I've been thinking that I should post more for a while now, but events (that is, students and marking and work) have conspired to keep me from doing so. Now, however, I have some free time and thus can share with you all my very important thoughts on Tom Hardy. Aren't you glad? *g*
And no, I'm not even kidding because due to my electricity being cut off several times this week, I've been spending a lot of time watching things on my laptop, including, yesterday,
Inception.
I'm kind of interested in the fact that this film has gathered so many different responses from fandom - I have friends who think it's the best film ever, friends who thought it was a bit rubbish, and friends who absolutely hated it. I am somewhat puzzled by all of these reactions, but they show the different ways in which we approach films with fannish content. And of course,
Inception is a bit peculiar in that the fandom tends to privilege characters whose narratives are not privileged in the film.
This is actually something I like about the fandom because it shows the extent to which we are a transformative community - that we value banter and dynamics over manpain and Heavy Anvils of Storytelling, for example, rather than simply accept what the film tells us, and that we put that banter at the centre of our interpretative community.
This makes, I think,
Inception a good film for fannish purposes. There is the overarching Hollywood plot and a serious hero with serious manpain, but the other characters are not subsumed into this narrative and allowed only a supportive role. There are tiny moments of characterisation for all of them and that's what makes this an interesting world, and also, what makes me want to rewatch this film. Other than, you know, Tom Hardy being hot and stuff.
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