TV Tropes is ruining my life.
So... I was reading entries and whatnot and I came across fans' suggestions that Jack Sparrow is bisexual and that he and Beckett may have... history of some sort.
I watched POTC3 again, paying special attention to all the scenes where Jack and Beckett interact, or have references made to one another in their presence.
O_O
Disney, how could you? *scarred*
Sunday, December 13, 2009
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
The Dark Knight does not approve...
I'm trying to write a scholarly paper here. I am doing my research, citing my sources, trying to draw logical conclusions.
The problem: there seems to be a great lack of scholarly sources on Batman.
Seriously, I'm trying to write a paper about some of the great literary creators and creations of detective fiction within the past few centuries. What are the first names that you think of when I say "detective"?
Edgar Allan Poe, Sherlock Holmes and Batman of course!
Well, maybe not, but that is what I am aiming for: to instill those names into that genre so strongly that any time anyone ever says "detective" again, you'll think of a pipe-smoking raven in a bat-cape.
But it is as if the scholarly community is against me as I do last-minute research (I procrastinated horribly on this project and I take full blame for it), since it seems as though no one believes in writing serious scholarly articles on the deep themes of Batman and his literary traditions. Gah...
The problem: there seems to be a great lack of scholarly sources on Batman.
Seriously, I'm trying to write a paper about some of the great literary creators and creations of detective fiction within the past few centuries. What are the first names that you think of when I say "detective"?
Edgar Allan Poe, Sherlock Holmes and Batman of course!
Well, maybe not, but that is what I am aiming for: to instill those names into that genre so strongly that any time anyone ever says "detective" again, you'll think of a pipe-smoking raven in a bat-cape.
But it is as if the scholarly community is against me as I do last-minute research (I procrastinated horribly on this project and I take full blame for it), since it seems as though no one believes in writing serious scholarly articles on the deep themes of Batman and his literary traditions. Gah...
Monday, December 7, 2009
Trivial to serious...
Doing research for an English paper involving Sherlock Holmes and thinking about TV Tropes, I realized that I e enjoy reading about pop culture icons being taken seriously and the themes embodied in them being taken seriously. For example, I'm reading a great deal of history surrounding the detective genre and the cultural influences on it are amazing and thought-provoking. Why can more scholarly essays be written on things like "Avatar", Batman or zombies? Take something that fans take seriously and turn it into something the rest of the populace has to take seriously.
It makes me want to be a teacher so badly, just so I can do this in my classroom. Why is so much of our education focused on getting in certain material just by reading it and then going on? Why can't we linger on a particular work or subject and explore it in-depth? I find the history of gestures and words and books, movies and plays to be so interesting. Why does stuff like that have to be researched individually? Why can't there be in-depth classes on it outside of the obscure college? Gah... Why does most of it have to be trivia?
I now want to write essays of this kind, based on things that I really want to write and research. There are so many jumping off points in my research that I want to write about that have nothing to do with my actual paper topic. Phooey...
It makes me want to be a teacher so badly, just so I can do this in my classroom. Why is so much of our education focused on getting in certain material just by reading it and then going on? Why can't we linger on a particular work or subject and explore it in-depth? I find the history of gestures and words and books, movies and plays to be so interesting. Why does stuff like that have to be researched individually? Why can't there be in-depth classes on it outside of the obscure college? Gah... Why does most of it have to be trivia?
I now want to write essays of this kind, based on things that I really want to write and research. There are so many jumping off points in my research that I want to write about that have nothing to do with my actual paper topic. Phooey...
Saturday, December 5, 2009
Fall of a hero...
After a month of dragging myself through NaNo with loose-leaf, pen, and computer, I needed a medium change. So I dragged out a yellow legal pad and a pencil and did some free-association writing, which ended up turning into a fairly formal essay. I present the results for your entertainment.
Disclaimer: I actually love Cyrano immensely. But I’ve noticed that, as I grow older, I am able to temper my love for literary characters with recognition of their faults. Same thing with fan-preferred couples and whatnot. Ex. I used to be a die-hard Zutara fan, but now I am willing to let Maiko be as it is (though, I am a bit of a Toph-Zuko shipper). (Avatar the Last Airbender, for any who don't speak the lingo.) I’m not a frantically desperate fangirl who is anxious to ignore all faults of my favorites.
Except when it comes to Batman. Nothing can deflect or mitigate my love for the Bat.
Batman = Pure essence of awesome.
(Yeah, I was playing Lego Batman for hours today and just plain geeking out about everything in it. I want a Lego Batman set for Christmas, just to get the little Lego figure of the Dark Knight himself.)
Anyway…
Cyrano De Bergerac
I watched the French version again recently after having read the original play a few months back. So incredibly beautiful and tragic. It was strange, because I remembered Cyrano’s speech about reaching the moon before reading the actual play, but it wasn’t in the French version. I think I recalled that and the scene of Cyrano’s dinner at the theatre from the black and white English version I saw a long time ago.
Watching the play with the benefit of my community college Psychology 200 class, it was a little easier to put a label on why it was all so tragic. Of the two male leads, Christian was actually the more honest and maybe pitiable for it. Cyrano, being the main, obviously garners the most sympathy, but when examined, he is not quite the paragon of poetic and manly virtue he would have you believe.
