Reading/Watching Log #30

It's been an assortment of films, comics, shows and books this month: a Gothic classic, a light-hearted fairy tale, a Scandinavian horror, two red-headed warrior women, a lost Jedi, plenty of superheroes, and two crime dramas based on real events.

Pretty much everything has been of great quality, particularly in their variety of female characters and the treatment of evil within the narrative. It might seem ridiculous for me to compare the villain of Tangled with that of American Crime Story, but both are similar in that they provide sympathetic backstories for their antagonists while refusing to glamourize them or let them off the hook for their crimes.

There's a much bigger and more complex post brewing on my feelings about how villains have recently been portrayed in the media, but for now it's refreshing to discover that what I'm watching allows for moral ambiguity and nuance without sacrificing the dignity or humanity of victims.

Standing Tall #23

This giraffe was located at Doris Lusk Park, an appropriate site given that it heavily featured harakeke, the flax bushes which grow heavily in Christchurch's swamplands. Thus its name: Harakeke. Depicted is some of the wildlife that lives amidst the plant, as well as its distinctive red flowers growing up the giraffe's neck.

Painted in oil by Justine Ottey, a local artist, it was the first giraffe we visited on this particular outing, and so set the high benchmark for the rest of the day.

Xena Warrior Princess: Hooves and Harlots, The Black Wolf, Greeks Bearing Gifts

My rewatch begins to heat up a little, with one really good episode, and two that might be more mediocre than not, but still have some solid scenes amidst the dross.

It's clear at this early stage that the writers are still figuring out Xena's backstory – at this point the working theory is that she went off the rails about a decade ago, but has plenty of friends from before that time who can call on her for help in times of trouble. It's a far cry from what we'll see later on, in which Xena is little more than a feral animal during her conquistador years.

Still, all three involve strong, interesting female guest-stars, and the arrival of the Amazons in particular introduces an important recurring culture within the mythos of the show.

Events: Armageddon

So, I attended my very first Comic Con (though as we call it in New Zealand: Armageddon). Even having watched these things on-line for so many years, I wasn't entirely sure what to expect, but having wandered Horncastle Arena for the day, I think the best way to describe the whole thing is as a huge indoor marketplace that sells very specialized geek merchandise.

Woman of the Month: Arrietty Clock

Arrietty Clock from The Borrowers

I read The Borrowers for the first time in my life last month, having already watched the 1992 television series in my childhood, the 1997 movie in my youth, and the 2010 Studio Ghibli film on its release a few years ago. It was an interesting experience going back to an original source after so much pop-culture osmosis has changed and distorted and expanded our idea of the story, even as they keep its basic premise.

Let's just say that Mary Norton's quaint and imaginative story isn't anything like its various adaptations, not least because the entire story's validity is cast into serious doubt thank to its framing device. By the end of the story, the reader isn't sure whether the whole thing was true, or just an elaborate fairytale spun by the narrator's little brother.

But what stands out in any adaptation is its young protagonist. Arrietty Clock is everything you could want from a 20th century literary heroine: curious, open-minded, friendly and a little pert; brave without being fearless, adventurous without being foolhardy, and intelligent while still being crushingly ignorant of her place in the world.

Every adaptation makes her a little different: the miniseries focused on her inquisitiveness, the nineties film on her thrill-seeking, and The Secret World of Arietty on her relationship with the world and its people.

You can always count on Studio Ghibli films to deliver great female characters, and Arrietty is special thanks to her nifty combination of extraordinariness (being only a few inches tall) and utter ordinariness (as a normal pre-teen girl).

My favourite detail would have to be the demonstration of the complimentary tomboy/girly qualities within her: Arrietty not only carries a pin at her side like a tiny rapier (and uses it) but also holds her hair back out of her face with a single pink butterfly clip, checking her hair every morning in the mirror to make sure it’s tidy.

She's a fascinating character mainly due to her circumstances, exemplified best by Norton herself: a smart but vulnerable girl navigating the world when she's only a few inches tall. She's not as famous as the likes of Alice or Wendy or Dorothy, but she's clearly left her mark on children's literature.