(no subject)

Does anyone else kinda resent the Tintin movie? Not because it's motion-capture instead of animated--although, yeah, if the animation ghetto is such a big deal for you that you have to create an entire new technology to make animated films that "aren't for kids"... maybe you shouldn't be making an animated film in the first place--but because they really put together a ridiculous level of talent on the creative side of things. Joe Cornish, Edgar Wright, Stephen Moffat, Peter Jackson: they're not "names" that your average Real Steel fan would recognize, but I gotta imagine that in the industry, these are the people you wanna be when you grow up.

And okay, where were all these people when Indiana Jones 4 was being made? For Tintin, Spielberg busts out the big guns, but when it comes time to follow-up Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade, it's George Lucas and the guy who wrote The Lost World. Because those are the guys you can trust to make a satisfying follow-up.

What's worse is, I think Moffat gets Indiana Jones character better than Lucas or the rest these days. Just look at Rory Williams. He's smart enough to know that even if Rory isn't as cool as the Doctor, people will still come around to him because he has a sympathetic goal (being with Amy), he's in over his head (even by Companion standards--Amy got chosen, he's just kinda along for the right), and yet he still muddles through on sheer gusto. And that's Indiana Jones in a nutshell.

Then in Crystal Skull, they pretty much give Indy superpowers. He actually uses his gun less than he did as a young man, because senior citizens are great at fisticuffs. In fact, everyone has superpowers. Mutt (fucking hell) can swordfight on top of a jeep, Marion can drive a car so it lands on a palm tree and the palm tree drops it in a river... who does that... every Indiana Jones movie used to end with Indy beat up, bruised, scratched, bloody, clothes in tatters. When Crystal Skull ends, Indy looks like he's been to a Halloween party.

Maybe it's that Spielberg knows that he can put the name "Indiana Jones" on anything and people will show up, but you actually have to put some effort into something called Tintin. Nah, couldn't be. I think we would've noticed such money-grubbing tactics earlier if that were the case.



ETA: Actually, I think Moffet has a better grasp on morality than Spielberg, really. The Doctor has an attitude of "okay, I'm going to try for a peaceful resolution, but if that doesn't work out, then I'll use force as a last resort." And it's not perfect, but they do try to acknowledge from time to time how much of a hypocrite he can be. Whereas Crystal Skull has the attitude of "It's okay to punch someone into an anthill so they're devoured by giant ants while screaming, just don't shoot anyone. GUNS ARE BAD, MMKAY?" I mean, you're still teaching it's okay to resolve a situation with violence, just not one specific kind of violence. It's just ridiculous.

I especially love when this trope carries on into movies depicting Native Americans as Noble Savages, a la James Cameron. Guess what, guys? When Indians got guns, they used guns. Cuz bullets are basically just more advanced versions of arrows. It really doesn't make a difference to a buffalo whether you shoot it with an arrow from a hundred yards away or shoot it with a bullet from a hundred yards away.

OH RICHARD LAYMON NO

Reading on in Traveling Vampire Show, when it turns out that the hot tomboy of the group (there's always one hot tomboy, one big-boned Cockney jokester, and one bland leader type) was abused by her father. Now let's let master storyteller Richard Laymon handle the thorny subject of child abuse, both with tact, yet without pulling punches.

To make it fairly brief, when she was three years old (so she'd been told), her grandfather fell down the stairs (or was shoved by Jimmy) in the middle of the night, broke his neck and died. That left Jimmy with [Slim, her mother, and her grandmother].

God only knows what he did to them.

I know some of it. I know he tormented and beat all of them. I know he had sex with all of them. Though Slim never exactly came out and said it, she hinted that he'd forced them into all sorts of acts--including multi-generational orgies.



What the hell is up with this town? These people treat sexual assault like sneaking a cigarette. "Well, boss isn't watching and I've got five minutes, this might be a good time to rape someone." It's like Laymon is single-handedly trying to prove every stereotype about horror fandom right. If he was writing a comic book, it'd be Red Hood And The Outlaws. What possible explanation could there be for all this?

On the wall, at Slim's eye level if she were sitting at the desk, was a framed photo of Ayn Rand that looked is (sic) if it had been torn from a LIFE or LOOK magazine.

Oh. Okay.

There were beat-up copies of[...] The Fountainhead.[...]Of all the books in her room, these were probably her favorites[...]

Because what rape victim wouldn't love the heartwarming romance of Dominique and Howard Roark? God, I can feel the neckbeard coming off this guy like Axe body wash.

Honestly, I think I'll be rooting for the vampires. This town deserves the Sodom and/or Gomorrah treatment.