Bedlam: Season 1, Episode 2: Driven

So we return again to ghost central! And within 5 minutes of the episode starting I am given my reason for watching this programme – Theo James in a towel. What? I need something to encourage me to keep watching. Alas, Kate wants him to put some clothes on to do some handyman work... hmm... maybe a toolbelt.

Anyway, I digress. Molly's friend Zoe is still missing and Molly is going on blind dates, Kate is still sleep walking and hallucinating and being a not-very-pleasant person and Ryan's upset about his brother's killer coming up for parole. I dunno, not doing much but this episode follows the much distracted Leah (I don't blame it the 4 main characters of this programme don't exactly lead fascinating lives), another resident of Bedlam heights and Molly's new friend – who keeps seeing spooky tire tracks, ghosts in her car and spectral car trouble. Her car keeps breaking down but she daren't take it to a garage because it belongs to an abusive ex who has probably reported it stolen – if it goes into a garage, he can probably find Leah.

So Jed is looking for the ghost while pretending to fix Leah's car that its haunting – and Ryan is playing research assistant. And in their research they find there's a terrible thing in her past she's running from – and the deaths that are the real reason the ghost is pursuing her. And Molly's friendship with her is sorely tested with the revelation – as well as some pointed questions as to the reason for the friendship in the first place.

The Vampire Diaries Season Three, Episode Seven: Ghost World

 

Once again, Mystic Falls had another founders celebration. This week they were celebrating Illumination Night.  Apparently, they lit lanterns to tell the town that it was safe to come out at night again, after they had entombed all of the vampires.  I am really sick and tired of the weekly celebrations of the former slave owners.  Of course, The Vampire Diaries creators don't see it that way, but this is the truth of the matter.  

It seems that when Bonnie sent Vicky back to the other side she opened up a door that allowed all of the ghosts that had unfinished business to walk the town.  Because Elena was thinking of Lexy, Stefan's friend he came back and because the tomb vampires had unfinished business with the founders they came back with the aim of killing the descendants.  Mason came back to find a weapon to kill Klaus in order to save Tyler.

Wrapped up in all of the ghost appearances, there was a lot of relationship angst.  It started with Jeremy and Anna holding hands and then quickly escalated him to kissing her.  When Elena walked in on the shared kiss, Jeremy begs her not to tell Bonnie, but Elena tells him that after they finish with the witch business that he is going to tell her himself.  Of course, keeping Bonnie in the dark does not last long, and Caroline tells her about the kiss.  

To break the curse, Bonnie needs to destroy the necklace and so Caroline heads over to Damon's house to search for it.  When she cannot find it, Caroline tells Jeremy that Anna must have it.  Anna denies taking it but but Caroline tells Jeremy to wake up and open his eyes.  Enter Elena to save the day.  Elena tells her Anna that Jeremy has whole life ahead of him and they she is holding him back.  Jeremy tells Elena that he loves Anna.  The guilt finally gets to Anna and she hands over the necklace.  She says that she only took it because she does not want to be alone any longer.  Jeremy tells her that just because she will loose her foothold that it doesn't mean that he will stop seeing and interacting with her and then he guesses that what she real wants is to find Pearl.

How Much Would You Pay to have Lunch with Kristin Bauer Van Straten and Alexander Skarsgård?

The cast and crew of True Blood recently ran a charity auction for the Jesse James Cartwright Fund. Jesse was a member of the True Blood transportation crew and he lost his life earlier this year, leaving behind his wife and three children. The auction is to raise money for his family. I think that this was a wonderful cause for the cast and crew to get behind. I bet you're wondering how much lunch with Skarsgård and Kristin Bauer Van Straten for.

 Nope, your eyes did not deceive you. This auction closed for 28,500.00 dollars. This btw does not include flight or accommodation.  Though the money went to a worthy cause, you know damn well that the reason for this high bid was the chance to be on the True Blood set and the chance to Kirstin and Alexander.  This person must be one die hard True Blood fan.  How much would you have been willing to spend to meet these two and what question would you must like to ask?

Review: Spider's Revenge by Jennifer Estep. Book 5 of the Elemental Assassin's series

The plot was simple yet epic. It wasn't complicated with nuances and twists and there's not a lot to summarise of it without going outright into spoilers. Gin has reached the final showdown. Her or Mab. Mab has been targetting her sister too often and while Gin can hide her identity and be the ghost biting at Mab's flanks, Bria cannot. And the longer this fight continues, the longer Gin keeps to the shadows and plays the long game against Mab, the more and more danger Bria is in.

