Neil Gaiman's American Gods Part Deux

Hoo boy. This book is quite the doozy. I really find myself not knowing what the hell is going on half the time or where it is going. And that is usually the sign of a bad thing, but it actually works. The fractured, randomness of this book actually works in its favor.

It is one of the many ways it sucks you in and traps you in it's web of mythology, horror, and something I would like to call "Whatthefuckness."

This 200 page or so block that I have read so far is full of many memorable images like Shadow's smoking hot dead wife continuing to come back and help Shadow when he needs the help the most. She is like a zombie guardian angel and that idea in itself would make an interesting book or story. The rapid fire use of mythological gods and godesses is done in a way that if you just speed read through the thing you will miss out on tons of references. My favorite is the Osiris funeral parlor. Now that is really clever. Especially if you know the context behind it. I think Anubis showed up somewhere around here too. And according to this book you can get to the Nile river by following the Mississippi river. It's the same thing. There are so many moments like that in this book. Where the real world just does a freeze frame and this batshit insane fantasy world takes over. It never overstays it's welcome though. The fantasy elements of the book are well written, well executed and never dominate the entire the story. The fantasy elements of the book are in many ways just filler. The real story is the one connected to the real world.

Overall, in the block of time I have read so far, really not much has happened. If you took out the whole mythological gods aspect of this story it would be quite quaint, and normal if not boring. But because it takes such a realistic take of a fantasy element, reality and fantasy combine into a delectable combination.

One of my favorite segments is the one where Lucy comes to life on the television set and asks Shadow to join her, and help her in the TV land where she works. In this scene Lucy isn't really Lucille Ball, she is a recruiter for the new gods who want Shadow on their side, because they see something in him that maybe Mr. Wednsday doesn't or does already know. I kept thinking back to that scene in Willy Wonka and The Chocalate Factory where Mike gets shrunk and put inside the TV. The very idea of a television being a portal to another realm or dimension is quite appealing. and at the same time terrifying. I know I would be scared shitless if the Crypt Keeper started talking to me while I was watching a re run of Tales From The Crypt.

Overall, I like what I am seeing so far, but the randomness at points can be a little distracting and in my opinion unnecessary. I find myself losing interest in the book when it strays away from the main story to talk about these side stories that I hope at some point actually connect to the main story, because there is nothing I hate more than pointless shit. And if these stories which consist body swapping Djinn Cab Drivers, and Immigrant Gods coming to America end up being proven wastes of my time then safe to say I won't be reading this book again in the future. I just find these side stories distracting and they take away from the flow of the book and the story it is trying to tell. Plus, I find them incredibly boring for the most part. Hopefully the book eases back on the side stories and leaves the main story some room to breathe in future chapters.

Nathaniel Hawthorne-Rappacini's Daughter

 

Let's just say this story wasn't at all what I expected. I expected shall we say a more traditional example of Science Fiction. Especially from one of the earliest stories that are featured in this volume, but I was pleasantly surprised once I thought on this story for awhile after I read it and was able to full understand its themes, and it's use of language. I am one of those that find reading stories from the 1800's and before really difficult at least on the first try. 

In a way this story is the precursor the the popular Batman super villainess, Poison Ivy. Both Rappacini's Daughter and Ms. Ivy have a lot in common. Both have poison running through their veins as well as an affinity for the botanical. The tale is quite an interesting one where a father decided to perform a cruel experiment with it's roots dating as far back as the time of Alexander The Great, that detailed the use of poison being administered to a child right from birth. This according the legend when Alexander The Great was sent a present of a beautiful woman from an Indian prince. But with a catch. The present was walking, talking death. Since she was raised on poison she became a vessel for it, and would use her feminine wiles to lead poor souls to their death. 

But in Hawthorne's tale the woman with the poison blood is portrayed as a symphetic character not a sexy harbinger of doom. There is even reference to an antidote that could reverse the effects of the years of poison fed to young girl. There is a romantic vibe to the tale too. It is quite beautiful in it's approach with it's language, and even the way it describes the characters and situations in the story.

