tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26498739.post5116106168163778059..comments2024-03-13T13:31:55.453-07:00Comments on Kid Fenris: The Wings of Honneamise: Royal Rape ForceKid Fenrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07679999989552548709noreply@blogger.comBlogger23125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26498739.post-37922767101719645102017-02-22T22:46:57.758-08:002017-02-22T22:46:57.758-08:00Thank you, Kid Fenris, for this. For your
willing...Thank you, Kid Fenris, for this. For your <br />willingness to publish your own critique of the<br />creative ethics of this popularly regarded film<br />I felt obliged to contribute this atom of<br />gratitude. Let us continue to hold ourselves<br />and our so much appreciated artists to the<br />highest standards, because when we slacken<br />our resolve we do love then less.<br /><br />I recognize that we both cherished the<br />production and ambition and regard we have <br />had for this movie. Years ago I appreciated<br />several times the fansub I received from<br />Carl Horn in the mail and his little sketch of <br />Shirotzugh that came with it. So cool!<br /><br />Rape is unacceptable, flat out. But having<br />written that what does it mean to live our<br />opposition to the physical violation of trust?<br /><br />Our in other words, what will it mean for us<br />to practice total empathy with the human <br />beings connected to this movie, imagined<br />and actual? How does it feel to share <br />Riquinni's terror and self-abdication? What<br />of the young animators' experience of<br />producing this movie, without benefit of<br />hindsight or enlightened self-awareness?<br /><br />Speaking only for myself at this moment <br />I am in agreement with your misgivings. <br />At this point the creative experiment failed.<br />We will never know what the animators<br />could have done otherwise if they'd caught<br />themselves before creating this scene, and<br />can only lament what might have been.MacGugeshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08685234809114574087noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26498739.post-56424114607315747482016-04-29T16:28:05.669-07:002016-04-29T16:28:05.669-07:00The explanation is OBVIOUS.
Shiro is told Riquinni...The explanation is OBVIOUS.<br />Shiro is told Riquinni is out, "working".<br />When she undresses, money falls from her boots.<br />Shiro realizes what she does to earn money.... guess what? <br />And bitterly, he also tries to get some love. <br />And after...she apologizes... for being a prostitute, something that cganges his relationship.<br />Honestly, I'm surprised no one get itAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17302280407881397898noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26498739.post-49890359715796650002016-04-29T16:26:54.152-07:002016-04-29T16:26:54.152-07:00The explanation is OBVIOUS.
Shiro is told Riquinni...The explanation is OBVIOUS.<br />Shiro is told Riquinni is out, "working".<br />When she undresses, money falls from her boots.<br />Shiro realizes what she does to earn money.... guess what? <br />And bitterly, he also tries to get some love. <br />And after...she apologizes... for being a prostitute, something that cganges his relationship.<br />Honestly, I'm surprised no one get itAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17302280407881397898noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26498739.post-20284402317572968952015-05-20T18:22:21.988-07:002015-05-20T18:22:21.988-07:00Well, that part in the introduction is a little fa...Well, that part in the introduction is a little facetious, and I of course wrote it before anyone commented. I guess it is a little harsh, though. Kid Fenrishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03852751584491929610noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26498739.post-57794187807733184882015-05-20T16:15:40.556-07:002015-05-20T16:15:40.556-07:00I don't really know how I felt about the scene...I don't really know how I felt about the scene. It did feel a bit irrelevant, or maybe it was designed to show Shiro was flawed like everyone else.<br /><br />"...anyone who defends it is intellectually dishonest or just human filth"<br />That doesn't leave much room for nuance, promoting polarised us vs them-ism. Insulting those who might initially disagree with you isn't exactly a diplomatic argument. "Hello, *ad hominem*"<br /><br />Based on my past, nothing makes me blood boil faster than rape, but trying to restrict it in art or not leaving any room for nuance really bothers me.<br /><br />I mean some of the comments here seem thoughtful and reasonable, yet you call them human filth? For their opinion on art?<br /><br />I found your take on it interesting anyway, thanks for sharing.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26498739.post-42147118018615933802012-12-18T21:56:14.219-08:002012-12-18T21:56:14.219-08:00Didn't see anyone else say this, so here's...Didn't see anyone else say this, so here's my interpretation: prior to the attempted rape scene Shiro actually says to Riqunni that "no one should force her around" or something to that effect when her house has been demolished. It's said almost as a principal. The attempted rape, in my opinion, was intended to show that Shiro's principals -- and his preconceived notions -- were now a thing of his past, AND that in leaving his previous self he was at risk of becoming a worse person but he didn't, because of Riqunni's kindness and "purity" (he stated he had stopped because she smiled at him, although in terms of animation it looks like she just looked him in the eye).Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26498739.post-24147342242452803182012-07-06T23:28:20.509-07:002012-07-06T23:28:20.509-07:00A lot of dudes would be frustrated if you're n...A lot of dudes would be frustrated if you're not getting any from this chick you like. They might even resort to a form of rape or harassment if they're in the edge or frustrated about themselves enough. In a way, this isn't as far off from reality as some think, making the main characters a lot more human in their failure to accept the things around them.<br /><br />It wasn't even rape, it was attempted rape. <br /><br />And it may make sense that the reason she's the one who's apologizing is so that she's already apologizing for the both of them, as she thinks he's a great guy - (probably the only guy who bothered to follow up on the flyer she's giving out, and even help her spread the word), and she's trying to get that incident off her mind so that it doesn't further damage how she thinks of him, even though their potential relationship is already awkward and broken at that point.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26498739.post-38387420774073743222011-04-20T00:27:01.411-07:002011-04-20T00:27:01.411-07:00This review is made of fail. I don't think the...This review is made of fail. I don't think the author should be allowed to review anything anymore. To be so unable to deal with the scene, to be so unable to understand why the scene happened... and for the reviewer to allow this important, albeit uncomfortable scene to make him ignore the entire rest of the film suggests to me the reviewer is a child. Please stop using up internet space with your uselessness. I will not sign my name to this because you don't deserve to have it.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26498739.post-32500708931513134722011-01-31T23:46:35.732-08:002011-01-31T23:46:35.732-08:00pretty sure if you got hit in the temple with a ca...pretty sure if you got hit in the temple with a candlestick you'd have a pretty goofy look on your face too.<br /><br />just sayin.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26498739.post-53457309501567203782010-02-24T22:41:36.182-08:002010-02-24T22:41:36.182-08:00Note: After extensive investigation, I have come t...Note: After extensive investigation, I have come to suspect that the above comment was not left by an authorized representative of Gainax.Kid Fenrishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07679999989552548709noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26498739.post-49652509944330007952009-11-30T22:06:30.899-08:002009-11-30T22:06:30.899-08:00you must be a virginyou must be a virginGAINAXnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26498739.post-8869371732640317792009-09-09T16:12:18.479-07:002009-09-09T16:12:18.479-07:00Carl: Returning to A Clockwork Orange, it and the ...Carl: Returning to A Clockwork Orange, it and the Wings of Honneamise are very different films. A Clockwork Orange builds a grotesque and exaggerated future, one where Alex’s debauchery clashes against the bizarrely banal tone of the authority figures around him. The movie’s entire game lies in taking a completely loathsome individual and manipulating the story to the point where the viewer could conceivably feel sorry for him (though I never did) while also pointing out the failures of a society that allows Alex’s horrible acts one way or another. <br /><br />Also, Alex’s brutal rape of a woman has enduring consequences. He's later tormented by the woman’s husband, who, in testament to the film’s twisted world and inherently tragic tone, is written off as a lunatic by the authorities. The movie is perverse and arguably misogynistic, but it all serves a consistent and deliberately troubling purpose. In other words, it knows what it’s doing. <br /><br />(Granted, I don’t know about the kids who dress up as Alex for Halloween, much like people who cosplay as Pyramid Head, the Silent Hill rape-monster.)<br /><br />The Wings of Honneamise is inconsistent. Its world is devoted to convincing realism (hence the lack of preposterous anime hypersexuality), and its humor consists of gentle visual wit or raucous yet harmless Animal House gags. The attempted-rape scene breaks that focus, but the movie then encapsulates it and seeks a return to the more even pace it had before, evidenced in Shiro’s only-kinda-shaken attitude. He's not as horrible as Alex, but he's treated far nicer (and with less irony) by the movie he's in. <br /><br />One could see the averted rape as some huge prank on the viewers who thought Honneamise would play out with Miyazaki-like earnestness (the “Gainax Twist” and all that), but it still leaves the rest of the movie in pieces. <br /><br />Regarding women in Honneamise, let’s be honest: isn’t there a minimum of development before someone’s considered a proper “character” in a film? The priestess, the reporter, and the field commander are all one-scene talking heads (or two-scene at best), while only the soldier is named