tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15943614.post7864259413339560262..comments2023-05-27T04:32:34.029-10:00Comments on But Don't Try To Touch Me.: Goonybird CinemaAaron Whitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02565494196338043466noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15943614.post-10726775924112284872010-02-18T12:10:26.378-10:002010-02-18T12:10:26.378-10:00Oh heck, I need to check this thing more often. I ...Oh heck, I need to check this thing more often. I would continue our discussion but I think in the end it will just be that we see the same things, but the things you dont like dont really bother me and the things that I like you think are no great shakes. <br /><br />the real loss here is that you were in town and we did not get together. SOl and I would love to meet your wife and go to dinner with you guys.<br /><br />Mmatthewnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15943614.post-4414190490169389032010-02-05T13:35:44.361-10:002010-02-05T13:35:44.361-10:00Hi Matthew!
I like candy too, but I like good c...Hi Matthew! <br /><br />I like candy too, but I like good candy. If a popular new kind of candy is really just corn syrup with a bold new kind of food coloring, I'm going to reject it. Avatar is that lump of corn syrup.<br /><br />I read Malory's Morte Arthur a while back, and it was full of classic, primal stories. They were neither predictable nor unoriginal. I'm all for tales of valor, but One of the things that makes a story work is that roughening of the text-those elements that ring changes on the expected elements, that put them through fresh paces. And I'm not talking about Alan Moore-ish jazzing around, just good classic imaginative construction. I thought Avatar was way lacking in that regard. Not to mention the Warren Hastings-approved portrayal of de white man gettin' down wif de soul bruddas and becoming the King of Soulville. As it were. And the weirdly retrograde sexual politics icked me out, although 18 year old Aaron White would probably have approved.<br /><br />I'll be in Nashville tomorrow night if the good Lord's willin' and the creek don't rise.Aaron Whitehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06984139090619498661noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15943614.post-2275137213042145632010-02-03T11:59:50.472-10:002010-02-03T11:59:50.472-10:00I leave my usual response to this kind of diatribe...I leave my usual response to this kind of diatribe. Candy is part of cuisine as well as complex main courses are. Sometimes I want the candy. I Have a psychological need to every so often see the normal guy be transforemd into a hearo, see therhero get the girl defeat the bad guys and yes see some ewoks defeat the EMpire, David defeat Goliath, etc...no matter how many times I see it. Every time you eat that candy you enjoy it.<br />But I am not sure that it is just candy, Maybe Im a romantic cheesy guy, but consider these two more thoughts<br /><br />1. Being exposed to a classic primal story that is predictabe and unoriginal is as much a part of the essential human experience as clever and insightful works are. With Avatar, yes the greatest NEW contribution is in the technical step forward. Its role in retelling a story that we have told each other since we sat around campfires contributes to the overall cultural duty of keeping us human. Consider it part of our long oral tradition that might elevate it to something above mere candy.the value of keeping that tradition going is just as valuable to our humanity as breaking new ground is.<br /><br />2. It only seems predictable, simple, and unimaginative geek emo porn to those people that have logged a lot of hours in storyville. Maybe the less literate get a lot more out of it thatn you or I would, which means that the narrative does bring something improtant to the table.<br /><br />I realize that the thoughts seem almost contradictory, how can people not know about it if it is supposeldy part of the big oral tradition. I believe that the narrative relates essential stories that people NEED to hear every so often. For those who already know it, it is a human joy to revel in the hearing again. For those who have not yet got there, its their all to onecessary initiation.<br /><br />Yes, Dances with Wolves, Last Samuraii, Pocohantas, Antz just to name recent examples have all tread the same ground. They and Avatar are just giving us a regularly needed shot to the gut.<br /><br />I will now disappear into cyberspace until I remember to come back here.<br /><br />Home you and your bride are doing well. Let us knwo next time you visit your folks, we can go to dinner.<br /><br />MattMatt Stephensonnoreply@blogger.com