What say you?
1. Leave me a comment saying, "Interview me."
2. I respond by asking you a couple of personal questions so I can get to know you better. If I already know you well, expect the questions may be a little more intimate!
3. You will update your LJ with the answers to the questions.
4. You will include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the post.
5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions.
deepredbelle asked...
1. Taking into consideration the state of the world today, which superhero could best serve the human race right now, and why?
While Superman can obviously do the most, and for the most people at a time, I'm not so sure people today need saving from burning buildings and freak disasters as much as they need saving from themselves. (This, of course, would contribute to "Superman angst," if indeed such a thing can be said to exist. Heh. They tried in Returns.) People are the cause of their own destruction, nine times out of ten.
Having said that, I can't help but be reminded of one of my favorite scenes in all of comicdom - Daredevil beating the Kingpin to a bloody pulp, dragging him into a local dive bar, tearing off his own mask and declaring himself the new Kingpin to a bunch of scared-sh!tless lowlives. His reasoning? "If you people so badly need someone to lord over you... well, from now on... it's me. I am not protecting this city anymore. I am running it." His orders? "Get out or change. Tonight." This kind of attitude, while reckless and a hair shy of terrorism, strikes me as the only way certain people will be moved at all these days. Scare them into changing; shock them out of complacency. Batman uses the same approach, holds the same beliefs about the world - but Daredevil, in the comics at least, took it one step farther. (It did a number on him, too.) While a bit dangerous if employed on a world scale, on the individual level, it made more of a difference than anything another superhero has ever attempted.
So, my answer? Matthew Murdock (and not of the Ben Affleck variety - I'm so sad I have to constantly make this disclaimer) would most benefit the human race right now... if more than Hell's Kitchen were handed over to him. ;)
2. What themes do your favorite movies, books, TV shows, art, etc., share? What do you believe draws you to those themes?
Ooh, excellent question. I'd say, primarily, a sense of "you and me versus the world" is something that seems to permeate most of my fictions. The X-Files had it in spades, being ultimately the story of two people trying to take down something they couldn't even get close enough to touch. Then there's The Matrix, Firefly/Serenity, Terminator, LOST, Roswell... the list is endless. Why does this draw me? I think the reasoning is twofold. For one thing, the metaphor of the ubiquitous "They" speaks to more individual, personal fears within each of the characters. And I love when stories manifest that internal conflict, make it big and archetypal. The Empire. The Consortium. The machines. They are merely massive, tangible representations of the real danger. Even in Star Wars, it's not the Empire that's the heart of the conflict - it's the Dark Side, that threatens to claim Luke. A battle fought on a different level entirely.
The other half of it is that this type of conflict always brings out both the best and worst of humanity. And that's a fascination of mine - the paradox of the human condition, our inherent nobilities and cruelties, what damns us and what redeems us. In an ultimately selfish world, what drives people to sacrifice? When it makes no logical, instinctual sense to do something, why do we still do it? Who people really are comes out when the odds are against them.
I guess it can be summed up thusly: I like digging into what makes people tick, and why. And I like it explored in outlandish settings, so I can see these things more clearly than I do in real life. After all, that's the purpose of storytelling, isn't it? Stealing past the watchful dragons. I think that's why I'm a sci-fi fan at heart. The more bizarre the context, the sharper the contrast with the familiar - and therefore, the clearer it's seen. I don't know if that makes any sense at all, but I've overstayed my welcome on this question already. ;)
3. Congratulations! Matt Bellamy has requested you write the lyrics to the next big Muse hit. What do you write about? Is it a fast n' hard song? More of a ballad?
Ha! What a calling. Trying to channel the Bellamy Brain and all its sci-fi/conspiracy-laced babble would be a task and a half. I guess I'd write for a track more in the vein of "Space Dementia" or "Stockholm Syndrome" - something driving and hard, but still with the classical influence - and lots of piano, the one thing I missed on Black Holes. Since I'm rather tired of political songs in general, and guy/girl songs in particular, I'd probably write an angsty internalized piece on the push/pull of the self - since that seems to be what most of my writing ends up like these days.
4. If I wanted to go out on a date with you, what would guarantee you'd say yes?
Apart from geek-speak? Which is (usually) a very good indicator of intelligence, heh... quote an obscure CS Lewis non-fiction. ;)
Really - and I'm sure it sounds super lame to some, but - if you can talk theology to any extent, I am automatically smitten with you. By this I mean metaphysics, philosophy of religion, the nature of God and humanity, etc... I love the Big Questions, even (especially?) when they're unanswerable. I get amped and heated by them. I could stay up all night (oh, watch the innuendos fall) discussing stuff like this - problem is, most people I meet don't care enough. Or haven't read hardly enough to care. That said, I actually prefer talking with agnostics or atheists who have given their stance some thought, as opposed to Christians-in-name-only who look at me like "bwuh? Bible says so." Which is why Luke and I get along so well.
5. You've found yourself on Serenity, and you're pretty sure there's something shady going on with the crew. You're uneasy, you're alone, and you need someone to talk to. Who do you approach?
Probably Book. He's a Shepherd, after all, and very personable - the type of person you'd immediately trust. Heck, he can even get River under wing most of the time. The other two smart choices would be Inara (the diplomat and maternal figure, way too good at making anybody - save Mal - feel calmer) or Kaylee (her straightforwardness would be refreshing). Mal, as much as I love him, would be too short and inscrutable to do much for my skittishness, and he certainly wouldn't budge if those "shady happenings" had to do with a job. Zoe would be a stone, Jayne's the type of guy nobody trusts, and Wash's sarcasm wouldn't be the most reassuring thing, either - 'sides, he would be too loyal to Zoe to disclose much about what's going on to a stranger.
