Archive for the ‘rants’ Category

Okay, so I got myself a new webpage and I haven’t even bothered writing on it yet.  I guess I thought that I would use a real webpage to talk about real things, instead what got thrown on my random Blogspot one.  I fail.  Guess this webpage will have some of the old stuff.  As well as argument between me and my brain, of course.

Now, where would this webpage be if I didn’t talk about my Very Important Opinions regarding film & TV?  Because I just realized another one this past weekend.  This may seem like nothing overly surprising, but I really can’t handle clichés anymore.  They just kind of piss me off.  I think that I may have gotten sensitive to them due to diligent reading of Tv Tropes (see sidebar for links)  This past weekend, though, I realized just how much I hate clichés when I was pleasantly surprised by two wonderfully original films.

First despised cliché: Angsty Law Enforcement Personnel.  This one has gotten ridiculous.  It seems as if most screenwriters these days honestly believe that every cop who pursues criminals needs to become almost suicidal regarding every single case.  GUYS!  It’s their JOB.  Yeah, it can be crazy stressful.  Yeah I’m sure some of them do take their work home sometimes.  I guess I just don’t understand why every cop story has to involve some horribly traumatic case in which the cops become personally involved as the only reasonable way to solve the case.  If that happened in reality, those cops would be pulled off the case so fast, you couldn’t even say “conflict of interest.”  The cop that has issues with being a dad and gets really sensitive to children being abused maybe shouldn’t take the child abuse cases?  **coughElliotcough**  Certainly not if all he’s going to do is punch out the potentially abusive father.  Just sayin’.  Most cops are professionals and are trained to deal with pretty horrific happenings.  IT IS THEIR JOB.

With that in mind, this weekend I saw Fargo for the very first time.  And, Y’ALL!  Y’all.  I loved it so much, I can’t even handle it.  First of all, great movie.  Script, acting, cinematography.  All of it worked.  Frances McDormand was indeed fantastic as the pregnant police chief handling the case.  William H. Macy was great as the typical “William H. Macy role,” of course.  It was hilarious, and the Minnesota accents & regionalisms were pretty awesome; however, the thing that really struck me about the movie was the fact that the police chief was simultaneously professional, competent, and hilarious.  And didn’t take the case personally until a minor moment towards the end, where she let herself question the perp on why he would do such horrible things for a small bit of money.  And after that scene, she was back to normal, in bed with her husband talking about his work.  In fact, she was really the only character in the whole movie that was presented as being competent and in control.  And she solved the case almost completely on her own.

Nowadays the “disintrested” cop who doesn’t have a personal stake in the case is often depicted as an uncaring, unfeeling automaton who will never get close to solving the case because he doesn’t feel it as much as the obsessed one.  Or that somehow lack of personal attachment means the cop is corrupt?  It has become that the only way to be a good cop is to do inappropriate things and let the (often incredibly disturbing) case into your personal life.  Now that’s just messed up.  Cops can’t get involved on a personal level, because those scars would never heal.  When I interned with ATF here in Chicago, these agents didn’t seem world weary.  I sat in on a trial which ended up not having the desired outcome for the agent in charge.  She later said that she was pretty upset all weekend, but still had hope for the future.  So it’s not like they don’t care.  It’s just they can’t let it run their lives.  You’re a better cop when you can treat all situations as business as usual.  Unlike every Law & Order ever shown.  Ever.

Now, some movies which I really like do fall into this category.  They are often salvaged by good scripts, or protagonists who aren’t full of fail (or don’t get ridiculously deep into the case).  Silence of the Lambs & Se7en both feature law enforcement officers getting way too close to their cases, but manage to pull it off.  On the other hand, Hannibal just doesn’t. 

I have great respect for the law enforcement officers out there.  I think they have some of the hardest jobs in the universe, and receive mostly hate in return for simply doing their jobs.  The fact that they can keep cool heads under such incredible pressure should be applauded, not degraded.  Hollywood has given us an incredibly awful viewpoint of “screw the cops, they’re corrupt assholes.  UNLESS they overstretch their jurisdiction, lie cheat and steal to solve cases, and maybe sleep with witnesses.  You know, because they care.”  Awful.  YOU GO, Fargo.  I may just have to purchase you.

Second despised cliché: Angsty “True” Love Story.  I think y’all know how I feel about this already.  ANGST DOES NOT EQUAL TRUE LOVE.  I’m sorry.  Nobody can convince me of this.  And no, this isn’t a rehashing of certain awful clichés on BSG.  Yes, I have been rewatching 4.5.  No, I’m not going to bore you with my feelings on some clichéd plotlines and other surprisingly refreshing ones.  Even though I maybe want to. 