and only the reporter’s dialogue reflects anything resembling a personality. Moreover, they could just as easily be male characters within the context of the story. The doctor’s widow is almost a more important female character; though she has no dialogue that I can recall and appears only in one scene, the film lingers on her in a way that’s clearly supposed to show something to Shiro or the viewer. <br /><br />Having limited female characters doesn’t automatically damage a film (one of my favorite anime movies is Jin-Roh, after all), but it reinforces the argument that Honneamise, though it was originally called The Wings of Riquinni, is ultimately a boy’s story. <br /><br />I agree that Honneamise’s setting is not misogynistic, and I can understand why many prefer it to Gainax’s subsequent profusion of leotards and plugsuits and maids and biker-punk-space-barbarian aesthetics. However, I maintain that the film’s particular use of attempted rape is degrading. <br /><br />Do other members of Honneamise staff discuss the rape scene or the film’s dramatic themes? I was disappointed that the booklet from Bandai Visual’s Honneamise DVD discussed frame-by-frames of the rocket launch more than the storyline.Kid Fenrishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03852751584491929610noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26498739.post-74703229544950782852009-09-09T14:08:39.112-07:002009-09-09T14:08:39.112-07:00I don't think it's much of a statement aga...I don't think it's much of a statement against misogyny to say that you "actually like" A CLOCKWORK ORANGE but consider HONNEAMISE "degrading." In the former film, Alex is part of a gang that regularly assaults and rapes for fun, or to show "consistent dark absurdist humor," as you put it. And with Alex, it really is for fun--he's dismissive when his droogs tell him they should start getting serious as criminals ("if you want pretty polly, you take it"). The only reason he stops temporarily is because he's psychologically conditioned to; at no point in the film does he wonder if he's evil, and the film ends with the suggestion he'll soon be back to his old self--"I was cured all right." <br /><br />Then we have Shiro in HONNEAMISE, an ordinary person, certainly not someone who revels in hurting others. What he did was wrong (he certainly thinks so), but it was not in the context of a lifestyle where he regarded any woman he likes as a potential rape target. The film doesn't go into "Singin' in the Rain" when he assaults Riqunni, nor do we get to see him artistically snip off her clothes with scissors, as we would see in less misogynistic films, with their dark absurdist humor. Of course, Shiro, unlike Alex, doesn't actually rape anyone, and Shiro, unlike Alex, stops himself at the last moment, and Shiro, unlike Alex, clearly realizes he's done something terribly wrong. Nevertheless it is HONNEAMISE that is degrading. You are correct that the scene is a shock; where you are wrong is in thinking that its meaning is fake, or that it is cheap--on the contrary, the film has clearly paid a heavy price, then and now, for choosing to include it. It is the farthest thing from fan service. <br /><br />It is true that Riqunni is the only adult major female character in HONNEAMISE, but she is not, as you say, the only adult female character. There are three older female characters in important scenes--the priest conducting the funeral service at the beginning, the reporter who tries to get Shiro to comment on the social issues surrounding his space flight, and the national guard officer who informs the launch control team the site is under attack. At least one of the crew on board the Kingdom's naval vessel monitoring Republic air movements is a woman. Female announcers are also heard in the newsreels of both the Kingdom and the Republic. The distribution of gender roles in the world of the film does not seem especially more reactionary (and is perhaps is a bit more progressive) than that of the late-'50s/early-'60s developed world; that is, of the technological era it evokes. Sexual display is not emphasized in the clothing of either men or women--there is a general impression of bagginess and drape for both genders. The character designs, are, famously, not even cute.<br /><br />Very notably for an anime, and most especially for a Gainax anime, there is no real fan service in HONNEAMISE; not even in the one place you would expect to see it, the district where sex is sold, and where Riqunni preaches--where Shiro in fact first meets her, and where he eventually joins her in preaching, as part of the sequence of events that leads to the scene under review. <br /><br />I am inclined to see Akai's remarks about the cels as referring to the notoriety of the scene, not as evidence he thinks the assault on her is A-OK. Nevertheless, however one wishes to read the implications of his remarks, it should also be borne in mind he was one of three assistant directors on the film. Besides Hiroyuki Yamaga, the writer/director, its co-producer Toshio Okada, and character designer, Yoshiyuki Sadamoto, have also expressed extensive opinions on the film. What I am trying to suggest is that Akai's views (of which I have a different interpretation than you, as I do for the film as a whole) are also one view among several.