magnetic_pole (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
magnetic_pole) wrote2010-08-25 09:00 pm
magnetic_pole) wrote2010-08-25 09:00 pm
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Rainy days and Wednesdays...
A couple unrelated items on a wet, cool, late-summer Wednesday:
1. A reminder: if you're interested in joining the firstlgbtq_recs book and movie club discussion, you've got ONE WEEK left to watch the September 1 selection, Trembling Before G-d. It's available online at IMDB, so there's no need to think ahead this month--just sit down and watch and join the discussion. On October 1 we'll discuss the YA novel A Love Story Starring My Dead Best Friend.
2. I've finally finished watching Avatar!
1. Oh, Azula. Watching her in the last episode almost made me cry. Angry and headstrong boys are complex and interesting, while angry and headstrong women are crazy? Didn't anyone care enough to give Azula a complex sense of motivation and an awareness of her own limits? Did anyone stop to think about this history of this particular fate? Doesn't anyone assign The Yellow Wallpaper any more? *sigh* And it's not as if Azula's degeneration serves the plot in any tangible way. Despite some good efforts with Katara and Toph, the series left a lot to be desired on the gender front. Which is disappointing, given how strong it seemed on that issue in Book 2.
2. I was disturbed by the extent to which this story relied on the concept of destiny and the uniqueness of the elect. It's worrisome that after several dozen episodes exploring the dynamics of Team Avatar, we finish with a coronation of a Fire Lord, who is understood to be a good guy because he acknowledges the power of the Avatar in addition to his own. (Everyone without a hereditary title is relegated to the cheerleading section.) Is that where we were headed this whole time? Just as with Harry Potter, I thought I'd bought a ticket to another, more interesting destination.
3. On a related note, Zuko and Fire Nation folks: you know those Nuremburg-style rallies really weren't working for you under Fire Lord Ozai, right? Try something new in the next round!
4. Adored the frank and respectful treatment of difference among the protagonists, particularly with Sokka and Toph. A bit concerned about the cultural essentialism inherent in the four nations and the lack of any signs of migration or cultural exchange apart from time of war. Loved the complexity of politics in Ba Sing Se; the Fire Nation's oppression, by contrast, had no real motivation other than militaristic aggression and played off of its viewers' stereotypes of Japan. Don't do that, show, please.
5. What happened to Iroh? *looks around* He was developing so beautifully, and then we just lose him there toward the end. Adults can grow and develop, too!
Now, where is the fic? I need to explore.
3. I continue to watch the Sherlock fandom grow. Fascinating stuff. Two fics you might find interesting: Black Hole and Revelation by![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
unsentimentalf (John, Sherlock, R, 5600 words), which deals unflinchingly with issues of homophobia implicit in the series, and The Lost Weekend by dogpoet (Sherlock/John, explicit, 4500 words), a great story with a strong stream-of-consciousness narrative voice. (Sometimes I just enjoy a good story, I promise!)
1. A reminder: if you're interested in joining the first
lgbtq_recs book and movie club discussion, you've got ONE WEEK left to watch the September 1 selection, Trembling Before G-d. It's available online at IMDB, so there's no need to think ahead this month--just sit down and watch and join the discussion. On October 1 we'll discuss the YA novel A Love Story Starring My Dead Best Friend.2. I've finally finished watching Avatar!
1. Oh, Azula. Watching her in the last episode almost made me cry. Angry and headstrong boys are complex and interesting, while angry and headstrong women are crazy? Didn't anyone care enough to give Azula a complex sense of motivation and an awareness of her own limits? Did anyone stop to think about this history of this particular fate? Doesn't anyone assign The Yellow Wallpaper any more? *sigh* And it's not as if Azula's degeneration serves the plot in any tangible way. Despite some good efforts with Katara and Toph, the series left a lot to be desired on the gender front. Which is disappointing, given how strong it seemed on that issue in Book 2.
2. I was disturbed by the extent to which this story relied on the concept of destiny and the uniqueness of the elect. It's worrisome that after several dozen episodes exploring the dynamics of Team Avatar, we finish with a coronation of a Fire Lord, who is understood to be a good guy because he acknowledges the power of the Avatar in addition to his own. (Everyone without a hereditary title is relegated to the cheerleading section.) Is that where we were headed this whole time? Just as with Harry Potter, I thought I'd bought a ticket to another, more interesting destination.
3. On a related note, Zuko and Fire Nation folks: you know those Nuremburg-style rallies really weren't working for you under Fire Lord Ozai, right? Try something new in the next round!
4. Adored the frank and respectful treatment of difference among the protagonists, particularly with Sokka and Toph. A bit concerned about the cultural essentialism inherent in the four nations and the lack of any signs of migration or cultural exchange apart from time of war. Loved the complexity of politics in Ba Sing Se; the Fire Nation's oppression, by contrast, had no real motivation other than militaristic aggression and played off of its viewers' stereotypes of Japan. Don't do that, show, please.
5. What happened to Iroh? *looks around* He was developing so beautifully, and then we just lose him there toward the end. Adults can grow and develop, too!
Now, where is the fic? I need to explore.
3. I continue to watch the Sherlock fandom grow. Fascinating stuff. Two fics you might find interesting: Black Hole and Revelation by
unsentimentalf (John, Sherlock, R, 5600 words), which deals unflinchingly with issues of homophobia implicit in the series, and The Lost Weekend by dogpoet (Sherlock/John, explicit, 4500 words), a great story with a strong stream-of-consciousness narrative voice. (Sometimes I just enjoy a good story, I promise!)