Sunday ramblings
Sep. 19th, 2004 12:24 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shadowkatLovely day today - sunny, in the sixties, and it's a Sunday, so
I can wander around in it. Yay! Which I'll do shortly. Just
finished deleting five more job search agents - I think that's all of them now. Can't figure out how to delete the Yahoo! one that keeps coming to me under wolfsblood67 - which, ahem, is not me. But that's a minor bug. What a relief to no longer be searching for a frigging job. The most exhausting thing in the world is hunting for work. So happy to finally have a job. And I think it's a good one. Can't quite tell yet - only been there a week. Ask me in six months - and I'll let you know if I have to go through this nightmare all over again. But so far?
Pretty good. Course I have mighty low expectations at this point in the game. I stopped trying to keep up with the Jones two years back.
A phrase that I used to hear all the time in the 1980s, don't hear it much anymore, although it's still valid. Means in a nutshell - whether your achievements match-up with your neighbors or the person down the block or the actor on the tv screen. It occurred to me recently how many people, (and I include myself in that category), do not appreciate what they have. They want what they don't.
A few weeks okay, my pal, Wales, went up to visit her boyfriend in Conneticut. It was Labor Day weekend, a fairly nice day, so they went hunting for a lake to swim in. Hunted all over - finally found a really nice lake and an old amusement park nearby. They had to go through the amusement park to get to the lake. Not too much of a problem. Even took in a few rides, including a fantastic rollercoaster. Swam in the lake. And wandered home. Two or three days later Wales compares notes with a work colleague, who proceeds to inform her that there was a really nice park on the other side of the lake, no amusement park, nice benches for picnics and a swimming beach. Green with envy, Wales regrets she didn't go over there, and whines for fifteen to twenty minutes to me on the phone about it. Instead of appreciating what she had and loving that experience, she's busy wanting something else.
Why is it, I wonder, that so many of us spend our lives worrying about what we haven't got, instead of enjoying what we do?
Finished Blood Rites the Sixth novel in Butcher's Dresden Chronicles, this morning. Best of the series in my opinion. The worst part? Was that it ended. It was one of those books that I never wanted to end. I enjoyed the characters that much. Rare. Last book felt that way about was maybe Dorothy Dunnett's Checkmate. Now, I have to go find another one...hmmm, I suppose I could try Stoker's Dracula or Gaiman's Neverwhere? I have both in my bookcase waiting for my perusal.
Also read a nifty discussion on writing sex scenes in one of the private listserves I'm still subscribed to. This one's Sunnydale U - it's an academic listserve that focuses on Dunnett/BTVS/and ATS. Like many listerves now, it's no longer talking so much about BTVS/ATS as other things - which is fine with me, since my obsession with BTVS/ATS sort of left me sometime in July. Very odd thing when an obsession suddenly lets go of you...you sort of wonder afterwards what happened? Why was I so obsessed about that particular thing? At any rate, writing sex scenes is not something I like to do as a writer.
It's not because I can't write erotica, so much, as it embarrasses me to write erotica. Nor is all erotica necessarily porn. Pornography - is basically anything that has no other point than to turn you on and has naked bodies. There is no plot, no point, no character development, just naked bodies grinding or showing sexually attractive parts in pornography. And yes, there is pornography for men and women.
Erotica on the other hand, while it's main point is to turn you on, usually has plot, character development, far more description, and dialogue - possibly because it's mainly directed at women and women usually need a bit more to be turned on than most guys do. Also erotica is usually written or in book form, although it can be in photos or movies, it isn't usually - unless the movie is more artistic in character - example of an erotica film would be "Wild Orchid" or "9 and 1/2 Weeks" or "Last Tango in Paris", erotica films are films that may be NC-17 but they have enough plot and character development that they actually can be seen in a real movie theater and not rented from an adult film store. Anne Rice wrote erotica - in the Beauty series. Pornography, on the other hand, is usually just photos and movies. You don't see it written. It's always in the adult section of the magazine store or film store, has very little plot, and is about two naked bodies having sex, names, faces, plot - sketchy at best or non-existent. So Erotica is not an euphemism for pornography. One tends to be more legally acceptable than the other - erotica since it is less overt and often more artistic, can get past most anti-porn laws. You mean even see erotica in art musuems. Porn? It is usually banned. Also erotica, while S&M does occur in it, it is seldom violent nor do you have the misogynistic tendencies in it that can show up in pornography. Less objectification. Hence the reason it's not banned as often.
