| This and that |
[May. 25th, 2009|10:46 am] |
Saw the new Star Trek movie. Liked it. It made me appreciate "Valiant" all the more, though. Triumphant stories are great most of the time, but sometimes it's nice to see a story where a "brilliant," reckless plan doesn't actually work out.
And now, a rant:
I'm getting a little tired of seeing people oversimplify the "you should buy things you like" issue (as in manga, books in general, DVDs, and so on). Yes, money talks, and sales do matter. This is common sense. But people act like it's some sort of noble, self-sacrificing thing to buy something you like for yourself. What we are talking about here is enlightened self-interest, or long-term self-interest rather than short-term (the future enjoyment you'll get if more things you like are created, rather than just the enjoyment you get from having it right now).
If you buy a popular book from the store, this is not a charitable donation to the writer/artist. It is one sale of many that will help keep them in a job, help keep the publisher and store in business, and help keep the market going--very important, and all things we want, but not as heroic as people make it out to be. (Note that if it's a small-press or self-published niche title that you're buying, each individual sale is more important.)
You are not single-handedly saving a given genre by buying a few books or videos; you are one of many, many people who are making the genre profitable. If your one sale was lost, it would be unfortunate, but it would not be a crushing blow; in fact, it would probably not be noticed at all. It is important for everyone to chip in, but let's not give each individual more importance than they deserve--that just sounds unconvincing and self-important. Will people only buy things if they feel like they're doing someone else a gigantic favor by doing so? Do they need to feel like their one sale is more than a drop in the bucket of a drop in the bucket for it to be worthwhile to them? I really hope not.
In short: Of course it's important to put your money where your mouth is, when you can. I hope that many other people are buying the things I like right along with me, so we can have more of them and so that the people producing them can stay in business. But am I some sort of morally superior, selfless superhero for buying a book I want instead of, for instance, donating the money to charity, or spending it on a gift for someone? Not so much.
On a related note, I found this series of posts (check the "Related:" section at the top first) informative. |
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| A little mini-rant on the demonization and dehumanization of people |
[May. 18th, 2006|09:47 am] |
So I read V for Vendetta recently, and in it they kind of knock us over the head with how, in the facist society in the story, there are people and then there are people. Government officials condemn V for killing people while not seeming to be affected by the killing (and torture?) the government itself inflicted on people in concentration camps. Why? Because the people sent to concentration camps were people, but they weren't people. They were different. They were Other. "It's okay to hurt them because they aren't people like us."
But this has nothing to do with our own societies, you say. We aren't like that. We (minus certain groups of people) accept people who are different from us. We (again, minus those groups) don't hate mindlessly.
Oh, but we do.
( Cut for length. )
And my overall point? We might not want to admit it to ourselves, but we have the same tendency to divide people into people and people as the fascists in V. If that bothers us, then maybe that's something to think about. |
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| Simoun |
[Apr. 17th, 2006|10:21 am] |
And something serious on Simoun-- I have this half-formed idea in my head of how Simoun is meant to be a mecha story that's been enhanced with beauty. It's tied in with the idea of the princesses in Princess Princess enriching the atmosphere of a boys' school-- a bit of beauty among the base, vulgar masses. There are no blocky Transformer-like mechs here-- the mechs the Simula pilot are all curves and smooth lines. They, like their pilots, have a feminine beauty to them. The kissing is not just about pleasing fanboys/fangirls-- though there is that too, of course-- it's about adding more beauty to the series.
Simoun is a mecha anime clothed in a beautiful, elegant garment-- watercolor backgrounds, classical music, female pilots. It has an air of refinement to it, like a mecha anime that has dressed up to go to the opera.
Of course, I've only seen a few other mecha series, so this theory could be completely ridiculous.
I don't know if I like it yet; I suspect I won't really form any solid opinions on it until I've seen more. But looking at it through this sort of lens makes the blatant fanservice a bit more palatable, which is always a plus in my book. |
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| Because everyone loves procrastination |
[Apr. 17th, 2006|09:42 am] |
I'm not going to write what I think of Strawberry Panic, because I imagine most of you can guess what my feelings are on it so far.
Instead, I'm going to write some crazy things about it-- and its relationship to Marimite-- so we can all have a good laugh. Please don't take this seriously-- I certainly don't. ;)
Let's start with their statue of the Virgin Mary. People have commented that it's bigger than in Marimite, but what really caught my eye about it is that the statue has its eyes closed. Maria-sama isn't watching the schools at Astraea. This might represent a freedom from judging eyes, whether from society, authority figures, religious figures, etc. The girls can behave in "immoral" ways because they aren't being policed by divine authority. What seems like, at first glance, to be mere fanservice is really a portrayal of liberation; a metaphor and perhaps a warning-- keep an eye on girls when they're isolated like this, instill "morality" in them, or this will be the result.
Moving on. Anyone who's seen/read Marimite will notice the similarities between it and Strawberry Panic. Suppose we were to make Strawberry Panic a part of Marimite canon. There are two theories that come to mind immediately-- that it is a dream/fantasy, or that it is a story. If it's a dream or fantasy, my money is on Tsutako. I bet she'd love the photo opportunities. If it's a story, my money is on Minako. She took the basic setting and twisted it a bit (three rose families to three schools-- Chinensis to Miator, Gigantea to Spica, and Foetida to Le 'Lim). It's probably too racy and controversial a story for the Lillian Kawaraban, but maybe she's hoping a publisher will buy it.
The SeixYouko fan in me sees imaginary sexual tension between Miyuki (the Miator Student Council President) and Shizuma (the Etoile).
I just have one comment on Simoun: read "Girl Power" at T-Gina. Clearly this solid scientific evidence will demonstrate beyond the shadow of a doubt that the kissing in Simoun has nothing to do with fanservice and everything to do with powering machines. It is not "Hey, look. Girls kissing!" (to take a phrase from ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) nemesisjk8), but "Oh my, a plentiful power source that could potentially cut our use of fossil fuels down to a mere fraction of the current amount. We should get scientists working on this immediately! Round up some lesbian and bisexual women and take them to the lab to start tests! If they protest, tell them that it's for the good of the human race and that they'll get to make out with attractive women. Those two reasons should be enough to convince nearly all of them. Knock out any who still resist."
...I feel dirty. |
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