she found it so awful that she felt she should have apologized to the audience after the screening.
Right. I'll avoid that one.
(Wow.)
I hate the portrayal of stalking, manipulation, and obsessiveness as romantic. It's an idea that should have died out long ago, but just keeps on coming back.
In the film's defense, I think it is aware that Bendrix is an unreliable and problematic narrator; the fact that Sarah's viewpoint condemns his jealousy etc. indicates that it's an issue within the world of the film, not just a retroactive visitation by the chauvinism fairy.1 But we never see the consequences of his actions mean anything to him. He reads her diary and instead of respecting her decision and staying out of her life, like any halfway sane lover—especially now that he knows he misjudged her reasons completely; she wasn't bored with him, she wasn't seeing anyone else, she made a bargain with God to save his life—he goes charging off immediately to pressure her back. The results are predictably disastrous. And even then, we're not given the slightest impression he'll change: except maybe in the last thirty seconds of the film, and if so, that means the entire hundred-and-two minutes prior have been the world's longest run-up to the woman in the refrigerator.2 Yeah. I already gave at the office.
1. I still find it troubling that she never stops loving him even after she's decided never to see him again: since we're evidently not intended to view Sarah as completely self-destructive, it lends credence to the idea that theirs is some kind of grand passion instead of the sort of thing you get a restraining order for.
2. I realize that I may be maligning the novel with this description; for all I know (and I hope, frankly), it encompasses more of Bendrix's life after Sarah, so that actual character development has a chance to take place. But the film simply stops on this moment of allegedly tragic epiphany and unfortunately that portion of the audience that answers to my name cares a lot more about how on earth Henry is going to cope than whether Bendrix will eventually believe in Sarah's God.
I especially hate it when it's peddled to adolescent girls (e.g., Twilight).
Oh, God, yes. I can't even begin to calculate the damage those books have done to the already fragile state of gender relations in this culture. Not to mention reading skills.
Congrats on the anthology! I will make sure to pick up a copy once it comes out.
no subject
Right. I'll avoid that one.
(Wow.)
I hate the portrayal of stalking, manipulation, and obsessiveness as romantic. It's an idea that should have died out long ago, but just keeps on coming back.
In the film's defense, I think it is aware that Bendrix is an unreliable and problematic narrator; the fact that Sarah's viewpoint condemns his jealousy etc. indicates that it's an issue within the world of the film, not just a retroactive visitation by the chauvinism fairy.1 But we never see the consequences of his actions mean anything to him. He reads her diary and instead of respecting her decision and staying out of her life, like any halfway sane lover—especially now that he knows he misjudged her reasons completely; she wasn't bored with him, she wasn't seeing anyone else, she made a bargain with God to save his life—he goes charging off immediately to pressure her back. The results are predictably disastrous. And even then, we're not given the slightest impression he'll change: except maybe in the last thirty seconds of the film, and if so, that means the entire hundred-and-two minutes prior have been the world's longest run-up to the woman in the refrigerator.2 Yeah. I already gave at the office.
1. I still find it troubling that she never stops loving him even after she's decided never to see him again: since we're evidently not intended to view Sarah as completely self-destructive, it lends credence to the idea that theirs is some kind of grand passion instead of the sort of thing you get a restraining order for.
2. I realize that I may be maligning the novel with this description; for all I know (and I hope, frankly), it encompasses more of Bendrix's life after Sarah, so that actual character development has a chance to take place. But the film simply stops on this moment of allegedly tragic epiphany and unfortunately that portion of the audience that answers to my name cares a lot more about how on earth Henry is going to cope than whether Bendrix will eventually believe in Sarah's God.
I especially hate it when it's peddled to adolescent girls (e.g., Twilight).
Oh, God, yes. I can't even begin to calculate the damage those books have done to the already fragile state of gender relations in this culture. Not to mention reading skills.
Congrats on the anthology! I will make sure to pick up a copy once it comes out.
Thank you! I hope in advance you enjoy it!