I don’t like how often platonic male friendships in film are sexualized by fans. it’s a pet peeve of mine that’s bothered me for years. I’m not saying that we shouldn’t be able to ‘ship’ favorite male characters in fanfiction; taking something that isn’t canon and finding ways to make it work is a creative endeavor that I fully support. it’s more the notion that any close platonic male friendship is automatically put under the microscope and touted as ‘in denial’, that the characters are hiding their true feelings because of society’s outdated standards. I feel it cheapens something that is heartfelt and honest.
In a recent Variety interview with Marvel’s The Falcon and The Winter Soldier star Anthony Mackie, this issue was raised in relation to the strong urging of fans for his character, Sam Wilson, to acknowledge the supposed sexual tension with costar Sebastian Stan’s Bucky Barnes. We’ve Got This Covered‘s Scott Campbell summed up Mackie’s words, saying “the implications of homosexuality between the two are both potentially exploitative and indicative of a larger problem in the industry where platonic male friendships struggle to be realized without some sort of overt romantic undertones being hinted at, whether through accident or design.”
Mackie’s thoughts on the issue caused some fans to send out the battle cry and ‘cancel’ him. I respect him for not pandering to fan service and saying what he thinks in protection of his character. Fans are free to have their fun, no one is saying that they can’t, but sometimes it feels like we’re heading back to where we started from.
Growing up in the 1980s, I was constantly bombarded with the derogatory use of the term ‘gay’ applied to anything that was thought to be too ‘girly’ for males to partake in. clothes, music, books, movies, food, hobbies, extracurricular activities; it was all scrutinized, nothing was safe from the peer pressure of the then, negative label. boys didn’t hug, they didn’t show an outward abundance of concern for one another, and God forbid, they didn’t cry. I am very happy that times have changed in regards to those things. mostly. it’s not that they’re not accepted now, but instead of a wink-wink elbow jab and fake cough taunt in the negative, it’s morphed into a ‘are you blind, everyone knows they’re really f***ing’ jab to those who think that ‘just friends’ is still a thing. I find close male-male friendships inspiring, that two males can have a bond so strong that they’re willing to go the distance to uphold it. that’s something that should be gender blind.
why can’t we accept the fact that between two people, having a deep and meaningful friendship is at least as important–and often has more impact–than a sexual one? ~Declan Wilson, P.S. I Love You
Frodo clings to his former gardener turned best friend Sam in The Return of the King, when it looks as if they won’t survive their quest to save the world
River Phoenix’s Stand By Me delinquent Chris, comforts his buddy Gordie as they trade emotional confessions of prejudice and grief
USS Enterprise Science Officer Spock, who is suffering from radiation exposure, shares an emotional goodbye with Admiral James T. Kirk, proclaiming “I have been, and always shall be, your friend“
While romantic relationships between males are no longer widely ridiculed like they once were, defending a platonic friendship as ‘just friends’, makes it sound like it’s less than. to openly show how deeply we care for others is a strength we need to cultivate.
See the market place in old Algiers Send me photographs and souvenirs Just remember when a dream appears You belong to me
It was on an unseasonably warm day in the beginning of October that I found an unexpected visitor at my door, Flat Richie from the Richard Armitage fandom!
oh, I’m Richie, by the way. sorry! all over the shop today.
I’m a little embarrassed to admit that I forgot he was coming. you see, he didn’t give me a set date that he would arrive nor did I press him on the issue, just an invitation of ‘when you come through Indiana, you can stay at my place!’ Richie has been on a once in a lifetime trip around the world, stopping for short stays at fan’s houses, exchanging gifts and then moving on to the next destination. he’s been at it since November!
[I apologize in advance for my less-than-stellar photos. I still can’t work my phone]
I was excited to receive the unexpected visitor but my house was a mess
I’m still waiting for that fairytale scene where the animals clean everything for me
and our plans for the weekend wouldn’t afford any fun trips downtown to see the sights. sorry, Richie, you’re stuck spending time inside my house with me and the cats!