It is also a tragedy. The way that the story ends is something straight out of Shakespeare's greatest works. A man meets this beautiful woman. Discovers that she has been exposed to something horrible that has changed her in dangerous ways that make it impossible for her love anyone and he searches long and hard and finds what might be an antidote, and as soon as he gives it her and she drinks it she dies a horrible death in front of her father and the man that she loved. And adding even more drama is the character of Bogoloni who insists that Rappacini is performing mad experiments on not only his own daughter but on Giovanni as well. Giovanni doesn't believe him, so he takes matters into his own hands and creates the antidote for Giovanni to administer to Beatrice. Not only is Giovanni devastated by Beatrice's demise but doubly so for Bogolini who finally beat Rappacini at his own game but the victory is bittersweet due to the unfortunate death of poor Beatrice. 

It seems that this story is a cautionary tale of doomed love and the cost of revenge. Tropes that would continue to be used for decades after this story was published and for years since. 

Thoughts On...Firefly

Ah. Firefly. The show everyone including my friends love to death, and I never understood why. "I was like it's just a tv show dammit!" But after seeing the Pilot I can see why people love this show because I felt the same way.

What a breath of fresh air. Especially when it comes to television. In particular science fiction television. For the longest time if you were watching a sci-fi show it was usually a star trek clone of some kind. Babylon 5 comes to mind. Heck that even had Chekov himself Walter Koeing in it. I thought the show was ok at best but nothing groundbreaking. Then comes Andromeda the pathetic show staring Hercules as the captain of the USS Not The Enterprise and that left me clamoring for the boring diatrabes of Babylon 5 and GASP! Even Deep Space Nine. So watching the pilot for this show and seeing how fresh, fun, witty and more importantly unique it was was a welcome change in my usual schedule of sci-fi tv programming. I had been looking for another cool show to watch after Farscape ended and I think I found it. But what sucks is that Firefly only lasted a mere season. It had everything you could ask for in a hit show. A great cast, solid special effects, brilliant writing, and it was more importantly tons of fun to watch. What the hell happened? How was this a miss?

If I were to take away anything from this show other than how awesome it was(yes I have only seen the pilot. But do I have any reason to believe the rest of the episodes won't be just as awesome?), is how badly Fox screwed the pooch with this show. Let's see don't air the pilot which is damn near close to feature film quality. Strike one. Air the episodes out of order. Strike two. Cancel the show as soon as it was starting to get a good following? Strike three. Literally as soon as the show was starting to gain traction and getting interesting Fox pulled the plug. Shame on you.

Anyway now that I have got on my soapbox. Let's talk about how this show brilliantly combines western and science fiction tropes into a very entertaining blend of humor and action. The sci-fi elements are obvious. It takes place in the future, there are spaceships and all kinds of futuristic weaponary involved that are used by the cast and crew, plus there seems to be a vast array of planets and outposts that spans across multiple galaxies. All of this alone is good enough for a top notch sci-fi show. But Firefly isn't satisfied with just that. It takes things up the eleven by adding a western element. The western elements really make the show stand out from the rest of it's peers. From it's country western score, to it's gunslinging Han Solo in training star, all the way down to the action and it's crew of smuggers and outlaws it's like Bonaza but in outer space, with punchy dialogue.

Usually Westerns are one of my least favorite genres so that genre being added really shouldn't have meant that much. But it does. It makes all the difference and is why this is a show that I will be watching the rest of sometime soon as well as the feature film again and hopefully I will understand what the hell is going on this time around.

Firefly fans. Here is a fun video with a bunch of drunks playing the Firefly board game while shitfaced out of their minds. Loads of fun to watch even for people who aren't fans of the show. 

Neil Gaiman's American Gods So Far...

 

First off before I delve into my thoughts what I read so far in this wonderful novel. I have to thank you, Mr. Craig for assigning this book. If you didn't make that choice I would have never read this and would have missed out on an amazing masterpiece of storytelling.

