December meme: Avatar and Dance Academy
Dec. 27th, 2013 11:29 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lizbeeYesterday I got home from running some errands (...I waited until the sale had started before I bought my parents' Christmas gifts. Yes, I'm a bad person, but I saved, like, $12!) and played Portal, and completely forgot about the meme!
amaresu asked me to talk about Avatar.
...you know, it's weird, but I don't think I can. Usually I'm just waiting for my chance, but there's so much squee harshing on my Tumblr dash about Avatar and Doctor Who today that my brain has turned into a tiny echnidna and rolled up in a defensive position. (I tried to find a gif of an echidna to illustrate this, but there was nothing. Except that there's a surprising amount of porn in the echidna tag on Tumblr.)
I'm sorry. I have failed at the meme. And in the place where I least expected to stumble.
rj_anderson asked me to talk about Dance Academy, and reminded me that I never discussed the ending. THAT, I can talk about. (The fandom is tiny, and easy to ignore.) For example, I wrote a series of posts about its male characters and how it approaches masculinity here.
So I really just wanted a few things from the ending: for Tara not to be with Ben, for the possibility of a relationship with Christian, and for her to have a chance at a career in dance.
In short, I WIN. But not how I expected to!
I was taken completely by surprise when Tara fell in her audition. I mean, yes, I could tell from the foreshadowing that something terrible was going to happen, but I didn't expect it specifically to be that Tara falls, injures her back and requires surgery and two years of rehab before she can dance again. Well done, show! You totally confounded my expectations!
What I liked about that whole storyline is that, compressed as it was, it's really unusual for a character -- any character, let alone a would-be professional dancer -- to be allowed to come to terms with a possible disability. Narratives about heroic searches for cures, or "Bruce Wayne's broken spine is fixed by swinging on some rope" routines are more common. I was genuinely not sure whether or not Tara would make a full recovery, and I appreciated that she was allowed to recognise that a lifelong disability still gave her the chance to find a new dream.
Having said that, I'm glad that she does recover, and that, albeit two years later, she's able to take another shot at a professional career.
On the other hand, what career she will have is no doubt going to be a short one. As Saskia says, waking up to coffee and painkillers is only a lifestyle you can put up with for so long, and Tara's starting at a disadvantage now. I'm quite certain that she has the skill and perseverance to get into the Company, but how long she'll last, and whether she'll be able to admit when she's ready to move on, is another question.
Another thing that surprised me: the way Saskia was not redeemed, yet she found a rapport with Tara anyway. I think Saskia was an amazing villainess for season 2. However much she was driven by ambition and professional jealousy, in her conscious mind, she truly believed she was working in Tara's best interests. And now that her star is falling, she's humble enough to become a true mentor to Tara.
(I do hope, however, that she realises that Tara's injuries and their long-term effects are her fault. I don't want or need Saskia to be motivated by guilt, but I just want her to take responsibility for that.)
And Abigail. Who, over the course of just a couple of episodes, goes from "I will not be humanised" to "I can't hate her". That's really her entire arc right there, and it's WONDERFUL. I really applaud the writers for giving Abigail more layers than the stereotypical mean girl, yet keeping her inherent prickliness intact. When she's on stage, preparing to audition after a sleepless night, my heart broke for her. And then Rebecca tells her to find another reason, and it's like, finally Abigail gets it. And with that, plus all her hard work, she gets into the Company, just as she dreamed.
(I hope, though, that with Rebecca as artistic director, the Company moves in a more contemporary direction, because that's where Abigail's strengths really lie. Okay, maybe that's where Dena Kaplan's strengths lie. Her two most significant dances -- Ethan's solo and then Wes's -- are contemporary, and -- ironically for someone so prone to overthinking -- she's better with that form than classical ballet.)
I'm also quite pleased that Ollie gets into the Company. I was also in favour of him achieving fame and fortune as a pop star, but as someone pointed out, it would have been dodgy to have the hardworking black guy excluded. And the pop career, from what we see of his work, seems like it would have involved being in the closet, at least for a few years. (I can think of a bunch of Australian pop stars who came out AFTER they achieved success, and stayed successful, but no one who was out from the beginning of their careers.)
And, of course, Grace and Ben get what they wanted, but at least they get it far away from everyone else. I feel quite bad for the people of Houston and Vietnam, being saddled with those two sociopaths, but the important thing is that they're out of Australia.
Also out of the country: Kat. Her American accent in the final montage is ADORABLE, and she's just right for Hollywood. I predict that, after a few years of playing waitresses and doing fringe theatre, she and her accent will get a role on a successful network TV action series (think Anna Torv, Yvonne Strahovski -- Kat even has a V in her surname!), and they will have a very respectable career.
My main disappointment with season 3, and the ending, is that Tim Pocock's abnormally symmetrical face was unavailable, and so we had to have Wes filling in for Ethan. Wes is a perfectly fine character and all, but it was way too late in the day to introduce a new love interest for Abigail, and he lacked that spark that made Abigail/Ethan interesting. I'd rather they had left Barcelona alone, and found a different way for Abigail to move on from Sammy's death.
