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Mmm. Lemony.
So, I've just come back from seeing the free showing of the Lemony Snicket movie with ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
kenosis_kalon, not having read the books.
...I'm sure it's *theoretically* possible to come out of that movie and *not* 'ship Violet/Klaus. The same way I suppose it's *theoretically* possible to see a community production of The Taming of the Shrew and not ship Bianca/Baptista. And yet...
Also? Klaus is *totally hot*. Normally I would feel shame about acknowledging this, except, this is a movie in which there was a *wedding* between a *fourteen year old girl* and her gray-haired, eccentrically evil "guardian" so perving on a twelve-year-old seems almost innocent within that milieu.
Yes, there was actually a point here beyond me being a lonely dowadger who reads too much fanfic q: The first thing I found unsettling about the movie was the fact that I didn't know the rules. That showed up first when Uncle Monty was about to be killed-- by narrative convention he *should have lasted*, but I realised just as the light was glinting off of Olaf's knife that *I had no idea whether he would or not*, which almost never happens to me in movies or books, at least not then. From that point on I was swimming in Lake Lachrymosa without any dinner. That's definitely one of the high points of the story, of course, that *there are no rules* and you're constantly thinking "is he really going to go there?" That's also one of the reasons why Violet/Klaus works in my head when most of the popular incest pairings do nothing for me...
I liked the movie in general. I loved any scene that just the kids were in. Unfortunately, all the grownups (with the possible exception of Uncle Monty) were completely annoying. From their first appearance. They were all, (with, once again, the *possible* exception of Monty, and *maybe* Mr. Snicket) incompetent, self-abosorbed, useless, idiotic, blind, and incapable of caring about anyone except themselves, and incapable of caring *for* anyone including themselves... I can suspend belief that such a society might exist, but that such perfectly well-adjusted and ordinary children as Violet, Klaus, and Sunny might live in it? Strains credibility more than a little. Or, more importantly, that such intelligent and logical children as Violet, Klaus, and Sunny would *buy into it*. It's not that I haven't read and enjoyed children's books where all or most of the grown-ups were either absent, incompetent or ambiguously evil (in fact I quite like those sorts of stories), it's just that in those books the kids *opt out* of such an incredibly stupid society; they learn to handle things on their own. And often eventually find the one or two token grown-ups who can be trusted. In ASoUE, there *aren't any*. The closest you get is Mr. Snicket himself, and after awhile he begins to strike me as simply exploitative.
I mean, when you're faced with a rickety house on stilts hundreds of feet up a cliff over a rickety lake, and a hurricane is coming, you've really two choices: Either trust the grown-ups that the house is, despite appearances, safe; or refuse to go in it. Violet and Klaus trusted the grown-ups, even though they'd just spent half a movie being shown over and over again that grown-ups can't be trusted with a child's safety. (And judging by evidence in the movie, their parents were rather like Tim Drake's or Colin Craven's, and they ought to have learnt self-sufficiency well before that.) And they *are* capable of taking care of themselves, as was proved over and over, so why the *heck* didn't they just run away? Klaus comes close to it once at the beginning, and then Violet somehow talks him down, and the idea is never broached again. The effect is that the overall message of this oh-so-subversive story is that no matter how awful your guardians are, how abusive they are physically and verbally (and sexually, it was almost implied) you should just be quiet and obedient and trust authority. Are there really that many kids who feel like they live in that kind of world? That's ... really sad. Or is this just a sore point of mine because I've just recently read quite a few other YA novels with kids in that sort of situation who *do* something active about it?
(That, by the way, was my vague idea of the plot of Lemony Snicket before seeing the movie: That they run away and the bad people keep finding them and hauling them back.)
... right. It's certainly ... different. It's almost like this was a fairy-tale for *grown-ups* instead of a story for children; imagining a world where they can be as irresponsible as they want and somebody else will take care of them and make sure things come out right. Maybe I just need to get used to the idea. It didn't help that I've never yet seen Jim Carrey in a role he's convincing in; he can't even play a *bad actor* well... The other grown-ups were mostly good, though, within the limitations of their roles; and Timothy Spall had *better* get a chance to show his stuff later in the HP movies, is all I can say.
I did love the setting and the look of the movie, although I could have done without the few very *specific* anchronisms, like the slush in the shop. Well, I've always adored that vaguely-steampunk-neo-Gothic-Victorian setting, particularly in kids' books (hey, I asked for a secret passage for my ninth birthday), but it seems like it's getting overdone lately, especially the clocktowers and the spyglasses. :D Can't say I *mind*, though. And I'm in serious danger of braiding my hair up like Violet's... and I could have stared at the magic-lantern credits for hours and hours. . . and I want to go back to the museum at Roger Williams Park with the Victorian Naturalist's Parlor and the hut made of magic lantern slides...(My interior mindscape for that setting is about one-quarter my great-grandmother's house, one-quarter my great-uncle's house, and one-quarter the Baltimore Zoo, though, which makes for some odd juxtapositions.)
Sigh. If I could be anyone, any time or place? I would be a Victorian naturalist. Sigh.