I dug into the box of mystery straight away and got to work unwrapping all the colorful tissue wrapped gifts. so many unique and pretty things to choose from! I made a pile of things I wanted to pick from, taking things out of the pile and putting them back in again. back and forth, back and forth, how was I going to choose?! I gave up and waited for my daughter to get home from school, hoping for her input.
Richie, watching me ‘work’
In the meantime, I opened up the log book and was suddenly transported to far away lands, like any good book will do. I really enjoyed reading all of the entries and turning all of the beautiful handmade pages. I’ll even admit that I read the pages about pine trees that were taken from a real book and used for decorative purposes. it taught me the names of the different pine trees that I have in my back yard, which I didn’t previously know. so not only is the log book fun but it’s educational too! once my daughter arrived home, we spent the evening going through the gifts and matching them up to their entries in the journal. she thought the whole concept was really fun, plus she fell in love with a pair of giraffe earrings and claimed them as her own. my husband was impressed with the fact that Richard himself signed the journal, and so was I! I forgot that he had signed the book until I ran across it and gasped in surprise, then I reverently touched it with my fingers, and then laughed at my own reaction!
the next evening, after I had finally made my choices, I switched out the box because it was looking a little worse for wear (I went a little crazy decorating it with some of my daughter’s decorative tape). then Richie was out the door and on to his next destination. my picks from the Richie booty were a pen and dust cloth set from Australia, a pretty ornament and key chain from France, and a magnet highlighting historic architecture from Germany, along with the funky earrings my daughter loves.
Thank You to all who have taken part in this traveling project, it was a memorable experience! I wish Richie well on his continuing journey. stay safe, Richie! oh, and Thorin wants me to tell you to not be as stubborn as him and just accept help from the GPS…
so he lost his way twice, what of it?
Flat Richie is a fandom endeavor organized by RA Fandom’s Guylty, from the Guylty Pleasure blog. go check out her posts to track Richie’s journey
Fly the ocean in a silver plane See the jungle when it’s wet with rain
Just remember ’til you’re home again You belong to me
The first time I saw The Shawshank Redemption in the cinema, I freaked myself out. I swore I was having a major case of Deja Vu because throughout the movie there were several instances when I knew what was going to happen before it did. and not like when you’re watching a poorly written story where you can predict what will most likely happen, in this case I knew specific events and even lines of dialogue! When I went home and told my mother, she laughed and said it was because I read the book. It’s a short story by Stephen King called ‘Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption’.
The story was part of a collection named ‘Different Seasons’. I read the book when I was 15 and I remember being shocked by the descriptions of prison life, particularly the ‘Sisters’ storyline. Coincidentally the book also contained the short stories that turned into ‘Apt Pupil’ and ‘Stand by Me’.
Andy: I have no enemies here.
Red: Yeah? Wait a while. Word gets around. The Sisters have taken quite a likin’ to you. Especially Boggs.
Andy: I don’t suppose it would help if I told them that I’m not homosexual.
Red: Neither are they. You have to be human first. They don’t qualify.
I may have initially forgotten about the book version of this story but the movie version stayed with me. I thought about it constantly, quotes from the movie that I could relate to on a personal level:
I could see why some of the boys took him for snobby. He had a quiet way about him, a walk and a talk that just wasn’t normal around here. He strolled, like a man in a park without a care or a worry in the world, like he had on an invisible coat that would shield him from this place. Yeah, I think it would be fair to say… I liked Andy from the start.
Visual aspects that I found pleasing:
And just the general situation that Andy found himself in: serving a prison sentence for something that he didn’t do but felt like he caused to happen. So not only physically serving time but emotionally serving it as well, through guilt.
‘She was beautiful. God I loved her. I just didn’t know how to show it, that’s all. I killed her, Red. I didn’t pull the trigger, but I drove her away. And that’s why she died, because of me.’