Especially now. Mab has put her vast resources on the table and sent out a call to every bounty hunter in the country. The Spider – dead or alive. Or Bria, Gin's baby sister, alive only. Except, with some of these bounty hunters, “alive” covers a great deal – and Mab herself certainly never hesitates at torture.

And this book is the showdown. Gin avoiding the bounty hunters and aiming to kill Mab, by magic or blade, even though Mab I the most powerful elemental there's been for 500 years. One way or another, she has to die and the people Gin loves have to be kept safe.

It is a direct plot. There are no side-plots, there are no real twists, no shades. This is an epic confrontation, the end game – side plots would be a distraction at this point and twists wouldn't make sense when we consider the careful planning of the Spider. Neither would fit this story and I'm glad they're not there. This is about one thing – Mab vs Gin and it isn't distracted from that.

Traumatised Youth in Urban Fantasy

What shocked us most about this trope, as we went through our Book Review Master list, was how common this trope was. Literally, we went down our master list and struggled to find series where this trope didn’t apply. No, seriously - nearly every last series we’ve read included this trope. It has become less of a trope and more of a requirement in the genre.

Ilona Andrews’ Kate Daniels series has Kate with a dead mother, a dead stepfather and a hard childhood training to be a killer

Jennifer Estep’s Elemental Assassin series has Gin who was tortured and her parents were murdered when Gin was a child.

L A Banks’ Vampire Huntress series has Damali who lost her parents to vampires and demons when she was a baby

Jim Butcher’s Harry Dresden series has Harry orphaned and then raised by an abusive (and evil) wizard.

Jeaniene Frost’s Night Huntress series has Kat’s mother raped by a vampire who then brought Kat up to loathe herself.

Charlaine Harris’s Southern Vampire series has Sookie as a sexually abused orphan

LJ Smith’s Vampire Diaries has Elena and Jeremy both as having recently lost their parents.

The very premise of the Secret Circle requires that all 6 witches have lost a parent - or two.

Kelley Armstong’s Otherworld series sets new records with unhappy childhoods - Elena lost her parents as a child and was traumatised watching them die then went through a series of foster homes when she was sexually abused. Clay was abused as a child and ran away. Jeremy’s father was abusive. Jaime’s father was dead and her mother was (and is) abusive.

Laurell K Hamilton smashes Kelly Armstrong’s record - Anita lost her mother, Jason had an abusive father, Stephen and Gregory had a sexually abusive father, Nathanial had an abusive father - and of course Meredith Gentry has been beaten, tortured and faced repeated attempted murders by her aunt and uncle and has an abusive mother. The majority of the characters have an abusive or tragic past.

I could go on - Morgan Rice’s Vampire Journals, Patricia Brigg’s Mercy Thomas series, Cassandra Clare’s Mortal Instruments, Yasmine Galenorn’s Sisters of the Moon, Seressia Glass’ Shadowchasers, Kim Harrison’s Hollows, Vicki Petterson’s Zodiac series, Nalo Hopkinson’s Brown Girl in the Ring, Lauren Dane’s Goddess with a Blade - on and on, but tragic childhoods seem to be standard throughout the genre - an inclusive list would literally involve referring to nearly every book we’ve read and every series we’ve watched. It’s almost as thought the authors believe that the reader cannot identify with protagonist unless they are suitably traumatised in some manner. And we’re not talking about loss of a parent - we most certainly know that there are innumerable single parent households where the children have had happy and joyful childhoods. But these are not them. Perhaps the greatest link between these childhoods is not so much the loss of a parent - but suffering, tragedy, pain and angst.

In some ways the ubiquitous nature of lost parents and suffering children makes it impossible to absorb the impact of any of them. It reminds me of Monty Python’s 4 Yorkshireman sketch (originally taken from “At Last the 1948 Show” It has reached the point where it's almost a competition). I can see it now:

Author A: My protagonist had a sad childhood, no-one understood her.
Author B: Well, my protagonist was misunderstood and had a tragic accident
Author C: My protagonist was misunderstood AND lost her best friend
Author A: hah, well My protagonist lost her best friend who died in front of her
Author C: in front of her? My protagonist was splattered by the blood
Author B: Well my protagonist lost her mother - who died tragically in front of her AND was splattered by the blood
Author A: Well MY protagonist lost her mother AND her father and held their hands as they died
Author C: My protagonist lost her parents and was tortured horribly my vampires for 2 weeks
Author B: 2 weeks? My protagonist dreamed of only being tortured for 2 weeks! She was tortured for 10 years!
Author A: MY protagonist was tortured for 100 years in a special pocket dimension of torture!
Author C: My protagonist was tortured in the pocket dimension of torture AND sexual abuse...

