dangerous links

[rose_griffes]

At some point one of you linked to the Lizzie Bennet diaries, and suddenly I've watched thirty-five episodes?! *shakes fist* Okay, granted, one episode is between two to four minutes in length, but still. (Short explanation: modern adaptation of Austen's classic Pride and Prejudice, featuring a video blogger by the name of... well, you can figure that one out. They're utter fluff. For me what's most fun is seeing how they're adapting the basic idea to fit a contemporary setting. Okay, and Bing Lee is really adorable, alright? And I may have already watched eight episodes of Lydia's v-log as well. Oops.)

chaila's posts about Smoke Signals made me nostalgic. The movie is back in my Netflix queue, because it's now available with livestreaming, woohoo! And if you don't know why you should watch--or you need to be reminded of why--here's a fun little fanvid from the source material. (I have the phrase "Hey, Victor!" stuck in my head again.)
eta: I should mention that the vid--and therefore the movie--contains brief moments of physical abuse toward children./eta

chaila also linked to Sherman Alexie's short story, This Is What It Means To Say Phoenix, Arizona, the short story that is the (very minimalist) base for Smoke Signals. The movie, with ninety minutes screentime, covers a lot more than the short story, but it's interesting to compare the two.

Okay, apparently this is the chaila post, because here's some meta on Skyler White from Breaking Bad, and I think she would find it a good read. (I read through the first part, and I don't actually watch that show. What I find compelling is the common theme among so many fans to vilify her and, uh, deify Walter White. For lack of a better term. Obviously the whole "fans hate female characters for the same reasons that they love male characters" is something that draws my attention, though.)

Finally, a fic rec. Doctor Who lends itself well to crossovers with anything. The Lone Centurion has Rory waiting his two thousand years, and meeting up with Methos from Highlander from time to time. To my recollection I've never watched a single episode of Highlander, but I knew enough to enjoy the story anyway. Immortality and mythology are irresistible draws.

Comments

[chaila]

Woo my very own post! :D I really enjoyed Smoke Signals and it's one for rewatching for sure.

I have The Lizzie Bennet Diaries open in a tab! Everyone's been raving about it.

Is it sad if I admit that I've had that Skyler meta open in a tab for weeks and haven't yet read it. *facepalm* Partly because I get instinctively jumpy at the first paragraph, all about liking Skyler because of how unlikeable she is. Not that there's anything wrong with that feeling or framing (though, idk, I never "disliked" her, but I also don't really approach it from this "do I like her?" perspective), but 1) Breaking Bad fandom is so, so terrible that I just can't even deal with any hint of any kind of negativity at Skyler, even if it's in an overall positive framing, and 2) do we judge male characters on this likeability scale? I mean, I've actually been wanting to post about that and genuinely ask, because I don't see male characters get discussed this way, but I also don't go looking for meta about male characters most of the time. Do we judge how we feel about them based on how "likeable" they are? I suspect not, and that what would be "unlikeable" in a female character is described as something far more nuanced and complicated in a male character or in response to a male character. They are selfish, controlling, manipulative, cold, petty, self-destructive, whatever--negative traits if it comes right down to it, but expressed in much more complex, attentive terms. Does fandom judge male characters as someone they might meet in real life, and judge them "as a person" rather than as a character? I honestly don't know, but if so, I don't see it nearly as much. Um, not to dump all my Breaking Bad (and Game of Thrones and everything else) on you, and especially not to criticize that post (which I've still not read closely) which I think is essentially probably saying the same thing as me in getting away from the "but do I like her?" question. But it's vaguely frustrating!

[rose_griffes]

Well, if it's any help, this is the sentence that I liked the best from the meta: She hasn't been given ANY of the characteristics that writers usually give to female characters to make them easier for the viewer to take, and by that very fact, makes you WAKE UP to the realization that female characters on TV are actually drastically limited in what they are allowed to be, even when they are well-written and realistically flawed.

I've just mainstreamed a few more eps of Lizzie Bennet and there's a minor change in one important event in the books that totally works for me in a modern adaptation of it, so that pleases me. Also, the structure allows for a lot more criticism of Lizzie's POV: that she isn't this impartial judge of character. Not that I think it's not there in the books, but the narrative allows more voices to be heard as well: Jane's, Charlotte's, even Lydia's.