#hodgepodge and mudslide

[flowerbloom-arts]

Reconciling the age difference of the books but also the plots from the comics for an adaptation is such an interesting thing to think about when pertaining to Mymble Jr and Snorkmaiden's friendship.

I love the immediate solidarity they form when discussing, ahem, "liking to be carried off", but when you factor in the rough ages of their characters in the books it gets interesting.

Moominpappa says he doesn't remember his age in MP's Memoirs, but if we flip back to Exploits of MP he says that at the time of writing he's 39 years old and turning 40 in August of that year. If Moominpappa had to actively run away from the Foundling Home instead of just aging out of it, that would make him under 18 when he joined the Oshun Oxtra.

When we meet Mymble Jr in Memoirs, she seems marginally younger than even Moominpappa but has developed a want to gain independence from her family, which... Probably places her as younger than MP but not by too much, I personally picked 6 or 7 years younger but I dunno I haven't concretely decided on that.

And then there's Snorkmaiden who is decidedly a child in Comet in Moominland and Finn Family Moomintroll along with the rest of her friends, whether she's prepubescent or a tween is hard to say but she is a child.

I imagine in my personal book x comic timeline the adaptation of Moomin's Desert Island would take place after Finn Family but before MP gets sick and decides to write his Memoirs, serving as a true introduction to Mymble Jr as the Moominparents' peppy old friend who got rescued from drowning and dragged into their island adventure.

Mymble Jr and Snorkmaiden always have this cute solidarity/friendship between them and I think adding such an age difference would add another layer to their dynamic, that their similarities would stem from Snorkmaiden following Mymble as the only person who really gets her in this deeply fundamental way. And while they're both absolute messes of people they greatly support eachother in their wacky romantic endeavors and get into silly tiffs in which Snorkmaiden doesn't realistically have a moral chance but it's all in good fun, because Mymble taught her that romance is supposed to be plain fun and games, just as Mymble learned from her mother.

[mrclinical]

The Hunt (2020)

Directed by Craig Zobel 

Rating: 68/100

The Hunt’s journey has not been a particularly smooth one. In Jordan Crucchiola’s article, “How The Hunt Came Back From Cancellation”, he details the issues surrounding the film’s production and release, which include: a knee-jerk bashing from Fox News and POTUS, delays due to two untimely mass-shootings and a subsequent cancellation. Finally, the film, which was completed in the summer of 2019, has seen the light of day; harnessing the controversy which has beleaguered its passage as rocket-fuel to propel its promotion. Take, for example, its swinish promo-poster which is stacked with capitalized, critical salvos pertaining to its inherent shock-value: DANGEROUS - Indiewire. I must admit, it is difficult to fully appreciate whether the quotations are truly hyperbolic or not, when, if like me, you have not spent an iota of time incubated inside the smoldering, politically divided cauldron of the United States. However, one would suspect that the only people who would find themselves outraged by this unyielding, blood-splattered satire are those who have not sat through its swift running-time. Craig Zobel’s The Hunt might not be the most cutting satire ever to fall into the lap of American audiences, but it might just be one of the most exhilarating.

Twelve right-wingers awake and find themselves bound and gagged in an undisclosed forest with a crate of weapons and ammunition at their disposal. Amidst the confusion, bullets start to reverberate, and they find themselves burrowing deep into the forest in search of refuge from the gunfire. It is not too long before they realise that something/someone is hunting them. Stepping out from Zobel’s menagerie of prey - a hodgepodge of characters who seem to cover the whole superficial spectrum of Republican villainy and insanity - is Crystal (Betty Gilpin), who using a composition of cunning and ass-kickery begins to turn the tables on her antagonists; blasting their entrails all over the scenery with her sawed-off shotgun.

The controversy of the film does not stem from its gratuitous gun-violence - and believe me, it is wonderfully gratuitous - it stems from the identity of the huntsmen. They belong to the other side of the political divide: the liberal elite. It is easy to understand why The Hunt appeared on the surface as a burning red rag for those who see the world through the narrow and binary lens of dogmatic party politics. However, on closer inspection, it is not like Zobel is using The Hunt as a vehicle to enact a sick, leftie, Hollywood simulation of some latent wish-fulfillment; he in fact using the perversity of the situation to light-heartedly ridicule the hypocrisy of liberal and republicans alike, whilst also identifying the absurdity of their vehement tribalism. For neither side escapes unscathed from writers Nick Curse and Damon Lindelof’s scornful pen, as they scribble up their crude and pithy caricatures - most of which end up dismembered and blown to smithereens by the fall of the credits.

Inside their bunkers, holding their semi-automatic rifles with limp wrists and a gawky, wallflower confidence, the lefties quibble about famine, climate change, veganism and cultural appropriation in between lashings of unadulterated slaughter. The humanitarianism which is said to be the guiding principle of their ideologies is discarded in the face of an opposition which contradicts their enlightened worldview. Thus they unknowingly replicate the power-structures of oppression which they seek to disassemble - a cruel and swift authoritarian death machine; those quick to unleash the world “nazi” in Twitter discourse find themselves becoming what they fear the most. In a similar sort of role reversal the rightwingers find themselves becoming incarcerated in a refugee camp.

Sharing a similar genome as Kinji Fukasaku’s Battle Royale - and its many YA predecessors - The Hunt is a novel, dystopian actioner which disguises its DNA beneath a thin layer of blithe satire which is played up for self-deprecating laughter rather than serious reflection. Ironically, for a film which bathes gleefully in in the mudslide of rhetoric and soundbites, its protagonist, Crystal, moves through the chaos with near-silent pragmatism and apathy. It is as if she is as bored as we all are with the circus which dominants political discourse. Zobel adds a few clever narrative twists and turns to keep the audience second guessing, and treats us to an entertaining, Kill-Bill inspired boss fight before the credits fall. Despite the overzealousness of the controversy that the film has courted, The Hunt is not nearly as dangerous or biting to warrant the outcry. If you want a film that attempts to dissolve or examine the fatberg of compassionless tribalism which thwarts any manner of change in American society, then you will be disappointed. However, if you are able to turn off the analytic part of your brain, The Hunt is a swaggering, winking piece of fun.

[flowerbloom-arts]

•Rmn

To hodgkins: what did moominpappa tell you about the light house?

He tried not to bring it up to Hodgkins again.

[flowerbloom-arts]

Something magical happened on this fine Friday (I like to call it May Snow)

(also Muddler had a lisp but that gets fixed soon)

[flowerbloom-arts]

Sobbing and wailing on the Hodgkins and Little Muddler brainrot train.

One of the big things about Hodgkins is that he doesn't have the heart to tell Muddler anything that might upset him.

[flowerbloom-arts]

A great appetite runs in the family.

[flowerbloom-arts]

Muddler was always a sweet babey boy.

[flowerbloom-arts]

Hodgkins and (Aunt) Jane: fake dating childhood friends (due to arranged relations by their families) but they never fall in love and use the relationship excuse to go on "dates" and ditch everyone just to hang out as friends.

Happy Valentine's day! Don't forget to love/hang out with everyone you care about including yourself!

[flowerbloom-arts]

This is like, the day after Hodgkins found Muddler in the Maxwell House tin after Spring Cleaning week was over

[flowerbloom-arts]

First night together.

[flowerbloom-arts]

Hodgkins' father was alright, I guess. Tragic what happened tho.