Day 16's canon has made me look a right wally
Oh yes, hahahaha, Ms.s Dames.
FYI, Sarah Connor, Hannah Thornton, Mary Winchester, Ellen Harvelle, Holly Berensen from Life As We Know It, and Lizzie from Dear Frankie were all considered. There was a spread, is what I'm saying. Then I realised what my true favourite pick was, and then discovered I'd completely screwed myself inasmuch as an lj meme means anything in real terms.
Day Sixteen: actually really honestly Favorite mother character
M of the James Bond reboot.
So here's how this went.
[The following is a re-enactment based on true events.]
ME
You know, I really can't think of any mother character I love and want to talk about more than M. She is awesome, and I'm really only beginning to scratch the surface of all the delicious subtext they wove into Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace. Who cares if some may consider it a bit of a stretch? It's totally there, even if it's mostly subtext! I love subtext! I love this subtext! I'll talk about the subtext! Om nom nom
ME
... Although I am kind of an obsessive completist, and I've been meaning to get around to watching Skyfall, and I guess I should probably do that before talking about the subtext of the character of M in the context of mother characters, because they'll probably have developed that theme a little more. You know, in the subtext.
ME
Hey look, Skyfall is out already, that's bizarre awesome! I'll watch it! Then talk about the complete subtext!
BOND PEOPLE
HEY GUYS IT'S BOND'S FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY! SMOKE'EM IF YA GOT'EM!
SKYFALL
SUBTEXT? FUCK THAT
So, um. On the plus side, I liked it a whole lot? I maybe even loved it, I'll have to see. And on the minus, this post is late, and I still don't know what I'm going to say. Every time I try to pep-talk myself into just talking about the [mother] subtext of Royale and Solace, all the still-processing [mother] text of Skyfall (and, alright, there was subtext too, but whatever I'M SULKING) starts jumping around like a wild thing, and also, impossible to pin down enough to talk coherently about yet.
Okay, so ... why pick M, then.
Because, as stated, awesome. She'd been running agents, as ruthlessly as she ought to, as ruthlessly as her job and the security of the nation demands, for goodness knows how long. And then she picks Bond up by the scruff of his neck because there's something she recognises about him - that selfsame ruthless dedication to England, to the job - that will serve MI6 the way she needs. The way England needs. He was her blunt instrument, expendable. Just like any other 00.
And then that recognition somehow went both ways, returned to her. He wasn't just a weapon to be wielded, he understood her, knew how to serve her exactly the way she needed. Because they were the same. She had found not an instrument, not a weapon, not an agent, not even someone worthy of mentoring - she'd somehow found a son. Her son. Mother England's loyal son, and she was Mother England, Britannia with her shield and trident and cloak and dagger, fighting an eternal war.
Like arrows in the hands of a warrior
are children born in one’s youth.
Blessed is the man
whose quiver is full of them.
Psalm 127:4-5
Well, M has a full quiver, but she is under no illusions that they remain arrows, not her children, and for all their love for her they can still miss their mark. Bond alone became arrow and son, and he flies true for her because of it. It is a very complicated relationship with a very simple core.
... I'm just going to have to get on with the Solace analysis, aren't I? Subtext om nom nom
master list
FYI, Sarah Connor, Hannah Thornton, Mary Winchester, Ellen Harvelle, Holly Berensen from Life As We Know It, and Lizzie from Dear Frankie were all considered. There was a spread, is what I'm saying. Then I realised what my true favourite pick was, and then discovered I'd completely screwed myself inasmuch as an lj meme means anything in real terms.
Day Sixteen: actually really honestly Favorite mother character
M of the James Bond reboot.
So here's how this went.
[The following is a re-enactment based on true events.]
ME
You know, I really can't think of any mother character I love and want to talk about more than M. She is awesome, and I'm really only beginning to scratch the surface of all the delicious subtext they wove into Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace. Who cares if some may consider it a bit of a stretch? It's totally there, even if it's mostly subtext! I love subtext! I love this subtext! I'll talk about the subtext! Om nom nom
ME
... Although I am kind of an obsessive completist, and I've been meaning to get around to watching Skyfall, and I guess I should probably do that before talking about the subtext of the character of M in the context of mother characters, because they'll probably have developed that theme a little more. You know, in the subtext.
ME
Hey look, Skyfall is out already, that's bizarre awesome! I'll watch it! Then talk about the complete subtext!
BOND PEOPLE
HEY GUYS IT'S BOND'S FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY! SMOKE'EM IF YA GOT'EM!
SKYFALL
SUBTEXT? FUCK THAT
So, um. On the plus side, I liked it a whole lot? I maybe even loved it, I'll have to see. And on the minus, this post is late, and I still don't know what I'm going to say. Every time I try to pep-talk myself into just talking about the [mother] subtext of Royale and Solace, all the still-processing [mother] text of Skyfall (and, alright, there was subtext too, but whatever I'M SULKING) starts jumping around like a wild thing, and also, impossible to pin down enough to talk coherently about yet.
Okay, so ... why pick M, then.
Because, as stated, awesome. She'd been running agents, as ruthlessly as she ought to, as ruthlessly as her job and the security of the nation demands, for goodness knows how long. And then she picks Bond up by the scruff of his neck because there's something she recognises about him - that selfsame ruthless dedication to England, to the job - that will serve MI6 the way she needs. The way England needs. He was her blunt instrument, expendable. Just like any other 00.
And then that recognition somehow went both ways, returned to her. He wasn't just a weapon to be wielded, he understood her, knew how to serve her exactly the way she needed. Because they were the same. She had found not an instrument, not a weapon, not an agent, not even someone worthy of mentoring - she'd somehow found a son. Her son. Mother England's loyal son, and she was Mother England, Britannia with her shield and trident and cloak and dagger, fighting an eternal war.
Like arrows in the hands of a warrior
are children born in one’s youth.
Blessed is the man
whose quiver is full of them.
Psalm 127:4-5
Well, M has a full quiver, but she is under no illusions that they remain arrows, not her children, and for all their love for her they can still miss their mark. Bond alone became arrow and son, and he flies true for her because of it. It is a very complicated relationship with a very simple core.
... I'm just going to have to get on with the Solace analysis, aren't I? Subtext om nom nom
master list