One letter, six questions

[osprey_archer]

One letter, six questions meme. evelyn_b gave me J, which is surprisingly hard! Or maybe any letter might have been difficult; I guess I’m just not used to grouping things alphabetically in my mind.

Something I hate: Man, this is hard. I thought the movie Judgment at Nuremberg was pretentious and not nearly as morally insightful as it thought, but I felt bored rather than filled with hatred.

Oh! Jelly beans. Jelly beans are the worst. They’re sticky and too sweet and they have a weird texture and just in general they are disgusting.

Something I love: Julius Caesar! The Shakespeare play! Have I told you about the tragic nobility of Brutus, who is only trying to do what is best for Rome, only it all goes horribly wrong because he allows himself to be led astray by that viper in the grass, Cassius? I think I’ve mentioned this before.

I also think that this is probably not the most nuanced understanding of this play, but I first read it when I was in ninth grade so, you know, nuanced was not the name of the game.

Somewhere I’ve been: Jacksonville, Florida.

Somewhere I’d like to go: Japan!

Someone I know:: One of my friends in elementary school was a Jessica. But she was a grade above me, so we grew apart when she went over to the junior high.

A film I like: I have some reservations on J. Edgar – I think they should have focused more on the politics of Hoover’s life and less on his mostly-sublimated love affair with his second in command, Clyde Tolson – but nonetheless I did quite enjoy that mostly-sublimated love affair.

I also retain a weird fondness for Josie and the Pussycats, even though I wouldn’t really call it a good movie.

Let me know if you'd like a letter!

Comments

[evelyn-b.livejournal.com]

Julius Caesar! <3 Somehow I missed it in high school and never got around to reading it later because ugh, Julius Caesar, how boring. But it's actually NOT ABOUT CAESAR AT ALL; it's about how Brutus is the best (or TRYING REALLY HARD, anyway) and politics are the worst. I love it.

Have you read Plutarch's life of Brutus? It's excellent. You can see all the influences on Shakespeare (or "things Shakespeare copied") and it's full of Brutus being adorable and sad.

[osprey-archer.livejournal.com]

I haven't read Plutarch's life of Brutus! Clearly I should. Brutus is basically the original iron woobie, so beautifully sad and noble and stoic about it.

[goldjadeocean.livejournal.com]

Josie and the Pussycats feels to me like it set the tone for our generation? It's so fucking meta and postmodern and honestly genuine. Like, it knows that it's got a genre, which is the the teen girl movie, and then it knows the places you go from there--be super deep and philosophical about consumerism or whatever, or be super edgy and cynical and point out that puppies grow up into dogs who get old and die, and that friendships end; and it knows about parodies that play on all those things; and then it wraps right around and does what it sets out to do so at the end there are hugs and love and Everything Made Right again.

And it kind of feels like it was a sea-change, as the bright bubbly optimism of the 90s crashed into 9/11 and left us with what we have today.

[osprey-archer.livejournal.com]

I thought the subliminal messaging plot was so OTT that it undercut the better parts of the movie - it took time away from the friendship plot and undercut the critique of consumerism, because the brainwashing was so blatant that it seemed goofy.

But a lot of the movie is really good. The stuff about friendship is more thoughtful than a lot of other teen movies, despite all the weird trappings.

[minutia-r.livejournal.com]

Julius Caesar is my favorite too! Obviously my takeaway was much more nuanced than yours, since we did it in tenth grade.

(My takeaway: Brutus and Cassius can't get along, but OMG THEY LOVE EACH OTHER SO MUCH *_* I . . . hadn't really heard of slash or shipping at that point, and was fairly uninterested in sex in any form, even if it was two fictional men having it, but . . . yeah. I may have memorized that one scene.)

[osprey-archer.livejournal.com]

The one before the battle where they argue, and they have so many ~hurt feelings~ and Cassius opens his toga and hands Brutus his dagger so Brutus can stab him, because Brutus's words have already stabbed him through the heart?

That scene. I love that scene. Cassius, you emo drama queen.

[minutia-r.livejournal.com]

I cannot drink too much of Brutus' love INDEED.

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

*makes mental note that Osprey Archer hates jelly beans*

The problem with making mental notes is that they tend to drift onto the floor of my mind, and then I end up sweeping them up and simply tossing them.

[osprey-archer.livejournal.com]

Ha, well, it's not like you're likely to have a chance to serve me a banquet of jelly beans, so it will probably be all right. (Why would anyone serve a banquet of jelly beans anyway? Who would do such a thing?)

maybe strawberries instead

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

When you go on your author tour with your debut novel, I'm expecting you to give a reading at Odyssey Book Shop. I will host a party! But there will not be jelly beans.

[littlerhymes]

Brutus is great but I have to agree that the point of the play is obviously that Cassius wanted to hit that. ~NUANCE~~~

Josie and the Pussycats is 100% top shelf quality!

[osprey-archer.livejournal.com]

I mean, Cassius totally does want to tap that. He recognizes that Brutus is a higher and a nobler spirit than himself, and it draws him to Brutus even as it makes him want to tear Brutus down to his level - just as his recognition of Caesar's superiority makes Cassius want to destroy him.