Text 5951, 98 rader
Skriven 2006-08-10 20:09:00 av Robert E Starr JR (6448.babylon5)
Ärende: Re: OT: Wicker Man remake
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* * * This message was from Wesley Struebing to rec.arts.sf.tv.babylon5.m * * *
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On Thu, 10 Aug 2006 14:29:06 GMT, Amy Guskin <aisling@fjordstone.com>
wrote:

>>> On Thu, 10 Aug 2006 10:19:30 -0400, Wendy of NJ wrote
>(in article <k6fmd2h07d7tb4ksqjfv9d3s2amo9vsmpc@4ax.com>):
>
>> On Thu, 10 Aug 2006 02:22:35 +0100, "Mark Alexander Bertenshaw"
>> <newsthang@mbertenshaw.plus.com> wrote:
>> 
>> 
>>> The story is quite straight-forward.  The islanders
>>> have been having a poor harvest, so they need a human sacrifice to appease
>>> their pagan deities.  It's not the sacrifice that's important, it's the
>>> death of a virgin that's required.  They would rather kill a stranger than
>>> one of their own, thus the rather convoluted way they get their victim to
>>> the island.
>> 
>> What you'd rather do and what's required of you by the deity that you
>> worship are not necessarily the same thing and the deity's
>> requirements trump your own wishes every time. ISTR that the bog
>> sacrifices that have been found were criminals. And the death of a
>> virgin (especially a male one) really doesn't make any sense to me for
>> increasing the fertility of the land. What makes much more sense to me
>> from an "energetic" point of view, would be the sacrifice of the man's
>> VIRGINITY rather than his life.<<
>
>True dat.  The _real_ thing they would do to ensure the land's fertility is 
>have the sovereign (Lord Summerisle) perform the Great Rite with the local 
>high priestess.  But this is a movie, and even though they did an admirable 
>job presenting certain aspects of pre-Christian belief, it also has to be 
>interesting as a movie plot, which is why we get the bit about "the king's 
>man" who must be "pure."

I think I mostly agree with both of you above, but to play a little
devil's advocate, a virgin will not have "spent his seed", so should
be in full vigor  (especially one who is a repressed as Sergeant
Howie...)
>
>>> Although, there is the John Barleycorn
>> angle to it (but the grain has already been fertilized), so I don't
>> see the requirement of virginity to be necessary. <<
>
>John Barleycorn would only come into play if they were at the point of 
>harvest.  Wasn't the John Barleycorn sacrificial aspect done in that old 
>horror flick "Harvest Home"?  I haven't seen that one in decades, but I have 
>a vague recollection...

That's it, I think.  The novel from which the movie was made was Tom
Tryon's first,  IIRC.
>
>>> And the "sacrifice of the king's man" to me is the exact sacrifice
>> that a soldier makes on the battlefield (hence the Vietnam connection
>> in my mind) - except that a soldier's sacrifice is more of a voluntary
>> thing (unless of course, the soldier is conscripted - which is what
>> happened during the Vietnam era).<<
>
>I'm sticking with Mark on this one, Wendy!  Not seeing it!  :-)
>
>>> In any event, besides seeing Brit Eckland naked, that film did very
>> little for me (and seeing Brit Eckland naked didn't do a whole lot for
>> me, either. I think my spouse enjoyed that bit more than I did). <<

Most likely (I daresay I enjoyed it a tad more than you...<G>)
>
>What film _wouldn't_ be improved by having the landlord's naked daughter 
>pound on the walls in rhythm with an old British folk tune?
>
>>>> As to the remake - the folk music that is the basis to the islanders' life
>>> just wouldn't fit into a village in Maine.
>> 
>> It's going to be more like that awful "Harvest Home" movie with Betty
>> Davis than the original Wicker Man.  <<
>
>Ha!  Hey!  I just said that!  Maybe I'll have to go and see if the local 
>Blockbuster can get that for me.  Was it really that bad?  I remember being 
>_very_ frightened by it, by the normalcy of the people and what a horrible 
>thing they were getting these young kids to agree to.
>
Maybe you're remembering the book, dear.  ISTR it was pretty scary.

--

Wes Struebing

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and to the republic which it established, one nation from many peoples,
promising liberty and justice for all.
                                                               
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