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Mar. 9th, 2012 10:28 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
gwydion* Remember the big Earthquake/tsunami/nuclear disaster a year ago? It turns out they are storing huge amounts of radioactive water because of the necessary clean up, which is understandable. Unfortunately, they are in containers not rated for earthquakes, tsunamis, or hurricanes. That's right, Japan is betting that no earthquakes, tsunamis, or hurricanes are going to hit that bit of the Japanese Coast this year. *shudder* Slow processing and controlled release is comparatively safe. Sudden explosive release at random into the Ocean or atmosphere without advance processing and care for the tides is potentially disastrous. *shudder*
* Frankly, the Syria news is too depressing for me to get into.
* Squirrel and I saw John Carter. I've been hearing about Barsoom my whole life, as Asimov's generation of writers grew up loving those stories, but I never had any luck reading Burroughs (or Howard for that matter). Pulps aren't and never were my thing even when I was 7: too poorly written, too weak on characterization, too problematic, too...too, if you know what I mean. I never read the Barsoom books despite all the hype, as I couldn't get past the first few pages. I went knowing how beloved these things were to a generation already old when I was born, and how many -isms the pulps had. I was at best hoping for half dressed men hitting stuff with swords and CGI armies. I can not say how well it rose above the source material or if it fell short, not having read it. It's got the mighty whitey thing going on, which I know is inherent to the source material, with an extra dose of problematic because of the Confederate thing. I do think it did okay on the strong woman front, and the sexualized clothing feels a lot less sexist when they are dressing the men in bondage harnesses and the like. It had a very early 20th century feel narratively, very pulp period in a way I'm having trouble to put into words. It is a story well designed for modern CGI, and the visual design mostly worked. The performances were mostly workmanlike and suited to the material. It was watchable, though fluffy, except for me quietly squirming at the ex-confederate come to be the savior of civilization and leader of the non-white natives. I couldn't let it go, I just couldn't because it's creepy. I'm not sure how you could make it not creepy without radically reworking the source material. The complete lack of mention of African Americans is period appropriate for 1917-48, but given the way the Civil War loomed over the narrative, the whole slavery issue felt larger to me by it's absence. To be clear, what we're looking at here is structural racism inherent in the source material which was produced between 1917 and 1948, not overt rascism such as you see the villains in Roots, KKK members, or right wing talk show hosts displaying.
All of which leaves me wondering a number of things. 1. I know Barsoom is deeply loved in some quarters, but as a lot of those folks are no longer with us, could they have done a radical reworking with a completely different back story for the lead and made it work? 2. Is the source material so inherently problematic as to not be appropriate in a modern context. 3. Is whitewashing the racism of early twentieth century pulp science fiction a disservice because it makes the time period look less creepy and racist? 4. Is the audience savy enough to get why any of the above matters, and just consume the rascism without being troubled by it.
I had more questions, but I lost the thread at this point, do to purely physical distractions from yet another pathogen that started to hit once we got home.
Similarly, I could do a whole post on the Native American vs. Union soldier sequence both on it's own and how that informs my response to events involving the Thrak, but I'm literally feeling worse by the half hour.
* Sometimes, it's the small things that change everything: http://lettersfromtitan.tumblr.com/post/19015917366/non-tumblr-friend-submission-3
* It just dawned on me that in my head, I imagine comic book Walking Dead Tyrease as being played by Chad Coleman who played Cutty, the ex-con with a youth boxing gym on the Wire. I have pretty much given up hope of Tyrease in the TV abomination, alas.
* Bwahahahahahaha! http://xkcd-rss.livejournal.com/258701.html
* Frankly, the Syria news is too depressing for me to get into.
* Squirrel and I saw John Carter. I've been hearing about Barsoom my whole life, as Asimov's generation of writers grew up loving those stories, but I never had any luck reading Burroughs (or Howard for that matter). Pulps aren't and never were my thing even when I was 7: too poorly written, too weak on characterization, too problematic, too...too, if you know what I mean. I never read the Barsoom books despite all the hype, as I couldn't get past the first few pages. I went knowing how beloved these things were to a generation already old when I was born, and how many -isms the pulps had. I was at best hoping for half dressed men hitting stuff with swords and CGI armies. I can not say how well it rose above the source material or if it fell short, not having read it. It's got the mighty whitey thing going on, which I know is inherent to the source material, with an extra dose of problematic because of the Confederate thing. I do think it did okay on the strong woman front, and the sexualized clothing feels a lot less sexist when they are dressing the men in bondage harnesses and the like. It had a very early 20th century feel narratively, very pulp period in a way I'm having trouble to put into words. It is a story well designed for modern CGI, and the visual design mostly worked. The performances were mostly workmanlike and suited to the material. It was watchable, though fluffy, except for me quietly squirming at the ex-confederate come to be the savior of civilization and leader of the non-white natives. I couldn't let it go, I just couldn't because it's creepy. I'm not sure how you could make it not creepy without radically reworking the source material. The complete lack of mention of African Americans is period appropriate for 1917-48, but given the way the Civil War loomed over the narrative, the whole slavery issue felt larger to me by it's absence. To be clear, what we're looking at here is structural racism inherent in the source material which was produced between 1917 and 1948, not overt rascism such as you see the villains in Roots, KKK members, or right wing talk show hosts displaying.
All of which leaves me wondering a number of things. 1. I know Barsoom is deeply loved in some quarters, but as a lot of those folks are no longer with us, could they have done a radical reworking with a completely different back story for the lead and made it work? 2. Is the source material so inherently problematic as to not be appropriate in a modern context. 3. Is whitewashing the racism of early twentieth century pulp science fiction a disservice because it makes the time period look less creepy and racist? 4. Is the audience savy enough to get why any of the above matters, and just consume the rascism without being troubled by it.
I had more questions, but I lost the thread at this point, do to purely physical distractions from yet another pathogen that started to hit once we got home.
Similarly, I could do a whole post on the Native American vs. Union soldier sequence both on it's own and how that informs my response to events involving the Thrak, but I'm literally feeling worse by the half hour.
* Sometimes, it's the small things that change everything: http://lettersfromtitan.tumblr.com/post/19015917366/non-tumblr-friend-submission-3
* It just dawned on me that in my head, I imagine comic book Walking Dead Tyrease as being played by Chad Coleman who played Cutty, the ex-con with a youth boxing gym on the Wire. I have pretty much given up hope of Tyrease in the TV abomination, alas.
* Bwahahahahahaha! http://xkcd-rss.livejournal.com/258701.html