For the other Orlando fans ...

[veronica_rich]

Bloomsy, in case you haven't heard, is a supporting player in a new movie premiering at the Sundance Film Festival, "Sympathy for Delicious." I've posted a link to a review I found (thanks poetic_self) and highlighted the part about The Boy over at the OB Discussion community.

This isn't the only good review of the film or of Bloomsy thus far, from what I can gather. It's nice to see critics give him a chance (though I'm sure Owen and Lisa at Entertainment Weekly will revert to "bland" and "wooden" once they get hold of it, since they seem to not possess vocabulary beyond that for what and who they don't like).

Comments

[venusinchains.livejournal.com]

Cool!

[veronica-rich.livejournal.com]

I love that icon ... or maybe I just like Alexander Siddig ... *G*

[eyeonahorizon.livejournal.com]

It's about time he is recognized for the talent he is.

I only hope this movie will be in wide distribution at some point so that others will get to eat their words.

[veronica-rich.livejournal.com]

There are clips of the movie posted a bit further back on that community if you want to look at "recent entries" ...

[pir8fancier.livejournal.com]

I'm sure you saw that he's not onboard for POTC 4. And neither is Keira. What WILL THE FANGIRLS DO, now that they are deprived of their favorite OTP and their favorite whipping boy?

[veronica-rich.livejournal.com]

See, I'm figuring there'll be some other hot younger thing brought in to threaten the sanctity of Jack's eye-candy status. So those fangirls can breathe easy, knowing they'll have the misguided fans of some other character/actor to preach feminism at. :-D

And the fact Keira isn't coming back shows an alarming ignorance of the actress on the series dynamics. How could she possibly think Elizabeth's story arc is wrapped up just because hers and Will's story has a semi-conclusion? Why, you'd think KK thought Elizabeth was ending up with WILL of all characters!

You know, it occurs to me that the Davenport fans owe gratitude to Bloom for shielding their favorite actor/character from the Depp Fangirls' Wrath, because he's also younger and nearly as good-looking as Depp, and probably would've gotten the J/E flames if Bloom hadn't been present. It always cracks me up to see the J/E fans who hate Will but LOOOOOOVE James, because I think to myself You know, if Will hadn't existed, Norrington would be bearing the brunt of that bitchiness.

[pir8fancier.livejournal.com]

Oh probably. Given that I'm madder than a wet hen at Mr. Depp right now (and you have to wonder if this colors fangirls' perception of him or his character, Jack Sparrow. I find it very difficult to divorce who the person seems to be;because, really, we don’t KNOW these people, obviously) from their screen persona, even magnificent actors like Depp). I’m curious how this squares with the feminist camp, because it’s pretty damning in my eyes on a bazillion levels.

I think the James was completely out of the romance picture when they had him throwing up all the time. Drunkards do not make for appropriate fantasy figures. The only thing positive to say about the next movie is that they’ve changed directors. Rob Marshall (who did a credible job on Chicago and apparently bombed on Nine) is the director.

I still do not understand the vitriol heaped on both the Will Turner character and/or Orlando Bloom. It’s very akin to the early days of HP when you have these ridiculous ship wars. Where you became divided into Camp A or Camp B. I thought it six different kinds of stupid when I read about it, until that very dynamic raised its ugly head in POTC fandom, and I found myself in Camp B without ever meaning to be in Camp B. I mean, with CofBP I was flat out the sort of fangirl who believed it was all good. I wrote slash, but I read pretty much anything I could get my hands on. And then I find myself on the wrong side of an equation that I didn’t even know existed. AND SHOULDN'T HAVE EXISTED.

I’m coming to believe that the interweaving of fantasy and fact and fandom is so personal that to say to someone, “I really thought that that movie was badly made and badly written,” is, ipso facto, seen as a personal attack if they liked it. Plain and simple. If it worked for their fantasy, then to say it doesn’t work for your fantasy is a shot over the bow.

In my defense I will say that to me it’s always the writing first, the fan thing second. No one more than me wanted DMC to be made of win. But the writing wasn’t there, the storytelling was horribly flawed (IMO), and at that point the covenant between writer/director/reader was broken. For me. For a lot of people, obviously, it wasn’t broken, and nothing I could say would change that. Fandom has an additional layer of the personal to it. Which is why I think that the constructive concrit debate always goes nowhere. Because the fangirl’s relationship to the source material resonates on a very personal level.