And the Lemony Snicket books have now moved up several notches on my "Want to read *now* list". Why does the fiction collection at UMD suck so much? I suspect that many of my problems with the movie would not be nearly as apparent with the story flesh out in three books. Of course, it also wouldn't have the amazing visuals and kinetic effects and music.
Also? I am writing this from a laptop.dreamsquirrel's old laptop, Freya, even though I told him repeatedly that giving her to me was probably a *very bad idea*. As if I need *more* opportunity to stare at a computer screen ... and yet I apparently have a laptop now, because I was entirely unable to say no, because I may *know* what's good for me, but that doesn't stop me from continually doing the exact opposite. And that makes me sound really ungrateful even though it is making me very, very happy to have a laptop.
Now to christen her by finding some not-as-wrong-as-it-should-be Violet/Klaus.
(I updated this entry as private while switching computers. It is now feeling quite wrong to take the little
off.)
kenosis_kalon, not having read the books....I'm sure it's *theoretically* possible to come out of that movie and *not* 'ship Violet/Klaus. The same way I suppose it's *theoretically* possible to see a community production of The Taming of the Shrew and not ship Bianca/Baptista. And yet...
Also? Klaus is *totally hot*. Normally I would feel shame about acknowledging this, except, this is a movie in which there was a *wedding* between a *fourteen year old girl* and her gray-haired, eccentrically evil "guardian" so perving on a twelve-year-old seems almost innocent within that milieu.
Yes, there was actually a point here beyond me being a lonely dowadger who reads too much fanfic q: The first thing I found unsettling about the movie was the fact that I didn't know the rules. That showed up first when Uncle Monty was about to be killed-- by narrative convention he *should have lasted*, but I realised just as the light was glinting off of Olaf's knife that *I had no idea whether he would or not*, which almost never happens to me in movies or books, at least not then. From that point on I was swimming in Lake Lachrymosa without any dinner. That's definitely one of the high points of the story, of course, that *there are no rules* and you're constantly thinking "is he really going to go there?" That's also one of the reasons why Violet/Klaus works in my head when most of the popular incest pairings do nothing for me...
I liked the movie in general. I loved any scene that just the kids were in. Unfortunately, all the grownups (with the possible exception of Uncle Monty) were completely annoying. From their first appearance. They were all, (with, once again, the *possible* exception of Monty, and *maybe* Mr. Snicket) incompetent, self-abosorbed, useless, idiotic, blind, and incapable of caring about anyone except themselves, and incapable of caring *for* anyone including themselves... I can suspend belief that such a society might exist, but that such perfectly well-adjusted and ordinary children as Violet, Klaus, and Sunny might live in it? Strains credibility more than a little. Or, more importantly, that such intelligent and logical children as Violet, Klaus, and Sunny would *buy into it*. It's not that I haven't read and enjoyed children's books where all or most of the grown-ups were either absent, incompetent or ambiguously evil (in fact I quite like those sorts of stories), it's just that in those books the kids *opt out* of such an incredibly stupid society; they learn to handle things on their own. And often eventually find the one or two token grown-ups who can be trusted. In ASoUE, there *aren't any*. The closest you get is Mr. Snicket himself, and after awhile he begins to strike me as simply exploitative.
I mean, when you're faced with a rickety house on stilts hundreds of feet up a cliff over a rickety lake, and a hurricane is coming, you've really two choices: Either trust the grown-ups that the house is, despite appearances, safe; or refuse to go in it. Violet and Klaus trusted the grown-ups, even though they'd just spent half a movie being shown over and over again that grown-ups can't be trusted with a child's safety. (And judging by evidence in the movie, their parents were rather like Tim Drake's or Colin Craven's, and they ought to have learnt self-sufficiency well before that.) And they *are* capable of taking care of themselves, as was proved over and over, so why the *heck* didn't they just run away? Klaus comes close to it once at the beginning, and then Violet somehow talks him down, and the idea is never broached again. The effect is that the overall message of this oh-so-subversive story is that no matter how awful your guardians are, how abusive they are physically and verbally (and sexually, it was almost implied) you should just be quiet and obedient and trust authority. Are there really that many kids who feel like they live in that kind of world? That's ... really sad. Or is this just a sore point of mine because I've just recently read quite a few other YA novels with kids in that sort of situation who *do* something active about it?
(That, by the way, was my vague idea of the plot of Lemony Snicket before seeing the movie: That they run away and the bad people keep finding them and hauling them back.)
... right. It's certainly ... different. It's almost like this was a fairy-tale for *grown-ups* instead of a story for children; imagining a world where they can be as irresponsible as they want and somebody else will take care of them and make sure things come out right. Maybe I just need to get used to the idea. It didn't help that I've never yet seen Jim Carrey in a role he's convincing in; he can't even play a *bad actor* well... The other grown-ups were mostly good, though, within the limitations of their roles; and Timothy Spall had *better* get a chance to show his stuff later in the HP movies, is all I can say.
