Always so cold :/

[petronia]

Finally got around to reading Brokeback Mountain, the short story. Hmm... I prefer the movie, actually, and not just because the overall effect of the short story is (to me) a lot bleaker. The film has a sense of spaciousness about it, a sort of quiet naturalistic observation (maybe I appreciate the fact that it's shot like a Western?) and willingness to flesh out the human surroundings as well as the natural scenery. It actually took me a few passes over the first paragraphs to get into the story because I didn't expect it to be told in that voice, coming off the film. Proulx's prose is dense and full of adjectives and switches back and forth between far omniscient-third tell-not-show and long character speeches - accented at that. And descriptions of weather and vegetation. Reminds me of nothing so much as an old Scottish ballad.

...Actually, you could write a perfectly good ballad with the story of Brokeback Mountain. ^^;

I do see how reading the short story first would inform a viewing of the film re: what the intended message must be. The short story is much more of a tragic arc, where Ennis is presented as the hero who chooses wrongly and must live with the consequences. But perhaps this demonstrates all the more that one shouldn't judge a film before one sees it.

***

So I can tag this entry as "movies": last night I watched The Notebook with mother and sis. Could not stop thinking of the desire vs. self-realisation essay over at worldserpent's, because it was the veritable template of a desire-based romance storyline if I ever saw one. XD I think my sister was fairly annoyed by it, but that is because she has Norrington Syndrome**. I thought the parts with the old couple were sweet, but the dry-eyed pragmatist would be better served by renting Iris.


** In every story where the heroine is forced to choose between the rich, capable, respectable and caring fiancé and the penniless boy she just happens to Love!, my sister roots for the fiancé and does not understand why the girl would go for someone who is not rich, capable, etc. not to mention a general dorkass who as often as not behaves badly toward the heroine (but this is supposed to be a sign of his internal conflict due to Love!, whereas the fiancé's understanding generosity merely connotes his relative lack of passionate impulse). In recent years she has become bitter and mostly expresses the opinion that the fiancé should go off and find himself a worthier woman.

Comments

[worldserpent.livejournal.com]

I take it then Norrington Syndrome sufferers are self-realizers par excellance? Or is it a separate phenomenon? (Come to think of it, what are people with Norrington syndrome to do when it comes to romantic movies/stories/etc?)

[petronia.livejournal.com]

I think it might be a separate desire-based phenomenon, actually; or perhaps it's the text that fails to convince the viewer that heroine and boy A are MFEO despite boy A's socioeconomic disadvantages/emo/dorkiness, or alternately fails in making boy B unattractive enough despite obvious advantages. XD I mean, this wasn't a problem in Titanic IIRC, the fiancé there was a possessive psycho. But to viewers who are attracted to maturity and responsibility proper in lieu of "passionate" fancies, the fiancé who keeps his cool while heroine and beau are haring about like headless chickens starts to look like a very good deal.

I dare say a lot of PotC fans find Norrington more attractive than Will (I do!), but now we're talking slash fandom so this is skewing in yet another direction...

[worldserpent.livejournal.com]

Although, if the reader/viewer does go "he should find himself a better woman than the heroine!!!" does that mean that the text has sufficiently convinced the viewer that the hero and heroine are MFEO?

Well, I don't think you need to be a slash fan to head in that direction, though. I found Will rather boring anyhow, objectively.

[petronia.livejournal.com]

That is to say, I don't think "a penchant for self-realisation narrative" and "a practical temperament w/r/t romantic goals" are necessarily the same things, even though they probably coincide in practice. XD Norrington Syndrome sufferers root for Norrington because they find him more attractive romantically; if we keep with the example of PotC, one could make a compelling case that Elizabeth's path of self-realisation lies in running away (with or without Will) and becoming a pirate queen sailing the seven seas, but certainly not in becoming Mrs. Norrington.

[worldserpent.livejournal.com]

Indeed, "self-realizer" and "practical sort" aren't the same thing, as you can be the breed of Romantic who does believe that people self-realize best by following their Romantic urges. So it's really more about the interest in the Norrington type, although I would gather the question of what are sufferers supposed to do is still a good one, because isn't it more difficult to write a romantic (small r) about practical people?

[niqaeli]

...zomg, yes.

I keep writing AUs where Elizabeth married Norrington because, dammit, he was a much better match all around. I do like Elizabeth, I just think she's capable of being very, very stupid. And, mind, I like Will! But Norrington was so much better all around.

I always end up rooting for the rich and capable guy because, hi, rich! Capable! CAPABLE! Love grows where you encourage it, after all. Also, dude, penniless people usually have problems that go along with the penniless and often *create* the pennilessness.

Apparently, I am very much the epitome of the genetic programming to look after my kids--I want a man who has resources and can take care of me, not a man whose only points are that he's attractive and he wuvs me.

[chaosphaere.livejournal.com]

After doing the OMGHeHasNothingToOfferBUTILOVEHIM!!! and marrying him and now divorcing him after only a year of marriage, I'd take the practical, nice one.

[motorbike.livejournal.com]

In a split choice story, I always root for the boy the girl has more fun with, even if he is bad for her. ESPECIALLY if he is bad for her.

Arrrrgh I'm so bored

[joliefolie.livejournal.com]

Some of the vegetation / weather description was really impressive, though. O_o And you feel 1.7% more empathy for Ennis in the short story. (But... strangely... there are certain lines in the short story that one finds a bit funny? [Was I supposed to?])

NOT getting drawn into the Norrington syndrome debate!