Posts by Craig Ranapia
Last ←Newer Page 1 2 3 4 5 Older→ First
-
Hard News: Only what we would expect a…, in reply to John Campbell,
One small point of limited interest to anyone but me: the Herald keeps insisting I made it known that I was not the 46 year old celebrity concerned. I did not. At any stage.
Um, it's of overwhelming interest to me, because when I was at journalism school attributing non-existent quotes (indirectly or otherwise) was considered a no-brain #journalismfail. Will further lower my expectations when Santa bring me a shovel.
-
“Overwhelming public interest.”
Now, Russell, this would be the same newspaper whose editor won't accept invitations to appear on Media7 or Mediawatch, right? Because there's no public interest in public scrutiny and analysis of the only daily newspaper in New Zealand's largest city.
I'd also disrespectfully suggest the Herald would not be editorially sympathetic to any union that ran a "public interest" defence for Wikileaking, say, contract negotiations or discussions around the next round of lay-offs -- something I don't think APN would consider good faith bargaining. .
-
Muse: The High Aesthetic Line, in reply to Lilith __,
You seem to think it's OK to lambast Ihimaera, but not Kate McDermott?
Well, yes because so much of what doesn't work on screen is lifted straight from the book (the adorable moppet with the sodding fairy wand, our Humble Narrator's stalkerish tendencies and tooth-grinding self-pity) and it doesn't really have a strong narrative spine to it.
I'd be interested in knowing what was gained and what was lost in making the film's protagonist Maori not Pakeha.
What Ihimaera himself says here is interesting.
"The most exciting thing for me was that in the book the main character is European and he is supposed to be an 'everyman' character, but with this particular treatment, because it was to be made by Māori creatives, I had to completely turn my head around and to actually recognise for myself that unfortunately I was going to have to come out twice. Once in the guise of a Pākehā character and then turn that character around and make him into the Māori character that he was supposed to be in the very beginning," he says.
"So that was quite a shock to me because I had always tried to hide, to say 'this is a book that could be about 'everyman', this is not a specific story'. So it is now actually nearer to the truth than I would like to admit.
Ihimaera says rather than being a gay coming out story, or a gay love story, it's become a very strong story about a whole group of people who are encountering a particular issue – "one man doesn't realise what is going to happen when he decides to turn his life around and become somebody else. And by him becoming somebody else, everybody close to him cops the fallout."
It still doesn't work. An interesting compare and contrast is Russell T. Davies' Bob and Rose, which is a rather nice (and much under-rated) series about a gay man who falls in love with a woman and the shit hits ever conceivable fan. Don't think it's a spoiler to say there's a happy ending, but there's also a lot of emotional truth and complexity along the way. The ending felt earned.
-
The sanitised tv version loses the edginess and the emotional power the book had.
First, a little disclosure is in order. I'm casually acquainted with Kate McDermott(who I've invited to write a guest post in response to various reviews that have attacked her harshly and directly), and anyone who followed the comments on Jolisa's Trowenna Sea-related posts knows my utter contempt for Ihimaera.
But I've actually re-read the novel, and "sentimental and plodding" (as well as astoundingly badly-written) is a nice way to describe it. What little interest the book retains is sociological rather than literary -- unless you tastes run to unintentionally hilarious camp. Our Humble Narrator can't even get his cock sucked by a stranger in a fuck club without an orgasm of piss-elegant foofy fa-fa.
Some folks are carrying on like Kate took Schindler's List and turned it into 'Springtime for Hitler' If only it was that simple.
-
Muse: The High Aesthetic Line, in reply to Deborah,
You will report on whether any shirts are removed, or decorative ponds swum through in frustration?
Putting aside his rather unfortunate foray into comic pseudo-science, Colin Firth is a rather interesting actor who isn’t afraid to under-play. And who would have guessed Helena Bonham-Carter’s Elizabeth is tender and rather moving – notes she’s not called on to hit very often. There’s a rather lovely small scene with her and Jennifer Ehle (almost unrecognisable as Myrtle Logue): The men mug, bluster and carry on. The women, as usual, just have to get on with it.
-
Muse: The High Aesthetic Line, in reply to Geoff Lealand,
Great to see you have a new spot, Craig. But where is David H these days?
I suspect wee Bob has him pinned in a corner. :)
-
Muse: The High Aesthetic Line, in reply to Paul Williams,
Wow, I wandered off to make a cup of coffee and it occurred to me that I'd set myself up for someone to speculate how the limit was measured;
The workers who would liberate us all from our sexual repressions and life denying neurosis in the works of Lawrence and Forster should be considered as human Higgs bosons -- their existence is entirely theoretical, but they explain absolutely everything. More or less.
-
Muse: The High Aesthetic Line, in reply to Ngaire BookieMonster,
I can forgive the whole “princess” thing because as a five year old the coolest thing about Leia was right from the beginning she didn’t exactly act “princessly”.
YEah, but the weird thing is that Naboo has an elected monarchy -- with term-limits, no less. (Why the frak do I know this shit? Can't remember my own cell-phone number but this...)
-
Muse: The High Aesthetic Line, in reply to Paul Williams,
Is this the right time to say I liked the book?
It's never the right time, but as that great thinker Sly Stone says different strokes for different folks.
I wish in that instance Ihimaera had plagiarised someone whose style extended beyond choosing socks -- Edmund White's semi-autobiographical trilogy A Boy's Own Story, The Beautiful Room is Empty and The Farewell Symphony. Or even E.M Forster's Maurice -- which could most charitably be described as Lady Chatterley with fifty percent more cock.
-
Muse: The High Aesthetic Line, in reply to Megan Wegan,
What's the excuse for whoever makes Two and a Half Men, then?
Easy. Chuck Lorre worked on Roseanne, and it's Barr's fault he's a lady-hating colostomy bag, Joss Whedon, on the other hand, got over it.
Last ←Newer Page 1 … 360 361 362 363 364 … 1235 Older→ First