Almost Home
5 Jun 2011 22:23![[personal profile]](http://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
muccamukkI'm in Victoria, should be packing to leave tomorrow, but eh.
I still have that god-damned cold. If it doesn't cause Nenya to murder me in our bed so she can get some sleep, it'll be by god's grace alone. Drugs help.
Nonetheless, I had a fun time visiting my aunt and uncle in North Vancouver. We went and did all the fun cultural things: Granville Island (where I spent money like a drunken sailor), the Art Gallery (where I was impressed by the Surrealist exhibit, right until we hit the mutilating women's bodies part, which I'm kind of not down with, even for art's sake; but disappointed to learn that the Emily Carr collection was off travelling somewhere, what the hell BC Art Gallery? You have now have no works the greatest west coast painter in Canadian history?), and saw a play by Sarah Ruhl called Eurydice (which went well with the previously mentioned Surrealists, but left me with mixed feelings).
Saw X-Men: First Class tonight, which I liked very much, though it really could have done without the race fail, I mean, seriously? Gender issues too, actually. Which combine to make me feel slightly bad about the pure sensual pleasure I gained from watching Erik and Charles stride about being badass and in love, and all the team building antics that I love so much. I have a great weakness for training montages. However, even the Russians got to be sympathetic, and I did love this Mystique. Also, Erik, sharp dressed man with actual facts decent reasons for angst. Stick it, Loki.
Home tomorrow.
I still have that god-damned cold. If it doesn't cause Nenya to murder me in our bed so she can get some sleep, it'll be by god's grace alone. Drugs help.
Nonetheless, I had a fun time visiting my aunt and uncle in North Vancouver. We went and did all the fun cultural things: Granville Island (where I spent money like a drunken sailor), the Art Gallery (where I was impressed by the Surrealist exhibit, right until we hit the mutilating women's bodies part, which I'm kind of not down with, even for art's sake; but disappointed to learn that the Emily Carr collection was off travelling somewhere, what the hell BC Art Gallery? You have now have no works the greatest west coast painter in Canadian history?), and saw a play by Sarah Ruhl called Eurydice (which went well with the previously mentioned Surrealists, but left me with mixed feelings).
Saw X-Men: First Class tonight, which I liked very much, though it really could have done without the race fail, I mean, seriously? Gender issues too, actually. Which combine to make me feel slightly bad about the pure sensual pleasure I gained from watching Erik and Charles stride about being badass and in love, and all the team building antics that I love so much. I have a great weakness for training montages. However, even the Russians got to be sympathetic, and I did love this Mystique. Also, Erik, sharp dressed man with actual facts decent reasons for angst. Stick it, Loki.
Home tomorrow.
What you said here
Date: 6 Jun 2011 07:47 (UTC)This, for real. The race and the gender issues made me bristle. I mean, Darwin can adapt to anything but that? Singer and company (Singer wrote the story, Vaughn and Goldman wrote the screenplay) bang on about Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jnr being the inspiration, but then fall down on the poc? Hello, disconnect. In the comics though, the first class was white (Bobby, Scott, Hank, I think Jean and Kitty came much later), so one could say that they were sticking to canon, but still.
I'm two minds re: Emma Frost in that, in the comics although she's scantily dressed, she uses her sexuality as an armour, and shields herself with icy hauteur. I think a better actress could have pulled it off (they were originally going to go with Rosamund Pike, but she likes theatre, so), but still. Moira being skimpily clad - well, that's the Hellfire Club for you. I'm surprised that they weren't wearing Merry Widows like they did in the early incarnation of the comic books.
The Erik/Charles storyline no lie, made me tear up at some parts because damn, I can't blame Erik for the choices he made, or the path that he took. Fassbender really stepped up to the plate and hit it out of the park.
I have ~feelings~ about this movie, because a few things aside, this is the movie I've been waiting for since I was eight and read the comics for the first time. But I need to settle first.
Re: What you said here
Date: 7 Jun 2011 17:19 (UTC)Wait, what? So is Magneto with his gleefully murderous ways supposed to be MX, while Xavier -- who is so privileged his privilege has privilege -- is MLK? Oooookay then. I mean, I get that one has more faith in the essential goodness in humanity and the other does not (more or less), but I'm going o.O right now. For real.
I think the original team was Xavier, Scott, Bobby, Hank and Jean. Everyone else came later. In this we have Xavier and Hank, and a bunch of later wave people. And Angel's a woman of colour, which is kind of funny. I didn't really mind Emma as much because I'm kind of used to it in the comics, but Moira and Angel really didn't have to get their kit off. Why couldn't they make Havoc the stripper if they needed to have one? (My gf things he would have made a better stripper anyway).
However, agreed on all points about the pretty boys. They did well. I have never sympathised with Erik as much as I did here.
Re: What you said here
Date: 7 Jun 2011 18:14 (UTC)It's more along the attitudes of being militant, really. Malcolm dismissed all white people as allies (aka blue eyed white devils) whereas MLK Jr was more along the lines of using white allies when he can in order to advance the Civil Rights movement, but still having words for the White Liberal and their fauxgressive blind spots. In addition, Martin Luther King Jr's faith gave him a steadiness and a serenity that Malcolm X didn't get until he converted to true Islam, years later.
In addition, in the movie when Magneto admonishes Raven to embrace her true form, it echoes Malcolm X and his whole disdain for hair relaxers and the weight of what that implies (as with Raven deferring to blue eyes and blonde hair as her form, instead of her true blue form).
So yeah, in that way and attitude I can see that. I can see all of that. However, Charles is arrogant and naive in a way that MLK Jr never was. The latter still knew that he was at a disadvantage being what he was in the society that he lived in. Whereas Professor X isn't disadvantaged until he gets disabled.
So yeah, I can get it in that way.
In retrospect, I'm still thinking about Angel's defection, and how it does make sense. I'm more mad at the treatment of Darwin than Angel's defection to be honest. I think I need to see the movie again to get my thoughts together on that one. The X-men comics were my first love, back when I was a kid twenty odd years ago, and this movie gave me more than I thought, more than I dreamed so I'm still spinning thought wise. I might have to do a post.
(no subject)
Date: 6 Jun 2011 16:31 (UTC)THIS. EXACTLY. I don't see myself getting fannish about this movie because I really couldn't connect to the women, which is something I tend to need. (Mystique was awesome but Mystique is ALWAYS awesome, I didn't need a new film to show me that). Still, "Hot Magneto, Nazi Hunter and His Earnest but Faily Boyfriend" gave me a lot of visceral pleasure.
(no subject)
Date: 7 Jun 2011 17:24 (UTC)I have now rewatched the two original films, and feel even worse about my faily boys. Oh, boys!
My gf calls Xavier "That liberal white dude in college who has all these great ideas but no sense of perspective." Still, he does give his life to putting broken pieces back together.
(no subject)
Date: 7 Jun 2011 19:24 (UTC)That is a GREAT description of Xavier, and to be fair, I think that was something of what the film was going for.