In the fifth part of Moving Pictures, Victor makes a discovery about Holy Wood that changes his perception of the place. Intrigued? Then it’s time for Mark to read Discworld.
Trigger Warning: For discussion of self-esteem, plastic surgery, sexism, objectification of women, and body image.
Like my reading of Guards! Guards!, I’m getting a distinct sense for the ways in which Pratchett’s writing is changing. At this point, I can’t ignore the intentional attempts to criticize aspects of this specific culture that are, frankly, quite damning. There’s a sadness to the tone of the narration surrounding the various characters’ dreams. This Thing is invading their minds, more or less, and filling them with grandeur. And what’s wrong with that? By itself, nothing. There is a beautiful power in dreaming of bigger and better things. It can be a fulfilling motivation. But I worry about the crushing disappointment these characters might experience at the end of all of this. As far as I can tell, They have a vested interest in these people acting out this entire Holy Wood fantasy, meaning that they’re just means to an end. What happens once They get what they want? Will Ginger still want red carpets and cheering crowds? Will Silverfish still desire awards and accolades? What about Rock and Morry and Victor?
I’M SCARED.
Expansion
It’s clear that Pratchett is not going to keep the action here confined solely to Holy Wood. With Dibbler’s trip back to Ankh-Morpork, we get a chance to see how Holy Wood’s influence can spread to other parts of the Discworld. I absolutely loved how this was introduced, though, because it reflected a lot of what I wrote about in Monday’s review. It’s easy to gain a new perspective on a city once you’ve moved away from it, so I found an affinity in what Dibbler went through. That’s even more specifically the case for Hollywood, which gives a very unique experience to those who live in it for any length of time. There’s no patented Hollywood Experienceâ„¢, of course, but you start to see how your life is unique to that place.
Now, as much as I could relate to this, I also had to step back and accept that this was still affected by Holy Wood’s power over these people. Dibbler’s appreciation of Ankh-Morpork eventually turns into another business expansion for him. That’s how capitalism works in general, sure, but there’s so many angles to the expansion of Holy Wood here that reflect reality. Bezam’s role isn’t meant to show us that everyone wants to travel to Holy Wood to fulfill their dreams. No, he’s much more interested in fulfilling his dreams right there in Ankh-Morpork. They’re certainly related to the dreams everyone else has, since he imagines a world where he’s a famous and respected purveyor of fine films. This causes him to treat his wife poorly (seriously, he’s an asshole) and to accept the horrible objectification of Ginger because it makes him money. It makes it easier for him not to challenge Dibbler when Dibbler takes a great deal of money from as part of his fee. And it makes him utterly clueless when it comes to the greater machinations of the force at work in Holy Wood. Even if he suspects he’s being used, he pushes those thoughts to the back of his mind, eager to ignore them. It’s much simpler for him to enjoy his pile of coins, isn’t it?
Behind the Scenes
I’m fascinated by Pratchett’s choice to have Victor discover Deccan’s body and the book of rites necessary to keep the Doorway closed. It initially seemed rather early to reveal this to the main character, but I’m into it. Every single character here is aware that some magic is at work within them, but all of them except Victor are willing to attribute it to the magic of Holy Wood. But what if that magic wasn’t just creativity? Pratchett is now playing with Victor’s perception of events, and it’s so interesting to me! I still feel like I’m in the dark in terms of what’s actually happening here, but I suspect that Victor is going to discover exactly why Holy Wood is expanding as quickly as it has been.
This chance for him to peek behind the curtain is perhaps the most entertaining part of this book so far, so I now think it was pretty clever of Pratchett to introduce this just a quarter of the way through Moving Pictures. So why did all the Keepers of the Door speak of their rites as “Performanses”? Why keep that language? Why is this the Boke of Film? I guessed in the video for this section that maybe the films themselves gave the Things on the other side the power they craved, and the Keepers’ Performanses was what kept them away. I think it’s a decent theory, but it needs SO MUCH WORK. And, again, I still can’t figure out how this might end. Do They want to turn all of the Discworld into Holy Wood???
Ginger
Did anyone else find Victor’s obsession with her a little bit inappropriate? I understand the power of loneliness and how it can make a person desperate, but Victor is pretty much stalking her, right? Following her around, refusing to accept the VERY OBVIOUS body language she utilizes that tells him she doesn’t want to talk, and asking Morry where she is when she’s not at the restaurant… well. Now that I’ve typed that out, it’s absolutely creepy to me. I just don’t want this to fall into that trope of treating women like they’re some mystical, unreachable Other, which has been a common motif in the Discworld books. She said no, dude. That’s the end of the sentence.
Disappointment
You know, I said I was worried how these characters might deal with an inevitable disappointment, but this section has already shown me what might be in their futures. We’ve got Victor’s loneliness, first of all, and the demeaning work he’s done while other people are making a fortune off of his likeness and performance. But the scene in the troll bar is so fucking sad that I couldn’t even really laugh. Which was hard because I LOVE ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING ABOUT THE TROLL BAR. I WOULD HANG OUT THERE ALL OF THE TIME.
Since Victor is aware that there was once something else in Holy Wood before they all came, he’s also quick to challenge that status quo of the place. He is not nearly as transfixed by Ruby’s performance in the bar, and I don’t think that this is solely because he doesn’t speak troll. As he says:
“And there’s the way everyone acts!” said Victor. “As if who they are and what they want are the most important things in the world!”
There’s some truth to that in our Hollywood. So this is precisely when Pratchett reminds us of how this culture can change people’s perception of what’s important:
“I’m wondering, would it be worth takin’ half a inch off my nose? My cousin Breccia knows this stonemason, fixed his ears a treat. What do you fink?”
It’s gut-wrenching. Rock has been in Holy Wood long enough that the place has affected his idea of his own beauty and self-worth. That’s something that I didn’t comment on earlier, but I can confirm that vanity, self-esteem, dysmorphia, and self-hatred are all a part of what Hollywood can do to a person. I used to joke that it was a sobering experience to work out at the 24 Hour Fitness in the Arclight complex on Sunset and Vine because… well, everyone is so fucking beautiful there. But there is an intense worth placed on being attractive in the traditional sense, and I knew people who devoted their entire day to maintaining a very specific physical aesthetic. It’s a weird place to live if you’re not traditionally attractive, and I know that it affected my perception of my own body in really negative ways, many that I haven’t been able to conquer or cope with over the years.
So I appreciate that this was Victor’s response:
Eventually Victor said: “It’s a great nose, Rock. With you behind it, it could go a long way.”
Bless.
The original text contains use of the word “mad.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bhdPfoowREA
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