2. I respond by asking you a couple of personal questions so I can get to know you better. If I already know you well, expect the questions may be a little more intimate!
3. You will update your LJ with the answers to the questions.
4. You will include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the post.
5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions.
deepredbelle asked...
1. Taking into consideration the state of the world today, which superhero could best serve the human race right now, and why?
While Superman can obviously do the most, and for the most people at a time, I'm not so sure people today need saving from burning buildings and freak disasters as much as they need saving from themselves. (This, of course, would contribute to "Superman angst," if indeed such a thing can be said to exist. Heh. They tried in Returns.) People are the cause of their own destruction, nine times out of ten.
Having said that, I can't help but be reminded of one of my favorite scenes in all of comicdom - Daredevil beating the Kingpin to a bloody pulp, dragging him into a local dive bar, tearing off his own mask and declaring himself the new Kingpin to a bunch of scared-sh!tless lowlives. His reasoning? "If you people so badly need someone to lord over you... well, from now on... it's me. I am not protecting this city anymore. I am running it." His orders? "Get out or change. Tonight." This kind of attitude, while reckless and a hair shy of terrorism, strikes me as the only way certain people will be moved at all these days. Scare them into changing; shock them out of complacency. Batman uses the same approach, holds the same beliefs about the world - but Daredevil, in the comics at least, took it one step farther. (It did a number on him, too.) While a bit dangerous if employed on a world scale, on the individual level, it made more of a difference than anything another superhero has ever attempted.
So, my answer? Matthew Murdock (and not of the Ben Affleck variety - I'm so sad I have to constantly make this disclaimer) would most benefit the human race right now... if more than Hell's Kitchen were handed over to him. ;)
2. What themes do your favorite movies, books, TV shows, art, etc., share? What do you believe draws you to those themes?
Ooh, excellent question. I'd say, primarily, a sense of "you and me versus the world" is something that seems to permeate most of my fictions. The X-Files had it in spades, being ultimately the story of two people trying to take down something they couldn't even get close enough to touch. Then there's The Matrix, Firefly/Serenity, Terminator, LOST, Roswell... the list is endless. Why does this draw me? I think the reasoning is twofold. For one thing, the metaphor of the ubiquitous "They" speaks to more individual, personal fears within each of the characters. And I love when stories manifest that internal conflict, make it big and archetypal. The Empire. The Consortium. The machines. They are merely massive, tangible representations of the real danger. Even in Star Wars, it's not the Empire that's the heart of the conflict - it's the Dark Side, that threatens to claim Luke. A battle fought on a different level entirely.
The other half of it is that this type of conflict always brings out both the best and worst of humanity. And that's a fascination of mine - the paradox of the human condition, our inherent nobilities and cruelties, what damns us and what redeems us. In an ultimately selfish world, what drives people to sacrifice? When it makes no logical, instinctual sense to do something, why do we still do it? Who people really are comes out when the odds are against them.
I guess it can be summed up thusly: I like digging into what makes people tick, and why. And I like it explored in outlandish settings, so I can see these things more clearly than I do in real life. After all, that's the purpose of storytelling, isn't it? Stealing past the watchful dragons. I think that's why I'm a sci-fi fan at heart. The more bizarre the context, the sharper the contrast with the familiar - and therefore, the clearer it's seen. I don't know if that makes any sense at all, but I've overstayed my welcome on this question already. ;)
3. Congratulations! Matt Bellamy has requested you write the lyrics to the next big Muse hit. What do you write about? Is it a fast n' hard song? More of a ballad?
Ha! What a calling. Trying to channel the Bellamy Brain and all its sci-fi/conspiracy-laced babble would be a task and a half. I guess I'd write for a track more in the vein of "Space Dementia" or "Stockholm Syndrome" - something driving and hard, but still with the classical influence - and lots of piano, the one thing I missed on Black Holes. Since I'm rather tired of political songs in general, and guy/girl songs in particular, I'd probably write an angsty internalized piece on the push/pull of the self - since that seems to be what most of my writing ends up like these days.
4. If I wanted to go out on a date with you, what would guarantee you'd say yes?
Apart from geek-speak? Which is (usually) a very good indicator of intelligence, heh... quote an obscure CS Lewis non-fiction. ;)
Really - and I'm sure it sounds super lame to some, but - if you can talk theology to any extent, I am automatically smitten with you. By this I mean metaphysics, philosophy of religion, the nature of God and humanity, etc... I love the Big Questions, even (especially?) when they're unanswerable. I get amped and heated by them. I could stay up all night (oh, watch the innuendos fall) discussing stuff like this - problem is, most people I meet don't care enough. Or haven't read hardly enough to care. That said, I actually prefer talking with agnostics or atheists who have given their stance some thought, as opposed to Christians-in-name-only who look at me like "bwuh? Bible says so." Which is why Luke and I get along so well.
5. You've found yourself on Serenity, and you're pretty sure there's something shady going on with the crew. You're uneasy, you're alone, and you need someone to talk to. Who do you approach?
Probably Book. He's a Shepherd, after all, and very personable - the type of person you'd immediately trust. Heck, he can even get River under wing most of the time. The other two smart choices would be Inara (the diplomat and maternal figure, way too good at making anybody - save Mal - feel calmer) or Kaylee (her straightforwardness would be refreshing). Mal, as much as I love him, would be too short and inscrutable to do much for my skittishness, and he certainly wouldn't budge if those "shady happenings" had to do with a job. Zoe would be a stone, Jayne's the type of guy nobody trusts, and Wash's sarcasm wouldn't be the most reassuring thing, either - 'sides, he would be too loyal to Zoe to disclose much about what's going on to a stranger.