I love many parts of this movie but I have two particular favorites. First, when Andy finds himself part of the work crew that is tarring the roof. He gives the main guard some financial advice, after being a little too blunt in his delivery and almost getting himself thrown off the building.
Andy: Mr. Hadley, do you trust your wife?’
In exchange, Andy requests that his friends get the chance to indulge in some bottled beer during one of their rest breaks. Andy didn’t partake himself, since it was alcohol induced decisions that got him stuck there in the first place, but he found comfort in watching his friends enjoy the treat.
‘We sat and drank with the sun on our shoulders and felt like free men.’
The second scene I really like, is when Andy finally gets his donation of books that he’s been requesting in order to update the prison library. Some music was also included in the shipment and so he locks himself in the Warden’s office and plays an Opera record over the main sound system. Visually speaking, the scene is beautiful: all of the prisoners who are out in the prison yard stop to listen in awe. and inside, Andy is laid back in the Warden’s chair taking in the beautiful sounds himself.
Andy knows what the consequences will be for pulling such a stunt, but he believes it was worth it. The consequence being, spending time in solitary confinement. Afterwards, his description of music resonates with me. I too value music as a gift, storing it in my head and bringing it out when needed, either out loud by singing/humming or in silence by just remembering.
That’s the beauty of music. They can’t get that from you…there’s something inside that they can’t get to, that they can’t touch. That’s yours.
The big reveal towards the end of the movie is very exciting and always leaves me feeling inspired, not only for Andy- with his patience and determination- but for his friend Red as well. I love a happy ending.
‘I hope to see my friend and shake his hand. I hope the Pacific is as blue as it has been in my dreams. I hope.’
Have you ever watched a movie, read the reviews and interviews afterwards, and then wondered if you somehow saw a different version of it than everyone else? That’s what happened to me when I watched Dan Stevens in ‘The Ticket’. It’s an independent film that originally premiered at a film festival last year but recently released to a wider audience (including paid viewing online). So I missed what little press and promotion it did get, only becoming aware of it shortly before it’s recent release. I wasn’t sure I wanted to watch it at first, because the premise seemed so sad. The trailer presented it as a blind man who regains his sight and starts chasing a more superficial lifestyle. He becomes an over-achiever at work, has an extramarital affair, leaves his family, and then eventually regrets it all.
The reviews I had seen regarding the film claimed it was predictable, long and boring. After finishing the movie, I felt sad because the people who wrote those reviews ended up missing the beautiful story that it tells, both visually and emotionally. It’s true that it wasn’t a happy story but I felt Dan’s character, James, got the short end of the stick in perceptions of him. I did not find him to be exceptionally selfish, like was described in the promotional articles I had read. Instead, I found him to be very human in his reactions. I did not see the wife and their best friend as victims of his arrogance either, taking no blame for the eventual downfall of their connected lives. What follows are my thoughts. There will be spoilers.
The movie begins in darkness, as you hear James and his wife interacting with each other while they prepare for bed. They seem to get along, are friendly and silly with each other, life is good. Except for a sigh from James as he walks outside to get some air before turning in for the night. The next morning James wakes up and realizes he can see.
The doctor says the tumor that had been blocking his vision since young adulthood had unexpectedly shrunk with no rhyme or reason to it. As James tries to re-acclimate as a person of sight, I spot three distinct hurdles for his new life.
Hurdle Number One: his wife, Sam, is used to being in control. she’s a caretaker, constantly ‘helping’. she’s been keeping secrets about their son’s well being from James. he doesn’t need to worry, she’ll handle it.
Hurdle Number Two: Bob, James’ best friend, who works with him as a telemarketer for a real estate company. Bob is also blind and is prideful about it, while also harboring secret affections for James’ wife.
