[film review]: Spider Lilies
by Midnight on Aug.04, 2010, under Postal Modern Theatrette, cinema
From writer Singing Chen comes a tragic and moving film about love, loss, and obligation. Chen’s backdrop is the earthquake that struck Taiwan on September 21th, 1999, a time when many had lost something in their lives, whether it be hope, family, or even love.
The night of the earthquake, a young Takeko abandons her small brother’s plea to stay home. When she returns, she sees her small brother, Ching, crouching down in front of the rubble where their father was buried. Traumatized, the last thing that Ching could possibly remember was the arm reaching out from under the building’s remains and the spider lily tattoo that covered it. Ching’s memory was gone.
Some time after this traumatic experience, Takeko is out and about on her bicycle; she spots a young 9 year old girl, Jade, and decides to give her a ride home. Having no family except for her Grandmother, Jade becomes attached to this strange new figure. The artwork etched into her arm is a memory that she will never forget.
Many years later, Jade, now a lonely and reckless teenager is entrenched in webcam pornography. Takeko runs her own tattoo parlor while attending to her amnesia-ridden brother. The main theme of the film centers around the estranged relationship between Takeko and Jade as well as their own personal burdens. Jade stumbles into the tattoo parlor one day in an effort to reach out to Takeko. She wants a tattoo – the same one that long-sleeve button-downs now cover on the arm of Takeko. In a flood of repressed images, the memory of young Jade comes rushing back to Takeko.
In the end, the tragedy of loss is entangled between holding on, letting go and the will to overcome. While many will peg this is as another homosexual film with pop stars, it really is not. It is a tragic domino’s effect of events that leads the viewer into the lives and culture of these characters as well as the burdens they must overcome to move forward with their lives. It is a tale of bravery and of love that transcends.
8/10
Joshua Biddle
[anime/manga review]: Saiunkoku Monogatari
by cohlinn on Jul.27, 2010, under Postal Modern Theatrette, anime, manga
Saiunkoku Monogatari (aka SaiMono to its fandom) literally translates to Tale of Kingdom of Iridescent Clouds. Its English title is normally translated as Tale of Land of Many-coloured Clouds.
SaiMono started as a series of light novels by writer Yukino Sai (illustrated by Yura Kairi). It was turned into manga and anime in 2006/2007. My first encounter with SaiMono was through the anime.
SaiMono is a fantasy josei (adult ladies) anime, set in a fictional kingdom called Saiunkoku that is loosely based on Imperial Chinese empire. The story opens with the introduction of Kou Shuurei, daughter of the Royal Archivist in the capital city Kiyou. Shuurei was approached by the Emperor’s advisor to enter the palace as the Emperor’s concubine for three months. Her mission was to reform the truant and layabout Emperor into a competent and capable monarch. In her quest, she and the viewers, were introduced to the denizens of the palace and the world of Saiunkoku in general.
The first story arc of SaiMono, at first glance, is typical shoujo (girl) kind of plot. A girl, picked specially for an important mission, surrounded by many very bishie men who are eager to help her in any way. Naturally, the top bishie, the Emperor Ryuuki, himself, fell in love with Shuurei. However, once Shuurei had accomplished her mission, and Yukino-sensei had introduced the major characters, the tone of the plot started to change. The romance between Ryuuki and Shuurei is relegated to the background while politics and court intrigues were slowly introduced. And this is where SaiMono truly shines.
[chat]: August’s Theme – Mythic and Cultural Overlaps within Anime and Manga
by Ninthesis on Jul.25, 2010, under #mythicfolk chats, Mythologems & Contexts, administrivia
Dear all,
Since the last few #mythicfolk spontaneous chats have been about anime, and I know more than one of you have promised me anime reviews – it seemed appropriate to have this for August’s running chat topic. As most Anime devotees would know, if you move beyond the beautiful graphics, the elements of shoujo and shounen, the big, glittery eyes and the ever-present teenage protagonist in anime, you will also find complex and convoluted plots which appropriate from more than one mythical framework. I’m thinking about tales as complex as Witch Hunter Robin, to the otherwise shoujo works of Vision of Escaflowne as well as Ayashi no Ceres. And if one watches the lush movies of Studio Ghibli by Hayao Miyazaki, this same element of mythic hybridity is present.
Over the past week we’ve talked about the psychological and mythic elements within anime, and we’ve also delved into that place where angels fear to tread, the #raceFAIL debates with regards to sf/f (writers as diverse as Tolkien, Zelazny, Mieville, Okorafor and Ashok Banker came up during the course of discussion). Elsewhere, on The Mythogenetic Grove, I’ve written an article/rant about The Business of Fairy Tale Appropriation. These are ideas which have been brewing and germinating over the past few weeks, fed by truly invigorating discussions amongst this nerd tribe.