Yeah, I still hated that movie and I will defend my right to say so, but I also need to keep in mind that people will feel betrayed on a personal level by such an opinion. It’s a clusterfuck.

[veronica-rich.livejournal.com]

I’m curious how this squares with the feminist camp, because it’s pretty damning in my eyes on a bazillion levels.

(*sigh* OK, I'm going to pretend these movies are SRS BZNS for the following, because, honestly, if the fandom feminists are going to do it, that's the only real way to fight on their level.)

I don't think you have to understand how it squares, because the notion in the first place that Jack Sparrow was ever a "feminist" character is laughable.

1. He uses prostitutes. For a woman to choose to be a prostitute when she has other careers open to her is all well and good by the feminist credo, but that doesn't mean the men hiring her are supporters of feminism. They're not paying her so she can have a better life; they're paying her because that's the only way she'll drain their balls.
2. His first instinct in DMC on seeing Elizabeth was to lie to her by a rather serious omission about her fiance, use her worry and love for said fiance to find what HE wanted, and then try to get into her pants. Is that how to treat women with respect? Because I'm an actual feminist and if a man did that to me, when I found out what he'd done, I'd punch him in the eye. Then I'd consider punching in the eye any woman who said his actions were respectful of women. (Hey, look, I'm a feminist - I'm holding women accountable for their opinions.)
3. He voted for Elizabeth to be Pirate King. You know what that says? That he knew he couldn't get any of the other 7 pirate lords to do what he wanted. (Notice one of those 7 pirate lords was a woman. Why didn't Jack pick her, give her a chance to lead? She's obviously older and more experienced. Oh, but she's not nearly as young or pretty as Elizabeth. Or as easily manipulated. Yeah, that's Feminist Jack, all right! *snort*)
4. Jack's feminist fans say he wouldn't tie Elizabeth down with marriage. I bet he wouldn't! First time she ended up gravid, in fact, he'd "lose" her in the first available port and take off faster than the Road Runner. And on that note ...
5. I'd like to see a story where Elizabeth becomes one of the Pearl's crew under Jack as captain, or is being transported somewhere, without having to put out or be seduced by him. You don't know how many of those "empowering feminist" J/E stories operate under the "So, you want passage on/to work on my ship, misssy? Let ol' Jack slip the sausage to ye, savvy?" "No I won't! Yes I will! Oooh, Jack, your dick is better than Will's!" motif. Which is fine for personal fantasy - but feminism?

/skeptical cat iz skeptical

So really, for any self-proclaimed feminist to say that Jack Sparrow is a feminist or supporter of feminist ideals is a slap back in her own face and in that of her fellow girls and women. I can only conclude that the women who believe this claptrap are ill-educated or so blinded by their own vaginal itching for Johnny Depp that it's clouded their logic.

[pir8fancier.livejournal.com]

Frankly, I don't think they give Jack much thought. He merely the supporting cast in this dynamic. Because if you really gave some serious thought about it, the only "person" and I use that term lightly, that Jack has ever cared about (canonically) is the Black Pearl. If we're being honest here.

[veronica-rich.livejournal.com]

Yes - and he takes such excellent care of her when she's under his command, doesn't he? LOLOLOL ....

[giselleslash.livejournal.com]

I always love seeing critics/film reviews that "get it" - I'm hoping there are more positive than negative when the film finally shows at Sundance. Although, it's like you said, there are those that will brandish the bland/wooden sword no matter what. The dude could win an Oscar and he'd still get no love ;)

[veronica-rich.livejournal.com]

I don't mind an actor having to work and make effort to win over critics. Us lesser minions, after all, have to claw and scratch to get ahead in our careers, far more than Bloomsy's has to, frankly. His looks HAVE helped him a lot. But good looks do not discount talent, and for critics to rubber-stamp anything he's in with "nope, no talent, uh-unh, not got any, bland as a bird" is rather annoying when it's strictly untrue. A review that says "he seems to show glimmers of talent, just not in this role" or "I think he could do better" is at least fair in regards to him. (Now, Carrot Top on the other hand ....)