It's days like this when I am reminded that cleaning house is not my spiritual gift.
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Yeah. Sigh.
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Meanwhile, Jonathan is over there reading about Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. and Learned Hand, and going "Squee!"
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I've been of two minds whether or not to admit it on the blog, but we like the show Castle. There. That's out. Castle is fun because it's a cop show with a mystery author (Rick Castle played by Nathan Fillion) tagging along with the police detective (Kate Beckett played by Stana Katic), and it's got great writers, very funny dialogue, good plots, and very respectable side characters and guest stars. The main downside is that some episodes this season have been pretty dirty.
Rick Castle, the character, has been writing the Nikki Heat books, which are based on Kate Beckett, the detective. In a moment of sheer metaphysical awesomeness, ABC has released two books in real life purportedly written by Castle, and then writes episodes dealing with the books and the (so far purely fictitious) film version of them. Heat Wave actually made #26 on the New York Times bestseller list, which cracks me up. In a complex series of events involving three computers, two library systems, several reserves, and two real live librarians, I have procured copies of both of them. I was really excited.
Alas, the books are a good solid two notches dirtier than the show. So depressing. Because of it, I really can't recommend them.
Apart from the rampant immorality, Nikki Heat feels like a woman written by a man who doesn't actually know any women. He's always having her do things that men might consider hot, but no woman would actually do. Like, there was an odd scene where it was really warm out, so she took a bubble bath and didn't bother to dry off or dress, but just wandered around her apartment all slippery and decided to do some ironing. Um... excuse me? And that led directly into the fight scene with the thug who broke in, so it was just as well she was slippery and armed with a hot iron, but the author definitely failed.
The prose isn't that great, but it's a wonderful page-turning adventure. I want to be able to grab a reader like that.
My other main thought about the books has to do with the aforementioned sexual dysfunction that's all through them. It's in the show too, to a lesser extent. At her heart, Nikki doesn't appreciate or respect sex any more than the prostitutes she investigates. She has a no-strings, purely-physical, when-convenient relationship with one guy just to get her heart rate up occasionally. When the author comes bounding into her life and apartment (in a blackout, with tequila), she finds him so much better because at least he's playful and makes her play.
One of the suspects was a Swedish nanny. The dad had been taking her out to lunch and buying her things, so the detectives assumed they were having an affair, but when they asked her, she was shocked. "No! That would not be appropriate!" So I was sitting there applauding the nanny, because she was quite right. But the police station thought she must not be right in the head.
We have officially reached the point where not having sex is a sign something must be wrong with you, even if you're not enjoying it. So much for women's "liberation." Victorian heroines followed Victorian fashions, and modern heroines follow modern fashions.
In the show, Beckett and Castle haven't slept together yet, but it's just a matter of time. I'm kind of afraid of when they do get together, because then the writers will think the fun is over and have to stop writing. There isn't a single happily married couple in the entire show, though Castle has two ex-wives as recurring characters. Over and over again, the message is if the physical stuff is magic, then the relationship is good, but when it gets boring... meh. Why stick around? You should go find someone new.
I think I'll go hug my husband now. So freeing to know he won't divorce me, even if - gasp! - I get boring for a while. Not that I ever would, of course.
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2 comments:
The only bit of Castle I've seen is the clip where Nathan Fillion makes an obscure Firefly reference while wearing blue surgical gloves. Various sources have said it's a good show, though, so I don't think you have to be embarrassed.
A show I've been watching the past few weeks is The Cape. Its dialogue could be better, and it remains to be seen whether the story will fulfill its potential, but I like it so far. It's about a cop who is framed for murder by the corrupt forces taking over his city. He then becomes The Cape, based on his son's favorite superhero comic, in an attempt to clear his name and get back to his family. He joins forces with a blogger known as Orwell (Summer Glau), who has already been working against corruption.
The episodes already shown are available on Hulu, and the blog investigating corruption in the city exists in real life at www.orwelliswatching.com.
I really enjoy Castle too. The writing is witty, the plots enjoyable, the side characters engaging--the cast has great chemistry. But yeah....some of the deep seated assumptions are rather disturbing. Kate, at least, seems to be the grounded foil to Castle's wilderness of physical gratification. He would be so miserable without her.
From some of the behind the scenes stuff I've seen about this show and others I doubt that Castle and Beckett will "hook up" anytime soon. It would be an extremely risky move writing-wise because it might destroy a lot of the appeal and tension in the show. Then again, Burn Notice for sure and I believe JAG pulled off rocky-high tension-relationships that were on and off. But really, in today's culture...they've deprived themselves of ever having a real happy ending.
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