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snarklyboojumBefore heading off to work a mildly horrific party until the wee hours of the morning, mom and I took my nephew to see Eragon. He was excited. I was indifferent. I've never read the books, but remember hearing all the excitement about the series when it was first released, much the same as with the Harry Potter books. (Working in a library will do that to you, I suppose.)
Is nothing original anymore? Not to paraphrase, but I just expected...more. The plot was very obvious from the beginning, though perhaps not to its intended audience, I suppose. Still. Incredibly formulaic. (I spent the whole film quietly muttering Star Wars quotes, including the one in my subject line. I mean, really. There's even a Han Solo.)
I haven't seen anything truly original in fantasy in a long time, perhaps because everyone has set standards around the Inklings respective works. It's hard to find clever or surprising plot lines in any genre at all, nowadays. Hell, even Happy Feet was just Campbell's heroic journey with penguins. It was refreshing, though, in a way Eragon just wasn't for me. Probably the catchy rhythms and big name stars.
It frustrates me that I know the plot of a film before I get my popcorn, or know how a book's going to end by page three. I dunno. Maybe I've just taken too many literature courses to properly see anything. Is it just us who have this problem? Do psychology majors analyze their Denny's waitress? Do nurses diagnose strangers they meet in elevators? Because honestly, not a day goes by I don't deconstruct something, even if it's just the cartoon I watched while waiting for supper to heat up. One of the first courses I took in college was an honors class discussing "everyday heroes" and relied heavily on Joseph Campbell's essays. I was new and eager then, and swallowed the information like a sperm whale swallows krill. (On a side note, if I ever go back for my masters and teach college-level my first course will be titled 'The Heroic Journey: or How to Understand Everything You're Going to Read, Ever'. Because while it messed me up, it also gave me a lense to view pop culture through.)
The little harried writer in my brain that survives on a not-so-steady supply of lollipops and worships the great god Coffee would suggest that if I'm frustrated with the lack of originality in fiction these days then I'd better get off my metaphorical ass and do something about it. At times such as these, I agree, and point to my pile of Never-Was Novels and Shorted-Out Stories and complain that writing is haaaaard. He whines, agrees, and goes back to mumbling at himself and sharpening bic pens. (I don't know why my inner-writer is a small balding man with leather patches on his tweed jacket, but I have a few ideas. He's also prone to shouting "Eureka!" and streaking through my brain at inappropriate times.)
This is not to say I didn't enjoy Eragon.
*flagellates herself with hypocrite stick*
The CGI was passable, and the dragon looked very nice. Especially the feathers and cuteasslilbabydragon. But let's set all that aside for a moment and talk about Jeremy Irons. Oh god, Jeremy freakin' Irons. Why did I not know he was so hot before this movie? Flist, you are laying down on the job. I say goddamn. Washed-up, rambling, dirty, possibly drunken Jeremy Irons can tell me about slaughtering his best friend from now until doomsday and I'd be happy. (He was Scar for fuck's sake.)
I'm only slightly ashamed that I found myself thinking he'd make an excellent Sirius Black, mostly because, well... this, this, and this are slightly convincing.
I'll leave some bon bons on the Gary Oldman Shrine tomorrow, okay guys? *licks*
Links take you to www.jeremy-irons.com pics and, erm...ignore the text in the second one, okay?
Is nothing original anymore? Not to paraphrase, but I just expected...more. The plot was very obvious from the beginning, though perhaps not to its intended audience, I suppose. Still. Incredibly formulaic. (I spent the whole film quietly muttering Star Wars quotes, including the one in my subject line. I mean, really. There's even a Han Solo.)
I haven't seen anything truly original in fantasy in a long time, perhaps because everyone has set standards around the Inklings respective works. It's hard to find clever or surprising plot lines in any genre at all, nowadays. Hell, even Happy Feet was just Campbell's heroic journey with penguins. It was refreshing, though, in a way Eragon just wasn't for me. Probably the catchy rhythms and big name stars.
It frustrates me that I know the plot of a film before I get my popcorn, or know how a book's going to end by page three. I dunno. Maybe I've just taken too many literature courses to properly see anything. Is it just us who have this problem? Do psychology majors analyze their Denny's waitress? Do nurses diagnose strangers they meet in elevators? Because honestly, not a day goes by I don't deconstruct something, even if it's just the cartoon I watched while waiting for supper to heat up. One of the first courses I took in college was an honors class discussing "everyday heroes" and relied heavily on Joseph Campbell's essays. I was new and eager then, and swallowed the information like a sperm whale swallows krill. (On a side note, if I ever go back for my masters and teach college-level my first course will be titled 'The Heroic Journey: or How to Understand Everything You're Going to Read, Ever'. Because while it messed me up, it also gave me a lense to view pop culture through.)
