tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2856547151523423474.post3030138217567763777..comments2024-03-12T12:38:23.542-04:00Comments on The Kind of Face You Hate: The Cronenberg Series Part 6: Love Comes in at the Eyebill r.http://www.blogger.com/profile/17748572205731857892noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2856547151523423474.post-5624996253083957512013-07-20T18:08:36.218-04:002013-07-20T18:08:36.218-04:00Thank you, Nou. I not only appreciate the very fl...Thank you, Nou. I not only appreciate the very flattering compliment, but also your wide-eyed optimism.bill r.https://www.blogger.com/profile/17748572205731857892noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2856547151523423474.post-20277065173860763832013-07-20T11:56:42.140-04:002013-07-20T11:56:42.140-04:00"...an academic’s view of the world, which is...<i>"...an academic’s view of the world, which is the kind of thing that tends to melt once the rain hits it"</i><br /><br />For some reason, that line is going to stay with me. The time is coming when our movies and books will be prefaced with blog quotes (if they aren't already) rather than beats from mere high literature. Yours has that in its future.Noumenonhttp://andrewleonhudson.wordpress.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2856547151523423474.post-47225461803727875252013-07-20T09:43:26.123-04:002013-07-20T09:43:26.123-04:00Thanks, guys. And John, I don't think I agree...Thanks, guys. And John, I don't think I agree that Cronenberg is "sending up" anything. While he doesn't believe that censors are correct by any stretch, I think that element of VIDEODROME is an essentially sincere "what if" kind of approach. Which is maybe a tough stance for me to defend, given that he's also certainly not saying "This could literally happen!" but I just don't think satire is on his agenda here.bill r.https://www.blogger.com/profile/17748572205731857892noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2856547151523423474.post-64077212945325613602013-07-19T20:01:55.386-04:002013-07-19T20:01:55.386-04:00Great essay. Long live the new flesh!Great essay. Long live the new flesh!Taidanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09445905825356339877noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2856547151523423474.post-57445230014095638622013-07-19T15:40:07.446-04:002013-07-19T15:40:07.446-04:00I wanted to see what it would be like, in fact, if...<b><i> I wanted to see what it would be like, in fact, if what the censors were saying would happen, did happen. What would it feel like? What would it lead to?</i></b><br /><br />That's a great quote, in particular, and I figure pretty essential to any attempt to draw meaning or (...ugh...) <b>a message</b> from this movie.<br /><br />I don't think Cronenberg is concerned here with, as you put it, "where it will all end" or, on the other hand, with pushing an anti-censorship agenda, so much as in sending up the puritanical hysteria and the hollow academic pontificating of the various breeds of self-appointed media critics, essentially by bringing their worst nightmares to life.<br /><br />In Videodrome we finally have a new medium that truly alters the mind and, ultimately, reality, not merely as some dry, theoretical conceit, but in the most literal and tangible ways. And now, yes, the world of TV & video really does have an apocalyptic potential for wreaking unlimited havoc on not just society but the very fabric of reality, and no amount of moral posturing and academic prattle is gonna be able to stop it.Johnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05364322006357208797noreply@blogger.com