blindLeap
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Post by blindLeap on Dec 21, 2019 4:32:28 GMT -5
Can I just point out the irony of a beautifully created visual show about blind people? :-) Also ...I know of relatively few pieces of entertainment, movies, books or otherwise where the blindness doesn't make me cringe in some way. I think the closest I've come to finding something i am relatively OK with is the WWW series by Robert Sawyer. There's definitely still cringeworthy material in those, but I can see he consulted with blind people while making the books. I can also see blindness scares the shit out of him, though :-) Then there's a documentary-like thing on blindness and love that I myself took part in, because ...well ...actual real blind people. Kudos for anyone who identifies me by that statement To get back on topic though, I remember a lot of blind people being worried about this one when it was first announced and I believe noise was made about the no blind actors thing, but I honestly don't recall now ... I haven’t read the WWW series but the reviews on Goodreads by blind people are scathing. It’s more than a few passages that are cringeworthy, the whole thing looks like a pile of ableist crapola. You’re not obliged to read any books about blind characters at all, but seriously there are some good ones out there if you are interested. A few, not that many. So dude you keep hinting about that documentary—are you going to share the title or not? It’s ok if you don’t want to for privacy reasons but stop teasing us Hahaha it's so much fun to do so, though :-o But yeah, you're probably right, i've teased you folks long enough. How's this ...For those who want it, PM me and I'll set you up. It's not really on any big platform so it's hard to even find if you don't have a direct link to it. As for www, I don't know. Yeah, there's definitely ablist bullshit in there, the blindness is a thing they are seeking to cure and they sort of do-ish, but in comparison to other stuff I've seen this wasn't too terrible to me. I appreciate that the guy uses actual assistive tech that exists in his narrative, like JAWS screen reader and other brand names like that. Shows me the guy at least did a little bit of research which is more than most, sad as that is. But sure, would love to hear what you found about blind people that was actually good :-)
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Post by devogirl on Dec 21, 2019 8:06:10 GMT -5
But sure, would love to hear what you found about blind people that was actually good :-)
Well of course there are my two novels ;P and I'm working on another one right now.
I will leave aside romance novels because I assume you are not interested. My #1 recommendation is the novel Touch and Go by Thad Nodine. The narrator is a blind guy, and it seemed very realistic to me, at least based on people I have met. The narrator is just a regular guy trying to do his best, not a symbol or metaphor or inspiration. It's frustrating there aren't more novels like it.
My other non-romance recommendation is the Katla series by Martyn V. Halm, a Dutch author who writes in English. The first book in the series is called Reprobate. Katla is an assassin who is very good at her job. In the first volume, she meets a blind guy named Bram who becomes her boyfriend. He's a musician martial arts master, but the author does a good job of keeping it more or less realistic. The best part is that Bram is allowed to be a nuanced, three dimensional, complicated character. And hey, it's set in Amsterdam.
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blindLeap
Full Member
The right-side-up edition
Posts: 192
Gender: Male
Dev Status: Disabled Male
Relationship Status: Single
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Post by blindLeap on Dec 21, 2019 8:12:27 GMT -5
I will definitely check those out, thanks :-)
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Post by devogirl on Dec 21, 2019 8:15:06 GMT -5
Cool, let us know what you think! I'm curious to hear your assessment, good or bad, especially if there are things that you think are not realistic.
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Post by Sir Paul on Dec 22, 2019 21:12:16 GMT -5
seriously? oh my... I won't watch it. I am still in the mode of refusing to do all this subscription stuff that is being offered. I can live without apple music, although I am sometimes tempted to subscribe. The only thing I got is Amazon Prime for movies, because that's still at a really affordable price. Yeah, Apple TV isn't worth it and I'm finding it harder and harder to justify my Netflix subscription. It's 99% garbage now. Stay strong and don't give in!
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Post by feelsunshine on Dec 23, 2019 6:07:58 GMT -5
.[/quote]Stay strong and don't give in![/quote]
I’ll do my best. Your post actually helps not being too tempted about following the main stream.
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Post by devogirl on Jul 4, 2021 9:07:50 GMT -5
I am resurrecting this old thread because I finally got around to watching the Apple TV show SEE. I got a short term free subscription and was exceptionally bored, so I got caught up, just in time for season 2 which is coming at the end of August.
So it wasn't quite as awful as I expected and the plot holes I was wondering about from the trailer were actually covered. The fight scenes were very creatively choreographed, and no one was miracle cured.
But I haven't changed my opinion that this is artfully directed garbage. The plot is ridiculously convoluted, and there are so many gory, disgusting scenes that are the definition of gratuitous. The dialog is heavy and pretentious, and everyone chews the scenery like they are ravenous. Also the actors playing the "chosen one" twins are like black holes of charisma. The girl is ok but the boy is embarrassingly terrible. It's like watching a high school play every time he's on screen, which is a lot. Ditto for some of the female villains, just terrible line delivery. Jason Momoa actually comes across as one of the best actors on the show, shocker, but at least he seems like a real person and not a Mad Max extra.
The amount of money, thought, and time that went into building this world is truly staggering. The costumes and set designs are incredibly intricate and well thought out. I'm just stunned that so much effort was expended for something so dumb and half-assed. I guess all the effort went into the sets and not the writing. It's also deeply ironic that a show about blindness is so intensely visual. Each shot so lovingly created, so much visual symbolism, but it feels so out of place in this story.
It is quite ableist up until the last episode. The message is that blindness is punishment for humans' hubris, and is a metaphor for ignorance. The last episode kind of undoes that and complicates it a little but I'm still not convinced. There's also something icky going on with race, like it's trying to be anti-racist but not succeeding, idk. It depends where it goes in the second season. Much more than Mad Max, it reminded me of the novel A Canticle for Leibowitz, with the post apocalyptic medieval society and witch burnings and all but that's not a genre I care to inhabit.
All the hundred of actors wearing opaque contacts is quite something though, and made me wish it had been in service of a better story.
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