[ EPU Foyer ] [ Lab and Grill ] [ Bonus Theater!! ] [ Rhetorical Questions ] [ CSRANTronix ] [ GNDN ] [ Subterranean Vault ] [ Discussion Forum ] [ Gun of the Week ]

Eyrie Productions, Unlimited

Subject: "And then another day (one day, continued)"     Previous Topic | Next Topic
Printer-friendly copy    
Conferences Symphony of the Sword/The Order of the Rose Topic #445
Reading Topic #445, reply 14
laudre
Member since Nov-14-06
428 posts
Aug-08-14, 02:25 PM (EDT)
Click to EMail laudre Click to send private message to laudre Click to view user profileClick to add this user to your buddy list Click to send message via AOL IM  
14. "RE: And then another day (one day, continued)"
In response to message #10
 
   LAST EDITED ON Aug-08-14 AT 02:25 PM (EDT)
 
>At the risk of derailing this thread, I will briefly state that
>while that is part of "Death of the Author", it never was the
>only part of it. The original essay which named and explicated
>the concept argued against including the author's intentions
>into analysis of the work as well as his biographical details and
>context.

That's a part I tend to agree with.

>... ar too
>many self-congratulatory hack critics have pretty much redefined it as
>"the foolish author has no idea what he's really doing, only we
>enlightened elite do".

No argument here. The way I tend to approach it is that the final authority on the work is the work itself; authorial intent is informative but not definitive. There are good reasons for this; intending to communicate or portray one thing and ending up with something far more horrible happens quite a bit, and it bites especially hard when it's part of a larger cultural trend.

The above examples are rather extreme, but they're there to establish why "death of the author" is a thing. It means that, although Zack Snyder was trying to create a female empowerment fantasy and also make geek males feel guilty for male gaze and reduction of women to eye candy, what came out was a misogynistic, exploitative mess that commits the same sins Snyder said he was trying to skewer.

All of which rounds back to why the Corwin/Utena relationship (and the Corwin/Utena/Anthy triad) ultimately killed my ability to enjoy Symphony of the Sword. I get that Gryphon intended otherwise, but intention alone doesn't stop me from reading that progression in a far more unsettling fashion. It starts with this bit from Interlude at Bancroft Tower No. 1 in D Minor:

        "Is that all you're going to say?" Corwin persisted.  "What I
mean is... aren't you going to give me the usual speech about how I'm
a really great guy, and you like me a lot, and you hope we can still
be friends?"

That line of his? It reminds me of how Internet "Nice Guys" tend to view rejection. His subsequent behavior towards her -- going out to spend time with just her, including extended trips with just of the two of them, behavior that's dating in all but name -- reads an awful lot like he's put her in the girlfriend zone, and he's taking advantage of her being in an emotionally vulnerable and isolated state (consciously or otherwise) to level up from "friend" to "love interest."

Alternatively, she's aware of what's going on with their not-dating, and that ... really doesn't let Corwin off the hook (much), and it also means that, by poly standards, she's cheating on Anthy.

Either way, it skeeves me the fuck out when their relationship goes from friendship to romance, because it reads to me as validating the Nice Guy victim complex at the very least, and perhaps also tacitly endorsing cheating.


"Mathematics brought rigor to economics. Unfortunately, it also brought mortis."
- Kenneth Boulding


  Alert | IP Printer-friendly page | Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top

  Subject     Author     Message Date     ID  
 And then another day (one day, continued) [View All] laudre Aug-06-14 TOP
   RE: And then another day (one day, continued) Gryphonadmin Aug-06-14 1
      RE: And then another day (one day, continued) BobSchroeck Aug-06-14 2
          RE: And then another day (one day, continued) Gryphonadmin Aug-06-14 3
          RE: And then another day (one day, continued) Nova Floresca Aug-06-14 4
              RE: And then another day (one day, continued) BobSchroeck Aug-07-14 10
                  RE: And then another day (one day, continued) Nova Floresca Aug-07-14 11
                 RE: And then another day (one day, continued) laudre Aug-08-14 14
                      RE: And then another day (one day, continued) Gryphonadmin Aug-08-14 15
                          RE: And then another day (one day, continued) Offsides Aug-08-14 16
                              RE: And then another day (one day, continued) laudre Aug-08-14 19
                          RE: And then another day (one day, continued) trboturtle2 Aug-08-14 17
                              RE: And then another day (one day, continued) laudre Aug-08-14 20
                                  RE: And then another day (one day, continued) Terminus Est Aug-08-14 21
                                      RE: And then another day (one day, continued) laudre Aug-08-14 26
                                          RE: And then another day (one day, continued) The Traitor Aug-13-14 41
                                  RE: And then another day (one day, continued) Droken Aug-08-14 22
                                      RE: And then another day (one day, continued) laudre Aug-08-14 25
                                          RE: And then another day (one day, continued) Gryphonadmin Aug-08-14 31
                                              RE: And then another day (one day, continued) Droken Aug-08-14 32
                                  RE: And then another day (one day, continued) Gryphonadmin Aug-08-14 30
                      RE: And then another day (one day, continued) Nova Floresca Aug-08-14 18
                      RE: And then another day (one day, continued) Matrix Dragon Aug-08-14 23
                          RE: And then another day (one day, continued) laudre Aug-08-14 27
                              RE: And then another day (one day, continued) Matrix Dragon Aug-08-14 29
                                  RE: And then another day (one day, continued) Proginoskes Aug-10-14 36
                                      RE: And then another day (one day, continued) laudre Aug-10-14 37
      RE: And then another day (one day, continued) The Traitor Aug-06-14 5
      RE: And then another day (one day, continued) Mercutio Aug-13-14 38
          RE: And then another day (one day, continued) Gryphonadmin Aug-13-14 39
              RE: And then another day (one day, continued) Mercutio Aug-13-14 40
   RE: And then another day (one day, continued) Proginoskes Aug-07-14 6
      RE: And then another day (one day, continued) Gryphonadmin Aug-07-14 7
          RE: And then another day (one day, continued) Proginoskes Aug-07-14 8
              RE: And then another day (one day, continued) Gryphonadmin Aug-08-14 12
          RE: And then another day (one day, continued) Dwaggy Aug-07-14 9
      RE: And then another day (one day, continued) laudre Aug-08-14 13
          RE: And then another day (one day, continued) Vorticity Aug-08-14 28
              RE: And then another day (one day, continued) laudre Aug-09-14 33
      RE: And then another day (one day, continued) Matrix Dragon Aug-08-14 24
   RE: And then another day (one day, continued) Peter Eng Aug-10-14 34
      RE: And then another day (one day, continued) drakensis Aug-10-14 35


Conferences | Topics | Previous Topic | Next Topic

[ YUM ] [ BIG ] [ ??!? ] [ RANT ] [ GNDN ] [ STORE ] [ FORUM ] GOTW ] [ VAULT ]

version 3.3 © 2001
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited
Benjamin D. Hutchins
E P U (Colour)