tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7119990365479009764.post6699665336801790602..comments2024-03-14T18:09:09.667-05:00Comments on Do Some Damage: Controversy SellsUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7119990365479009764.post-46610685020439031872011-08-28T12:26:14.336-05:002011-08-28T12:26:14.336-05:00Dana,
Yes, I pretty much agree. And your line abo...Dana,<br /><br />Yes, I pretty much agree. And your line about Wall Street is so sadly true. Reminds me of a generation of kids who missed the point of Goodfellas.<br /><br />Tommy, <br /><br />Well said. Very perceptive comments on WATCHMEN and the relationship between Sally and Eddie. It's definitely meant to evoke those feelings, such is the quality of the writing. Seems to me that anyone wanting to single out Moore for rape and misogyny is like saying "Hollywood is full of racism, just look at Blazing Saddles."<br /><br />And also perceptive on Miller. I've home less and less enamoured with his writing as i've gotten older, and it's largely the characterisation thats done it. And yes, every woman has to be a hooker, a samurai, a porn star, or a combination of all three.<br /><br />Patti, Not to worry, a subject like this is one to mull over, not react instantly too. I did the same with the original interview, took me a few days to decide what I thought.Jay Stringerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08764183157841848163noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7119990365479009764.post-92071276490088574452011-08-25T16:19:07.098-05:002011-08-25T16:19:07.098-05:00I am mulling this over. Didn't want you to thi...I am mulling this over. Didn't want you to think it wasn't being read.pattinase (abbott)https://www.blogger.com/profile/02916037185235335846noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7119990365479009764.post-78625342721506260012011-08-25T13:31:41.239-05:002011-08-25T13:31:41.239-05:00It depends on how salaciously you do it. I'm n...It depends on how salaciously you do it. I'm not a fan of slasher films because of the virgin final girl crap. It parades as shocking when in reality, it is the reactionary excretion of the id.<br />For example, Dirty Harry, Magnum Force. I love that movie. John Milius wrote it. There are scenes in which hookers are murdered. One has a can of Drano poured down her throat in the back of a cab. Others are blown up in a mafioso's pool and machinegunned. <br />The second is done by a rogue cop, and I can see him hating hookers, especially if he took a few BJ's to let them slide, he has guilt and self-loathing. But did we need to see a pimp pour Drano down a black woman's throat so we'd know "this pimp deserves to die?" Or was it salacious whore-hating?<br />That scene always made me uncomfortable. Now, a lot of women die horrible deaths, whether they are prostitutes, nuns, moms or cops in crime fiction. But the revolting fact is a lot of women are murdered in reality, and even more are raped. Should we ignore this? No, but we should be damn careful in how we portray it.<br /><br />Back to Moore, Sally Jupiter's love for the Comedian after her rape also bothered me. It was supposed to. He was trying to stretch what stories comics could tell. Maybe Sally internalized the misogyny of her time. Maybe she thought she deserved it. Moore is wise by not spoonfeeding us the answer. And the plot hinges on it, when Dr. Manhattan makes his choice. So Moore does not do this lightly.<br /><br />On the other hand, Frank Miller's obsession with killer prostitutes has been roundly mocked. The Sin City tales are fun. The first one with Marv remains the best. The rest feel like retreads, dipping into the same sleazy well.Thomas Pluckhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17008022962076648740noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7119990365479009764.post-65263892673105039402011-08-25T11:28:10.528-05:002011-08-25T11:28:10.528-05:00This will seem a semantic quibble, but here it is:...This will seem a semantic quibble, but here it is: There are no subjects that should be off limits to a writer; whether/how he chooses to depict them is the issue. <br /><br />Rape, child molestation, animal cruelty, sadism are all valid topics. The question is in how they are presented, and to what detail. Past a certain point and you've gone past getting the reader to empathize with the victim, or think critically of the act; it becomes distasteful for its own sake, a kind of porn far worse than picture of two consenting adults screwing.<br /><br />NO matter how dark our subject matter, good taste still matters, if only because at some point a line will be crossed where some readers don't "get" it, and think you're writing a manual. (Witness the status of the 80s film WALL STREET to young brokers today. They see it as a primer, not a condemnation.)Dana Kinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01350344882342624735noreply@blogger.com