kidman in the first round and no mention of Spacek, Theron or Redgrave?!! Sacrilege.