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shadowkat1. Watched the Oscar nominated British film, An Education last night. The film does provide some stellar performances from Olivia Williams and Alfred Molina. As well as newcomer Carey Mulligan. And the script by Nick Hornby is serviceable - there are few excellent lines. Such as the young school-girl Jenny's reaction upon having sex for the first time. "It's funny for something that so many have written songs and poetry about, the actual act is quite short, takes hardly any time at all." Truer words were never spoken. And later - her statement to her teacher - "I've learned there are no shortcuts." The story is a female coming of age story, but disturbingly it is once again based on her relationship with a guy. I hate to tell you this, but most women come of age without necessarily having sex with or a relationship with a guy. Guy's aren't necessary for a girl to become a woman. Jane Austen, Louisa May Alcott, and numerous others did quite well without you. You aren't THAT important.
The film is basically the older man - young girl trope. I remember reading a French novel at the age of sixteen about a girl in Paris discovering her sexuality with a much older man. In reality? It is gross. In books, romantic. In this film - a bit of both. Hornby to give him credit - does show that a man in his 40s who is preying on a 16 year old girl - is not someone you want to know. He's charming, clever, seductive and fun. She goes to nice restaurants, auctions, and believes that she's met CS Lewis. The story takes place in the early 1960s in London. He's the dream. Loves her music, can discuss culture, is patient, and charms her parents. He even proposes and they are the ultimate star crossed lovers. Then we get the reveal, and of course there is one. He's married, has a wife and son. And Jenny is just one of many women he's seduced in this manner. This story in some respects is the Buffy/Angel tale without the metaphors. The older guy who makes you feel oh sooo adult, yet you realize afterwards that you aren't not quite.
Watching this film, I thought back to when I was 16 and 17 - I went to France that year, and I remember a guy attempting to French kiss me, and freaking out. I was sooo young. And yes, older men came onto me - one attempted to molest me in Wales at the age of 22. It was gross. It was not romantic. And the guy was over 20 years older. My parents to give them credit would not have permitted what happens in the film. But it is in part the time period, and in part the culture - her father wants her to be taken care of. That's all. And sees David as a means to that end. They don't see beyond the charming act, and are as taken in by David as Jenny herself.
I didn't like the film. It bugged me. It felt condescending. And as if it were telling me this is what women are like and what we do. These are our options. And our lives are centered on the men that enter them. Not true, as most women can tell you. Men are important, sure. But our lives no more center on them than theirs center on us. For a few perhaps.
A good film overall, just one that I find myself in disagreement with. I'm oddly pleased The Hurt Locker - a film about war and men, directed by a female director won instead. An Education a film about a girl coming of age after her romance with a much much older man, was writtenand directed by by a men, [ETA: but apparently "loosely" based on a memoire written by a woman, and directed by a woman. Note to self - google the film before writing a view based on what you recollect from reading the credits.] It's told in her pov, but from a male angle [this might be due to Hornby's script]. The Hurt Locker was by far the better film. They are different of course, with different intents. But An Education felt sort of cliche to me - as if I'd seen it before, and the Hurt Locker brand new and something I had not. Could just be that I've long ago outgrown the older guy who is so into the young girl, she's over the moon with the attention motif - one does, when one gets older, eventually.
2. While waiting for the elevator at work saw the following posted on the glass doors leading to the security desk for the school board:
* No Hoods, Do-rags, Hats, or Bandanas permitted. No Weapons of any kind (more explanation in small writing I could not read below).
For some reason that amused me. But then I make fun of everything. I treat life as a cosmic joke - it's the only way, sometimes.
3. On Lj came across a WTF moment. Apparently people think it is improper etiquette or wrong to write reviews of fanfic in your own live journal??? As if Fanfic, and we're talking about FANFIC, is some holy untouchable grail that none should touch but to squee over! My first thought upon reading this is, okay, now I remember why I didn't take fanfic seriously for a long time and why the vast majority of people don't. Second thought - I get why its illegal. Makes total sense. If people act like its their holy property - when in reality they've stolen someone else's ideas, characters, and verse to write it... I mean honestly can you think of anything more hypocritical than a fanfic writer telling you that you can't critique, review, parody or write your own fanfic based on their fic? (Note not plagarise, write fanfic on it). Sort of like the proverbial pot calling the kettle black. Third thought - How the heck do you think you get nominated and win awards? It's not just by the people who squee in your lj. And how do you think people find your work? If you can't handle concrit or reviews, then don't write.