<br /><br />--CarlAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26498739.post-84912152376092616902009-09-09T10:35:54.945-07:002009-09-09T10:35:54.945-07:00Carl: I'll assume that the "Carl" he...Carl: I'll assume that the "Carl" here is Carl Horn, who worked on the Manga DVD itself, and I'll fix my mistake accordingly. <br /><br />However, the point remains that someone, an assistant director on the film, was willing to use scenes of attempted rape as promotional gifts. What's this? An animation cel of a half-naked woman thrashing around to escape a would-be rapist? Oh, Akai, you shouldn't have! <br /><br />Furthermore, Akai's view of Riquinni showing "strength" to continue her life, apparently a life of denial and religious self-loathing, also remains bizarre and insulting. It's inconsistent with fan interpretations of the film intending to display Riquinni's flaws as well as Shiro's in the face of the attempted rape. One simply doesn't display "strength" by doing what Riquinni does. <br /><br />While the commentary track has many interesting points, I believe it also reveals Yamaga and Akai to be clueless about just what monsters they were loosing upon their film by having Shiro sexually assault Riquinni. Like the film itself, the commentary track doesn't address the issue properly.Kid Fenrishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03852751584491929610noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26498739.post-62540877948766179292009-09-08T23:51:11.860-07:002009-09-08T23:51:11.860-07:00Regarding the DVD commentary track, you say, "...Regarding the DVD commentary track, you say, "Yamaga discusses the buildup to Shiro’s attack...But what explanation does he offer when Shiro hurls her to the floor and mounts her? He reminisces about how he wanted to use the animation cels of the scene as 'promotions or gifts' but that people stole all of the production materials showing a bare-breasted Riquinni struggling beneath her attacker. Clearly, this is a director with his priorities straight." <br /><br />Yamaga--the writer and director--doesn't talk about the cels or giving them away; it is Akai who does, nor does Akai offer this remark as an explanation for the assault, a topic he instead discusses with Yamaga in the shots leading up to it, and after.<br /><br />You say, "Then there’s the aftermath of the assault, during which assistant director Takami Akai, the other Gainax member on the commentary track, points out that Riquinni reveals herself as a 'strong woman' by completely forgiving Shiro and saying that it was her fault." But here is what Akai and Yamaga actually said at this point: <br /><br />Akai: This is my favorite Riquinni scene, where she exudes her strength to go on living this way...<br /><br />Yamaga: She realizes that she can no longer be with Shirotzugh. <br /><br />Akai didn't say anything about her forgiving Shiro or saying it was her fault, but having "strength to go on living this way." What way? It's not going to be with Shiro any more, says Yamaga; this is not a woman going back to a bad relationship. <br /><br />I cannot help but view your discussion of the commentary track on "Honneamise" as superficial, highly selective, and, as noted above, inaccurate. It does an injustice to a rightly-praised aspect of the otherwise problematic Manga Video DVD release, just as I believe your article does an injustice to the film as a whole. You paint an image of Yamaga and Akai making light of Riquinni and Shiro, when in fact both of them are interested in these characters as thinking, feeling individuals, strange, lonely people, poor at communicating, often self-deceptive, yet guided by beliefs and ideals, and it is something they discuss at length. <br /><br />--CarlAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26498739.post-74703783120285357372009-09-05T17:58:25.842-07:002009-09-05T17:58:25.842-07:00wintermuted: I agree that the film could've do...wintermuted: I agree that the film could've done without the scene, but I don't think it lets Shiro stay ambiguous. Instead, it makes him much easier to detest. <br /><br />Neil: It's called a rape scene in passing because it's about rape, no matter if that rape is merely attempted or subsequently prevented. Do you seriously think it's not a rape attempt because Shiro doesn't disrobe (all rapists strip before their crimes!) or see it through to some legally defining violation? Wow.<br /><br />Anyway, your description of Riquinni and Shiro's relationship reminds me of why the (attempted!) rape scene is a bad idea: it reduces the complexity of that relationship to bizarre shock value. You don't really explain why an attempted rape was the ideal way (or even a good way) to bring the movie's themes to a point. Everything you mention (Riquinni's self-defeat, Manna's subtle potential) could've been conveyed in better, subtler fashion.<br /><br />The film attempts to use sexual assault as a dramatic catalyst, but it fails to confront or understand how such an incident could affect a woman and her attacker. That, I think, is misogynistic. It's perhaps the result of ignorance more than active disdain, but that's no excuse.Kid Fenrishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03852751584491929610noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26498739.post-68464810610204423742009-09-04T17:09:44.608-07:002009-09-04T17:09:44.608-07:00Wow...