FINALLY, I cheered when Christian decided to teach instead of taking the Company's contract. Well, it was a bittersweet cheer, because he's giving up a rare opportunity that will never come again, but it was a good decision. Having spent three years with white, middle class teachers who didn't really understand him, he can meet his disadvantaged students on their own level. (Also, when Ethan comes back and creates an indie contemporary company, Christian can dance part time with them, and coincidentally demonstrate to his students that the Company doesn't have a monopoly on dance.)
amaresu asked me to talk about Avatar. ...you know, it's weird, but I don't think I can. Usually I'm just waiting for my chance, but there's so much squee harshing on my Tumblr dash about Avatar and Doctor Who today that my brain has turned into a tiny echnidna and rolled up in a defensive position. (I tried to find a gif of an echidna to illustrate this, but there was nothing. Except that there's a surprising amount of porn in the echidna tag on Tumblr.)
I'm sorry. I have failed at the meme. And in the place where I least expected to stumble.
rj_anderson asked me to talk about Dance Academy, and reminded me that I never discussed the ending. THAT, I can talk about. (The fandom is tiny, and easy to ignore.) For example, I wrote a series of posts about its male characters and how it approaches masculinity here.So I really just wanted a few things from the ending: for Tara not to be with Ben, for the possibility of a relationship with Christian, and for her to have a chance at a career in dance.
In short, I WIN. But not how I expected to!
I was taken completely by surprise when Tara fell in her audition. I mean, yes, I could tell from the foreshadowing that something terrible was going to happen, but I didn't expect it specifically to be that Tara falls, injures her back and requires surgery and two years of rehab before she can dance again. Well done, show! You totally confounded my expectations!
What I liked about that whole storyline is that, compressed as it was, it's really unusual for a character -- any character, let alone a would-be professional dancer -- to be allowed to come to terms with a possible disability. Narratives about heroic searches for cures, or "Bruce Wayne's broken spine is fixed by swinging on some rope" routines are more common. I was genuinely not sure whether or not Tara would make a full recovery, and I appreciated that she was allowed to recognise that a lifelong disability still gave her the chance to find a new dream.
Having said that, I'm glad that she does recover, and that, albeit two years later, she's able to take another shot at a professional career.
On the other hand, what career she will have is no doubt going to be a short one. As Saskia says, waking up to coffee and painkillers is only a lifestyle you can put up with for so long, and Tara's starting at a disadvantage now. I'm quite certain that she has the skill and perseverance to get into the Company, but how long she'll last, and whether she'll be able to admit when she's ready to move on, is another question.
Another thing that surprised me: the way Saskia was not redeemed, yet she found a rapport with Tara anyway. I think Saskia was an amazing villainess for season 2. However much she was driven by ambition and professional jealousy, in her conscious mind, she truly believed she was working in Tara's best interests. And now that her star is falling, she's humble enough to become a true mentor to Tara.
(I do hope, however, that she realises that Tara's injuries and their long-term effects are her fault. I don't want or need Saskia to be motivated by guilt, but I just want her to take responsibility for that.)
And Abigail. Who, over the course of just a couple of episodes, goes from "I will not be humanised" to "I can't hate her". That's really her entire arc right there, and it's WONDERFUL. I really applaud the writers for giving Abigail more layers than the stereotypical mean girl, yet keeping her inherent prickliness intact. When she's on stage, preparing to audition after a sleepless night, my heart broke for her. And then Rebecca tells her to find another reason, and it's like, finally Abigail gets it. And with that, plus all her hard work, she gets into the Company, just as she dreamed.
(I hope, though, that with Rebecca as artistic director, the Company moves in a more contemporary direction, because that's where Abigail's strengths really lie. Okay, maybe that's where Dena Kaplan's strengths lie. Her two most significant dances -- Ethan's solo and then Wes's -- are contemporary, and -- ironically for someone so prone to overthinking -- she's better with that form than classical ballet.)
I'm also quite pleased that Ollie gets into the Company. I was also in favour of him achieving fame and fortune as a pop star, but as someone pointed out, it would have been dodgy to have the hardworking black guy excluded. And the pop career, from what we see of his work, seems like it would have involved being in the closet, at least for a few years. (I can think of a bunch of Australian pop stars who came out AFTER they achieved success, and stayed successful, but no one who was out from the beginning of their careers.)
And, of course, Grace and Ben get what they wanted, but at least they get it far away from everyone else. I feel quite bad for the people of Houston and Vietnam, being saddled with those two sociopaths, but the important thing is that they're out of Australia.
Also out of the country: Kat. Her American accent in the final montage is ADORABLE, and she's just right for Hollywood. I predict that, after a few years of playing waitresses and doing fringe theatre, she and her accent will get a role on a successful network TV action series (think Anna Torv, Yvonne Strahovski -- Kat even has a V in her surname!), and they will have a very respectable career.
My main disappointment with season 3, and the ending, is that Tim Pocock's abnormally symmetrical face was unavailable, and so we had to have Wes filling in for Ethan. Wes is a perfectly fine character and all, but it was way too late in the day to introduce a new love interest for Abigail, and he lacked that spark that made Abigail/Ethan interesting. I'd rather they had left Barcelona alone, and found a different way for Abigail to move on from Sammy's death.
FINALLY, I cheered when Christian decided to teach instead of taking the Company's contract. Well, it was a bittersweet cheer, because he's giving up a rare opportunity that will never come again, but it was a good decision. Having spent three years with white, middle class teachers who didn't really understand him, he can meet his disadvantaged students on their own level. (Also, when Ethan comes back and creates an indie contemporary company, Christian can dance part time with them, and coincidentally demonstrate to his students that the Company doesn't have a monopoly on dance.)
no subject
Date: 2013-12-27 02:38 pm (UTC)