Just because you have a sex scene in a book or have written one, does not make the book, tv show, etc pornographic or erotic per se. In fact - some sex scenes as written are not supposed to be erotic. The point - I think at least - in writing a good sex scene is - is it critical to the development of the character and plot? Can the plot survive without it? Can the characters? Does this sex scene actually move them forward? Even in romance novels - you should ask these questions, many romance novelists don't and as a result you get a bunch of overly written sex scenes that sound a bit a like, can be scanned, and don't move things forward. As a result, the romance genre gets a bad rap. The point of a romance novel should be how do you bring these two characters together, why are they together, and what makes them a good couple - granted it could be because they have great sex - but you have to figure out why they have great sex and whether their relationship is just about the sex and if it is, what does that mean to the characters? In writing erotica -the same thing is true, because if you don't care about the characters or identify with them, why would reading them humping each other turn you on? In pornography - not really an issue. Fanfic writers tend to make these mistakes a lot, because they figure, why bother developing the characters? Everyone knows who they are?
The worst sex scenes I've read are the ones that don't take the characters anywhere, don't propell the book forward and don't say anything new about them. They are just two bodies grinding, could be anyone.
Mutant Enemy did a good job with sex scenes - rarely did they use them gratuitously. Angel and Buffy's sex scene in Suprise/Innocence - was shot in soft colors, had romantic music, showed only portions of their bodies, and had lots of sheets. It also is seen in flashbacks. The result of the sex scene is the opposite of what the viewer expects - Angel loses his soul and his monster emerges. Contrast this with the
attempted rape sequence in Seeing Red, shot with no music, harsh colors, tiles, no sheets, no nudity, and pieces of body - a hand, a thigh, a face. It is violent, while the other is soft. And it results in Spike facing his monster, and the man emerging and seeking a soul. The opposite. (Now you may hate the theme expressed by these scenes, but you can't quibble with the fact that each scene was pivotal to the plot, character development and future relationships - they weren't gratuitious. And each propelled things forward.) In writing sex scenes - that is the approach one should take, I think.
Anything less is basically erotica or porn.
I can wander around in it. Yay! Which I'll do shortly. Just
finished deleting five more job search agents - I think that's all of them now. Can't figure out how to delete the Yahoo! one that keeps coming to me under wolfsblood67 - which, ahem, is not me. But that's a minor bug. What a relief to no longer be searching for a frigging job. The most exhausting thing in the world is hunting for work. So happy to finally have a job. And I think it's a good one. Can't quite tell yet - only been there a week. Ask me in six months - and I'll let you know if I have to go through this nightmare all over again. But so far?
Pretty good. Course I have mighty low expectations at this point in the game. I stopped trying to keep up with the Jones two years back.
A phrase that I used to hear all the time in the 1980s, don't hear it much anymore, although it's still valid. Means in a nutshell - whether your achievements match-up with your neighbors or the person down the block or the actor on the tv screen. It occurred to me recently how many people, (and I include myself in that category), do not appreciate what they have. They want what they don't.
A few weeks okay, my pal, Wales, went up to visit her boyfriend in Conneticut. It was Labor Day weekend, a fairly nice day, so they went hunting for a lake to swim in. Hunted all over - finally found a really nice lake and an old amusement park nearby. They had to go through the amusement park to get to the lake. Not too much of a problem. Even took in a few rides, including a fantastic rollercoaster. Swam in the lake. And wandered home. Two or three days later Wales compares notes with a work colleague, who proceeds to inform her that there was a really nice park on the other side of the lake, no amusement park, nice benches for picnics and a swimming beach. Green with envy, Wales regrets she didn't go over there, and whines for fifteen to twenty minutes to me on the phone about it. Instead of appreciating what she had and loving that experience, she's busy wanting something else.
Why is it, I wonder, that so many of us spend our lives worrying about what we haven't got, instead of enjoying what we do?
Finished Blood Rites the Sixth novel in Butcher's Dresden Chronicles, this morning. Best of the series in my opinion. The worst part? Was that it ended. It was one of those books that I never wanted to end. I enjoyed the characters that much. Rare. Last book felt that way about was maybe Dorothy Dunnett's Checkmate. Now, I have to go find another one...hmmm, I suppose I could try Stoker's Dracula or Gaiman's Neverwhere? I have both in my bookcase waiting for my perusal.