And so on and so on. It has reached a point where I read of a character with a terrible, tragic past and I feel no impact from it. It has been so over done that it has lost its emotional impact. It has been used and abused so often as a form of cheap and quick drama that it is demeaned and diminished. I dislike intensely that these life changing and often horrific experiences are reduced to cheap drama and empty characterisation.

And it is empty. Very rarely do these characters have much in the way of long term effects from their traumatic experiences. We rarely see any of them seek therapy, or any kind of help to deal with their past. At best we see a few nightmares or sad moments designed to make them look tragic (or to add a brief barrier in the romance before the magical healing sexing kicks in) rather than to analyse the effects of the abuse. It is offensive that these real life horrendous experiences are treated so cheaply and used so casually without the respect and caution that they deserve. I also believe that this minimises the difficulties of people who suffer with PTSD and similar issues. How many times does true love - or even just good sex - cure the troubled heart, the hurt mind and the scarred soul? Major mental illnesses, extreme past trauma, doesn’t disappear on the wave of a magic wand or by applying a penis the size of one’s forearm. It sets up the idea that if you just push the trauma aside it will either dissipate or become easier to live with over time, or that it is easily solved and cured. To be clear, these are life shattering events and it would not be a weakness to seek help nor are they always cured.

So why do we have this repeated? Well it’s easy characterisation. The traumatic past sets the protagonist up as an underdog, the wounded character that we’re supposed to feel sorry for. By being pitiable we’re supposed to instantly root for the character - we want her to succeed and do well simply because she has been through so much. It’s instant (and lazy) way to get us to identify with the protagonist and to like them. And, again, that is problematic because these really devastating experiences are being used so cheaply - so disrespectfully.

Another usage for the loss of parents also works in a way that it leaves the female protagonist open to the influence of the supernatural. They are isolated, vulnerable and often lacking role models or people they can trust to advise them. In some ways this adds to the predatory nature of many of these relationships especially when we also consider the age gap between the supernatural creature and the, often, school aged protagonist. They are easy prey - wounded, alone and often with less support - which is, in some ways, further victimising them.

Many of these traumatic experiences are also outright abusive. The thing about growing in an abusive situation, is that it is far more often that when one matures the abuse is so normalized that when it occurs again it is seen as acceptable. There is no recognition that they are repeating the past or how the past has influenced their decision to accept clearly abusive relationships. That the woo is used to excuse the violence, stalking and manipulation ends up giving them cause to justify their repeated acceptance of this behaviour thus continuing the cycle.

Of course this is all serves to enforce the role of woman as victim and is therefore highly sexist. Women are not the heroes of their own stories and are only redeemed by the love that enters their life rather than finding the inner strength to seek help or to refute the abuse entirely with a declaration that they deserve more out of love, life and relationships.

All in all, this trope of abused and traumatic childhood is problematic on many levels. It cheapens and exploits severe abuse. It demeans how much this affects your life and it uses severe abuse not as a topic to explore in itself - but as a tool to be used for cheap and easy characterisation. These topics deserve better - and, really, is it really that necessary for every protagonist to be that tragic?

AN OPEN LETTER TO ALEXANDER SKARSGÅRD

Okay, I found the following letter on tumblr and it cracked me up and so I am sharing with you.  If anyone knows who the author is please leave it in the comment section, as I would love to give them credit for their work.

Dear Alexander Skarsgård,

Stay away from my wife.

I’ve put a lot of time and effort into this relationship and I’m not about to let you swoop in with your slicked back blonde hair, black leather jacket, and impossibly good looks and steal my wife.  I refuse to let you waltz into my home (after being invited in) and use your trendy vampire skills to take a bloody bite out of the sanctity of my marriage. You don’t fool me for one second Mr. Skarsgård — I know you’re not really a vampire. My wife on the other hand, she appears to be too busy swooning to know the difference.

Until this horrible vampire fad passes and she snaps out of it, stay the hell away from my wife.

I know she loves me, but clearly your influence is something beyond her conscious control. On Sunday night as I sit dutifully by her side on the couch during True Blood, I can’t help but notice how she looks at the TV. She stares beyond the plasma screen hoping that if she concentrates hard enough she’ll be transported right into the broadly drawn stereotype that is Bon Temps, Louisiana.

Do you know how tough it is to watch the future mother of my children sexually mesmerized like that? Of course you don’t — you just glamour any woman you want with your vampire stud powers and drag her down to your underground sex chamber.

