In the fifteenth part of Moving Pictures<\/i>, the group\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s arrival in Ankh-Morpork sets events in motion. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to read Discworld<\/i>.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Trigger Warning: For discussion of sexism and objectification of women<\/b>.<\/p>\n
I had to say that Dibbler hadn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t built the theater yet, didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t I? I HAD TO.<\/p>\n
Wizards and Clicks<\/b><\/p>\n
There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s an undeniable humor for me in the prolonged joke of the wizards venturing out of Unseen University to do something so wholly pedestrian and non-wizard-like as going to the movies. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s funny. I get the joke, and their banter is beautifully written, especially with Poons\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 objections so liberally spread between what everyone else is saying. (Actually, the fake beards bit is spectacular, too.) But lord, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s just tiring<\/i> at this point to read about old men objectifying women or mystifying them. Like, do we need<\/i> this at this point in the Discworld<\/i> books? Even if it weren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t grating to read in general, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s been repeated a number of times in most of these books. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not new, and there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s nothing here that adds to the conversation. I suppose you could say that the text sort of<\/i> condemns their behavior because they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re portrayed as silly fools, but then you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve got Victor\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s similar treatment of Ginger to contend with, too.<\/p>\n
I also wonder how this reads if you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re asexual because the wizards are<\/i> a group who are celibate by choice, and yet their sexlessness is not exactly portrayed positively. I mean, there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s got<\/i> to be a wizard who got into the profession because they were super stoked not to have to maintain any sort of passing interest in sex, right? WHERE ARE OUR ASEXUAL WIZARDS?<\/p>\n
Really, the one part of this that I did<\/i> like? The wizards trading stories about all the times they broke the rules. That was kind of adorable, a glimpse into their pasts that showed us that these men were<\/i> willing to pursue what made them happy. Does anyone else feel a little sad about how restrictive wizard life is? Perhaps that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s just me because I grew up in the kind of household where I was restricted from doing pretty much anything.<\/p>\n
Anyway, I think there might be an intentional reason that the wizards are all going to be in Bezam\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s theater. If there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s anyone slightly more qualified than most to deal with a hole into unreality, wouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t it be wizards? Which then creates another complication: would Victor be willing to identify himself as<\/i> a wizard in front of Ginger? He clearly isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t going to at the current moment, but he might have<\/i> to. And then what?<\/p>\n
Famous<\/b><\/p>\n
First of all:<\/p>\n
Ginger stared, panic-stricken, out of the carriage window.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Who are all these people?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d she said.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153They\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re fans,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d said Dibbler.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153But I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m not hot!\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
BLESS THIS SIMPLE PUN, IT BRINGS ME JOY.<\/p>\n
Fandom is a weird concept, one I never really put much thought into until I started being on the other side of it. That actually wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t due to Mark Does Stuff, however; that came from my time at Buzznet. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d run plenty of online communities prior to that, but it was my experience touring with some fairly large bands that shed light on what it feels like to have a fandom. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m sure most of you wouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t be surprised to hear that this was both horrifying and uplifting at the same time. To see devotion, undying and unconditional, can be both inspiring and upsetting, and I got to see every shade of it directed at these bands I toured with. More often than not, these fans were lovely people, eager to share a moment of emotional connection with someone who done something wonderful for them. While I have enough horror stories to fill an encyclopedia concerning fandom, I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t really want to focus on that right now.<\/p>\n
I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m more interested in how fame manifests in Moving Pictures<\/i> and what it means for these characters. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s something I really haven\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t figured out how to deal with myself, and I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m still learning. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s odd to be recognized on the subway or the airport or, my current personal favorite, a super raunchy gay bar in Los Angeles. (Shout out to the guy who said hello to me at The Eagle in LA last month. IT WAS SO LOVELY.) I grew up shy and lonely, full stop. To be at a point in my life where strangers are willing to come up to me and say nice things to my face\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 well, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s meaningful. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s astounding. It regularly brings me to tears because I wanted it. I have no shame in saying that to y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all, because I was a sad motherfucker as a kid and a teen. (I mean, I still am, but that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a separate topic for another day.) I wanted so badly<\/i> to be liked and desired and appreciated.<\/p>\n
I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t think that Pratchett is trying to say that fame is an awful thing. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s exciting and even a bit intoxicating. It does wonders for my self esteem and my sense of self worth. I get such a high doing events and conventions because for this tiny moment of my day, I matter. Is there anything wrong with that? I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t think so. And that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not the vibe I get from the book, though I suspect this has to do more with idolization than enthusiasm and joy. The people of Ankh-Morpork have put Victor and Ginger on a pedestal for reasons that have nothing to do with who they are as people. They\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve idolized an image of them, one created by the false identities assigned to them by Dibbler\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s films. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s so bad that the only way Ginger can find the energy to go out in public is to PRETEND SHE IS DELORES DE SYN. That sounds exhausting<\/i>, y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all!<\/p>\n
The Odium<\/b><\/p>\n
Of course, the real problem is that Bezam\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s theater looks just like the one beneath Holy Wood. Everything is going to get super messed up, isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t it???<\/p>\n
The original text contains use of the words \u00e2\u20ac\u0153mad,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d \u00e2\u20ac\u0153idiot,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d “lamely,” and \u00e2\u20ac\u0153crazy.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=YnjNiwCNagg<\/p>\n
Mark Links Stuff<\/b><\/p>\n
– The Mark Does Stuff Tour 2015 is now live and includes dates across the U.S., Canada, Europe, the U.K., and Ireland. Check the full list of events on my Tour Dates \/ Appearances page.<\/a>
\n– My Master Schedule<\/a> is updated for the near and distant future for most projects, so please check it often.\u00c2\u00a0My next Double Features for Mark Watches will be the remainder of\u00c2\u00a0The Legend of Korra<\/i>, series 8 of\u00c2\u00a0Doctor Who<\/i>, and Kings<\/i>. On Mark Reads, Diane Duane’s Young Wizards<\/i> series will replace the Emelan books.
\n<\/b>-\u00c2\u00a0Mark Does Stuff is on Facebook!<\/a>\u00c2\u00a0I’ve got a community page up that I’m running. Guaranteed shenanigans!
\n– If you would like to support this website and keep Mark Does Stuff running,\u00c2\u00a0I’ve put up a detailed post explaining how you can!
\n<\/a>– Please check out the\u00c2\u00a0MarkDoesStuff.com<\/a>. All Mark Watches videos for past shows\/season are now archived there!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In the fifteenth part of Moving Pictures, the group\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s arrival in Ankh-Morpork sets events in motion. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to read Discworld.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[451],"tags":[463,493,248],"class_list":["post-3364","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-discworld","tag-mark-reads-discworld","tag-moving-pictures","tag-terry-pratchett"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3364","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3364"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3364\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3364"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3364"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3364"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}