Anyway, now that the thanking is out of the way. Let's talk about American Gods. More specifically how this book bends it's genres as many times as a contestant on Ru Paul's Drag Race bends his gender. This book takes all different genres and forms throws them into a blender and instead of creating a disgusting mess that would make you retch just if you caught a whiff of it he makes a delicious strawberry smoothie with the ingredients instead. 

This type of concoction especially one that tastes so good is not an easy recipe to follow. I think Gaiman though had a head start since he has been twisting genre conventions like a pretzel since he started on the comic Sandman. Ever seen his movie Mirrormask? I dunno if it's a fantasy movie or a sequel to Tarsem Singh's The Cell. His work here in American Gods is no different than what he has done before it is just more epic in it's storytelling that the majority of his previous works in comics and film.

How many genres are present in just the first 161 pages of this novel? Let's count em. 

Fantasy, Fiction, Horror, Romance, Comedy, Science Fiction

There is probably even more but that is all that I can come up with at the moment off the top of my head. It is defnitely a fantasy because of it's plot involving gods living in the USA. There are scenes with leprechauns in them. But not your Warwick Davis type. Nope. More like Shamus from WWE instead of Hornswaggle. Big burly Irish dudes. There is also fiction related moments in the story that seem so real. The beginning of the novel feels like a scene straight out of The Shawshank Redemption. As for the Horror elements? They are scattered throughout but one in particular really tingles my spine. More on that later. As for the others? Romance, Comedy, Science Fiction? They are all there too. Romance obviously for Shadow's relationship with his wife both alive and dead, Comedy for the numerous moments of black humor littered throughout the tale, and Science Fiction for the presence of the new gods in particular ones whose power emanates from technology. I am sure if I spent even more time with this book I could find almost every genre known to man in here, at least a semblance of them at least. 

Now for the finale. 

I thought of how to end this post and I thought why not talk about the most memorable moment of the book from what I have read so far? So here it goes.

On pages 25-28 There is the one scene with distinct horror elements. It comes out of left field and leaves you stunned and retching.  It is only a few pages in length but it hits hard. The image of a virile man in the throes of a passion with a call girl who proceeds to literally absorb him while he is calling her a goddess and praising the heck out of her is burned in my mind. In particular this passage. 

"He feels the lips of her vulva tight around his upper chest and back constricting and enveloping him. He wonders what this would look like to somebody watching them. He wonders why he is not scared. And then he knows. 

    "I worship you with my body", he whispers, as she pushes him inside her.  Her labia pulls slickly across his face and his eyes slip into darkness.

I'm getting chills just reading that. Talk about a horrifying scene. That is near the top of the list for me. This is the type of sequence that would make David Cronenberg the master of body horror feel uncomfortable. The image of a man literally being dissolved into a woman's lady parts is sickening and disturbing as hell. I always thought a woman's genitals looked freaky but damn. Not like this. This is the type of scene that would make one want to forgo sex all together. 

Anyway, that's American Gods so far. I have really enjoyed it. It has been a very interesting fun ride, and there is still a lot of twists and turns left to go. 

Speaking of killer vaginas..there actually is a movie about Killer Vaginas..It's a movie with bite. 

James Tiptree Jr.: And I Awoke And Found Me Here On The Cold Hill's Side

This story by James Tiptree is kind of a tough nut to crack. There seem to be many conflicts or themes present in the tale. One of them dealing with the tried and true cliche of drug use and it's effects on humans and aliens alike but also a rather controversial and risque theme that is ultimately the story's main hook.

