Some links

[salinea]

The Race Fail 09 is still going on, although now it's become, basically, well... honestly I don't know how to comment on it so I'll give you the links I found particularly interesting:

http://coffeeandink.livejournal.com/901816.html

http://shewhohashope.livejournal.com/135685.html?format=light

http://veejane.livejournal.com/412361.html

(coffeeandink by the way, is my favourite SFF blogger, I always found her posts to be consistently very interesting, well thought and articulated, and about a wide range of subjects related to SFF and fandom.)


Abigail Nussbaum and Hal Duncan both have some very interesting posts criticising the recent and less recent episodes of Battlestar Galactica, in particular in terms of metaphors mix-up; and how cowardly the tackling of dark, political themes actually is in the show.


zoeiona on the problems with sexism and racism in the SFF genre.


(I didn't find any SCC icons I liked, so I made my own. Lookie!)

Comments

[cloud-wolf.livejournal.com]

Ahaha, yes, I read those first few links thanks to meta fandom, and I'm pretty appalled and disappointed. Race Fail 09 is a very appropriate name, methinks. I'm glad that it made me more aware of the fail in sf/f circles, it was a bit more vague for me before, I remember feeling somewhat uncomfortable when I saw those Arab ripoffs in Lord of the Rings, but that was it. (Also, now I can check out those recs with CoC in them. If I can find them here.)

Oh snap, Hal Duncan. Never seen BSG (I might not want to now) but that was very interesting and engaging. Now I wish I'd bought his book when I saw it in the second hand bookshop.

And then I read that link by Abigail Nussbaum, also very interesting.

[cloud-wolf.livejournal.com]

Also? This comment for one of the people of Duncan's blog.
It's wasn't that cut and dried to me, but it did make me very uncomfortable how in the past 8 episodes (plus the webisodes), Gaeta was loaded up with traditional Hollywood risk factors (maimed, bitter, gay) then killed in one of the worst ways he could have gone.
This made me laugh. And with laugh I mean wince. This would be why I fear for Loras and his role in asoiaf. Please George, don't go there.

[etrangere.livejournal.com]

Awwwwww Loras, no!!!

Gaeta was my favourite minor character in BSG too. He's such a woobie and cute and adorable, and then he gets all bitter and snarky and is awesome. You know everyone read him as gay, including the actor, and that's the only reason Jane Espenson granted for him to be bisexual in the webisodes actually?

more spam

[cloud-wolf.livejournal.com]

I have come back to admit I kinda worship Hal Duncan now. That epic post he made after someone commented about how he didn't care much because he wasn't Jewish or American? Epic and enlightening. I should remember that because I never want to make that kind of comment ("I don't care because I'm not a part of that") and also because I'm afraid that I might've made a comment like that before :(

Re: more spam

[etrangere.livejournal.com]

Yeah Hal Duncan is awesome. I only read one of his book so far, but it was pretty good as well (of course I'm biaised: it's got a lot of Sumerian mythology in it and I adore Sumerian mythology ^^)

He's very sweet in person too, and his blog is kick ass (if you like reading LONG posts *g*)

[etrangere.livejournal.com]

Racefail is indeed full of many fails. It's quite disgusting and the worst is that it does successfully pull discutions apart from, you know, discussions about PoC's experiences and stories. I love how cofeeandink asked for people commenting on her posts to be reccing books by PoCs or with CoCs.

BSG is difficult. It does hold well until the middle of S2, and even beyond that has many good episodes and moments. The cinematography is gorgeous, the music really awesome, the acting great and many characters are also very loveable (but very flawed). The big fail come from the storytelling which just... doesn't make any sense. It's full of plotholes and incoherence, and gobsmacking narrative when they try to be political and "edgy", and the worldbuilding is just non-existent.

[rebbe]

I kind of have no words right now.

I think I am going to go hit my head against a wall repeatedly.

[etrangere.livejournal.com]

Yes, it does that.

[scriva.livejournal.com]

I have to thank you for the link to Hal Duncan's blog, even though, I shouldn't have done it, because I have not watched BSG beyond season 1, and now, I don't even want to watch the rest anymore, because of what they did to Gaeta and Zarek and Starbuck.