Hurdle Number Three: James’ curiosity about other women. we first see this when the family is on vacation and James asks a woman to dance while visiting the hotel bar alone. it seemed innocent enough, Sam fell asleep and so he wandered down by himself. he sees all the couples dancing, which is how he and Sam first met and something they routinely do as a couple. James and the woman both establish that they are vacationing with their spouses, but he eventually asks her to dance. when they do, it’s a little too close and the whole incident feels very intimate. the issue escalates with a female work colleague that James finds himself working alongside when he aspires to achieve something more at his job.
James and Sam are not getting along, now that he can see. While I don’t discount the view that James became a little too ambitious, suddenly wanting things that he voiced no desire for before, I don’t think it was a case of his new found sight corrupting him. I think he never strove for more because he simply thought it pointless. There’s a difference between contentment, and just making the most of what you’re given. And while I can sympathize with the wife’s plight of suddenly having her well ordered life turned upside down, they are married. Marriage (to me) means they are partners, not only in parenting their son but in all other aspects of their life together as well. I feel like Sam expected nothing to change, that she thought James would just relish in the wonder of sight as he went about his same routine. She didn’t expect that he would have talents that he could now utilize at work, that he would want to learn how to drive in order to be more self sufficient, that he would want to make decisions about their son and not have her undermine them behind his back. I think all of this played a part in his growing attraction to his coworker.
James was feeling coddled in his marriage and bitter about the fact that he didn’t realize it had been this way all along. Before they separated, James went to a work function and Sam didn’t come. James was giving his coworker some flirty glances during that party and you could definitely tell that something was building between them. The night of the work function he asked Sam what she originally saw in him. why did she single him out at the dance when they first met? She said he looked miserable and she thought that maybe she could help. His response was that when you ask someone to dance it’s usually because you’re attracted to them, not because you pity them.
When James regained his sight not only did he become conscious of his looks
but Sam suddenly became conscious of hers too. She started wearing dresses, fussing over her hair, wearing jewelry, and jokingly claiming she had to look better now that he could see her. The small, neat life that Sam had created for them was unraveling. As someone who has been married for 20 years, I can sympathize with her loss of control, but I don’t think she was being fair to James. The next night they went out dancing because James had promised that he would but vowed that it would be the last time. The scene at the dance was heartbreaking. The way they clung to each other on the dance floor, like they knew what was destined to happen and so they were hanging on for one final embrace. Then Sam told him if he leaves, he can’t come back. Neither one of them were making a true effort to fight for their marriage, they both gave up rather quickly. In telling James he can never come back, Sam basically pushed him out the door. and he went so willingly, like it was the next expected step to move forward.
The “novelty”, as his girlfriend later calls it, eventually wears off for James and he starts to lament what he gave up when he walked away. The coworker, while not a bad person, doesn’t really connect with James emotionally. The son doesn’t want to stay at his father’s house anymore and feels like a stranger to him now. Sam has thrown herself into exercising, and goes out dancing a lot. James shows up to one of these dances and sees that she’s dancing with Bob, the friend who tried to sabotage James’ project at work because he didn’t agree with his methods (the ethics of the project were questionable but Bob went behind James’ back to discredit it) James and Sam share a dance in which she assures him that she’s just dancing with Bob, it’s nothing more (even though it looks like it has the potential to be), because she would never take away his only friend. condescending much?
The climax of the story, is that James loses his sight again. Dan Stevens really shines as he conveys James’ desperation here. From the vulnerable breakdown he has in his bedroom, to the argument with Bob (where Bob says that James had everything Bob had ever wanted and he threw it away), ending with his perilous journey to Sam’s doorstep where she tells him that she can’t take him back. The film ends with James wandering out into the field as the last of his vision completely fades. We see blackness again, and the surrounding sounds of the wilderness become amplified. Footsteps can be heard walking up behind him and then soft “shhh” noises of comfort.