Gay Aliens, and a straight man who has the hots for them. Is he going to come out of the closet? No one knows because the story doesn't go that far ahead into the future to tell us the answer to that question. Gay aliens is really simplifying the subtle nuances of this story quite a bit because in the scene where our hero interacts and gets wood for a sexy gay alien dancer really doesn't appear homosexual at all. In all honesty it appears as more Androgynous than anything else. The way it is written is just like any typical scene with a sexy chick is written. It talks about the creatures curves, it's unbridled sexuality the whole nine yards. Nothing sexy is left out. When the revelation is made that the alien that seemed so alluring is actually a man. I was just as shocked as the main protagonist was. And I believe that was precisely the author's point. He wanted to find a way that wasn't entirely offensive to introduce the idea of a future where homosexuals still exist and even span across the outer realms of space. With the character of the newsman who is completely a dispicable character talking about how all aliens should be destroyed, and that humans shouldn't love them under any circumstances is definitely a product of the time. This piece was published in 1972. When the homosexuals were coming out of the shadows and openly celebrating their unique sexuality.

In this piece the author explores the feelings that americans felt when the gay revolution was beginning by using the androgynous aliens as a focal point to point out said feelings as well as leave them up for debate.

This wasn't one of my favorite pieces, but I can see why it is considered an important piece of science fiction writing. It touched upon a very touchy subject at the time that had yet to be handled in the realms of science fiction at least with as deft and appreciative of a hand that James Tiptree Jr. did. Not every important work of art or story has to be appealing to you personally to appreciate it, and this story is just one of many examples where this notion applies. A lot of the themes and tropes present in this story are still talked about to this day. Americans are still freaking out about the homosexuals, and don't get me started on the transsexuals.

To put things into perspective. Just recently in the year 2014, a bill was passed around to make it legal for businesses to throw homosexuals out of their establishments if they deemed them as unfit or a distraction. This bill didn't pass but the fact that it even made it to congress is appalling. I guess things haven't changed that much since 1972 after all.

On a lighter note, here is one of the most absurd pictures I have ever seen and one that you will not forget any time soon. It fits within the context of the story and it is one of those so weird it's funny creations that could have only came from a uniquely twisted mind. I'll never look at a Predator the same way again.

Thoughts On...Forbidden Planet(1956)

I recently checked out this sci-fi classic from 1956 for the first time. At least all the way through anyway and it was for what it was a really good flick. Sure it had some corny moments. The chef who just wanted Robby The Robot to make more booze? Some cringe inducing dialogue, and a not so faint feel of rape sprinkled throughout the film, but the cringe inducing dialogue at least induces laughs in the audience but there is nothing funny about the rape and it really cheapens the experience. Also the music score is horrendous. Grating and irritating to the max.

But what Forbidden Planet gets right it really gets right. The newcomer Robby The Robot is a scene stealer and I can see why he became a phenomenon for years after the film's release. The acting for the most part is really good. Walter Pigeon is phenomenal as Doctor Morbius and he really commands this viewer's attention in every scene he is in. Leslie Nielsen is also really solid as the Captain proving that he can pull of playing it straight and that he isn't just the comedy type. If there is a weak link when it comes to the acting it is probably Anne Francis. She is nice to look at but man she is wooden.

Wooden acting by the female lead aside what really makes Forbidden Planet a sci-fi classic is it's subject matter. The themes and tropes present in it, aren't really anything that hasn't been seen before.(I.E. Aliens creating technology man doesn't understand, and etc.) but it had never been seen on the screen before in such spectacle. The special effects in this film are a major highlight and the production design of the Krell's endless machine is quite impressive to look at even now in the year 2014. And the the creature design of the ID monster and the execution of it is top notch.


The thing that really stands out in the end is the ID. It steals the show right out of Robby's cold metal hands. It is a terrifying creation that had to have kept 50's kids up at night for weeks. It is a very violent creature. Especially for 1950's standards. I am shocked it even got past the censors. The idea that unbeknowst to you that your bad thoughts and inclinations could manifest themselves physically is a sobering and scary one that really sticks with you for days after viewing the film.

 The monster within us all.

Overall, Forbidden Planet(1958) is one of those films that has earned it's "classic" reputation and stands the test of time with it's messages and themes that will always be powerful and relatable to any generation. Current or future.

Robby The Robot would return in Fred Olen Ray's crapfest The Phantom Empire, starring Sybil Danning.