Also read a nifty discussion on writing sex scenes in one of the private listserves I'm still subscribed to. This one's Sunnydale U - it's an academic listserve that focuses on Dunnett/BTVS/and ATS. Like many listerves now, it's no longer talking so much about BTVS/ATS as other things - which is fine with me, since my obsession with BTVS/ATS sort of left me sometime in July. Very odd thing when an obsession suddenly lets go of you...you sort of wonder afterwards what happened? Why was I so obsessed about that particular thing? At any rate, writing sex scenes is not something I like to do as a writer.
It's not because I can't write erotica, so much, as it embarrasses me to write erotica. Nor is all erotica necessarily porn. Pornography - is basically anything that has no other point than to turn you on and has naked bodies. There is no plot, no point, no character development, just naked bodies grinding or showing sexually attractive parts in pornography. And yes, there is pornography for men and women.
Erotica on the other hand, while it's main point is to turn you on, usually has plot, character development, far more description, and dialogue - possibly because it's mainly directed at women and women usually need a bit more to be turned on than most guys do. Also erotica is usually written or in book form, although it can be in photos or movies, it isn't usually - unless the movie is more artistic in character - example of an erotica film would be "Wild Orchid" or "9 and 1/2 Weeks" or "Last Tango in Paris", erotica films are films that may be NC-17 but they have enough plot and character development that they actually can be seen in a real movie theater and not rented from an adult film store. Anne Rice wrote erotica - in the Beauty series. Pornography, on the other hand, is usually just photos and movies. You don't see it written. It's always in the adult section of the magazine store or film store, has very little plot, and is about two naked bodies having sex, names, faces, plot - sketchy at best or non-existent. So Erotica is not an euphemism for pornography. One tends to be more legally acceptable than the other - erotica since it is less overt and often more artistic, can get past most anti-porn laws. You mean even see erotica in art musuems. Porn? It is usually banned. Also erotica, while S&M does occur in it, it is seldom violent nor do you have the misogynistic tendencies in it that can show up in pornography. Less objectification. Hence the reason it's not banned as often.
Just because you have a sex scene in a book or have written one, does not make the book, tv show, etc pornographic or erotic per se. In fact - some sex scenes as written are not supposed to be erotic. The point - I think at least - in writing a good sex scene is - is it critical to the development of the character and plot? Can the plot survive without it? Can the characters? Does this sex scene actually move them forward? Even in romance novels - you should ask these questions, many romance novelists don't and as a result you get a bunch of overly written sex scenes that sound a bit a like, can be scanned, and don't move things forward. As a result, the romance genre gets a bad rap. The point of a romance novel should be how do you bring these two characters together, why are they together, and what makes them a good couple - granted it could be because they have great sex - but you have to figure out why they have great sex and whether their relationship is just about the sex and if it is, what does that mean to the characters? In writing erotica -the same thing is true, because if you don't care about the characters or identify with them, why would reading them humping each other turn you on? In pornography - not really an issue. Fanfic writers tend to make these mistakes a lot, because they figure, why bother developing the characters? Everyone knows who they are?
The worst sex scenes I've read are the ones that don't take the characters anywhere, don't propell the book forward and don't say anything new about them. They are just two bodies grinding, could be anyone.
Mutant Enemy did a good job with sex scenes - rarely did they use them gratuitously. Angel and Buffy's sex scene in Suprise/Innocence - was shot in soft colors, had romantic music, showed only portions of their bodies, and had lots of sheets. It also is seen in flashbacks. The result of the sex scene is the opposite of what the viewer expects - Angel loses his soul and his monster emerges. Contrast this with the
attempted rape sequence in Seeing Red, shot with no music, harsh colors, tiles, no sheets, no nudity, and pieces of body - a hand, a thigh, a face. It is violent, while the other is soft. And it results in Spike facing his monster, and the man emerging and seeking a soul. The opposite. (Now you may hate the theme expressed by these scenes, but you can't quibble with the fact that each scene was pivotal to the plot, character development and future relationships - they weren't gratuitious. And each propelled things forward.) In writing sex scenes - that is the approach one should take, I think.
Anything less is basically erotica or porn.
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no subject
Date: 2004-09-19 12:34 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-09-19 04:03 pm (UTC)Forgot Who are You, but that's also a very good example of a well written sex scene, as is the sex scene, which you see very little of, in The Zeppo between Faith and Xander.
Later reprised with a darker edge in Consequences. Then there's the Willow/OZ and Oz/Veruca sex scenes in Wild at Heart. Even the relatively boring sex scenes in Where the Wild Things are between Buffy/Riley had a point and moved things forward. Have to give
them credit for always making the romantic relationships and sex scenes mean something or propell things forward. Not all TV shows are quite as good at doing that.