Media update

[bironic]

Need to write the last part of the Star Trek con report (cast panels!) but not at the moment. Just wanted to say:

(1) Started N.K. Jemisin's The Fifth Season this week. Bit of initial... what's the term for when there's a hump to get over and then things are good? Anyway, I'm enjoying it now. I was trying to figure out who this one character, Essun, reminds me of, and realized it's Chava from The Golem and the Jinni. Women literally of the earth, connected at a visceral level to the earth, who live in fear of being discovered as Other, and who are capable of great destruction when they lose control of their darker emotions, followed (usually) by remorse. It's got me picturing Essun as large-framed now, even though I don't think her physique was described.

(2) Been watching movies again, both features and documentaries and in one case a blend of the two (Jafar Panahi's Taxi). Was surprised and delighted by how much I enjoyed this one movie, Wildlike, starring Bruce Greenwood and Ella Purnell. It found a whole panel of my buttons and pressed them. Girl fleeing sexually abusive situation attaches herself to gruff but honorable older man and there is Alaskan wilderness and unlikely interpersonal connection and protectiveness ♥ and chemistry and a happy ending ♥ followed by an even happier ending ♥. I clutched my hands to my chest in joy during the last maybe ten minutes. And then the credits rolled to one of my favorite Alexi Murdoch songs. ♥ I don't even know what to do with my happiness about it besides luxuriate in it and read reviews. There's no fic to read, I don't think I have a fic in me to write, a vid wouldn't add anything, and rewatching the movie wouldn't replicate the experience.

(3) Still thinkin' about festivids requests. I've got four movies (Queen Margot, Stranger by the Lake, Farewell My Concubine, Gods and Monsters) and one book (The Golem and the Jinni ♥), but am stumped on the last. This year I really only want to ask for things where any one of them would feel like my top choice if I got it. Haven't figured out a sixth one that would match the others. :/ Priest, maybe? The Linus Roache one, I mean. Not sure.

Are any of you asking for movies? Maybe there's something I can watch in the coming weeks to expand my repertoire of offers.

(4) Meta rec: On the Subject of Noncon Fanworks: Thoughts of a Reader, Writer, Survivor by Anarfea. Spectacularly cogent, moving essay about personal history, the difficulty of untangling experienced abuse from a penchant for power exchange/rape fantasy, the internal and external conflicts that happen before and after writing and posting a noncon story, noncon fic tagging and shaming in Sherlock fandom and beyond, and more. I'm out of oomph so if you are curious about my personal reaction just scroll down to my comment on her post. h/t to krytella and lurrel for the link.

Comments

[gingicat]

I also picture Essun as large-framed. How do you picture Syenite and Damaya?

I started the book first as the audio version read by the extraordinary Robin Miles, but due to content I had limited listening time, so I got impatient and also read the Kindle version.

[seekingferret]

Huh, that Chava/ Essun comparison is interesting. I'm uncertain if it leads anywhere useful in terms of thinking about either character. Essun has a backstory, whereas Chava is sui generis, so their commonalities come from very different places. I'm unsure how far you've gotten, so I won't say much more yet.


Festivids rec: Jean Luc Godard's scifi noir film Alphaville.

[jetpack_monkey]

Coming up with the perfect list of requests is hard, but man, that's a crackerjack list you have going. There's one I especially approve of.

I'll probably be asking for all movies this year with one or two exceptions. I will definitely be requesting The Third Man and The Raven (1963).

[bironic]

Ah, I have seen one of those! And am intrigued by the other. *deliberate vagueness* *makes a note*

>>There's one I especially approve of.

Ha ha, I "wonder" which one. :)

Speaking of which: I recently learned of this '70s movie "The Spirit of the Beehive," about a girl's experience seeing Frankenstein and living in post-civil war Spain. Do you know it?

[bironic]

Ah! Alphaville is actually pretty high in my Netflix queue right now. Excellent.

>> I'm uncertain if it leads anywhere useful in terms of thinking about either character.

Eh, that's okay; I was mainly glad to have pinned down what the echo was. We'll see how the rest of the book goes.

[litalex]

I think Stranger by the Lake would be rather difficult to vid, if no nudity can be shown... Like the rest of the movies, too, but not Queen Margot, which I know nothing about.

[bironic]

Hi! Yes, my coworker who read the book did it with the audio version and had good things to say about it. I'm not sure yet how I picture Damaya (whom I like a lot) or Syenite (whom I just "met"). Do you have mental images of them?

[bironic]

I don't think there are any Festivids rules limiting nudity; it would be up to the vidder how much actual genitalia & graphic sex to include, and then a matter of which platform they use to host or stream the vid.

Queen Margot is wonderful, btw, if you like epic French films with lots of blood and sex and political intrigue + gorgeous costumes!

[jetpack_monkey]

You never know. I could surprise you. ...probably not, though.

I have seen "Spirit"! It was for a film class about international cinema. We had a specific unit on cinema in Spain toward the end of Franco's reign. I don't think I fully appreciated it at the time. I was pretty zeroed in on the Frankenstein references.