Nitpickers United
May. 2nd, 2011 10:46 pmI have this particular problem with almost every live-action scene that takes place in cold climate. Oh, wait, it's not my problem, it's the director/costumer/whoever's.
( What's wrong in this pic? (which is from Game of Thrones s01e03, but IMO not all that spoilery, just two characters standing around and you can't even see their faces) )
( What's wrong in this pic? (which is from Game of Thrones s01e03, but IMO not all that spoilery, just two characters standing around and you can't even see their faces) )
In an attempt to broaden my reading horizons again, I picked up a detective/thriller novel. The backcover made it sound interesting enough and I kind of liked the Finnish title. Unfortunately it ended up being so offensive that I read only about 50 pages and then leafed through the rest just to see if it got any worse.
Of course it did.
I'm talking about Jean-Christophe Grangè's Miserere. I don't know if it's been translated into English and frankly, I don't care enough to check. The Finnish translation is called Viattomien veljeskunta, literally The Brotherhood of the Innocents. Apparently Grangè is very popular both in France and internationally, and this isn't the first novel that has been translated into Finnish. I will not under any circumstances check out to see if his other books are better than this one: even if they were, I couldn't stop thinking that he's a homophobic ass.
Miserere's main characters are two cops, Kasdan and Volokine. Kasdan is old and your typical big'n tough cop. Also very homophobic. I didn't mind this as such when it was revealed because yes indeed, there are people like that and it's not like Kasdan's the only character in the book. Then it turns out that Volokine, who's younger but at least as badass as Kasdan & some kind of a computer guru, admires Kasdan for being, and this is an almost word-to-word quote, "a real cop, not one of those fags who play violin or [something apparently not manly enough] in their free time".
In addition, the characters make very clear, both individually and together, that all gays are promiscuous cheaters. One suspect is a gay prostitute who was a stereotypically offensive caricature of a gay man. Kasdan hated him right away, and without any reason or authority took away his important papers (passport etc., he was a filthy immigrant too). The victim was a closeted gay man, partner of said prostitute (and very jealous, but it's not like the prostitute could help himself because he's so gay), masochist and a leader of a boys choir which, as you might have guessed, made the cops think that he must be a pedophile. I leafed through a hundred or so pages and surprisingly, the victim wasn't a pedophile. He'd been a cruel torturer in Chile instead!
D:
I rate this book as AAAC, Avoid At All Costs.
Of course it did.
I'm talking about Jean-Christophe Grangè's Miserere. I don't know if it's been translated into English and frankly, I don't care enough to check. The Finnish translation is called Viattomien veljeskunta, literally The Brotherhood of the Innocents. Apparently Grangè is very popular both in France and internationally, and this isn't the first novel that has been translated into Finnish. I will not under any circumstances check out to see if his other books are better than this one: even if they were, I couldn't stop thinking that he's a homophobic ass.
Miserere's main characters are two cops, Kasdan and Volokine. Kasdan is old and your typical big'n tough cop. Also very homophobic. I didn't mind this as such when it was revealed because yes indeed, there are people like that and it's not like Kasdan's the only character in the book. Then it turns out that Volokine, who's younger but at least as badass as Kasdan & some kind of a computer guru, admires Kasdan for being, and this is an almost word-to-word quote, "a real cop, not one of those fags who play violin or [something apparently not manly enough] in their free time".
In addition, the characters make very clear, both individually and together, that all gays are promiscuous cheaters. One suspect is a gay prostitute who was a stereotypically offensive caricature of a gay man. Kasdan hated him right away, and without any reason or authority took away his important papers (passport etc., he was a filthy immigrant too). The victim was a closeted gay man, partner of said prostitute (and very jealous, but it's not like the prostitute could help himself because he's so gay), masochist and a leader of a boys choir which, as you might have guessed, made the cops think that he must be a pedophile. I leafed through a hundred or so pages and surprisingly, the victim wasn't a pedophile. He'd been a cruel torturer in Chile instead!
D:
I rate this book as AAAC, Avoid At All Costs.
(no subject)
Nov. 19th, 2009 10:24 pmSo, I just saw 2012. It was pretty much what I expected: actionactionaction ooohshiny endoftheworldissocoolYAY. The kind of movie you watch when you want to turn your brain off for a while.
But then I started thinking about the ending a bit too much and, well. Skeeeeeeevy.
( spoilers! )
In conclusion: note to self: don't think when you watch movies like this.
But think about the (American) film industry and how it enforces certain stereotypes and a certain kind of behaviour. Sinners to the lions etc.
But then I started thinking about the ending a bit too much and, well. Skeeeeeeevy.
( spoilers! )
In conclusion: note to self: don't think when you watch movies like this.
But think about the (American) film industry and how it enforces certain stereotypes and a certain kind of behaviour. Sinners to the lions etc.