The little harried writer in my brain that survives on a not-so-steady supply of lollipops and worships the great god Coffee would suggest that if I'm frustrated with the lack of originality in fiction these days then I'd better get off my metaphorical ass and do something about it. At times such as these, I agree, and point to my pile of Never-Was Novels and Shorted-Out Stories and complain that writing is haaaaard. He whines, agrees, and goes back to mumbling at himself and sharpening bic pens. (I don't know why my inner-writer is a small balding man with leather patches on his tweed jacket, but I have a few ideas. He's also prone to shouting "Eureka!" and streaking through my brain at inappropriate times.)
This is not to say I didn't enjoy Eragon.
*flagellates herself with hypocrite stick*
The CGI was passable, and the dragon looked very nice. Especially the feathers and cuteasslilbabydragon. But let's set all that aside for a moment and talk about Jeremy Irons. Oh god, Jeremy freakin' Irons. Why did I not know he was so hot before this movie? Flist, you are laying down on the job. I say goddamn. Washed-up, rambling, dirty, possibly drunken Jeremy Irons can tell me about slaughtering his best friend from now until doomsday and I'd be happy. (He was Scar for fuck's sake.)
I'm only slightly ashamed that I found myself thinking he'd make an excellent Sirius Black, mostly because, well... this, this, and this are slightly convincing.
I'll leave some bon bons on the Gary Oldman Shrine tomorrow, okay guys? *licks*
Links take you to www.jeremy-irons.com pics and, erm...ignore the text in the second one, okay?
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no subject
Date: 2006-12-17 10:44 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-12-17 10:59 am (UTC)If you could record Jeremy Irons reading anything and play it back at your leisure, what would it be?
no subject
Date: 2006-12-19 01:51 am (UTC)alternatively, i think i'd like to hand pick a small bunch of poems and have him read them. :D
no subject
Date: 2006-12-17 03:47 pm (UTC)I've not read Eragon, and for many of the reasons you explore.
Perhaps someday I shall fine tune the art of shutting off my brain and read, occasionally, as I once did. Trouble is I can't decide if that's really what I want.
no subject
Date: 2006-12-18 05:01 am (UTC)*makes a list and heads to the library*
no subject
Date: 2006-12-18 05:52 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-12-17 06:53 pm (UTC)I always say that if I ever meet Jeremy Irons, I'm going to ask him to say "Oh, goody," like he does in the Lion King.
no subject
Date: 2006-12-17 08:52 pm (UTC)Maybe I've just taken too many literature courses to properly see anything. Is it just us who have this problem? Do psychology majors analyze their Denny's waitress? Do nurses diagnose strangers they meet in elevators? Because honestly, not a day goes by I don't deconstruct something, even if it's just the cartoon I watched while waiting for supper to heat up.
I took a lot of lit courses in my first two years of college, even though I ended up leaving as a poli sci major. And yeah-- I do that. I analyze and deconstruct crazy amounts of things. Christmas cards. Commercials. Art. Nearly every movie I watch, and most tv too. Sometimes I only pick out one or two elements to analyze, but I can't not analyze the media I am exposed to. On the plus side it's given me some of the vocabulary and exposure to the ideas that I can use to do with structure what I already tried to do all the time anyway. On the downside, it cuts down on my ability to take in a lot of mediocre tv. I "have, like, expectations" now. And about the same time as I was going through the end of high school and the beginnings of college was when I discovered online fandom in the larger, essay-writing, interactive discussion sense (it was Buffy fandom, actually), which gave me a place to practice all these new analysis skills I was learning in my English classes.
What specific essays do you recommend for this heroic journey stuff, and are they available online? I think I'm familiar with the idea, but I don't think I've ever read from the original source you mentioned: Campbell.
no subject
Date: 2006-12-18 05:15 am (UTC)The main idea of Campbell's theory on mythology is best summed up in Hero With A Thousand Faces, which should be available in your local library or used bookstore. Another interesting article online is the 188 stages of The Hero's Journey, including this gem of a summation.
no subject
Date: 2006-12-17 10:44 pm (UTC)The book itself was apparently written by a sixteen year old, actually, so that probably does help account for some of the predictability of the plot lines. It does bother me a bit that they couldn't have made some of the dialogue at least a bit less obvious...
no subject
Date: 2006-12-18 12:42 am (UTC)Watch the Brideshead Revisited miniseries for a hot young(er) Jeremy Irons with gay subtext. :D
no subject
Date: 2006-12-18 05:20 am (UTC)I tried to keep the naughty thoughts of Brom and Betrayerguy out of my head, but it just wasn't working. I want backstory, stat! ;)