From: owner-chakram-refugees-digest@smoe.org (chakram-refugees-digest) To: chakram-refugees-digest@smoe.org Subject: chakram-refugees-digest V4 #119 Reply-To: chakram-refugees@smoe.org Sender: owner-chakram-refugees-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-chakram-refugees-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk chakram-refugees-digest Wednesday, April 28 2004 Volume 04 : Number 119 Today's Subjects: ----------------- [chakram-refugees] Death of Callisto [cr ] Re: [chakram-refugees] Death of Callisto ["Kym Taborn" Subject: [chakram-refugees] Death of Callisto I've just been watching the Sacrifice DVD (with the extra 'specials', which were neat), and it was fascinating stuff. Incidentally, as we know Hudson only commented on the scenes she was in. That seemed a little egocentric at first, but maybe she had been told (or gained the impression) that she only needed to comment on the bits she was in. I noticed one time, after her scene finished, she seemed absorbed in watching the next scene and suddenly said 'Sorry, fast forward' as if she'd committed an oversight. Anyway, what I did find intriguing about the interviews, was the differing interpretations about Callisto's death. Paul Coyle said that Xena intended to kill Callisto all along, because she wouldn't be fooled by Callisto. Hudson said that Callisto was definitely faking it to provoke Xena into killing her; of course she didn't know that Gabs was about to go down the pit but when it happened, she used it. On most occasions, I'd agree with Paul Coyle - Xena usually knew what she was doing. But she could be talked into changing her mind - as when Ming worked so hard at persuading her to kill him. Of course they could both be right - Xena could have been intending to kill Callisto all along and Callisto could have been faking amusement to make sure of it. I certainly agree with Hudson that Callisto was faking it. Why should she be so excited over the death of Gabrielle? Callisto never cared one whit about Gabs, except as a way to get to Xena. If Gabrielle had been a long-standing nemesis for Callisto, then I could understand Callisto's enthusiasm - but Gabs wasn't. Callisto obviously would realise that Gabrielle's death was going to cause Xena much mental suffering, and that (on previous occasions) would have made Callisto happy - but not any more. We know that when Solan died, Callisto felt - nothing. She's long since lost her hatred of Xena, any times she provokes Xena it's more as a matter of habit and to get a reaction, than to satisfy any remaining hatred. So really, other than some sort of mild but grim satisfaction, there's nothing in it for Callisto. That's why I agree with Hudson that Callisto was faking it to push Xena into killing her. And it worked. Do I agree with Paul Coyle that Xena was going to kill Callisto all along? I'm not sure. From the ep as originally screened, I think she probably was not. From the 'extra scenes', specially the campfire one, I think Xena was starting to feel, if not pity for Callisto, at least twinges of conscience over her own part in Callisto's story. So, maybe she was going to give Callisto oblivion as requested. I really can't decide which way. What I would say is that when Gabs took the dive with Hope, all bets were off as far as Xena was concerned. Callisto ceased to be a matter of significance to her, she didn't care whether Callisto lived or died. And what Callisto then did was, push her way back into Xena's consciousness. What I'm not sure of is whether Xena then killed Callisto in anger. Xena's very perceptive - I think she might have seen through Callisto's acting (which wasn't terribly convincing at that moment, but then Callisto only had seconds to decide what to do so it's quite excusable), realised what Callisto was trying to make her do, - and done it anyway. I think at that moment Xena was preoccupied with the loss of Gabs and didn't want interruptions (just as she told everyone to 'Go away' when finding Solan dead); and since Callisto was not responsible for Gabs' death, Xena may have just taken pity on Callisto and ended her life as she knew Callisto really wanted. I like to see it that way, anyway. That 'No more living for you' and Xena's expression - and Callisto's expression, too, at that moment - are ambiguous. A mixture of emotions, maybe, which makes the whole scene beautifully enigmatic (and lets us happily speculate about it ever after :) Certainly, unlike Ming (and Callisto's first 'death' in the quicksand), Callisto's death didn't haunt Xena thereafter, which I guess is negative evidence at least, that Xena's conscience was clear on this one. cr ========================================================= This has been a message to the chakram-refugees