[geeks] Very odd combination

[Kurt Huhn]

> Fairy nuff.  What about violence directed at women who most definitely can
> defend themselves, such as in Crouching Tiger Hidden Wires?  Or what about
> the treatment of some women and children in The Patriot?  In the latter
> film, it is only a few minutes of screen time, but sets up the characters
> to perform great, heroic deeds which eventually lead to a far better world
> for the survivors.  Indeed, it could be argued that the death of a child
> and the savage treatment of women and children who were mostly innocent was
> a price worth paying for the liberation of a nation.
> 

Hmm, that didn't strike the same nerve with me (Crouching Tiger Hidden
Dragon).  I suppose because the women were capable, and did fight back. 
In fact a couple of them kicked some serious ass.

But again, it isn't a rational response.  It's tough to pigeonehole the
reaction and describe it in logical terms as a sweeping and
all-encompassing reaction to $EVENT.  

> 
> Well, in Clockwork Orange, archive footage of Nazi tanks attacking
> infantry is used, as part of Alex's aversion therapy.  The horrific
> images are used to turn him away from his life of violence.
> 
> Cry Freedom cuts archive footage of the apartheid-era South African
> paramilitary police putting down anti-apartheid demonstrators with
> extreme violence in to scenes with the actors.  There's also footage -
> using actors, so it's not *actual* suffering - of some of their methods
> of torture.  These help to cement the regime's evil nature in the
> audience's minds, making them even more sympathetic to the central
> character's crusade.
> 
> I haven't watched Sarajevo or Salvador recently, but they also use
> archive footage to provide a substrate for their thin layer of fiction
> being smeared over the top.
> 

Right, but it dsoesn't matter what the intent is, I have no desire to
view it.  It doesn't matter to me what the storytellers rational or
reasoning is.  I find it uncomfortable,

-- 
Kurt
kurt at k-huhn.com
Editor: "We need a new food critic, someone who doesn't immediately
poo-poo everything he eats." 
Homer: "Naw, that usually takes a few hours."