(no subject)

[ksmith]

Got up at 9am, which is what happens when I go to bed at 1am. This seems to be my default clock--the last time I took siginificant time away from the day job, I eventually wound up going to bed at 1-2am and getting up at 9-10am. I don't really like that. I miss too much daylight that way, especially now. And next week is back to work, so I need to re-readjust starting, like, tonight.

Watched about 2/3 of Sin City last night on Spike. Too much POV talking in order to fill in what there was of the plot, and gory as all hell. Yet one of the most compulsively watchable films I've seen in a long time. If I hadn't been so tired, I'd have watched the rest. Biggest surprise--Elijah Wood's character. I'll keep a look out for it on the schedule, and catch what I missed.

So sometimes Spike shows decent movies. But it is geared toward younger men, and their advertising is limited and leans toward icky/eye-rolling, male enhancement products and Girls Gone Wild videos (isn't the guy who founded that in jail??) I wish there was a cable station that ran action films and such that was geared toward a female audience. I know Lifetime has the Tanya Huff series, but isn't the rest pretty much 'family crisis of the week' or 'who murdered this woman'? Hell, even geared toward a general audience would be good, but I would think action films for women would work. But then, Hollywood would actually have to make a couple. So strike that.

I think by the end of the week, I'll post a list of things I need to remember the next time I do this extended writing time thing.

Speaking of writing, 2627 words yesterday. Bit of a cheat since I nicked about half of that from old draft. An introductory chapter for a new POV--this character has been seen previously and readers will think they know them but they don't. It will need reworking to suit the new tone of the thing, but I think it's usable.

Pups have already been out a couple of hours--I had to get up around 630ish to let them out, then went back to bed. They're sleeping now. I need my coffee. Then, to horse.

Comments

[touchstone.livejournal.com]

Hell, even geared toward a general audience would be good, but I would think action films for women would work. But then, Hollywood would actually have to make a couple. So strike that.

What would characterize an 'action film for women'? Are there any films that fit that category (or come close) which could serve as examples? (Intended as a serious question for discussion, not as a challenge!)

You're in a better position than most of us to make this happen; if you wrote a screenplay, you could actually get someone to read it :)

[mother2012.livejournal.com]

What would characterize an 'action film for women'?

Just passing through, but thought I'd comment that I would suppose that's the reason for the huge success of Lord of the Rings. The men were being responsible and thoughtful instead of all macho, and they managed to be sexy without taking their clothes off. And there was at least one woman who wasn't vapid.

[kristine-smith.livejournal.com]

LotR touched people on so many different levels. Readers felt so strongly about those books as a whole before the films were even made. The women as portrayed in the films did possess varying levels of authority.

[kristine-smith.livejournal.com]

What would characterize an 'action film for women'? Are there any films that fit that category (or come close) which could serve as examples? (Intended as a serious question for discussion, not as a challenge!)

IMO, ALIENS. Yes, Ripley was saving a child, which is an 'allowable' reason for a woman to be damned violent. ALIEN until the point where Ripley strips to her underwear, which I read later was Weaver's idea--she wanted to highlight the difference between the soft slight human and the large, dark, reptilian alien--but it just seemed gratuitous to me. Judging from the reaction when she stripped--college campus theater--her interpretation was not the one that was appreciated.

The fact that the part of Ripley was originally written for a man, wasn't tweaked much if at all when Weaver wound up being cast, AND STILL WORKED DAMNED WELL, is telling. Unfortunately, the right people didn't listen.

I'm trying to think of other ones and coming up short. It doesn't help that my filmgoing over the last 10-15 years has been limited. It seems to me that some of the Chinese action films have larger roles for woman-as-warrior, but I could be wrong.

SIN CITY is disturbing and elegant in an ubernoir, uberviolent way. But all the straight women are prostitutes or exotic dancers. The one woman who isn't is a lesbian--does that exempt her from having to be a sex worker? If she could work as a parole officer, couldn't some straight woman...?

Forgot. Teeny part of a woman as a judge, sexual orientation unknown. Unhinged, however.

Yes, I know, this is a filmed comic book. The prostitutes do rule their section of the city, so have some authority in their world. But older white males ruled Basin City overall. Would have enjoyed seeing a woman as the Senator, or as some sort of power figure.

