Comments | extemporanea: the problem of Susan

extemporanea

the problem of Susan

Jul 01, 2008 15:25

Curse you, Peter Jackson! You have ruined us, ruined us, for all post-LotR cinematic fantasy. Prince Caspian, like the earlier The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is not a bad little film1, but it didn't blow the top off my head and fill it with trees, mountains, creatures, swords, epic battles and dishy men2, and now I'm all spoiled and think it ( Read more... )

pervy hobbit fancying, fantasy, random analysis, films

Comments 17

Slightly stunned: mac1235 July 1 2008, 20:48:54 UTC

"So you didn't see The Incredible Hulk, then?"

Re: Slightly stunned: extemporanea July 2 2008, 06:59:25 UTC

I was going to see Hulk after Narnia, but Cavendish filled up with people and I scuttled home misanthropically to play Zelda instead. I'll go and see the 9.15 show tomorrow. Promise!

Re: Slightly stunned: kadekraan July 2 2008, 07:29:56 UTC

Was the Hulk any good? Not an Edward Norton fan, but can suffer through him if the rest is good...

Re: Slightly stunned: first_fallen July 2 2008, 08:46:05 UTC

I didn't like it as much as I adored Iron Man. There was too much Smash and not enough Story. Edward Norton is awesome, as is Tim Roth (we won't mention Liv, she's just horrible in whatever she touches). Phleep suggests I might like the Ang Lee Hulk as its apparent downfall was Too Much Story. Look out for cameo by Tony Starke (I've got to get me one of those, he's sooo delicious) at the end. Also, the security guard that gets bribed with pizza was the Hulk in the 70's tv-series. Hee. Also, Stan Lee as old dude who drinks the gurana stuff. I might write a review of Hulk from a comic-fan's perspective. Hmm.

Also, TonyStarkeTonyStarkeTonyStarke. Totally not a RDJr fangirl :P.

Thread 9

strawberryfrog July 2 2008, 14:51:26 UTC

Hm, I still want to see this, though I have forgotten all of Prince Caspian. Perhpas I need a copy of Narnia for Dummies. The local bookshop has it. Really.

wolverine_nun July 3 2008, 07:05:28 UTC

I am ... stunned and unable to parry.

strawberryfrog July 3 2008, 16:38:35 UTC

To play Devil's advocate for a while ... if you had written a good itneroduction to the Works of C.S. Lweis, would you alow it to be marketed by "... for dummies" publications, with thier logo on the front. Does the fact that it's " ... for dummies" make it a bad book?

Funny, yes. But bad too?

extemporanea July 4 2008, 07:14:43 UTC

I dunno, perhaps w-n's horror is at the idea of you reading the crib notes rather than the actual novel? The novels are very short, I can whack through one in under an hour...

Thread 5

No sex in Narnia - why? bronchitikat July 4 2008, 10:28:04 UTC

Because you asked, & I've been thinking, a bit. So a few thoughts then:-

Lewis was writing his Chronicles of Narnia in the fifties & early sixties, for children. Two reasons.

He was writing them to get across values such as basic decency, kindness, loyalty, the importance of working together, Right & Wrong (& the differences there between), believing what you know is Right & acting on it even when things go badly, etc, etc.

Oh, & Christian truths.

Lewis was a child himself in the late-Victorian/Edwardian period, so he'd have carried over some of what he learned then.

There is more to being an adult than sex - there's taking responsibility for starters! There's more to being a teenager than discovering/angsting over sex too - despite what popular culture for the past fifty years might have us believe. & the 'taking responsibility' bit is one of the things Lewis was trying to get across, rather than a lot of the 'slush' which passes for entertainment all to often.

That's enough for now. Off to think some more.

Re: No sex in Narnia - why? extemporanea July 5 2008, 12:15:42 UTC

No, but you see, that's exactly the problem I have. They don't take responsibility. They rule Narnia until they're all grown up, and then Aslan hoiks them out and leaves the place to go to rack and ruin without heirs to the rulers. I accept that the absence of sex is a result of the time, place and genre of the books, but I'm arguing it also leaves gaping logic holes in the story, and flaws the notion of lessons learned - they don't learn responsibility, do they? They can't. The story continually insists that whatever they learn, they're still children.

Re: No sex in Narnia - why? bronchitikat July 7 2008, 08:13:42 UTC

Hmmm, see what you mean. Though did Narnia go to rack & ruin? The White Witch didn't return. Calormene didn't invade, nor did Archenland nor the giants from the north - I assume anyhow! The Telmarines turned up generations later ( ... )