rambly ruin @reachexceedinggrasp - Tumblr Blog

ANTHONY HOPKINS in THE EDGE (1997)

#anthony hopkins #the edge #I'm so obsessed with this movie for some reason

I have so many issues with NBC Hannibal and the treatment of Miriam Lass has to be one of them, because it exemplifies...exactly the kind of figure way too many people see Clarice as, and the kind of dynamic they imagine she and Hannibal would “realistically” have? The narrative treats her as a pawn and frames her as either a victim or a motive, there for men to manipulate or have Guilty Feelings about; her agency is never considered. It’s a misogynistic regression from the source material.

I didn’t watch it because I wasn’t interested in a non-canon prequel about Will either way, but I remain eternally pissed about them strip mining the canon and cobbling together a Frankenstein’s monster of random moments using the most iconic elements totally devoid of their context and impact. Throwing portentous, memorable shit from the original away on villains of the week for who can imagine what reason.

The misogyny doesn’t surprise me at all considering the central mission of the series was apparently to take Clarice’s challenging empowerment arc about overthrowing the patriarchal forces which were stifling her and embracing her own desires while engaging in the first relationship of true equality and mutual respect she’s ever had with a man, and transform that ending of triumphant transcendence for a female protagonist into the story of the victimisation of a man. Appropriating the emotional foundations of the arc (Dr Lecter’s admiration for Clarice and their special connection) and ransacking its genuinely romantic, sincerely supportive content to repurpose into manipulation and abuse.

And then the fandom talk about how that was a beautiful dark love story. The same fandom which wanks endlessly about how Hannibal the novel is unacceptable and dangerous and shouldn't be read. Two dudes destroying themselves literally and psychologically, totally fucked up and profoundly unhealthy, that’s fine. That’s Real Art. But when it was a man and a woman who set each other free from the chains of their trauma and willingly chose each other, when it’s a woman who abandons the social status quo with open eyes- that’s problematic and terrible and how dare.

The patheticness of this insanely transparent double standard is the story of every arc where the woman is the active character. She has to be a role model, which means she must be Pure and must submit to and live by the macho conception of power rather than deciding it's bullshit. She cannot escape or live on her own terms. Clarice is the only female protagonist I can name from American pop culture who was fully realised and treated with just as much depth and complexity and without kid gloves as any male character. She’s the only one I can think of who got to have it all. And motherfuckers are of course out here rewriting the entire universe so they can cut up her story and split it between a man and some empty victim stand-ins.

reachexceedinggrasp

#bringing this back bc I'm mad about this again #thomas harris

When Knoxville later appeared on Conan O’Brien’s talk show in 2002, David Bowie was the musical guest. Tremaine recalls the absurdity of the scene: “I’m standing with Knoxville, we’re on the side of the stage, and Bowie comes right up to him and says, ‘You have no idea how big of a fan I am.’ We’re like, ‘What the fuck?’ He’s like, ‘No, listen. I have to watch every second of it.’”

The pookies displaying their exquisite taste by also loving each other.

(This point would be strengthened if I had the article about Knox fangirling over meeting Bowie, but alas, I read that somewhere years ago and have no idea where.)