Honestly folks, if I had a dollar for every time someone referenced a post of mine, ripped a post of mine apart, or critiqued one on a forum that I accidentally discovered and did not know about - I'd be a rich woman, and none of that was fanfic - it was meta. And while it may be aggravating and send my blood-pressure sky-rocketing, I do not for a minute contest their right to do it. IF I post a entry to the public, and don't lock or filter it - then by posting it publicly, I gave people the right to discuss it. That's the nature of the internet. For the same reason we can critique Doctor Horrible or The Girl Who Circumvented Fairyland or The Guild or Lady Gaga's latest YouTube vid - we can critique a story someone has posted for the public in their blog or livejournal or on a fanfic site, particularly a fanfic site. Why do people think fanfic is some untouchable holy piece of work that can't be critiqued? I mean, we're not talking about an original story or a memoir - we're talking about a story that you posted under a pseudonyme on the internet using characters from someone else's story.
How do you expect to get better at writing? Do you even care about your writing or are you just writing to jerk off? (If the latter, trust me, we can tell, and no one writes review or critiques of those stories, because why bother? ) Also why do people care what someone they've never met and don't know exists writes about their fanfic in their lj? (I am not so egotistical that I think for one minute that Joss Whedon gives a shit what I think about his stories or most of the fanficers I've written about. I mean come on, I'm just a woman musing in her journal.) Just as you can post fanfic, we can critique it. And we can post fanfic based on your fanfic. We can even finish your fanfic if you don't. (Never done it, but certainly been tempted - stupid WIP's that never get completed - they are just asking for it!) We can make fun of it and parody it. Writing fanfic is hardly polite. Hate to tell you this, but the internet version of Miss Manners would not approve - if she did, you could do a heck of a lot more with it. You are taking someone else's property and making it your own. Without their knowledge or permission. To suddenly come out and say, oh, you are being nasty to me for critiquing it or playing with what I wrote without telling me..... I'm sorry but welcome to the wonderful world of sharing your art work and writing with others. It's not all squees and accolades! Once it is in the sandbox, the other kids get to play with your toys. You can't be the only one who gets to write fanfic or write critiques on stories. And if you can't handle someone doing it to you? Don't post fanfic publically on the internet. (Personal posts are another issue entirely of course - writing a critique of someone's personal essay on their dead grandmother or a post on their workday - is just plain tacky. But fanfic???? WTF?? Are people crazy? (sigh, they are fans, of course they are crazy. Goes with the territory. (joking...well sort of. I make fun of everything. Life is a joke, we just happen to not be in on it.)
And yes, it goes without saying, I'll continue to write whatever I damn well please in my own live journal, thank you very much.
The film is basically the older man - young girl trope. I remember reading a French novel at the age of sixteen about a girl in Paris discovering her sexuality with a much older man. In reality? It is gross. In books, romantic. In this film - a bit of both. Hornby to give him credit - does show that a man in his 40s who is preying on a 16 year old girl - is not someone you want to know. He's charming, clever, seductive and fun. She goes to nice restaurants, auctions, and believes that she's met CS Lewis. The story takes place in the early 1960s in London. He's the dream. Loves her music, can discuss culture, is patient, and charms her parents. He even proposes and they are the ultimate star crossed lovers. Then we get the reveal, and of course there is one. He's married, has a wife and son. And Jenny is just one of many women he's seduced in this manner. This story in some respects is the Buffy/Angel tale without the metaphors. The older guy who makes you feel oh sooo adult, yet you realize afterwards that you aren't not quite.
Watching this film, I thought back to when I was 16 and 17 - I went to France that year, and I remember a guy attempting to French kiss me, and freaking out. I was sooo young. And yes, older men came onto me - one attempted to molest me in Wales at the age of 22. It was gross. It was not romantic. And the guy was over 20 years older. My parents to give them credit would not have permitted what happens in the film. But it is in part the time period, and in part the culture - her father wants her to be taken care of. That's all. And sees David as a means to that end. They don't see beyond the charming act, and are as taken in by David as Jenny herself.
