The Sci Fi Catholic Yak Module
it does sound vaguely like Ben Dunn's Warrior Nun Areala, which I was thinking some time ago should be made into a movie.
Really? What's your rationale for that?
3. In other news, somebody thinks the kid in this picture looks like me.
LOL! Thanks for the laugh!
Really? What's your rationale for that?
Coolness potential.
Coolness potential.
Hmm? No, I'm afraid not. Timur Bekmambetov's The Knights Templar has coolness potential. Areala, Magdalena and all their sordid sisterhood of fetish-fuel ninja nuns merely have sacrilege potential.
Tis an interesting world we live in--when real-world concerns and calamities are dismissed with a casual nod, and make-believe is taken far too seriously....
...when real-world concerns and calamities are dismissed with a casual nod...
Real-world concerns and calamities should not be so dismissed, of course, but this isn't really the best place to come for those. The humble Sci Fi Catholic is rather limited in its aims; there are much better Catholic blogs for serious news, political commentary, and the like.
Hey, thanks for the plug. I must admit, Snuffles was an inspiration for the dragon posts. Good stuff.
Real-world concerns and calamities should not be so dismissed, of course, but this isn't really the best place to come for those.---
What I was trying to say is that there are folks out there who make a BIG deal about the fantasy, the sci-fi, etc, what a corruptive thing this it is, etc.... it is make-believe for ADULTS..little kids don't get chastized (much) for playing make-believe, and adults shouldn't either (of course there are always those that will get consumed by it).
So my dragons will be whatever I want them to be, and so will my spaceships and adventures on other planets, no matter how much space travel breaks the Laws of Physics. Those who harp on it may be better off expending their energies on resolving the problems of the world. My make-believe will still be my make-believe, and it's pretty harmless..
P.S what stoked this was a well-meaning coworker who thought I couldn't POSSIBLY be a good Catholic and have a small Lego figurine of a dragon on my desk (possibly eluding to the earlier discussion that many folks still harbor a thought that dragons are Satanic)....Nero and I go back YEARS...and ya know what...when all is said and done...he's just a child's toy.
P.S what stoked this was a well-meaning coworker who thought I couldn't POSSIBLY be a good Catholic and have a small Lego figurine of a dragon on my desk (possibly eluding to the earlier discussion that many folks still harbor a thought that dragons are Satanic)....Nero and I go back YEARS...and ya know what...when all is said and done...he's just a child's toy.
Just wondering... If Lego produced a cute, red-skinned, horned, goateed, goat-legged, fork-tailed demon with a pitchfork, would you consider it so innocuous?
Templar--it wouldn't bother me at all... over the years I've worked with many military units who have devils or demons as part of their unit insignia and military patches. There is a certain amount of pride and esprit-de-corp that military members have for their unit patch. One unit I was with had the nickname of "Satan's Angels." I promise you we aren't demon worshippers in any way shape or form...
And on Halloween I always have a few trick-or-treaters show up to my door dressed up as devils..
On my personal side--I MUST be a witch because I have a black cat...(although I PROMISE you I'm a GOOD witch)..well MOSTLY black...but I DO have to keep him away from windows during Hallloween and Equinoxes so that he doesn't get kidnapped and sacrificed.. No--on second thought I'm actually a pagan worshipper because my cats are the incarnation of the Egyptian goddess Bast, and my sole purpose in life it to care for them and cherish them as it does honor to Bast.. well no actually I am a Hindu because I practice yoga and EVERYONE knows that yoga poses are actually prayers to Hindu gods..
See how silly all of this can get??
Excuse me while I go scoop Bast's err Marie's litter box....
it wouldn't bother me at all... over the years I've worked with many military units who have devils or demons as part of their unit insignia and military patches. There is a certain amount of pride and esprit-de-corp that military members have for their unit patch.
I daresay that WWII USAAF bomber crews had a great amount of pride and esprit-de-corp for the nose-art that they painted on their aircraft, but that doesn't necessarily mean that the semi-pornographic images that often featured were thus innocuous.
If Lego produced a cute, red-skinned, horned, goateed, goat-legged, fork-tailed demon with a pitchfork, would you consider it so innocuous?
Is this a Hellboy Lego set? I think that would be awesome.
Is this a Hellboy Lego set?
No, Hellboy carries a revolver, not a pitchfork. 
By the way, I just read your linked review of Ben Dunn's aforementioned creation, and I must say, it certainly didn't seem as though you were of the opinion, at the time you wrote it, that Warrior Nun Areala ought to be adapted into a movie or possessed "coolness potential".
The nose art on military aircraft weren't designed to be viewed by the general public, especially most of the aircraft were destined for one-way trips... Later on the nose art became passe', but each aircraft DID have a removable panel where a design was crafted on the inside... many of the A-10 s retained their tiger face.... however during Desert Storm the nose art resurfaced to the exterior of the plane, and many of them were glorious works of art...however then the media thought they were cool starting taking photos of them and that escalated a big bro-hah-ah..half naked women--whoopee--you should have seen some of the rather graphic photos and messages we scribbled on bombs headed to Saddam Hussein...pretty graphic man-talk if you get my drift..a beautiful picture of a beautiful woman does not offend me in the least..
Deej--I'm going to the toy store to look for a wagon--I'll see if there are Hellboy Legos 
That WOULD be cool.
...it certainly didn't seem as though you were of the opinion, at the time you wrote it, that Warrior Nun Areala ought to be adapted into a movie or possessed "coolness potential".
I was probably a little hard on it. I think the series is well-intentioned even if it gives in to American comics' typical exploitations. According to what I've read, it has been controversial not only for its scanty clothes but for its positive depiction of Catholicism. And when I thought it might make a good movie, I didn't mean that terribly seriously. Since Hollywood apparently reads my mind, I should have been more earnest about it so we could have that movie instead of The Magdalena.
