Monday, March 10, 2008

can I be a violence prude instead?

I'm currently watching the new Beowulf movie starring pixelated versions of Anthony Hopkins, Robin Wright Penn, Angelina Jolie, etc. There's a large amount of hacking, slashing, rending of limbs, drinking of blood, and other graphic violence befitting an Old English hero legend. But when our hero strips off his armor and fights Grendel in the nude, there always seems to be a knee, sword, shadow, or dismembered monster finger conveniently blocking the view of his nether regions. Kind of funny, actually.

when full-frontal was unavoidable, they found him a loincloth

Now, call me lacking in proper feminine sensitivity, but are penises really a fate worse than dismemberment to witness?

Don't answer that.

And don't get me started on how much of Angelina Jolie's pixelated bod they didn't hide in shadows, strangely enough. Streaks of gold body paint don't count.

Speaking of dismembered monster fingers, it reminds me of the Grendel's arm cake baked by some college friends for the reception after the premiere of their new composition, Beowulf: The Musical. Once I find a scanner, I'll show you. Some of you remember it fondly, I'm sure.

6 comments:

Leighpher said...

I think of that cake evertime somebody mentions this movie, only I lack the energy to explain it! Wasn't that awesome?!

Lena said...

maybe Beowulf was having a problem with turgidity, and THAT's why a mysterious loincloth appeared. And something tells me that the ancient britons didn't exactly have Angelina in mind when they invented Grendel's mom.

alicia said...

With those long, cold winters and short life expectancies, who knows? Maybe ancient Britons did dream of hot chic monsters coming to give them a night of passion before drawing them fatefully toward their downfalls.

The Grendel's arm cake was a stroke of culinary genius. And pretty tasty, I think. Does anyone remember who actually baked it? Was it Ben?

N. said...

The Grendel's arm thing reminds me of all the fun potlucks that used to occur here. (Remember the foot pain & the anatomy-themed potluck?) Alas, the kids these days are more interested in political debates than culinary invention.

Because I know you enjoy nakedness soooo much, I hear that the director's cut (unrated) has penises and full nudity.

Lena said...

well, I for one am queueing THAT one up on netflix ;)

alicia said...

I believe the version Netflix sent me was the unrated Director's Cut, so it's no use looking there. The unrated additional scenes must not have been too juicy.

Nina, those anatomy parties must've been after my time; we had monochromatic potlucks. Which I still talk about sometimes. :)