tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8035434747786768960.post49598064895794664..comments2024-03-22T14:44:41.519+00:00Comments on Checking On My Sausages: Humanity Through ExcessUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8035434747786768960.post-22825305579639319082011-12-08T07:47:00.564+00:002011-12-08T07:47:00.564+00:00Thanks very much, Joel.
I wasn't sure I would...Thanks very much, Joel.<br /><br />I wasn't sure I would be able to articulate the nature of these films. I'm glad you like it. <br /><br />Have you seen these particular films? Are there any other films that you've seen that would fit the same bill?Stephenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07036103762441216161noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8035434747786768960.post-12580284251422966512011-12-07T18:41:05.301+00:002011-12-07T18:41:05.301+00:00Rather brilliant observations here, which I suspec...Rather brilliant observations here, which I suspect I'll return to on future occasions when I feel the need to articulate something I'm thinking or feeling. Especially cogent:<br /><br />"These films say that the virtual or the escapist can change our attitude to the real. Everything is a representation of something else; an echo on a new plane. The image can replace the real. The problem with increased game realism is not that it will appear like real life but that real life will seem just like the game. These films play on the two meanings of the word “object” – something that is acted upon (1) can become a mere thing (2)."<br /><br />And:<br /><br />"The direction in which our moral compass is set, or the extent to which we separate what is within the cinema from what is without, will determine the nature of the films. I believe that they rely on us to follow the path from excitement and titillation to disgust and disquiet. They can be seen purely, and perfectly legitimately, as an indulgent taste of the forbidden but they work best as efforts to bring together image and reality, fiction and reality, to show us what we may not want to see. They bring the distant viewer and player face to face with the consequences of his actions. Is this what you want? Then have it."<br /><br />Really sums up thoughts I've had as well, but in a particularly specific and pointed way. Well-done.Joel Bockohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11238338958380683893noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8035434747786768960.post-89977295438546957772011-07-05T14:35:04.436+01:002011-07-05T14:35:04.436+01:00"...that didn't treat the satirised as hu..."...that didn't treat the satirised as humans in their own right, and he was clueless as to what I meant."<br /><br />Yes, if you don't recognise a certain humanity in your 'target' then there is little point to the satire - it's too harsh, too distant and too abstract.<br /><br />Correction: 'THEN it is of a mischievous but constructive kind"Stephenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07036103762441216161noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8035434747786768960.post-70821857204397227902011-06-27T08:51:11.744+01:002011-06-27T08:51:11.744+01:00"Satire is generally seen as snide and destru..."Satire is generally seen as snide and destructive. If these films are satire than it is of a mischievous but constructive kind."<br /><br />So true. I once told a friend that after watching Gossip Girl I had decided that I didn't have time for satire that didn't treat the satirised as humans in their own right, and he was clueless as to what I meant.Ronak M Sonihttp://ronakmsoni.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8035434747786768960.post-75738545311046530952011-06-27T07:18:54.423+01:002011-06-27T07:18:54.423+01:00Thanks Ronak, and thanks for the link on Gossip Gi...Thanks Ronak, and thanks for the link on <i>Gossip Girl</i>. <br /><br />I haven't seen any of it but maybe now, when it's next on, I'll have a look. <br /><br />It's hard to know how to define these films and this approach. I don't think I could quite pin it down. Satire is generally seen as snide and destructive. If these films are satire than it is of a mischievous but constructive kind.Stephenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07036103762441216161noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8035434747786768960.post-68593083112587172802011-06-27T04:51:59.873+01:002011-06-27T04:51:59.873+01:00I watched Gamer not more than a month ago on TV, a...I watched Gamer not more than a month ago on TV, and these were pretty much my thoughts, except not as articulate (I would have probably called it satire and left it at that).<br /><br />This description brings to mind a much-maligned TV series called Gossip Girl (well, the first two seasons, after that it just got plain ridiculous). I'm not sure if it exactly works with humanity through excess, but it definitely comes close to it.<br />It takes spoilt scheming rich kids and very empathetically plays around with them.<br />I could talk about this for a long time, but <a href="http://www.thehypermodern.com/2009/05/27/a-hypermodernist-critique-of-gossip-girl-part-1/" rel="nofollow">this</a> guy says it much better.Ronak M Sonihttp://ronakmsoni.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8035434747786768960.post-86159007647421246162011-06-13T06:24:07.010+01:002011-06-13T06:24:07.010+01:00Thank you very much Sam.
