sebastienne: My default icon: I'm a fat white person with short dark hair, looking over my glasses. (Default)
[personal profile] sebastienne
UNISON - the trade union I joined to give me a better platform for my activism, and for whom I am branch Equality Officer - just sent me a "Young Members' Questionnaire" asking me to tick one box from the following:

  • Bisexual
  • Gay
  • Heterosexual
  • Lesbian
  • Transgender

Oh, so much facepalming. So much angry annotation of the survey and email-writing to the instigators. And these are the GOOD GUYS! My allies against the incoming Tory government!

And now, of course, for the obligatory spoiler-filled post about the weekend's television.

The Beast Below

I.. don't care at all about all the flaws in this episode. It reminded me of the best of those much-maligned Doctors 6 (Colin Baker) and 7 (Sylvester McCoy) - Vengeance on Varos (police state, reality TV, voting with hideous consequences), Paradise Towers (tower blocks with deep dark secrets and a beast in the basement), Happiness Patrol (keep smiling and everything will be fine). It was beautifully-paced, honestly creepy, and even made me love the monarchy a little bit!

I don't care how overdone the comparison was between the Doctor and the starwhale - I started crying. I was not very sober, it is true, but at the time I found it honestly moving and see no reason to retrospectively apply cynicism.

Ashes to Ashes

LJ, why the silence on this? The new season of Ashes to Ashes has been mind-blowingly fantastic, but it feels like no-one else is watching! This week's episode opened with Gene Hunt & co *recreating the music video to Uptown Girl*. No amount of fansquee can convey its cracky glory!

But there's deep, complex, interesting stuff too; questions being raised about Sam Tyler's death. Two bars of "Life on Mars" playing as we zoomed in on Shaz's face after she was offered the promotion.

And the META! Jim Keats, on some levels of narrative analysis this season's big bad (coming in and trying to shut down the awesome maverick department we know & love), telling Gene Hunt how everyone needs to see him discredited, for their own good - is he really talking about the personal growth of the team? Or is he talking about the viewers who've taken Gene Hunt to heart as an unproblematic good guy just "telling it like it is"? Because they need to see Gene Hunt discredited even more, I'd say.

Date: 2010-04-11 02:39 pm (UTC)
ext_8007: Drinking tea (Default)
From: [identity profile] auntysarah.livejournal.com
I thought the Beast Below had some really quite clever observations about the state of democracy in the UK - very enjoyable indeed.

Date: 2010-04-11 08:35 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] calliope85.livejournal.com
I don't care how overdone the comparison was between the Doctor and the starwhale - I started crying.

Oh god, I did that :D and I was utterly sober. Such a sap. But I just...to have an acknowledgement that although the Doctor's been *saving* people, he might have stopped believing in them, and that's not okay. That the universe doesn't always justify your pessimism. That although he's the last of his kind he's not alone, not really - he's not the only one who can feel, can want to help, can have good intentions. He is not, fundamentally, a lonely god. Or he shouldn't be, anyway. That it's time to start trusting the rest of the universe, because it's full of giant philanthropic space whales, basically.

Or at least that's what it made me think when the tears started welling up, anyway :D Sap.

Date: 2010-04-11 10:12 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] sebastienne.livejournal.com
The fact that this is Moffat's "lonely god" - the message about the Doctor's identity that he's intent on ramming home - makes me very happy indeed.

Date: 2010-04-12 01:12 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] parrot-knight.livejournal.com
I hope that Steven Moffat is going to restore the Doctor's faith in other people - that it's all right for Amy and others to take risks based on what they have observed and say that yes, they do have the power to change things for the better, and that the Doctor doesn't have to walk around crushed by responsibility. The signs are good, so far.

(Yes, I want and need to believe in giant philanthropic space whales too.)
Edited Date: 2010-04-12 01:20 am (UTC)

Date: 2010-04-12 01:18 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] parrot-knight.livejournal.com
Ashes to Ashes - very interesting indeed. I missed entirely the bar or two of Bowie's 'Life on Mars' playing when Shaz decided to stay in the force, and though I didn't think of it myself am intrigued by the idea some fans have that Shaz is in a similar position to Alex - hence her not having a home, in several senses, and Shaz seeing the clown in series one... Jim Keats's look seemed more 1980s in this episode, whereas his appearance was more 1973-ish in the first one. The audience is being given more to work with this year, I think.

Date: 2010-04-12 05:43 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] ayaron.livejournal.com
I hadn't noticed that Shaz saw the harlequin in series 1. Also, can you remember how she was hurt in series 1? I was wondering if it was by a screw-driver as she seems to be phobic about them for some reason.

I spotted that when Drake mentioned 2 serial killers (Ted Bundi and Jeffrey Dharma) everyone blanked on the second one, except Jim Keats, who nodded agreement.

Jeffrey Dharma was caught in 1993...

Date: 2010-04-14 02:13 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] parrot-knight.livejournal.com
I can't remember how Shaz was hurt - but I did spot Keats's acknowledgment when Alex mentioned Dahmer, as if she had given herself away...

Date: 2010-04-12 07:03 am (UTC)
From: (Anonymous)
ルイスは東京で自分マーケティング活動する?

Date: 2010-04-12 07:22 am (UTC)
From: (Anonymous)
ビジネス本って、ハードルが低いから、OKだと思う。

Date: 2010-04-12 08:29 am (UTC)
From: (Anonymous)
今、森下さんたち本を読んでいるかも?

Date: 2010-04-12 08:30 am (UTC)
From: (Anonymous)
今週中くらいにはわかる。

Date: 2010-04-12 09:31 am (UTC)
From: (Anonymous)
結婚式の費用はcoverできそうだし、
ルイスが二冊本を出版していると、
私も両親に話をできる。

Date: 2010-04-12 03:48 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] meadb.livejournal.com
Trans-fail! Yeah, that's pretty dumb.

Date: 2010-04-13 03:39 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] half-of-monty.livejournal.com
Small quibble: doctor and Amy start off viewing starship UK from a little distance. HOW can they not *see* the whale??

Date: 2010-04-13 04:42 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] sebastienne.livejournal.com
We didn't, either; maybe it's an angle-of-gaze thing?

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