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What's in a taste?
LJ isn't down but I'm crossposting from dreamwidth for I want to use my new Justified icon!
I love it for several reasons:
1. It shows very well that Justified is not another procedural show but a revival of the western genre.
2. It emphasizes the three things I like most about Timothy Olyphant: his long legs; the way he carries himself either when walking (has anyone else noticed that he always seems to be slightly lopsided, almost about to stumble?) or standing; his shoulders. Okay to be honest, I also like his throat, especially when in profile, the line of his jaw and throat is pretty irresistible and looks tasty...but I digress.
3. The hat of course!
As for the series, I'm still catching up, now watching the second season.
I'm already three episodes in and I'm loving it, although I am not sure that so far the episodes are as good as those from season 1. It's just that like with any new addiction you're more and more hooked with the passing of time, and I'm already attached to the characters. Also, I keep enjoying the dialogues (it's such a quotable show!), and the new villains have good potential (that Mags gives me the creeps).
And I no longer know whether I'm watching Raylan's journey or Boyd's or Raylan/Boyd's journey !
Boyd's scream at the end of episode 3 was fantastic, encapsulating so different things like his frustration and rage at not being left alone and listened to (either by a suspicious Raylan who seems to be feariing/ waiting for a possible relapse or by a clueless Dewey Crowe or by those new co-workers who are only interested in his criminal past)but also a certain release he finds only in violence and extreme action and that bit of craziness that has always been there (hence the blowing things up and the religious fanatism).
Boyd has become such an interesting character and Walton Goggins is terrific. When I watch him I completely forget Shane from The Shield. His going back to work in a coal mine was perfect, and I think it's a good idea to have him live in Ava's house with her.
I don't know if there's a true romance scheduled ahead (although Ava said "which one?" when she was asked about her "boyfriend" at the end of season 1!), but Ava and Boyd make a lot of sense together, and I think that their relationship could become quite deep and romantic. She threw herself at Raylan because of her schoolgirl crush on him (she was like all the other girls who chased him as Arlo said ) and finally got him for a little while, but she couldn't figure him out, while, I guess, she's slowly getting to know Boyd and will care for him...and he's been waiting for her for so long.
Few people from my flist seem to watch Justified, and even fewer posted about it last season or even now, but I realise that this little corner of the web has never been crowded with talks about OZ, The Shield, The Wire or Breaking Bad either. All those tv shows have few female characters, lots of graphic violence and are definitely focused on male stuff in a men's world. Although I know other women who love(ed) those shows, I bet that the targetted audience is rather men too while most of tv series (including Mad Men) are obviously aimed at a female audience first and foremost.
This reminds me what S. * told me once, as we were discussing movies and tv "You, you like guys' stuff". Do I, really?
Not necessarily, but it's sure that I am not into the so-called chick stuff ("chick literature" or "chick movies" like those unbearable romantic comedies!).
When it comes to genre, I don't like what is supposed to be gals candy, that is romance, either books or movies, and I am not a big fan of musicals, but yes I love hard-boiled crime novels or roman noir and science fiction which are categories that people usually associate with men. And I like westerns, buddy stories, boxing movies and Clint Eastwood's films (well until he started being so conformist and sentimental...), and I loved testosteronally-charged scenes like the arena scenes in Gladiator or that one at the end of Rome's season 1 !
On the other hand, I am not a big fan of horror or zombie movies, or thrillers or video game-like films or superheroes (Spiderman, Superman, etc), which young males are supposed to favour...However, I enjoyed Pretty Woman when it was released, and before it I loved An Officier and a Gentleman; I 'shipped Spuffy, I adored the uber-romanticism of Ladyhawke, and the touching love-story of Desmond and Penny on Lost.
What's my taste then? I like when it's dark, deep and demanding; original and creative yet mastered; serious but with moments of lightness and humour; filled with emotion but not sappy, tragic but not melodramatic; elegant instead of posh and trendy, ambiguous instead of obvious, surprising instead of predictable; epic but not cheap, subversive but not trashy, daring but not grotesque.
Is it more a male thing than a female thing? I don't think so, but it might be a male thing to assume that women would naturally rather enjoy shallow, silly, slushy, giggly and easy stuff !
My taste isn't a guy's taste, it's just mine**.
Also, I seem to like shows and genres wherein there are a lot of men and few women and where a male is the lead. I guess it's because I actually like men, I am interested in them, intrigued by them, by their otherness, so the more the better ! And if they are attractive it's just the cherry on the top. Methinks this could be actually a very female thing...
* the irony being that S. is a male and his favourite film is Gone With The Wind !
** of course deep inside, I believe that it is just that I have good taste! ;- )
I love it for several reasons:
1. It shows very well that Justified is not another procedural show but a revival of the western genre.
2. It emphasizes the three things I like most about Timothy Olyphant: his long legs; the way he carries himself either when walking (has anyone else noticed that he always seems to be slightly lopsided, almost about to stumble?) or standing; his shoulders. Okay to be honest, I also like his throat, especially when in profile, the line of his jaw and throat is pretty irresistible and looks tasty...but I digress.