Projecting and Deception – Cyrano
Cyrano is known for attacking the hypocrisy of the rich and he prides himself on his stubborn principles. And yet, perhaps he has more in common with the fops he defies than he would like. He shuns and mocks the frills of the nobles’ clothing and manner, yet he hides behind the frills of his wit. Rather than honestly state his affection for Roxane, he uses deception to win her heart through Christain.
Perhaps the real reason he did not want Christian to expose their ruse to Roxane was because he was disgusted with himself, and not just with his appearance. He knew what he had done, that he had been resorting to deception, perhaps with the unspoken, mostly unformed hope that it would draw Roxane to himself. But when he realizes that he has succeeded so perfectly in his goal of making her love Christian, he hates himself for having stooped so low and so denying his love for her is his way of punishing himself and keeping her from discovering his baseness. He wants his beloved to be happy, but more importantly, he wants himself to be unhappy.
The Honest Brute – Christian
When first compared to Cyrano, Christian seems to be a carnal buffoon, with a military mind and a distinct male gaze for Roxane. Cyrano sees Roxane as an immaculate angel, while Christian sees her as a beautiful woman. It makes him seem far more estimable than the adoring and un-touching Cyrano.
Yet it is not as if Christian is just a base animal with only one thing on his mind. He is a clever man, as evidenced by his taunting Cyrano. Roxane’s affection does matter to him. He is just far more honesty about Roxane to himself than Cyrano. When he realizes that Cyrano has made Roxane fall in love with a lie, he immediately wants to destroy the lie, no matter how painful the truth might be to anyone involved. He is perfectly honest in his sentiments that he still wants Roxane, but he wants her to love him for himself, rather than Cyrano’s mask.
While Cyrano attacks deception and appearances and Christian seems willing to exploit a ruse, it is ultimately Cyrano who perpetuated the ruse and Christian who wished to destroy it.
Yeah... That's the kind of thing I have been writing the past few days (I have, like, four other essay thingies like this on that legal pad.) It's refreshing.
Disclaimer: I actually love Cyrano immensely. But I’ve noticed that, as I grow older, I am able to temper my love for literary characters with recognition of their faults. Same thing with fan-preferred couples and whatnot. Ex. I used to be a die-hard Zutara fan, but now I am willing to let Maiko be as it is (though, I am a bit of a Toph-Zuko shipper). (Avatar the Last Airbender, for any who don't speak the lingo.) I’m not a frantically desperate fangirl who is anxious to ignore all faults of my favorites.
Except when it comes to Batman. Nothing can deflect or mitigate my love for the Bat.
Batman = Pure essence of awesome.
(Yeah, I was playing Lego Batman for hours today and just plain geeking out about everything in it. I want a Lego Batman set for Christmas, just to get the little Lego figure of the Dark Knight himself.)
Anyway…
Cyrano De Bergerac
I watched the French version again recently after having read the original play a few months back. So incredibly beautiful and tragic. It was strange, because I remembered Cyrano’s speech about reaching the moon before reading the actual play, but it wasn’t in the French version. I think I recalled that and the scene of Cyrano’s dinner at the theatre from the black and white English version I saw a long time ago.
Watching the play with the benefit of my community college Psychology 200 class, it was a little easier to put a label on why it was all so tragic. Of the two male leads, Christian was actually the more honest and maybe pitiable for it. Cyrano, being the main, obviously garners the most sympathy, but when examined, he is not quite the paragon of poetic and manly virtue he would have you believe.
Projecting and Deception – Cyrano
Cyrano is known for attacking the hypocrisy of the rich and he prides himself on his stubborn principles. And yet, perhaps he has more in common with the fops he defies than he would like. He shuns and mocks the frills of the nobles’ clothing and manner, yet he hides behind the frills of his wit. Rather than honestly state his affection for Roxane, he uses deception to win her heart through Christain.
Perhaps the real reason he did not want Christian to expose their ruse to Roxane was because he was disgusted with himself, and not just with his appearance. He knew what he had done, that he had been resorting to deception, perhaps with the unspoken, mostly unformed hope that it would draw Roxane to himself. But when he realizes that he has succeeded so perfectly in his goal of making her love Christian, he hates himself for having stooped so low and so denying his love for her is his way of punishing himself and keeping her from discovering his baseness. He wants his beloved to be happy, but more importantly, he wants himself to be unhappy.
The Honest Brute – Christian
When first compared to Cyrano, Christian seems to be a carnal buffoon, with a military mind and a distinct male gaze for Roxane. Cyrano sees Roxane as an immaculate angel, while Christian sees her as a beautiful woman. It makes him seem far more estimable than the adoring and un-touching Cyrano.
Yet it is not as if Christian is just a base animal with only one thing on his mind. He is a clever man, as evidenced by his taunting Cyrano. Roxane’s affection does matter to him. He is just far more honesty about Roxane to himself than Cyrano. When he realizes that Cyrano has made Roxane fall in love with a lie, he immediately wants to destroy the lie, no matter how painful the truth might be to anyone involved. He is perfectly honest in his sentiments that he still wants Roxane, but he wants her to love him for himself, rather than Cyrano’s mask.
While Cyrano attacks deception and appearances and Christian seems willing to exploit a ruse, it is ultimately Cyrano who perpetuated the ruse and Christian who wished to destroy it.
Yeah... That's the kind of thing I have been writing the past few days (I have, like, four other essay thingies like this on that legal pad.) It's refreshing.
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