From: owner-stillpt-digest@smoe.org (stillpt-digest) To: stillpt-digest@smoe.org Subject: stillpt-digest V2 #150 Reply-To: stillpt@smoe.org Sender: owner-stillpt-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-stillpt-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk stillpt-digest Friday, July 14 2000 Volume 02 : Number 150 Today's Subjects: ----------------- Re: o/X-Men movie (was Re: b/sappho2) [meredith ] Re: Xena question [meredith ] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 13 Jul 2000 19:31:48 -0400 From: meredith Subject: Re: o/X-Men movie (was Re: b/sappho2) Hi! Gayle commented: > Altogether, my impression from the special is that this movie could turn >out to be thoughtfully written and very good. The reviews I have read online indicate that that is indeed the case. It is concentrating on telling a story, and not just showing off the FX budget. I have plans to go see it with friends tomorrow night. I've been waiting for this one for a *very* long time. :) +==========================================================================+ | Meredith Tarr meth@smoe.org | | New Haven, CT USA http://www.smoe.org/~meth | +==========================================================================+ | "things are more beautiful when they're obscure" -- veda hille | | *** TRAJECTORY, the Veda Hille mailing list: *** | | *** http://www.smoe.org/meth/trajectory.html *** | +==========================================================================+ ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 13 Jul 2000 23:08:16 -0400 From: meredith Subject: Re: Xena question Hi! [I just realized I never hit "send" on this the other night!] Gayle responded: > Maybe I haven't given it enough time, but I have never felt compelled by >the characters. The eps that I saw didn't make me feel that these were real >people that I cared about. Were the eps that you saw from the most recent season? Sounds like it. > Do Xena addicts have this feeling that the characters are "real"? The way >that Buffy fans can feel? I can only speak from my experience ... it's not that the characters are "real", but they are archetypes that lots of people can really identify with. From the sides of fandom I've been involved with it appears as though the "wish fulfillment" factor comes into play, too -- people who wish they could be as strong, independent, and kick-ass in their own lives tune in to see a bit of it on tv. > Do Xena fans get truly emotionally caught up in the story? It depends on the story, but sometimes, yes. The end of the first part of "The Debt" messed me up for DAYS. I was so caught up in the characters and what they were experiencing by that point that I literally couldn't sleep, could hardly think about anything else (which made the business trip I was on at the time rather taxing :}). "Maternal Instincts" remains an episode I cannot watch again, because it's too hard for me to see the grrls putting one another through that again. There are other examples, but those are good enough for now. > Now, I don't read Xena fan boards, so I'm basing all this on bits and >pieces of Xena discussion I run across here and there, but the discussion I >see of Xena all seems to center on whether Xena's and Gabrielle are lovers or >not, and on the sneaky hints that seem scattered throughout the show that >they are. This seems to be a great source of fun. I can understand that. That is certanly a big part of it, yes. >But I have almost never seen in-depth discussions about the quality of their >relationship, what is really going on between them at an emotional and >spiritual level, as unique individuals. There is plenty of that sort of discussion going on too. It's not as prevalent as the "are they or aren't they" (or more likely nowadays, "will they ever show it onscreen"), but it is there. To see what sorts of things the Xenites can come up with to discuss about the show, check out Whoosh! (the International Association of Xena Studies) at http://www.whoosh.org. It's faux-academe, but there's some pretty interesting stuff there. > Let me ask the Xena fans: suppose that up front lesbian relationships (a >la Willow & Tara) were commonplace on the tube. So there was no novelty to >the idea that Xena and Gabrielle might be lovers, any more than if they were >of the opposite sex. Would there be enough in their relationship, as >individuals, to sustain the interest of the fans who are so interested in >their relationship now? I think so, but the level of ardor might be taken down a few notches if there were role models everywhere, and not just there. But in many ways, Xena's and Gabrielle's is one of the great love stories: two people from completely different circumstances who are nothing alike meet and become the most important person in the other's life (and on into future lives - we've learned that Xena and Gabrielle are destined to be together in their future incarnations as well). Each would give up her life for the other (and has :), and though they have literally gone to Hell and back, they always remain together. That's why lots of people who are raging homophobes IRL are still fans of the show. It's a love story that transcends the gender politics surrounding it. > I'm afraid that (based on the three or four episodes that I have seen) the >sense of emotional "reality" of the characters in Xena is simply invisible to >me. Don't know if it's just me, or what. Again, I'm curious to know if the eps you've seen were originally broadcast in the last season. The relationship really took a back seat this year, due to a variety of circumstances (the title star's pregnancy; the addition of some truly horrible writers to the production staff; the removal of said truly horrible writers). The stories were being told for the sake of telling a story and nothing more, so characterization didn't get very far, either. The producers have admitted in public that they let things slide last year, and have committed to making sure the show goes out with a bang (the upcoming season is going to be the last). If you're interested in the emotional "reality" of the characters, I'd recommend checking out episodes from the first three seasons. That's when Xena was really fighting her inner demons and trying to make amends for the evils of her past, and when the relationship with Gabrielle was still tenuous and evolving. She is very much a superhero throughout the series, but I think her struggles are a bit more human earlier on. +==========================================================================+ | Meredith Tarr meth@smoe.org | | New Haven, CT USA http://www.smoe.org/~meth | +==========================================================================+ | "things are more beautiful when they're obscure" -- veda hille | | *** TRAJECTORY, the Veda Hille mailing list: *** | | *** http://www.smoe.org/meth/trajectory.html *** | +==========================================================================+ ------------------------------ End of stillpt-digest V2 #150 *****************************