This vampire bullshit does not follow the rules of engagement. Let’s just pretend that my wife is garlic encased in sterling silver outside at noon on a hot summer day.

Why couldn’t we just battle this out on a level playing field? East Coast software guy with social anxiety versus Swedish actor once nominated for a Guldbagge Award. That’s a battle I feel like I can win. But instead you’ve got to stack the deck and make sure that every couple of episodes contain a completely unnecessary extended shot of your naked ass. It’s essentially another vampire spell, just with more sweaty glistening ass. You’ve also cameoed in both the movie Zoolander and Lady Gaga’s Paparazzi video. If that doesn’t completely corner the tastes of the world’s women (and I suppose gay men as well), I don’t know what does. Don’t try so hard Skarsgård, it’s kind of pathetic.

Would you prefer to hear it in your native tongue? Stanna borta från min hustru.

The vampire killer in me has been awakened and I won’t rest until my wife notices my own sexual inadequacies during our occasional lovemaking sessions rather than envisioning a pale Swedish vampire on my also pale, but otherwise completely different frame. I’ve read ahead in the Sookie Stackhouse books and the good guys win.

In conclusion: Stay away from my wife.

Sincerely,

Brian

The Stars of The Vampire Diaries Share their Halloween Plans

When you get to be a vampire or a werewolf everyday, it must be hard to come up with something truly awesome to wear for Halloween. Watch as the cast gives it their best shot.

American Horror Story, Season One, Episode Four: Halloween: Part 1

 

This episode opens with Chad carving pumpkins in an attempt to make the house pretty to sell it.  Patrick and Chad  immediately get into an argument, when Chad tells him to wear a condom when he goes to the gym, because he suspects that he is screwing his twink trainer. Patrick admits that he is having an affair and says, "I don't give a shit about carving pumpkins, I want love, I want a relationship with a man not Martha Stewart." Chad responds with, "Then leave. Oh you can't, I forgot all of your money and mine is tied up in this house, which we agreed to flip and make a mint on, but now we can't because the economy is in the shitter". Patrick reminds Chad that they were going to have a baby and a great life.  It's seems just like Ben and Vivien, the house plays a major part in ruining their relationship.  While Chad is carving pumpkins, a man appears dressed in Black leather from head to toe and then proceeds to throw Chad across the room and drown him in his bobbing for apples station.  When Patrick walks in, he finds the man and a very dead Chad.  

For the record, this is the second death of a gay man that we have seen in a scant four episodes on this show.  I think it is highly problematic that the only people who seem to die on a regular basis are women and gay men. The portrayal of Chad and Patrick's relationship falling apart was very real and true; however, why do we need a dichotomy between a BUTCH man and a camp man in a relationship? Why does there always have to be one of each? Ah yes, gender roles. Being camp in and of itself isn't problematic, it's that gay men are always constructed as camp in the media.  There is also the issue that despite the fact that we are dealing with people of the same sex, the media often tries to model gay couples after heterosexual couples.

In the present day, Vivian and Ben are still trying to sell the house to no avail.  They accuse Marcy of not trying hard enough, and she suggests a fluffer.  That was a quaint use of the word, considering that a fluffers function is to give male porn stars erections. She recommends a woman and a gay man.Yes, a gay guy who just happens to bean interior designer, and note that gay is part of his qualification. She's not saying "oh I have these two people who can do it" no, no - he's a gay. Because it's an interior designer that they are discussing, the GAY is important. Can you imagine saying "oh hey, I have a straight mechanic to fix your car?" or "hey you're ill? I know a bisexual doctor!"The other point worth mentioning is that Marcy suggested gay men, which leads me to believe she knows more about the house than she has previously indicated.  Is she even alive?

The other issue with Chad and Patrick's appearance on the show was the vicious snipping - remember they are supposed to be working for Ben and Constance. If that were not enough, when Ben goes upstairs with Patrick to take care of a cut, Patrick comes onto him by grabbing his crotch and says, "Come on Ben, we're the same I can tell. You play the role of the dutiful house husband, but you like having that cock sucked often and well. I can do that four minutes, no one will know." When Ben tells him that he's not gay, Patrick responds by saying, "yeah, neither was I until I got head from a guy."  Yeah, that screams of predatory gay man trope. Ugh, gay men creeping on straight men and being predatory and sexually assaulting straight men is an awful vile trope. It is used to justifying beating them, killing them and as a legal defence over and over again. I'm sick of the trope and, frankly -- it hardly ever happens because gay men have to be extremely careful propositioning anyone.