list. To unsubscribe, send a message to majordomo@smoe.org with "unsubscribe chakram-refugees" in the message body. Contact meth@smoe.org with any questions or problems. ========================================================= ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 27 Apr 2004 01:38:00 -0700 From: "Kym Taborn" Subject: Re: [chakram-refugees] Death of Callisto From: "cr" > Anyway, what I did find intriguing about the interviews, was the differing > interpretations about Callisto's death. I asked all the pertinent people about that in my interviews about Sacrifice and only Coyle and Leick's got into the final edit. What amazed me was that everyone had a different take or variation on what they thought really happened. Not one of them completely agreed, that was writer, actor, director, editor, and producer. That just shows how complete Xena and Callisto's relationship had gotten to that point where even the people supposedly in control were all playing it differently. Coyle and Jacobson were more towards the thought that Xena was manipulating everything while Leick, Sears, and Field were more towards Callisto was manipulating things view. Coyle and Leick were probably chosen because they represented the extremes of both positions and the others found themselves somewhere between those two poles. Kym ========================================================= This has been a message to the chakram-refugees list. To unsubscribe, send a message to majordomo@smoe.org with "unsubscribe chakram-refugees" in the message body. Contact meth@smoe.org with any questions or problems. ========================================================= ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 27 Apr 2004 21:37:09 -0400 From: "bookdaft" Subject: [chakram-refugees] Thoughts On XWP Film By Way Of American Gothic An American Gothic feature film really has nothing to do with the proposed Xena movie, but in the article at http://www.moviehole.net/news/3561.html there is mention that the AG film is on hold pending the sale of Universal to NBC by Vivendi Universal. I realize that Xena was in production at the time the distributing studio was sold several different times and that that has mucked up the question of who owns it. But I do wonder if the sale of Universal is also contributing to the litigation over rights. It's just a thought from someone who really is ignorant of the process. bd ========================================================= This has been a message to the chakram-refugees list. To unsubscribe, send a message to majordomo@smoe.org with "unsubscribe chakram-refugees" in the message body. Contact meth@smoe.org with any questions or problems. ========================================================= ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 28 Apr 2004 00:13:51 -0400 From: meredith Subject: [chakram-refugees] Unexpected X:WP synchronicity Hi, De-lurking to share something really cool that happened to me this weekend ... :) I host acoustic music concerts in my living room. This past weekend we held one with an artist from L.A. we've been fans of for ages (Ashley Maher). She brought a guitar player with her whom I'd never heard of, but of course after they were gone I checked him out on the Net and it turns out we had quite a celebrity in our midst! I got an inkling when they first arrived. He saw the Xena stand-up we have guarding our front door and immediately said, "Oh, Xena! I played on the soundtrack for that show!" He couldn't remember exactly what episode(s) it was for, but he said he did session work for Joe LoDuca in '95-'96 for both H:TLJ and X:WP. So let the record show that one of the musicians on those soundtracks was Federico Ramos, playing classical guitar, oud, and saz. (And once again, a big to Varese Sarabande for failing to include ANY credits in any of their soundtrack releases ... :P) Well, *I* thought it was cool, anyway ... (If there are any Yes fans in the house, he was also in Jon Anderson's band in the early '90s...) =============================================== Meredith Tarr New Haven, CT USA mailto:meth@smoe.org http://www.smoe.org/meth =============================================== Live At The House O'Muzak House Concert Series http://muzak.smoe.org =============================================== ========================================================= This has been a message to the chakram-refugees list. To unsubscribe, send a message to majordomo@smoe.org with "unsubscribe chakram-refugees" in the message body. Contact meth@smoe.org with any questions or problems. ========================================================= ------------------------------ End of chakram-refugees-digest V4 #119 **************************************