Hop on in, comment in the chatroom, or comment on this post to let us know which particular aspect of the above theme you’d like to discuss.
Heaps of Love & Caffeine,
The Ninny
[short story]: Starbucks Used to be Across the Street
by TAB on Jul.24, 2010, under Poetry/Fiction Workshop, Pointy Leaves Literary Salon, The Alchemist's Observatorium, online fiction
(c) 2010 TAB
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Raiden was doing the crossword puzzle section of the Gaian Times and had just about finished the last crossword. He checked the clock on the top of the page and noted that he would probably finish today’s set in record time. He sipped on his absinthe; the sugar was settling out of it since he hadn’t bothered stirring it or drinking it too fast. A few more words and he tossed down the paper. He watched the fluffy Florida clouds and took out a pack of Dank Filterless from his tweed jacket and lit one. This place was always amusing, flocks of teenagers sitting around sipping free water and talking about nothing, some adults with dogs or babies or books. They kept this sector at summer all year for the tourists and it felt like hundreds of years ago, usual estadounidense behavior seemed to have been preserved in time somehow here as if capitalism still meant multiple corporate entities and the world were full of nation-states.
[short story]: the traveller passes through Hoover
by TAB on Jul.24, 2010, under Poetry/Fiction Workshop, Pointy Leaves Literary Salon, The Alchemist's Observatorium, online fiction
(c) 2010 TAB
Hoover is built underground in the area around Hoover Dam and Lake Mead. it is not visible from the surface at all except for carefully concealed and fortified tunnel entrances, often in rocky hills but concealing a road connection to flatter areas. these roads are as short as possible and sometimes seem to lead to nowhere, stopping well before they clear the hills and rocks and sometimes built flat in the middle of nothing but miles of hills that cannot be considered roaded at all. the only area above ground are the Dam and Lake themselves. it is peculiar in that there are often many tracks near the roads. they come not in pairs but as single wheelmarks with strange carvings made into the outsides of the wheels- the only explanation for the way the tracks look, but not something which makes sense. rarely there is a pair with a third track down the center, and these sets of tracks always disappear a short way outside the entrance. the entrances are always closed and when closed resemble natural rock enough to be not easily visible.
[chat]: July Chats (report)
by Ninthesis on Jul.22, 2010, under #mythicfolk chats, administrivia
Hello folks,
We’ve pretty much decided not to have any more structured or scheduled chats for the time being, mostly because the core group in chat are made up of busy individuals in different time-zones. We’ve been having running monthly chats though, whenever there’s a spontaneous overlap between our different time-zones. And sometimes, the topics inspire strange as well as fortunate offshoots. Here’s a brief look at what’s been discussed throughout the past couple of months
- Adaptation in horror movie/camp horror movie classics
- Lost, Dollhouse, the Joss Whedon series as well as their failure/success
- Starcraft 2
- The link between myth and philosophy (July’s running theme)
- The Dionysian Mysteries
- Recipes and food chat (all the time!)
- Project *diaspora, GNU social and other alternatives
- Various movie chats
- Stuff to do with our blogs and various web-design related queries
- Aussiecon 4 and other con/sf/f related stuff
- Peruvian/Mesoamerican-related archaeological and anthropological stuff
I’ve yet to decide what the running theme for August should be and am willing to take suggestions. Despite each month’s theme, the topics do tend to range widely but this is also in keeping with what the Mythic Folk Treeboards have always been about.
In other news, I’m tweaking with the site layout again and you can consider the background a work in progress! Also, we’ve had some hit-and-run shy lurkers, recently. If you’ve come because of twitter or the blog, do say hi if anyone is talking in the room and let us know where you’re from and what you’d like to talk about. While we’re friendly, Undernet is kind of a rowdy place, so we’re naturally suspicious of stranger nicknames. Put us at ease by chatting and we’ll get along swimmingly! The best approach is to suggest to us what you’d like to talk about or just start chatting and one of the lurkers may just venture an opinion.
[tv series review]: Dollhouse
by Midnight on Jul.06, 2010, under Postal Modern Theatrette, television
To ask oneself how to review a television drama that lasted only two seasons poses many questions. The obvious: why did this show get canceled? And then the not-so-obvious: why did this show get canceled? Think of it like a double-sided coin, the probability is 100%. Eliza Dushku, or Echo, the main protagonist and co-producer of Dollhouse in interview expressed her concerns about how this might have come to be. Advertising being one, but mostly it was the Friday night time slot she recalled as “death” that inevitably would drag the series down.
