Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Transmitted Respiration and Other Involuntary Functions of the New Flesh

RIP Marylin Chambers.



Rabid's one of my favourite David Cronenberg movies, possibly for the way it explores social sexual issues. It can be seen as a forerunner to Videodrome as a porn star turning people into ravenous, zombie-like cannibals is a bit similar to Videodrome's idea of violent, sexual imagery being used to turn people into assassins. But Rabid is more of a meditation on society sanctioned objectification of women and a corresponding unsympathetic hunger produced. Chambers' character is at the centre of the storm and carries the film by portraying the often ignored complexity of the issue--Rose didn't choose to be what she is, but she has to survive by this dynamic society has fallen into. The fundamental horror polite society feels isn't provoked by the fact that women are being objectified, but by the fact that some women get off on it. It's the sort of hypocrisy that arises when physical needs are kept under the floorboards.

Like Videodrome, some might consider Rabid to contradict itself by being a violent and sexually explicit movie while seeming to condemn violent and sexually explicit imagery. I've always been of the opinion that Cronenberg's intention was more to discourage passive viewing.

Last night's tweets;

My phone battery's irreplaceable.
I drank a great big green tea with my lunch.
New pasta sauce oughta be edible.
I had no teas and now I have a bunch.


I was running all over the place yesterday. I had to go the bank and then to the mall in order to buy phone minutes and hopefully a new battery. Except I found I'd forgotten my phone when I arrived at the mall, had to drive back, and when I finally presented it to the irritable Verizon man I was told no-one makes batteries for my phone anymore. "Try eBay," he said. He was already mad at me because I couldn't use the Verizon self-service computer to buy minutes because for some reason my phone plan always makes that computer crash.

Anyway, I've once again got a lot to do to-day, so I'd better get to it . . .

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