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mmoa_writes at 11:19pm on 28/10/2007
mmoa_writes at 11:19pm on 28/10/2007Physicist of the week: Alan Guth
Annoyance of the week: The fact that I have actually seen some copies of 'Northern Lights' by Philip Pullman with 'The Golden Compass' as a title in place of the original.
I have just experienced the culmination of two separate bits of [historical] information, which is one of the best feelings in the world.
It's nothing new to most decent art historians that paintings featuring George slaying the dragon have the rather interesting feature of the drago bearing a vagina shaped orifice. Hell, it is a vagina, pure and simple. This alone just seems to add weight to the stereotypical uber-chauvinistic model of medieval (not dark age, grrr...) society. And artists with mother issues.
However, there's more. In fact, a whole lot more. In medieval times, virginity was a thing not exactly exalted. It was considered a symptom of repression, 'perilous to physical and psychological well-being' to quote (Anke Bernau) and virgins were considered prone to all sorts of ailments. If a virgin was considered 'dangerously' sexually frustrated, but couldn't be married off, most medieval medical writers recommended midwives to cure these unfortunate young women by lieu of... masturbation. Who'd have thought? 14th cent. medicine = 21st century pornographer's dream.
So with these two facts together, it sheds a new light on these rather beautiful paintings that make undoubtedly uncomfortable viewing. George is slaying what is in fact, the beast that is virginity, freeing the virgin princess from her chains of sexual repression.
Beautiful. I love reading.
I have seen Stardust and it was wonderful viewing. It makes me feel incredible that we can now watch films as filmmakers would have us, thanks to CGI, which, when used well, can have absolutely devastating effects on one's senses.
I also love films where one can spend the boring bits counting how many British actors from Casualty or something that one recognises. Not that there were many boring bits in Stardust, but I was a little distracted by the sheer weight of all these actors upon the celluloid.
Oh, the fact that the astronomer was played by a man called Bimbo Hart, delights me more than I can possibly express.
Annoyance of the week: The fact that I have actually seen some copies of 'Northern Lights' by Philip Pullman with 'The Golden Compass' as a title in place of the original.
I have just experienced the culmination of two separate bits of [historical] information, which is one of the best feelings in the world.
It's nothing new to most decent art historians that paintings featuring George slaying the dragon have the rather interesting feature of the drago bearing a vagina shaped orifice. Hell, it is a vagina, pure and simple. This alone just seems to add weight to the stereotypical uber-chauvinistic model of medieval (not dark age, grrr...) society. And artists with mother issues.
However, there's more. In fact, a whole lot more. In medieval times, virginity was a thing not exactly exalted. It was considered a symptom of repression, 'perilous to physical and psychological well-being' to quote (Anke Bernau) and virgins were considered prone to all sorts of ailments. If a virgin was considered 'dangerously' sexually frustrated, but couldn't be married off, most medieval medical writers recommended midwives to cure these unfortunate young women by lieu of... masturbation. Who'd have thought? 14th cent. medicine = 21st century pornographer's dream.
So with these two facts together, it sheds a new light on these rather beautiful paintings that make undoubtedly uncomfortable viewing. George is slaying what is in fact, the beast that is virginity, freeing the virgin princess from her chains of sexual repression.
Beautiful. I love reading.
I have seen Stardust and it was wonderful viewing. It makes me feel incredible that we can now watch films as filmmakers would have us, thanks to CGI, which, when used well, can have absolutely devastating effects on one's senses.
I also love films where one can spend the boring bits counting how many British actors from Casualty or something that one recognises. Not that there were many boring bits in Stardust, but I was a little distracted by the sheer weight of all these actors upon the celluloid.
Oh, the fact that the astronomer was played by a man called Bimbo Hart, delights me more than I can possibly express.
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