3. The hat of course!
As for the series, I'm still catching up, now watching the second season.
I'm already three episodes in and I'm loving it, although I am not sure that so far the episodes are as good as those from season 1. It's just that like with any new addiction you're more and more hooked with the passing of time, and I'm already attached to the characters. Also, I keep enjoying the dialogues (it's such a quotable show!), and the new villains have good potential (that Mags gives me the creeps).
And I no longer know whether I'm watching Raylan's journey or Boyd's or Raylan/Boyd's journey !
Boyd's scream at the end of episode 3 was fantastic, encapsulating so different things like his frustration and rage at not being left alone and listened to (either by a suspicious Raylan who seems to be feariing/ waiting for a possible relapse or by a clueless Dewey Crowe or by those new co-workers who are only interested in his criminal past)but also a certain release he finds only in violence and extreme action and that bit of craziness that has always been there (hence the blowing things up and the religious fanatism).
Boyd has become such an interesting character and Walton Goggins is terrific. When I watch him I completely forget Shane from The Shield. His going back to work in a coal mine was perfect, and I think it's a good idea to have him live in Ava's house with her.
I don't know if there's a true romance scheduled ahead (although Ava said "which one?" when she was asked about her "boyfriend" at the end of season 1!), but Ava and Boyd make a lot of sense together, and I think that their relationship could become quite deep and romantic. She threw herself at Raylan because of her schoolgirl crush on him (she was like all the other girls who chased him as Arlo said ) and finally got him for a little while, but she couldn't figure him out, while, I guess, she's slowly getting to know Boyd and will care for him...and he's been waiting for her for so long.
Few people from my flist seem to watch Justified, and even fewer posted about it last season or even now, but I realise that this little corner of the web has never been crowded with talks about OZ, The Shield, The Wire or Breaking Bad either. All those tv shows have few female characters, lots of graphic violence and are definitely focused on male stuff in a men's world. Although I know other women who love(ed) those shows, I bet that the targetted audience is rather men too while most of tv series (including Mad Men) are obviously aimed at a female audience first and foremost.
This reminds me what S. * told me once, as we were discussing movies and tv "You, you like guys' stuff". Do I, really?
Not necessarily, but it's sure that I am not into the so-called chick stuff ("chick literature" or "chick movies" like those unbearable romantic comedies!).
When it comes to genre, I don't like what is supposed to be gals candy, that is romance, either books or movies, and I am not a big fan of musicals, but yes I love hard-boiled crime novels or roman noir and science fiction which are categories that people usually associate with men. And I like westerns, buddy stories, boxing movies and Clint Eastwood's films (well until he started being so conformist and sentimental...), and I loved testosteronally-charged scenes like the arena scenes in Gladiator or that one at the end of Rome's season 1 !
On the other hand, I am not a big fan of horror or zombie movies, or thrillers or video game-like films or superheroes (Spiderman, Superman, etc), which young males are supposed to favour...However, I enjoyed Pretty Woman when it was released, and before it I loved An Officier and a Gentleman; I 'shipped Spuffy, I adored the uber-romanticism of Ladyhawke, and the touching love-story of Desmond and Penny on Lost.
What's my taste then? I like when it's dark, deep and demanding; original and creative yet mastered; serious but with moments of lightness and humour; filled with emotion but not sappy, tragic but not melodramatic; elegant instead of posh and trendy, ambiguous instead of obvious, surprising instead of predictable; epic but not cheap, subversive but not trashy, daring but not grotesque.
Is it more a male thing than a female thing? I don't think so, but it might be a male thing to assume that women would naturally rather enjoy shallow, silly, slushy, giggly and easy stuff !
My taste isn't a guy's taste, it's just mine**.
Also, I seem to like shows and genres wherein there are a lot of men and few women and where a male is the lead. I guess it's because I actually like men, I am interested in them, intrigued by them, by their otherness, so the more the better ! And if they are attractive it's just the cherry on the top. Methinks this could be actually a very female thing...
* the irony being that S. is a male and his favourite film is Gone With The Wind !
** of course deep inside, I believe that it is just that I have good taste! ;- )
no subject
I meant to comment around when you posted this, but then I didn't have a) enough time and b) only had obvious things to say, like Buffy definitely not seen as something for guys... But then Buffy is a special case, I'd argue, you know, it's got layers.
I'm a fan of hard-boiled crime, too, and it would be interesting to know how many women actually read it - I think it's more popular that one would assume at first.
I think it's the war novels that have a nearly exclusively male following.
And of course I agree that this whole idea that women like the shallow stuff is just plain wrong. Literary fiction, I believe, is read by far more women than men. Women read more than men, period.
no subject
The only women loving hard-boiled crime, whom I know, are almost all teachers! Very few have my taste for the darker stuff though.