*coughKaraandLeearenotsoulmates&isaclichédRomanticComedyplotlinecough*

Anyhoo…it seems as if somewhere along the line love stories have been warped to be cute cute ANGST ANGST cute WOE PAIN cute MANHERO SAVES DAMAGED WOMAN OR FIXES TERRIBLE SITUATION cute.  And I’m so damn sick of it.

Most love stories involve a dude  who realizes that he may be in love with this girl.  Sometimes she’s  a cold harpy.  Sometimes she’s just plain mysterious.  Sometimes she’s in a bad situation with some awful man who is OH SO WRONG FOR HER, she needs a hero to save her from making the worst mistake of her life.  And there is cuteness and ANGST but at the end, the guy fixes everything wrong with the girl and they live happily ever after. 

Y’all may remember my feminist rant on ye olde blogge, so it should not be a surprise to anyone that I’m sick of this Romantic Comedy structure.  And oh so delighted when it is broken.  Sometimes women need more than a good strong man to sort them out.  Sometimes they need to sort themselves out.  And I am so sick of angst that I can’t even handle writing the word.

Hence, when I watched Waitress, I ended up overjoyed!  Basic plot is this: pie genius (!) waitress played brilliantly by Keri Russell has an abusive, domineering just plain awful husband named Earl.  Which got this song stuck in my head for all of the next day.    Anyway, she starts the movie pregnant by him and hating it, and enters into a somewhat cute, but pretty messed up relationship with her new, kinda awkward Gynecologist played by Nathan Fillion.  They are both cheating on their spouses, yet the story is mainly from her point of view.  It shows how he is the first person to ever understand her, and basically becomes her only friend during these dark times, as she is pregnant with a baby that she doesn’t want by a man she hates. 

BUT!  The affair itself does not end up being the focus of the movie.  I don’t want to ruin it for anyone, but I’ll just say that the love story isn’t about falling in love with the doctor, but rather falling in love with her baby.  The doctor isn’t the answer to her problems, and the only person in the world who could give her the strength to stand up to her loser husband ends up being her child.  It was pretty awesome.  And much better than the whole “you are my soulmate and I can save you” thing that lots of love stories like to do.  And I was kind of worried that this would be what Nathan Fillion would say at the end.  Spoiler alert: Not so.  I highly recommend this movie for its whimsical nature and creativeness.  The ending is a little…pat, but I didn’t mind that.  I really enjoyed it thoroughly.

And why does Hollywood seem to think that the only good love stories are those that involve UST (Unresolved Sexual Tension) and angst?  Romeo and Juliet and Heathcliff and Catherine make compelling tragedy because their love is so self-destructive and obsessive.  It just makes more sense that they don’t end up together, because it’s so clearly self destructive and ultimately wrong.  And that’s what’s so compelling about them.

Nowadays it seems as if they enjoy keeping that sort of structure of star-crossed lovers, yet somehow they end up together?  DRAMA DRAMA ANGST AWFUL BEHAVIOR TRUE LOVE?  Really?  I’m often overjoyed when the pattern gets broken, because it seems as if audiences eat up this kind of love story and it’s so much easier to give into what the audience likes.  For me, it’s gotten to the point where I can’t stand it. 

There is a slight misogynist slant to it, of course, since oftentimes it involves the man going after the woman and winning her hand or saving her from the big scary demon.  In a manner of speaking.  And yes, I do enjoy lots of these stories.  There are numerous Romantic Comedies that just make me all wibbly inside.  I have to watch Love Actually every Christmas.  Stranger than Fiction is one of my all time favorite movies, and the love story is a prominent part.  But those are earned.  I like Romantic Comedies that earn it, rather than those that just rely on the same old formula.  And I’ll like love stories that defy the formula almost on principle alone.

So, Hollywood, if you’re reading this, as a personal favor to me, please stop using clichéd stories.  They aren’t as interesting in the long run.  I know you like viewers, but I like quality stories.    And I think you know whose opinion really counts here.  Hello?

I don’t know how many people agree with me about this.  Whether or not these formulae are really that annoying or if I’m just making a big deal out of nothing.  I guess I just like surprises in my fiction?  And angst just for angst’s sake is seriously overrated, y’all.  I mean it.  If your main character is upset or angry at the world, he better damn well have a good reason for it. 

IS THAT TOO MUCH TO ASK FOR?!

INTERROBANG?!