20-odd years on and people still can't...Wow...<br /><br />20-odd years on and people still can't wrap their heads around the "rape" scene in which there was no rape, the assaulter never even took his clothes off, and who stopped the whole assault before he actually got knocked out. That's right, folks, if you watch the scene again, Shiro himself stops the attack right before Riqunni brains him with that...candlestick/whatever the hell it was supposed to be.<br /><br />Sorry, Kid, the film isn't misogynistic. Riqunni isn't a failure in life because she's a woman. She's a failure because she invests all her hopes on other people and other ideas and nothing in herself. Her relationship with Shiro is one in which both are looking for a messiah in the other. When Shiro runs off to her shack, he's desperate to find a deeper meaning for his life than what he sees as an empty mission into orbit. The problem he finds is that her life is empty. She preaches to the crowd, but really has no ideas of her own to offer them. Shiro spends the entire film going from person to person, asking them what life's all about, and he gets several little speeches from Dr. Gnomm, Gen. Kaiden, Matti, and even freaking Yanalan on the launch gantry the night before. But from Riqunni? Nothing. Silence. Maybe a little soup, but no little speech about how she sees the world and definitely no attempt to move the relationship to a level beyond their sick codependency. I always viewed his assault (and it's assault, not rape.) as his desperate, deranged attempt to get Riqunni to engage with him on <i>some</i> level. Her only really proactive moment in the film was her hitting him with the candlestick-thing, and then she won't even talk about why he did what he did, show anger, or even acknowledge that he'd done anything wrong. Why? Because just as Shiro sees her as his ticket to enlightenment, she sees him as her connection to a world where people try to change their destinies. To even admit that he wasn't the hero she saw him as would be like denying her God, so she just ignores it and turns it around so that she's somehow the one who did something wrong.<br /><br />The scene is important. In fact, I'd argue that it's vital, because up to that point, Riqunni was a sort of crutch that Shiro leaned on to justify what he was doing. When he saw that she really offered no answers, going so far as to just ignore the obvious, he leaves her and goes back to try and get his life in order on his own. That final speech he makes in orbit is basically his manifesto to the world telling the listeners that we need to stop and appreciate the deeds we do because they are what give meaning to our existence. Because that's the theme of the film: we create meaning in what we do and in our intentions. The launch of the capsule was an entirely political stunt, one which had no clear purpose and which was used in the end as a pawn of diplomacy, yet the reason it was a noble enterprise was because those who believed in the program felt that the act of getting into orbit was its own justification. It became one more scene in the march of progress montage at the very end, simultaneously the pinnacle of their world's development and yet just one more vital moment on a long path. Hence Shiro's plea for everyone to stop and give thanks. He recognized that this was something that would "get them into the history books" and wanted everyone to appreciate that the human race had reached one of those pivotal moments in history.<br /><br />Up in orbit, he gains a moment of enlightenment. Down on "Earth," Riqunni is still preaching to a crowd who doesn't care, but Manna is out in the field, contemplating the stars. There's hope in Manna's future, but really none in Riqunni's. And Shiro wouldn't have figured it out had that whole messy, abortive assault scene hadn't happened. <br /><br />(To be honest, I find Manna to be the most interesting character in the entire story, and she has almost no dialogue.)<br /><br />There. I've defended the scene. Have at me, sir!<br /><br />- Neil Nadelman<br />(Who has thought about this film <i>way</i> too much over the years)Don't Call Me Brony (Please)https://www.blogger.com/profile/01248533438039542157noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26498739.post-16997772575662150112009-09-04T16:10:59.329-07:002009-09-04T16:10:59.329-07:00I think the most important element that must be co...I think the most important element that must be considered here is historical context. As mysogynistic, and odd as it may seem, the period in which this scene was animated was quite open to violence towards women. Heck, as much as we'd like to sit on our collective high-horses, context and intent are often the most important parts of any completed work. Even if we ourselves do not agree with what appears onscreen, it is important to look at it from the character and the time in which the work was made. Hell, even Nakata's RINGU resorts to slapping your ex-wife silly when she's hysterical and yet it's taken in stride. Again, while we're taken aback by the scene, we're not supposed to be okay with Lhadatt's actions. Ultimately, that is the general point of the scene. It is also more of a confirmation of the dysfunctionality of their relationship. He is incapable of looking at a woman without "expecting" something, and thus makes a colossal fool out of himself once his doubts reach a troubling impasse.