I did love the setting and the look of the movie, although I could have done without the few very *specific* anchronisms, like the slush in the shop. Well, I've always adored that vaguely-steampunk-neo-Gothic-Victorian setting, particularly in kids' books (hey, I asked for a secret passage for my ninth birthday), but it seems like it's getting overdone lately, especially the clocktowers and the spyglasses. :D Can't say I *mind*, though. And I'm in serious danger of braiding my hair up like Violet's... and I could have stared at the magic-lantern credits for hours and hours. . . and I want to go back to the museum at Roger Williams Park with the Victorian Naturalist's Parlor and the hut made of magic lantern slides...(My interior mindscape for that setting is about one-quarter my great-grandmother's house, one-quarter my great-uncle's house, and one-quarter the Baltimore Zoo, though, which makes for some odd juxtapositions.)
Sigh. If I could be anyone, any time or place? I would be a Victorian naturalist. Sigh.
And the Lemony Snicket books have now moved up several notches on my "Want to read *now* list". Why does the fiction collection at UMD suck so much? I suspect that many of my problems with the movie would not be nearly as apparent with the story flesh out in three books. Of course, it also wouldn't have the amazing visuals and kinetic effects and music.
Also? I am writing this from a laptop.
dreamsquirrel's old laptop, Freya, even though I told him repeatedly that giving her to me was probably a *very bad idea*. As if I need *more* opportunity to stare at a computer screen ... and yet I apparently have a laptop now, because I was entirely unable to say no, because I may *know* what's good for me, but that doesn't stop me from continually doing the exact opposite. And that makes me sound really ungrateful even though it is making me very, very happy to have a laptop.Now to christen her by finding some not-as-wrong-as-it-should-be Violet/Klaus.
(I updated this entry as private while switching computers. It is now feeling quite wrong to take the little
off.)
Another new cousin-from Mom
(Anonymous) 2005-02-25 08:26 pm (UTC)(link)Re: Another new cousin-from Mom
Brock? okay...
Re: Another new cousin-from Mom
Sigh. Why do our cousins keep giving their progeny such ... interesting names? ;D
Re: Another new cousin-from Mom
I dunno, but Brock was the cute breeder from Pokémon: The Series.
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Whatever you gotta tell yourself. XD
It didn't help that I've never yet seen Jim Carrey in a role he's convincing in; he can't even play a *bad actor* well...
Ouch!
...
Is there a particular reason the computer has a name? o_O;
Also, the Lemony snicket books are quite short, I'd suggest getting/checking out/etc, several at a time.
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*tries to think up a name for his desktop*
...
*avoids the obvious corny line, here*
I think my computer is now called Moira. I'd like to say I picked that out myself, but it's actually the sound she's making, at the moment. o_O;
...I think I'd best turn "Moira" off now, before she decides to change her name to "Sizzle", or worse; "Kaboom"...
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Truth be told, Moira was a hedge witch in the (not sure the series really has a name, although the first two books are collectively called "Wiz Biz") series, by Rick Cook. Also, Moira was the referee lady on the Nickelodeon "sports" show, Guts.
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And now I'm totally off topic so I'll pretend to stay on topic before wandering further off. His name is pooter and he's a decent desktop. I thought everyone names their computers. My poor sick laptop is named sparky.
Venus Envy seems to have no fan fiction. This is vexing it should, only is it really slash when... hmmm... I'd say 90% likely I won't write it but I really aught to.
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Well, I've named all my computers because they need a place on the campus network, and I refuse to call them randomnumericaladdress.student.umd.edu ...
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Oh yes, it's possible. *g* When I was in the theater in the fall I was like, "This is going to be so groooss, I'm not putting a FOOT into movie!ASoUE fandom." lol
Read the books! I think you'll find they're quite different than the movie, though. The humor is there, but there's significantly less family!love and angst/grief and things. Aaand, they can get really repetitive. But they're good! The best (imo) is "The Unauthorized Autobiography of Lemony Snicket," which is confusing and fun and gives away a ton of clues about The Mystery. Which I think was downplayed a little in the movies, I think I remember, or made unmysterious, or something. Hee.
... I used to have a Klaus icon! darn.
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But that means you did see it, right, even if you didn't like it? heh. I took a quick tour of the fandom last night and there's not really very much V/K out there, and very little of *that* is movieverse, and most of it's not really very good. So, heh.
Yeah, the movie didn't really have A Mystery. Or rather, it kept being implied that there was a Conspiracy, but as of the end of that movie anyway, it was all just (badly) explained as Olaf being evil and venal.
I *want* to read the books! razzlefrazzle library that has the first five seasons of Rourouni Kenshin but no Lemony Snicket at all...
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Well ... I saw what I knew people were going to *take* from it, just because the internet has become this giant warping black hole where even the Narnia kids engage in incest and I'm so attached to siblings in books who act like siblings and are wonderful that way that I just can't see *how* it would be appealing, just *that* it is appealing to some people. *sigh* But yes, I saw the potential. :P
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...Maybe I shouldn't read them, I'd be in danger of melting.
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Of course, this is Klaus,
so he's a little.. er, *rounder* in the books, and much shorter and less protective, but imagination is the key!
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