Black Widow

I have been thinking on the Black Widow movie, which I watched at the weekend, and trying to think why it was not the fun I was looking for.

... the backstory is very upsetting, I expected that, but I was expecting different things once Nat was an adult.

Black Widow is a movie we wanted made... but possibly not exactly like this?
She was fun to watch because she could plough through whole crowds of opponents, mostly guys much bigger than her, she could manipulate anyone, mostly guys much more powerful than her, and she... basically knew what she was doing? Better than anyone?

She freed herself from the worst circumstances. Having been raised by people full of hate, she made a choice, and became her own person.

I feel like the movie didn't give us any of that.

spoilers under the cut
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There's a story to be made about a whole school of Black Widows, raised and trained to believe wrong things, and how the one who left first can help the others get out.

It would require writers to make some decisions about what that wrong stuff was, and what the right things were, and be persuasive in both directions, with the good stuff winning.

Thesis, antithesis, fight!

... this was a whole set of fights without a thesis, I feel.

It wasn't even about fighting for freedom ina way that maps to the real world.

It was just... empty.

So I did not like Black Widow in the way I liked the stories Black Widow could have been.



And then of course the tag scene is there to just... draw a hard cut off on the whole thing we just watched, and remind me why I hated that other movie.



So the overall experience is like... being sold advertising.


I did not quite enjoy it.

The Priory of the Orange Tree

I finished reading the very long book.

... that was a big adventure.

I'm pretty sure it was well written, but it asked more of the reader in terms of concentration and keeping track of characters than I currently have to give.

... I am not doing excellently at concentrate, even if I'm doing much better than last month.

I shall have to come back to it later, maybe next year, and form a proper opinion of it then.

... I'll go back to re-reading fanfic I think, it feels like visiting old friends and getting away from it all, and mostly it asks you to keep track of two guys in the header who are being slow about kissing. Seems more my speed this month.