i ask myself, is all hope lost?
Last night, 
innie_darling and I went to see Marjane Satrapi speak at the NY Public Library. She was a really charismatic and entertaining speaker, and I thought she said some really great things about how we only understand people once we understand what makes them laugh, and that humor is both a sign of intelligence, and also so subjective (everything is subjective to some degree, but humor is especially so), and that people tend to surround themselves with people who get their humor, and it can be a key to feeling like you belong somewhere. Which seems obvious once you say it, but isn't necessarily something I've really given much thought to. It came up with the interviewer quoted something Milan Kundera (I think? I didn't take notes) said, riffing on the adage "Man thinks, God laughs," and how novelists collect the echoes of God's laughter in stories, and Satrapi was having none of his God talk, not even metaphorically. But she did like the part of the quote that said someone without any sense of humor at all is the natural enemy of the novelist/storyteller, and how that tied into oppressive regimes who want people to march in lockstep and be abstract rather than individuals.
If you haven't read Persepolis, I definitely recommend it.
(Also, happy birthday,
innie_darling and
tenaciousmetoo!)
*
I finally got a chance to watch this week's How to Get Away with Murder and Viola Davis remains amazing and tremendous and all sorts of other adjectives of praise. That scene at the end where she strips off her wig and eyelashes and makeup, it gave me chills. I guess I missed all the advertising about the LAST NINE WORDS because I thought that was basically anticlimactic after the scene of her taking off her armor. Though it would have been even more powerful if we hadn't seen her breakdown previous with her hot cop boyfriend. (I did like how hot cop boyfriend totally turned cheating husband's assumptions against him, knowing that the white liberal professor would immediately back down from accusing him of breaking into his car, which he was actually doing.) (Also, I still think she was playing Wes in the pilot with her tears about babies, because otherwise it makes no sense as a character beat.)
And then there was Connor and his hot gay sex with the executive assistant. Dear lord, please give me more of that on my TV! And I actually felt bad for him when Oliver tossed him out, even though he totally deserved it for not ascertaining that they weren't exclusive and just assuming he could charm his way back in.
I also thought there were some things to be said about trust and loyalty in this episode, with Elizabeth Perkins as a mirror for Viola Davis, but I'm not sure it actually worked? I guess we'll see.
And this morning I watched Legend of Korra, which was mostly a setup episode but TOPH! BEING ALL TOPH! THE ORIGINAL BEIFONG! ♥♥♥♥♥
Oh, Korra, you can do it! I believe in you!
I'm not sure why Reiko and Tenzin et al. thought Kuvira was going to give up her power/army to them (basically - they would have been running the cabinet, not Prince Wu), and while I know she is basically a Hitler analogue (though more like a Bismarck, in terms of uniting the Earth Kingdom), she still seems like a better bet for the Earth Kingdom than anyone else atm. I do think if she'd said "Earth Republic" instead of "Earth Empire" she'd have gotten a little more leeway. *hands* Wu is I guess sort of a Tsar Nicholas figure, with his shopping and his badgermole dancing? I know I shouldn't be trying to fit this into some real world historical pigeonhole, but it's kind of hard not to, sometimes.
I love those little hotel soaps, too, Varrick! I'm less sanguine about your attempts to weaponize spirit vines. That is going to be where it ends up, right? I'm just guessing.
I guess we're going to see Bolin figure out he's on the wrong side, but hopefully Mako sticks to his guns about Wu being a terrible idea for a leader, just because of his birthright.
I can't wait for the Airbabies RoadTrip next week! That should be awesome!
Now I think it's time for lunch.
*
This entry at DW: http://musesfool.dreamwidth.org/699116.html.
people have commented there.
innie_darling and I went to see Marjane Satrapi speak at the NY Public Library. She was a really charismatic and entertaining speaker, and I thought she said some really great things about how we only understand people once we understand what makes them laugh, and that humor is both a sign of intelligence, and also so subjective (everything is subjective to some degree, but humor is especially so), and that people tend to surround themselves with people who get their humor, and it can be a key to feeling like you belong somewhere. Which seems obvious once you say it, but isn't necessarily something I've really given much thought to. It came up with the interviewer quoted something Milan Kundera (I think? I didn't take notes) said, riffing on the adage "Man thinks, God laughs," and how novelists collect the echoes of God's laughter in stories, and Satrapi was having none of his God talk, not even metaphorically. But she did like the part of the quote that said someone without any sense of humor at all is the natural enemy of the novelist/storyteller, and how that tied into oppressive regimes who want people to march in lockstep and be abstract rather than individuals.
If you haven't read Persepolis, I definitely recommend it.
(Also, happy birthday,
innie_darling and
tenaciousmetoo!)
*
I finally got a chance to watch this week's How to Get Away with Murder and Viola Davis remains amazing and tremendous and all sorts of other adjectives of praise. That scene at the end where she strips off her wig and eyelashes and makeup, it gave me chills. I guess I missed all the advertising about the LAST NINE WORDS because I thought that was basically anticlimactic after the scene of her taking off her armor. Though it would have been even more powerful if we hadn't seen her breakdown previous with her hot cop boyfriend. (I did like how hot cop boyfriend totally turned cheating husband's assumptions against him, knowing that the white liberal professor would immediately back down from accusing him of breaking into his car, which he was actually doing.) (Also, I still think she was playing Wes in the pilot with her tears about babies, because otherwise it makes no sense as a character beat.)
And then there was Connor and his hot gay sex with the executive assistant. Dear lord, please give me more of that on my TV! And I actually felt bad for him when Oliver tossed him out, even though he totally deserved it for not ascertaining that they weren't exclusive and just assuming he could charm his way back in.
I also thought there were some things to be said about trust and loyalty in this episode, with Elizabeth Perkins as a mirror for Viola Davis, but I'm not sure it actually worked? I guess we'll see.
And this morning I watched Legend of Korra, which was mostly a setup episode but TOPH! BEING ALL TOPH! THE ORIGINAL BEIFONG! ♥♥♥♥♥
Oh, Korra, you can do it! I believe in you!
I'm not sure why Reiko and Tenzin et al. thought Kuvira was going to give up her power/army to them (basically - they would have been running the cabinet, not Prince Wu), and while I know she is basically a Hitler analogue (though more like a Bismarck, in terms of uniting the Earth Kingdom), she still seems like a better bet for the Earth Kingdom than anyone else atm. I do think if she'd said "Earth Republic" instead of "Earth Empire" she'd have gotten a little more leeway. *hands* Wu is I guess sort of a Tsar Nicholas figure, with his shopping and his badgermole dancing? I know I shouldn't be trying to fit this into some real world historical pigeonhole, but it's kind of hard not to, sometimes.
I love those little hotel soaps, too, Varrick! I'm less sanguine about your attempts to weaponize spirit vines. That is going to be where it ends up, right? I'm just guessing.
I guess we're going to see Bolin figure out he's on the wrong side, but hopefully Mako sticks to his guns about Wu being a terrible idea for a leader, just because of his birthright.
I can't wait for the Airbabies RoadTrip next week! That should be awesome!
Now I think it's time for lunch.
*
This entry at DW: http://musesfool.dreamwidth.org/699116.html.
people have commented there.