I actually haven't s...Thank you very much Sam.<br /><br />I actually haven't seen any of Solondz's films yet.Stephenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07036103762441216161noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8035434747786768960.post-27948895093277398282011-06-13T00:49:25.625+01:002011-06-13T00:49:25.625+01:00"Showgirls, Demonlover and Gamer manage to bo..."Showgirls, Demonlover and Gamer manage to both celebrate themselves and question themselves. <br /><br />They use the staples of lavish and lurid storytelling (what could be referred to as ‘Exploitation cinema’) to both royally entertain and subtly satisfy a vital aspect of much Exploitation Cinema : a mirror and commentary on emerging social trends (cf. George A Romero's zombie films). They are almost completely guileless, a lesson without a professor, satire (of megalomaniacs, C-list wannabes and Hollywood rags to riches conventions) with barely a wink. In other words, straightforward not snarky, not condescending."<br /><br />Brilliant stuff here, and one of the more thought-provoking and challenging posts I've read in a long time. The above contentions are especially fascinating. I am wondering if you'd include the likes of Todd Solandz here.Sam Julianonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8035434747786768960.post-12722774382694209792011-06-12T06:29:06.492+01:002011-06-12T06:29:06.492+01:00Many thanks JAFB.
"...having the cake AND ea...Many thanks JAFB.<br /><br />"...having the cake AND eating it"<br /><br />Yes! That phrase didn't come to mind. I still haven't seen <i>Buffalo Bill</i>. Your analysis of it is waiting for me once I have.Stephenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07036103762441216161noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8035434747786768960.post-2648533908812897202011-06-12T05:33:49.395+01:002011-06-12T05:33:49.395+01:00W00t. Simply, one of your very best. Haven't s...W00t. Simply, one of your very best. Haven't seen any of the tree, although I've read strong defenses for all of them. This is a brilliant dissection of the subversiveness of these films (having the cake AND eating it). Reminds me of what Altman did with films like MASH, BUFFALO BILL etc. <br /><br />Again Stephen,when you put up your "200 posts" post, this one will be on my favorites list (if you don't top it continuously that is!).<br /><br />Cheers!Just Another Film Buffhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17880550053788464732noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8035434747786768960.post-56911239338924941082011-06-11T06:43:53.511+01:002011-06-11T06:43:53.511+01:00Thanks Bob.
You make some very good points about ...Thanks Bob.<br /><br />You make some very good points about melodrama and the extreme and about the sexual and the subversive. I hadn't thought of Cronenberg but I don't remember his films having the same heart.Stephenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07036103762441216161noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8035434747786768960.post-54328382103803778742011-06-10T23:04:43.879+01:002011-06-10T23:04:43.879+01:00Interesting in how the pornographic, real or stage...Interesting in how the pornographic, real or staged, can have an expressionistic quality to it. That kind of racy material almost seems to demand some kind of bigger than life emotional content to drive it, to pish it to even further histrionic heights. And at the same time, melodrama itself feels a bit more deserved if paired with the extremity of sexuality, giving some kind of sensual satisfaction for all the soap operatics. <br /><br />There's also a potential for the politically transgressive in this stuff- hell one could say there's something downright revolutionary about any halfway erotic work, as sexuality is always among the first stuff to be banned in any conservative society. Orwell himself outlined how a dictatorial society would seek to heavily police, and even seek to outlaw and destroy the need for human sexuality and love, seeing it as a threat to the state as competition for the affections and emotional attention of their citizens (there can only be love for Big Brother). The best works tend to be the ones that consciously pair the sexually and the politically subversive- Verhoven and Asayas fit this based on their bodu of work, but for me the master of this sort of thing is Cronenberg.<br /><br />Great study, Stephen.Bob Clarknoreply@blogger.com