The series seemed to have everything going for it: futuristic technology, kick-ass fight scenes, and a slew of intriguing characters to tickle the intellect or pull at the heart-strings of any science fiction or fantasy genre enthusiast. What I won’t do is sit here and complain about why the show got canceled but rather try to convince you why you should sit down and give this 27 episode masterpiece a chunk of your time.
I believe the magic behind Dollhouse was fueled by the cast and crew’s inevitable realization that this show might not go on forever like anticipated igniting passion into everyone that truly believed in the project and where the possibilities could lead given a six season run. The characters were concise yet elusive and open, forcing viewers to really analyze and walk inside the shoes of these complex individuals and situations inside the schizophrenic nature of The Dollhouse.
On the DVDs there are three extra episodes, all unaired. One being a sort of prequel to the series and two at the end of each season that sort of summed up all of what writer Joss Whedon wanted to say before the series was canceled. The first unaired episode begins with the director, one of many, but our series specific “Dollhouse” interviewing her next potential client. Then Echo, well, being Echo.
What Adelle DeWitt, the director, baits her newest potential client with is the opening:
“The world is a very simple place – at first. Then, as we grow up, it grows around us. A dense thicket of complication and disappointment – unbearable for some; and even for the luckiest of us still sometimes more than we can handle — less than we’d hoped.”
The life of the average “active” is not so complicated. Get imprinted with the correct memory topography to complete the assignment, get sent to the client, come back to The Dollhouse, and be erased. The client is happy, The Dollhouse gets paid, and time moves forward. What The Dollhouse creator could not anticipate was the resilience of the human mind, the idea of evolution, and the inevitable progress of science and technology.
All of these factors play into the plotline of Dollhouse, creating an intricate web of creation, betrayal, hope, and redemption, leading us into a fantastic journey through what life could be if one was able to purchase the raw emotions needed to complete their own human experience.
10/10
Joshua D. Biddle
[discussion]: Mythic elements in Lost and internal Lost Mythology
by Ninthesis on Jun.15, 2010, under #mythicfolk chats, Postal Modern Theatrette, administrivia, television
This thread will remain open so members and viewers may contribute ideas and thoughts with regards to Lost and internal Lost Mythology. My interest is in how it coincides with the bigger picture of conspiracy theories, particularly the usage of time, secret organizations and Foucault’s Pendulum. Of course, all the delightful in-jokes. It could have all been so cliche and campy, but it wasn’t. It succeeded. I want to know why it is the Lost mythology succeeded and why you think it is that they did.
Stuff I’d like to talk about: The Dharma Initiative and the Others. Granted, I haven’t watched the sixth season YET (and it’s driving me nuts), but the whole mythos that’s being unveiled there is intriguing, also, the Season Five cliff-hanger was so WTF.
[discussion]: Expletives Not Deleted
by Ninthesis on May.25, 2010, under (sub)cultures, Boxing Shadows Street, new media, rants
You know, I’ve been trying to put a finger on what bugs me about some of the rebuttals as per a certain social networking site that people are allowing to be (ZOMG!) the ruler of the interwebnets. Then, I watched this really funny (and incisive) video by the blogger behind Feminist Frequency about The Real Reasons why Guys Should Hate Twilight. Ah. Ding. “The Real Reasons” as opposed to “The Wrong Reasons”. The same thing applies to some of the protests against the leviathan we’re trying to keep in check. I use the collective “we” here. It’s a consensus, I am but a tiny voice as an internetwebs user, but I feel I have as much right as any netizen to voice these concerns.
[discussion]: Arboreal/floral motifs in old myths, folktales and faerie tales
by Ninthesis on May.11, 2010, under #mythicfolk chats, Mythologems & Contexts, fairytales/folklore
Seeing as this is a Treeboard after all, it would be appropriate for us to discuss the importance of trees and flowers in world mythology. There are several obvious ones; the bodhi tree, Yggdrasil, Blodewedd, the maiden made of flowers in the Mabinogion and of course the Mesoamerican flower songs.
I would be interested in discussions or shared links on this topic.
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Mythic Folk has existed as a community based on the mythopoetica.com domain since 2002, surviving a spontaneous migration across various social networking apparatuses and irc manifestations since that time. We've seen the joining of valuable new members from time to time, and are keen on attracting more likeminded individuals.
This group-blog and forum continues with the original ethos of the Treeboards to explore new mythic (r)evolutions in books/literature, cinema, television, anime/manga and art. We're always eager to hear new viewpoints and discussion on various blog posts are welcome!
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