From: owner-chakram-refugees-digest@smoe.org (chakram-refugees-digest) To: chakram-refugees-digest@smoe.org Subject: chakram-refugees-digest V5 #16 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 Friday, January 21 2005 Volume 05 : Number 016 Today's Subjects: ----------------- Re: [chakram-refugees] Xena above all the imitators [IfeRae@aol.com] [chakram-refugees] Xena, Herc in Kids' Movies book [KLOSSNER9@aol.com] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 20 Jan 2005 00:51:57 EST From: IfeRae@aol.com Subject: Re: [chakram-refugees] Xena above all the imitators In a message dated 1/16/2005 10:32:08 PM Pacific Standard Time, xenatorres@hotmail.com writes: > >It's true, what little we get on the main characters is a dribble. > > I must COMPLETELY disagree with you both. The main characters are VERY well > written and VERY powerful, but it's SUBTLE. You just get HINTS, bit by bit > in each ep. >> Yes, that's what I meant. Some people might see that as not "rounding out" the character in a more obvious way, but it hasn't bothered me that much. It's given a sense of mystery to her character, much like early Xena. Lily, for example, clearly comes from a broken home. Her mom > > obviously wasn't much into caring for the kids (drinker? beater?). Her > sister did something unforgivable that seems to be one of the reasons Lily > skipped out on the family. But she's a healer. She sees pain and wants to do > > what she can to fix it. She's tough from her upbringing, but also > surprisingly warm (shown best by her cats - one whom has only three legs and > > the other only one eye). She also seems to have some man issues, likely > brought on by the father whom has never been mentioned on the show, but > likely did something very bad to her (suggested in the episode with the > serial killer hunter). >> What's interesting is that I can recall earlier eps where she was more like a chameleon -- able to pinpoint and appear to have experienced whatever pain her interviewee had, in order to get them to open up. It was very ambiguous as to whether she had actually been through that or was manipulating the interviewee. I thought that was a rather risky tact in terms of the lead character, but I liked it. They seem to have dropped that, though, in favor of revealing snapshots of her actual personal life. I'm not sure they know what they want to do yet, in terms of integrating that. With Xena, I was pretty sure of the basic "core" character -- what drove her -- even if the backstory had twists and turns. With Lilly, I think that will continue to evolve in bits and pieces. > > There's LOTS of depth there, but you do need to watch every week and keep > your eyes open, because it's just LITTLE pieces dropped here and there, but > they add up to SO much more. It's brilliant writing, because it's real. We > don't all suffer major chaos every week.>> Yes, I do find that more realistic, if sometimes annoying. :-) > > Honestly, I didn't much like Kathryn as Najara (but then, the Najara > character pissed me off in TPTB's attempt to make her a second Callisto), > but watching "Cold Case" I am now a huge fan! >> Oh, I really liked her portrayal of Najara. I thought she was the perfect blend of Xena and Gabrielle, except she was missing the self-responsibility that kept X&G honest and sane. Whereas Cally was Xena gone bad, Najara was more like Gabrielle's ideals gone bad. I thought KM did a good job of being genuine enough to fool both Xena and Gabrielle. Frankly, it was her performance on XWP that made me take a look at her in "Cold Case." - -- Ife ========================================================= 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: Thu, 20 Jan 2005 21:33:30 EST From: KLOSSNER9@aol.com Subject: [chakram-refugees] Xena, Herc in Kids' Movies book I just bought The Rough Guide to Kids' Movies, by Paul Simpson, a 2004 British book. Despite its title it has some entries on TV shows as well as films. Simpson's entry on Xena begins with the wrong title and the wrong dates -- Xena the Warrior Princess (1995-1998) "Another day, another defilement" ... yes, Xena the Warrior Princess has always been a bit different. Lucy Lawless became a lesbian icon as the heroine of this odd, yet riveting series which was originally a spinoff from Hercules: the Legendary Journeys, but by the late 1990s had become a bigger pop culture phenomenon than the X-Files. The plot has Xena set aside her bad old bloodthirsty ways to roam the world with a fast-talking village girl and have a rollicking good time. Her high-kicking, horse-riding, chakram-throwing adventures are many and varied-- in one episode she tells a doctor she cannot be "up the duff" as she so charmingly puts it because she is a "love-free zone." While the show is not consistently brilliant --and it ran for four lengthy series -- even the weaker episodes have some redeeming features. As you might have guessed from the name, there's quite a lot of fighting, hence the UK rating for the video, but most kids of 9 and older aren't going to be spooked, nor see anything they ought not to. Series One is, by popular consent, the best of Xena, though its DVD reissue is poor quality, and you may prefer to buy it on VHS. So there's another commentary by a mainstream critic who doesn't even know how many seasons there were. And he is wrong that Season One is considered the best "by popular consent." Simpson also has-- Hercules: the Legendary Journeys (1996) This American made-for-TV retelling of the story of the son of Zeus is now more famous for giving the world a warrior princess - -- Xena -- than for anything Kevin Sorbo did in the main role. But this shouldn't be overlooked. It's not as strange as Xena but it's still entertaining with, at times, some very scary monsters trying to defeat the hero. One of its many merits is that the stories don't often stray too far from the original Greek myths. Note Simpson's error on Hercules' dates. The book notes that both Xena and Hercules videos were rated 12 in the U.K. I think that means they are for children 12 or older. Boeotian ========================================================= 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 V5 #16 *************************************