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juushikaStill not reading. I've watched all but two episodes of Ao no Exorcist—and I will watch those last two episodes, but I'm in no hurry, and that says something not so good about the show. Its premise is interesting, its characters so-so, and its execution bland—more than bland, it's just amateur, lifeless storytelling all around. It does its damnedest to take The Son of Satan is an Exorcist, Man! and turn it into a snoozefest, which is impressive; while it picks up pace halfway through, the mediocre writing never quite overcomes its own hurdle and the results fail to be compelling.
I watched the first two episodes of Misfits, and I may or may not continue—its premise has potential, its execution is bold, but there was just enough that rubbed me the wrong way—sex and gender issues and YES thank you we got it, everyone here is a antihero, you have successfully driven the point home. I love antiheroes. I have less love for superficially quick-witted whiny little snipes who prey on and fall victim to the most banal of bigotries in the attempt to get a rise out of someone, anyone, please. Its not all bad, and I imagine it gains more solid footing after flirting with a few episodic episodes, but episode three very clearly broadcasts rape and I just didn't have the stomach for that.
So I've been watching Dollhouse, because nothing says No rape for me, please! like standing in line for the all you can eat rape buffet. I'm two-thirds through season one with predictable mixed success. I dislike Whedon—I enjoyed Buffy the Vampire Slayer when I finally watched it in 2010 (read more), but Firefly struck me as above average but all gimmick—and a tired one, at that—with a side helping of sexism and rape culture (read more). I've seen Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog twice and I'm eeeh on it—cute idea! I do love Fillion! yay for people making entertainment for entertainment's sake! but not my sense of humor, and there's a bit of sexism of the manpain variety which, I know, is akin to saying Hey guys it's a piece of modern media—but still. I find Whedon trite, repetitive, and self-congratulatory—not just the tropes which appear and reappear in increasing strength, but his title of Feminist—self-assigned, and assigned by hopeful fans. Google is telling me that, bless, people are taking it with a grain of salt now.
I imagine Dollhouse helped.
I'm enjoying it! Interesting and compelling concept. Gunslinger Girl does it better (read more) and—and this is impressive because in Gunslinger Girl, the agents are early/mid-adolescent—in better taste, but Dollhouse has something to offer: a mildly interesting conspiracy, a somewhat more interesting insular environment (it's hard to be truly captivating when half the individuals within have no personality), and the age group and sexual content does open up new, fertile ground. And in a way, it's so incredibly rapey that you can almost ... overlook the rape. It doesn't sideswipe you as either traumatic content or poor storytelling. It's so prevalent you learn to ignore it, and then the one rape that the cast actually treats as real rape—real, you guys! because she really didn't want it! she didn't even think she wanted it! and the guy was a bad dude! and this girl gets threatened with sexual violence a lot!—sorta feels like a "so what?" Oh, that's supposed to be awful? My bad, I'd assumed awful was just something we took for granted here.
It sits you down for 45 minutes and holds your attention—or at least it does me, which is exactly what I wanted in order to help fill a few nights when I didn't much want to be in my own head. It sometimes does so with episodic garbage, like the episode I have paused while I write this. (Remember that big conspiracy, guys? what about Echo's growing characterization? want to get back to that?) But it's slick and keeps on going and it's holding my attention.
But just as much makes me GRR ARG, no pun intended. I can't stand Eliza Dushku—never could: she always acts one single character, and the show's demands on her are just too steep; it's only costume changes that make anything remotely believable. The blatant reoccurring Whedon tropes irk me, as expected: damaged attractive sexually-available strong girl, check; self-insertion average-joe-oh-except-he's-a-genius self-insert sexist dude, check. There's even hints of Buffyspeak, which works better in high school and college kids than said genius nerds.
But it has enough of an ... atmosphere, I guess. The insular environment, a slightly seductive and truly terrifying concept, another way of approaching the same Ghost in the Shell question: when technology and humanity intersect, how do we define "human?" Rather than broadening the definition it narrows it, which is in a way more harrowing. I like it conceptually, and find it sufficiently engaging, and that's enough for my brain right now.
I watched the first two episodes of Misfits, and I may or may not continue—its premise has potential, its execution is bold, but there was just enough that rubbed me the wrong way—sex and gender issues and YES thank you we got it, everyone here is a antihero, you have successfully driven the point home. I love antiheroes. I have less love for superficially quick-witted whiny little snipes who prey on and fall victim to the most banal of bigotries in the attempt to get a rise out of someone, anyone, please. Its not all bad, and I imagine it gains more solid footing after flirting with a few episodic episodes, but episode three very clearly broadcasts rape and I just didn't have the stomach for that.
So I've been watching Dollhouse, because nothing says No rape for me, please! like standing in line for the all you can eat rape buffet. I'm two-thirds through season one with predictable mixed success. I dislike Whedon—I enjoyed Buffy the Vampire Slayer when I finally watched it in 2010 (read more), but Firefly struck me as above average but all gimmick—and a tired one, at that—with a side helping of sexism and rape culture (read more). I've seen Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog twice and I'm eeeh on it—cute idea! I do love Fillion! yay for people making entertainment for entertainment's sake! but not my sense of humor, and there's a bit of sexism of the manpain variety which, I know, is akin to saying Hey guys it's a piece of modern media—but still. I find Whedon trite, repetitive, and self-congratulatory—not just the tropes which appear and reappear in increasing strength, but his title of Feminist—self-assigned, and assigned by hopeful fans. Google is telling me that, bless, people are taking it with a grain of salt now.
I imagine Dollhouse helped.
I'm enjoying it! Interesting and compelling concept. Gunslinger Girl does it better (read more) and—and this is impressive because in Gunslinger Girl, the agents are early/mid-adolescent—in better taste, but Dollhouse has something to offer: a mildly interesting conspiracy, a somewhat more interesting insular environment (it's hard to be truly captivating when half the individuals within have no personality), and the age group and sexual content does open up new, fertile ground. And in a way, it's so incredibly rapey that you can almost ... overlook the rape. It doesn't sideswipe you as either traumatic content or poor storytelling. It's so prevalent you learn to ignore it, and then the one rape that the cast actually treats as real rape—real, you guys! because she really didn't want it! she didn't even think she wanted it! and the guy was a bad dude! and this girl gets threatened with sexual violence a lot!—sorta feels like a "so what?" Oh, that's supposed to be awful? My bad, I'd assumed awful was just something we took for granted here.
It sits you down for 45 minutes and holds your attention—or at least it does me, which is exactly what I wanted in order to help fill a few nights when I didn't much want to be in my own head. It sometimes does so with episodic garbage, like the episode I have paused while I write this. (Remember that big conspiracy, guys? what about Echo's growing characterization? want to get back to that?) But it's slick and keeps on going and it's holding my attention.
But just as much makes me GRR ARG, no pun intended. I can't stand Eliza Dushku—never could: she always acts one single character, and the show's demands on her are just too steep; it's only costume changes that make anything remotely believable. The blatant reoccurring Whedon tropes irk me, as expected: damaged attractive sexually-available strong girl, check; self-insertion average-joe-oh-except-he's-a-genius self-insert sexist dude, check. There's even hints of Buffyspeak, which works better in high school and college kids than said genius nerds.
But it has enough of an ... atmosphere, I guess. The insular environment, a slightly seductive and truly terrifying concept, another way of approaching the same Ghost in the Shell question: when technology and humanity intersect, how do we define "human?" Rather than broadening the definition it narrows it, which is in a way more harrowing. I like it conceptually, and find it sufficiently engaging, and that's enough for my brain right now.