- Sacrifice for all, or give in to more basic desires. It is also possible that he, himself had been unsure of their relationship, and took a massive bad left in order to see where he stood. Not defendable, but certainly realistic.<br /><br />Perhaps I'm just a lover of character ambiguity, and this is a prime example of it in a beautiful film that could easily have done without it, but is all the more fascinating because of it.wanderkaijyuhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15708604643027341876noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26498739.post-85301869908095299442009-09-04T15:16:20.749-07:002009-09-04T15:16:20.749-07:00Because attempted rape is WACKY!
Hey, now. Wait j...<i>Because attempted rape is WACKY!</i><br /><br />Hey, now. Wait just a second there. Are you trying to insinuate that it's <b>NOT</b>? <br /><br />Because them there's fightin' words. Listen. We've been over this: <a href="http://animeworldorder.blogspot.com/2006/11/anime-world-order-show-38-rape-is.html" rel="nofollow">rape is HILARIOUS (but only as a theoretical concept)</a>. If rape was somehow NOT hilarious, then Detroit Metal City, Dirty Work, and Sarah Silverman's part in The Aristocrats wouldn't be funny. But they ARE funny.<br /><br />Therefore.Daryl Surathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16164554062892835529noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26498739.post-18853363656056240332009-09-01T23:58:52.527-07:002009-09-01T23:58:52.527-07:00Sean: I actually like A Clockwork Orange! Blah bla...Sean: I actually like A Clockwork Orange! Blah blah blah consistent dark absurdist humor versus cheap fake-meaningful shocks blah blah blah someone review California Crisis please. <br /><br />Botoggle: I agree that flawed characters are interesting, but a work must adequately explore those flaws. I don't think Honneamise does. <br /><br />octa: I believe a single scene can bring a movie down, particularly when it's a scene that changes the tones of many others.Kid Fenrishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03852751584491929610noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26498739.post-3403885603839221262009-08-31T10:33:17.374-07:002009-08-31T10:33:17.374-07:00I don't understand why the whole movie is bein...I don't understand why the whole movie is being downgraded by one bad scene. It's a terrible, unnecessary, scene that deserves no defense. However, the movie stands tall in its own right and no one should be dissuaded from seeing it for one scene. You seem to think sexism and depictions of base cruelty are unique to Anime but I can think of examples from religion to arthouse movies made both in the states and abroad. Heck, how about Tijuana Bibles? <br /><br />“…stereotypes proven accurate,” is just a cheap shot by the way. There is more evidence against these stereotypes than for, but your one sentence seems to lump the whole industry in with a single scene in a movie.<br /><br />Not your best article.octanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26498739.post-7294039159801212472009-08-30T15:26:52.424-07:002009-08-30T15:26:52.424-07:00I'm actually kind of really disappointed to se...I'm actually kind of really disappointed to see this from you — you're normally a much more reasonable sort of guy. I share your distaste for the scene and the act committed within, but to say that the scene completely eliminates not just any <em>worth</em> for the main character, but any interest in following him for the rest of the film is an incredible overreaction. I'm not defending the act by any means, or the violation of my post-Western values, but I don't expect the characters in the media I enjoy to be perfect people — that'd be really fucking boring.Botogglehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17964443708912298211noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26498739.post-41597301661884249272009-08-30T00:59:25.188-07:002009-08-30T00:59:25.188-07:00So I'm guessing you didn't care much for A...So I'm guessing you didn't care much for A Clockwork Orange.Seanhttp://www.colonydrop.comnoreply@blogger.com