If I wrote a screenplay...I've thought about it, but. Time. The fact that Hollywood is such a different world/culture that I don't know if I could get anyone to read it. Selling books to the movie folk is one thing, but a screenplay is something else.

[touchstone.livejournal.com]

Alien/Aliens hadn't crossed my mind - good call. If it /had/ starred a man in the lead role instead, would it still have had good appeal for women, do you think? And if not, is it because the appeal comes specifically from having a female lead character, or does it come from the effect the /actress/ has on the direction and feel of the movie? I could see either one; to the extent that there IS 'what women like to see', surely having women involved in the decisions about the story and how it's told would have to help. Fran Walsh's certainly had a huge influence over the LotR movies.

It seems to me that some of the Chinese action films have larger roles for woman-as-warrior, but I could be wrong.

Michele Yeoh certainly does very well for herself. I think I read somewhere that she faced some gender-based resistance getting to where she is now, though. I don't know enough about Hong Kong cinema to know how representative she is.

[kristine-smith.livejournal.com]

If it /had/ starred a man in the lead role instead, would it still have had good appeal for women, do you think?

I don't know. I tend to doubt it. More below.

And if not, is it because the appeal comes specifically from having a female lead character, or does it come from the effect the /actress/ has on the direction and feel of the movie?

Sigourney Weaver is an exceptional actress, and while she is attractive, she is not the traditional Size 0 Hollyblonde. She is tall, well-built, and gives off a no-nonsense vibe that combined to create a memorable action hero. I thought I read somewhere that Weaver received altogether too many action role scripts after the Alien films, which she turned down because she didn't want to be typecast that way. If she had rolled with it, could she have been a female Bruce Willis? Could she have veered to a female Jimmy Stewart or Tom Hanks? Who knows--I'm just riffing here.

Thought of another one--Linda Hamilton as Sarah Conner in T2. I still remember all the articles about the workout regimens and OMG her arms.

Lucy Lawless as Xena--I would think that would count as far as TV went. Then there's Buffy.

mother2012 raises the point about the men in LotR, which I think also applies to the other films and shows I talk about. The men are, for the most part, unfazed by and accepting of the heroine's competence and abilities. She doesn't have to keep proving herself. On the flip, she isn't treated as less womanly because she's competent. The story isn't the fact of her competence. Her abilities are assumed and accepted for what they are, and the story goes on from there.

[touchstone.livejournal.com]

On the flip, she isn't treated as less womanly because she's competent. The story isn't the fact of her competence. Her abilities are assumed and accepted for what they are, and the story goes on from there.

That's an excellent way to put it. There's nothing wrong with a 'woman succeeding in a man's world' story, but that shouldn't have to be the focus of EVERY story with a strong female protagonist. And eventually, one hopes that story will become dated.

[kristine-smith.livejournal.com]

And eventually, one hopes that story will become dated.

It may take time. It may or may not be generational. I'll never forget the time I disclosed a little bit of the plot of CODE to my Dad, who was in his 70s at the time and very hidebound in many respects. After I told him about Jani, and I am sure I said she was ex-military, he asked me who the man was who was going to save her. I said that she really wasn't going to be saved, but there were these two men in her life, and I got The Face, this sort of 'eh--no like' frown. Some of it may have been OMG--my little girl is going to write about s-e-x. Some of it was, I'm sure, that he wasn't interested in reading that brand of story. OTOH, I know he watched and enjoyed the ALIEN movies, but I don't know whether he considered the stories Ripley-centric. In a way they're not because we don't go into her past to find out why she is the way she is. I think that's another thing with those films--no psych analysis of the characters, no backstory. Just quick character sketches and off to the races, like any other war film.

I also recall the time when I rec'd SHARDS OF HONOR to a friend who was looking for a book for her skiffy-reading and (now ex) husband. The first thing she asked was whether a woman was the main character. I said yes, and talked about the story a little bit. She bought it for him, and he HATED it. I don't know why, but I am aware of the old saw that women will read books with male protags but not the other way around. Would men go to see an action film starring a woman? That may be the bigger question.

Blood Ties

[khavrinen.livejournal.com]

I know Lifetime has the Tanya Huff series

Unfortunately, it's actually "Lifetime had ..." [/grumble]

Re: Blood Ties

[kristine-smith.livejournal.com]

Ah...