Comments | my_daroga: a Yahoo life

my_daroga

a Yahoo life

May 05, 2009 09:57

I'm reading Seven Pillars of Wisdom now, as you may know, due to a flare up of T.E. Lawrence affection prompted by the Cinerama's annual showing. One of the things that fascinates me about Lawrence is that no matter how complex the film's character was--which was got me initially--once I started looking beyond the film I found someone who wasn't ( Read more... )

lawrence of arabia, books, t.e. lawrence

Comments 15

herself_nyc May 5 2009, 17:49:33 UTC

Interesting quotes. And a beautiful prose style.

agentdanak May 5 2009, 18:20:35 UTC

honestly, i enjoyed the wolverine movie.

and he only spoils half of it.

my_daroga May 5 2009, 18:23:44 UTC

It's been pointed out to me that he just comes off like a jackass... which is probably how I come off after I see big-budget action movies, so I relate to it I guess.

I'm planning on seeing it, and hoping to have a good time. But the snarkiness here encapsulates a lot of my irritation at filmmaking, and superhero movies that address 15 year old boys (as I understand they have to) instead of me, even if the humor is cheap.

agentdanak May 5 2009, 18:28:22 UTC

no, i think this one addresses women quite a bit.

quite a bit.

go in like i do, not expecting a whole lot. you'll enjoy it enough.

my_daroga May 5 2009, 18:49:04 UTC

That's the plan. Also, waiting 'til it's at the Crest, so $3 is good for low expectations.

Thread 5

holyschist May 5 2009, 18:23:29 UTC

Oh, but the pretty pretty of Hugh Jackman and Liev Schreiber does not come across in audio form!

Of course, it helps to suspend one's fondness for good plot, good writing, and non-dead female characters.

my_daroga May 5 2009, 18:24:31 UTC

Haha. Which is what I'm planning on enjoying about it.

holyschist May 5 2009, 18:48:20 UTC

I went in with low expectations, which were thoroughly fulfilled (okay, I was hoping Liev would get to be at least half-naked, too, but alas. That was disappointed. Also, it was a shameful waste of his talent, but I expected that. I'll have to go watch some of his real movies now).

my_daroga May 5 2009, 18:50:33 UTC

I think that's part of why I'm bitter about this stuff a lot--it's a waste of everything. I'm not saying making a movie about Wolverine is a waste, because I think it could be good. But I also think that we spend millions of dollars on talent, effects, and technology that could just as easily tell a more compelling story or do it in a more compelling way.

I'll enjoy it, sure. But I still regret the waste.

Thread 6

cionaudha May 6 2009, 00:15:54 UTC

That tears it! I've been holding back from wallowing like a happy happy pig in your Lawrenciana because I've been working 16-hour days, but I can't not comment on some of my favorite quotes from SPW.

a sensual co-efficient of the mental passion which was welding our souls and spirits in one flaming effort

Now I ask you: is that not one of the most beautiful tributes to comradely passion? From one so abused and broken, sexually, it's remarkably sympathetic. Of course he immediately follows it with his own preference: thirsting to punish appetites they could not wholly prevent, took a savage pride in degrading the body, and offered themselves fiercely in any habit which promised physical pain or filth.

Then there's the counterpoint of cleanliness vs filth; moral, sexual, practical, ethical. "Clean bodies" and the habit of filth; the unclean mirroring of a foreign culture, Bolt's clever bit about loving the desert because it's clean. It's a huge theme in The Mint, where he lets himself write with some sharpness and clarity about ( ... )

my_daroga May 6 2009, 23:26:58 UTC

Aww, I'm glad you joined in! Because it begins to feel that I'm crying in the wilderness, or something.

Now I ask you: is that not one of the most beautiful tributes to comradely passion? From one so abused and broken, sexually, it's remarkably sympathetic.

It is. I read a fascinating discussion of Lawrence's sexuality, wherein someone tried to claim this as support for the retroactive "Lawrence is gay" school of thought, which is far too simplistic and rather misses the point.

I can't wait to read The Mint, in general. I'm far "behind" in all this. But I do think it fascinating, what Bolt drew out to create his own great character, and the parallels that are there. How do you adapt SPW? How do you even portray TEL? How can you hope to capture something so contradictory and second-guessing and multi-faceted ( ... )

cionaudha May 7 2009, 02:45:14 UTC

far too simplistic and rather misses the point

Yes. The point is more his acceptance of human variety, and his acuity as a leader of fighting men.

I could give a hang what the answer is. It disturbs me that the argument is often framed as "he's one of US!" vs "how dare you accuse him of being gay?"

The most distressing argument out there, which I saw mentioned in that thread, is that since (as he confesses) he ejaculated during a gang rape, he is therefore gay gay gay.

Tragically, what he didn't know is that arousal and ejaculation is a common reaction in male rape victims (o treacherous prostate). Imagine him spending the remainder of his short life reliving those hours and drawing the apparently obvious conclusion.

Surprisingly, his brief descriptions of sexual activity --SPW, his letters, and particular his translation of The Forest Giant-- are almost swooningly erotic. The phrase hits you from nowhere, and is gone, leaving you wondering if you really read that from his pen ( ... )