Alias question, LotR-connected recs, and a DS9 review

[selenak]

Okay, a question to all Alias fans, of which there seem to be quite a lot: I've been reading intriguing comments on this show in the lj world for more than a year now. Here are the somewhat conflicting impressions I got: Buffy with spies instead of vampires; La Femme Nikita, only better/worse; owes something to Run Lola Run; the most intriguing characters are people nicknamed Spy Mommy and Spy Daddy, a KGB agent and CIA agent respectively who somehow spawned the heroine of the show. Correct or misled?

Also: since I'm now curious enough, is it possible to get a season or two of this show on DVD in Europe?


Here is a cool discussion of the scene in RotK (the film) where Frodo sends Sam away, how this scene was interpreted by fandom; of the characters (Frodo, Sam and Gollum) in general, and how a slash-only reading (i.e. a reading that does not see slash as an interpretation but as the only interpretation) can be detrimental to the overall impression of the story. Choice excerpt:

So I guess I'm beginning to feel like F/S can be too focused on, elevated in ways it shouldn't be. It's sad, but the story states pretty clearly that their friendship is not any ultimate solution. Maybe this is another reason Sam seems like the more accessible character. Not only are his deeds easier to understand, but his needs are too. Why can't Frodo just return Sam's adoration? But the thing is he can't and he shouldn't. He loves Sam but he's focused in the other direction. (...) Here I'm not talking about elevating one character over another, but I think this quote is related to the elevation of F/S above the real quest. Sam is the easier character for slash and fanfic purposes, but he's not the ideal to which all characters in the story should aspire. His devotion to Frodo is a very special role that's essential to the quest, but it isn't the quest in itself.

Two terrific interviews of the actors, one with Sean Astin, and a corresponding interview with Elijah Wood. butterfly, Sean Astin is as irritated with the "true hero" thing as we are.

I've learned the Gone With The Wind story I've recced some days ago was written by bonibaru, she who creates beautiful vids. She also started a most amazing thing, a Gone With The Wind/Harry Potter crossover that actually works!

Lastly, one of my christmas presents was the DS9 anthology Prophecy and Change, which is basically printed fanfiction. I reviewed it here.

Comments

Re: Frodo and Sam

[buffyannotater.livejournal.com]

That said, I do believe that Sam is in love with Frodo in a platonic sense of that term. Does that make sense?

Absolutely! I think it's a great, rare example in film of a friendship in which two male characters are shown to love each other deeply, and completely platonically. A great deal of their love for each other, I think also probably has to do with how each one reminds the other of home and the Shire, and the life and world they are trying to save.

Well...

[masqthephlsphr.livejournal.com]

I think Sam is more platonically in love with Frodo than Frodo is platonically in love with Sam. Sam has this devotion that goes beyond, "I'm your servant back in the Shire." It goes beyond, "You have a mission and I'm going to support you." It's very, very personal. It's all about Frodo. It's just not sexual.

And I think that what brings it into sharp relief is that Frodo is almost completely oblivious to it.