I didn't like the film. It bugged me. It felt condescending. And as if it were telling me this is what women are like and what we do. These are our options. And our lives are centered on the men that enter them. Not true, as most women can tell you. Men are important, sure. But our lives no more center on them than theirs center on us. For a few perhaps.
A good film overall, just one that I find myself in disagreement with. I'm oddly pleased The Hurt Locker - a film about war and men, directed by a female director won instead. An Education a film about a girl coming of age after her romance with a much much older man, was written
2. While waiting for the elevator at work saw the following posted on the glass doors leading to the security desk for the school board:
* No Hoods, Do-rags, Hats, or Bandanas permitted. No Weapons of any kind (more explanation in small writing I could not read below).
For some reason that amused me. But then I make fun of everything. I treat life as a cosmic joke - it's the only way, sometimes.
3. On Lj came across a WTF moment. Apparently people think it is improper etiquette or wrong to write reviews of fanfic in your own live journal??? As if Fanfic, and we're talking about FANFIC, is some holy untouchable grail that none should touch but to squee over! My first thought upon reading this is, okay, now I remember why I didn't take fanfic seriously for a long time and why the vast majority of people don't. Second thought - I get why its illegal. Makes total sense. If people act like its their holy property - when in reality they've stolen someone else's ideas, characters, and verse to write it... I mean honestly can you think of anything more hypocritical than a fanfic writer telling you that you can't critique, review, parody or write your own fanfic based on their fic? (Note not plagarise, write fanfic on it). Sort of like the proverbial pot calling the kettle black. Third thought - How the heck do you think you get nominated and win awards? It's not just by the people who squee in your lj. And how do you think people find your work? If you can't handle concrit or reviews, then don't write.
Honestly folks, if I had a dollar for every time someone referenced a post of mine, ripped a post of mine apart, or critiqued one on a forum that I accidentally discovered and did not know about - I'd be a rich woman, and none of that was fanfic - it was meta. And while it may be aggravating and send my blood-pressure sky-rocketing, I do not for a minute contest their right to do it. IF I post a entry to the public, and don't lock or filter it - then by posting it publicly, I gave people the right to discuss it. That's the nature of the internet. For the same reason we can critique Doctor Horrible or The Girl Who Circumvented Fairyland or The Guild or Lady Gaga's latest YouTube vid - we can critique a story someone has posted for the public in their blog or livejournal or on a fanfic site, particularly a fanfic site. Why do people think fanfic is some untouchable holy piece of work that can't be critiqued? I mean, we're not talking about an original story or a memoir - we're talking about a story that you posted under a pseudonyme on the internet using characters from someone else's story.
How do you expect to get better at writing? Do you even care about your writing or are you just writing to jerk off? (If the latter, trust me, we can tell, and no one writes review or critiques of those stories, because why bother? ) Also why do people care what someone they've never met and don't know exists writes about their fanfic in their lj? (I am not so egotistical that I think for one minute that Joss Whedon gives a shit what I think about his stories or most of the fanficers I've written about. I mean come on, I'm just a woman musing in her journal.) Just as you can post fanfic, we can critique it. And we can post fanfic based on your fanfic. We can even finish your fanfic if you don't. (Never done it, but certainly been tempted - stupid WIP's that never get completed - they are just asking for it!) We can make fun of it and parody it. Writing fanfic is hardly polite. Hate to tell you this, but the internet version of Miss Manners would not approve - if she did, you could do a heck of a lot more with it. You are taking someone else's property and making it your own. Without their knowledge or permission. To suddenly come out and say, oh, you are being nasty to me for critiquing it or playing with what I wrote without telling me..... I'm sorry but welcome to the wonderful world of sharing your art work and writing with others. It's not all squees and accolades! Once it is in the sandbox, the other kids get to play with your toys. You can't be the only one who gets to write fanfic or write critiques on stories. And if you can't handle someone doing it to you? Don't post fanfic publically on the internet. (Personal posts are another issue entirely of course - writing a critique of someone's personal essay on their dead grandmother or a post on their workday - is just plain tacky. But fanfic???? WTF?? Are people crazy? (sigh, they are fans, of course they are crazy. Goes with the territory. (joking...well sort of. I make fun of everything. Life is a joke, we just happen to not be in on it.)
And yes, it goes without saying, I'll continue to write whatever I damn well please in my own live journal, thank you very much.