Overall I found the story very moving. It left me contemplating the whys and hows of the dissolution of their marriage. The actions that could have prevented it, the different paths that could have been taken along the way, and also what might have happened afterwards. Through it all though I didn’t see James as the ‘bad’ guy, the selfish man who left his wife and family for bigger and better things. I didn’t see his wife as the ‘good’ guy, the understanding and supportive partner who had been left behind, and I didn’t see Bob as the loyal friend who had to witness the downfall of his best friend’s second chance. I think they all could have done more, tried harder to understand, and just gave the situation more time.
The look of the film itself, I found pleasing to the eye. The soft hues were comforting (as was the cadence of Dan’s voice throughout), the landscapes familiar, and the structure of the story was just what it needed to be. It needed to be told in that way. We needed to bond with James, to see the things that were bubbling under the surface in each of his relationships without them being thrust in our faces, fast and loud. I don’t think James regained his sight because he repeated a mantra every night saying how grateful he was, or that his sight was taken away again because he squandered his chance. Others may find spiritual lessons in the film, but I did not. I found human lessons, marriage lessons, identity lessons. Points I will continue to ponder, and hopefully learn from.
I was familiar with Jamie Dornan from his (woefully) short stint on Once Upon a Time as the Sheriff. So when he was cast in Fifty Shades of Grey I was like, “hey, I know him!”
…if I only had a heart
Fast forward to a few weeks ago when I was surfing the Net looking for clips of Christian Grey to help me decide if I was brave enough to see it in the movie theater.
update: still not brave enough
It was then that I stumbled across The Falland soon found myself enamored with a (fictional) serial killer. After I realized that it wasn’t just the character I was smitten with but the real life actor as well, I settled in for a YouTube marathon. And that is how I found Shadows in the Sun. I read a few comments about the film before I began watching. The prevailing opinion seemed to be that it was boring, with very little plot, but visibly appealing. So…like these blog posts, then?
Spoilers Ahead
(no seriously, I basically reveal the whole plot)
This is Joe:
He’s a drifter who befriends an older lady by the name of Hannah. Joe likes to sit with Hannah and hear all her old stories (and smoke Weed with her); he keeps her company because she lives alone. Hannah is sickly, so they spend a lot of time in her bedroom.
This concerned me at first but rest assured, this isn’t Harold & Maude. Though some humor could have brightened up the place…Hannah has a son who doesn’t like Joe much, but his children do. Hannah’s grandson, Sam, takes a liking to Joe and often meets up with him after Joe is done working odd jobs for the day.
Sam’s older sister also takes a liking to Joe. She doesn’t just like him though, she like-likes him. So Joe brings her back to his love shack.
like Joe’s Crab Shack but without the crabs. maybe.
It was actually a very sweet encounter between Joe and Kate. Because Joe is kind of dreamy.
huggin and kissin, dancin and a lovin
But as Kenny Rogers once said, “don’t fall in love with a dreamer.” Joe has plans to make his way to America, so their love is bittersweet.
Sam sees the two of them together and storms off in a huff. He’s had a lot going on, poor guy. His grandmother is dying, his dad is channeling Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde, and now his friend is starry-eyed for his sister. Yuck!
FYI: this is not yuck.
Sam runs off to the abandoned shipwreck, out on the sandbar, that he’s not supposed to go to. It’s getting late in the day and the tide will be coming in, so Joe goes out to bring him back. The tide comes in fast though and they get caught in it. Been there done that, and I do not recommend it.
Joe and Sam almost drown but Sam gets pulled ashore by his father and an old fisherman. Meanwhile…where the frig is Joe?!
don’t mind me. just gasping for air, here.
He eventually stumbles out with nothing but a slight head nod from the fisherman as thanks. Then Joe walks off and that’s pretty much the last we see of him. While it’s true that the plot was woefully underdeveloped, it reminded me of something I would have watched on a lazy Sunday afternoon as a kid. I liked that. Sometimes simple is refreshing.
(Shadows in the Sun screen-caps made by me. other images/gifs made by people who actually know what they’re doing)
Getting Caught Up In The Mechanism 