Sara:
The nose art on military aircraft weren't designed to be viewed by the general public, especially most of the aircraft were destined for one-way trips...
Yes, and...?
Davidson:
I was probably a little hard on it.
Not at all. Your points were well made. If anything, I would say that you weren't hard enough on it.
I think the series is well-intentioned even if it gives in to American comics' typical exploitations.
As opposed to European or Japanese comics' typical exploitations?
According to what I've read, it has been controversial not only for its scanty clothes but for its positive depiction of Catholicism. And when I thought it might make a good movie, I didn't mean that terribly seriously. Since Hollywood apparently reads my mind, I should have been more earnest about it so we could have that movie instead of The Magdalena.
If Hollywood reads your mind, I'd wish you be more earnest about some sort of warrior monk movie. There are at least historical precedents for them.
Templar--sometimes pictures and figures are just that--decoration. They're pleasing to look, they're cool, liven up a dull environment, whatever. That was the purpose of the nose art on the aircraft...decoration. I have a dragon on my desk cuz I think it's neat...I could just as well have a picture of my family--religous items are frowned upon as I work in a government building--or a souvenier from my latest hunting expedition, or a collection of seashells. Same with my house, my car, etc....to me it is highly irritating when a coworker who has never bothered to get to know me makes an instant assumption on what my religious beliefs are based on a child's toy sitting on my desk...perhaps it was a gift from a dear friend.. that's where the silliness comes in..
Speaking of gifts--was unpacking a box of stuff and found a genie lamp I had picked up in a market on one of my excursions to the Middle East....I was told it had a REAL genie in it...hhhmmmm..I wonder if I want to find out It DOES need a bit of polishing....it looks like it's right out of Alladin..
Templar--sometimes pictures and figures are just that--decoration.
Yes, and sometimes decorative pictures and figures go beyond being mere stylized representations of the human body, or what have you.
They're pleasing to look, they're cool, liven up a dull environment, whatever.
The same could be said of Todd McFarlane's more questionable creations, I'm sure.
Take the recent "Mrs. Claus" figurine, for example. I mean, I'm sure you could make the case that a three-dimensional representation of a voluptuous young woman in a furred bra and panties caught in mid pole-dance with an oversized candy cane is likewise pleasing to look at, cool, livens up a dull environment and so forth.
The same could be said of Todd McFarlane's more questionable creations, I'm sure.
I'm afraid I'm actually going to have to side with Templar on this one.
I am not familiar with Mr. McFarlane's artistic creations so I cannot freely comment, but based your description it is an item that is meant to be humorous and not taken seriously. Would I have it in my house?? Probably not, but mainly because I don't decorate much for Christmas other than my Christmas tree. Would I be offended if I saw it in someone else's house?? Probably not--because folks are free to decorate their spaces as they choose.. Would it be appropriate in a work environment?? It wouldn't work in MY stuffy serious environment--but maybe in an advertising agency or artsy place. Heck we had one person get bent because someone brought in their dashboard hula girl so she wouldn't melt in the hot car...Tasteless?? Perhaps..but not x-rated. To each their own... I love Picassos but hate Andy Warhols....go figure.. But I won't raise hell if you chose to display a Andy Warhol.
But I was also born and raised in SoCal so that probably explains my laid-back attitude..
Davidson:
I'm afraid I'm actually going to have to side with Templar on this one.
I won't hold it against you.
Sara:
I am not familiar with Mr. McFarlane's artistic creations so I cannot freely comment, but based your description it is an item that is meant to be humorous and not taken seriously.
Like most of McFarlane Toys' female statuetes, I can't say it strikes me as something meant to be humorous, and the almost obsessive level of detailing seems indicative of a deadly sort of seriousness that one might associate with Bob Crane and the development of home video technology.
Here, see for yourself:
http://www.spawn.com/toys/
horror...photo_01_dp.jpg
Would I have it in my house?? Probably not, but mainly because I don't decorate much for Christmas other than my Christmas tree.
Okay, let me wrap my head around this... I've just described what is essentially a miniature Santa Claus-themed stripper, and the only reason you, as a self-described good Catholic, can come up with as to why you wouldn't have it in your house for Christmas is because you don't do much decorating?
If Hollywood reads your mind, I'd wish you be more earnest about some sort of warrior monk movie. There are at least historical precedents for them.
There are folkloric as well as some historical precedents for Christian warrior women, too; I'd prefer they do a warrior nun movie without the fetishistic aspects.
There are folkloric as well as some historical precedents for Christian warrior women, too
But no recorded incidents of whole, officially-sanctioned orders of them fighting the heathens, unlike their male counterparts, which was more or less my point.
I'd prefer they do a warrior nun movie without the fetishistic aspects.
I'm of the opinion that that's essentially an impossibility, women in movies being, well, women in movies, and in any case, I am exceedingly tired of the whole action girl trope in general, and all of its associated suspension-disbelief-shattering clichés.
Templar--thank you for the link, am now familiar with the subject in question... however--I still don't find it particularly offensive, but you are more than welcome to your opinion... would I have it in my house?? Probably not--not that I find it offensive... I'm just not drawn to it. Some one else might find it humorous and amusing.. it brings on the topic of what is acceptable and what is offensive...and that is a pendulum that swings widely in both directions.... I was written up while I was in the AF for having a Boris Vallejo calendar in my room--one of the premier Fantasy artists--however he had a particular artistic rendering of the Moon goddess--fully nude--reclining on the crescent moon--that was considered by the AF to be pornography... and BYU sponsored a showing of the famous Rodin sculptures--however since they were NUDES they had to be draped...and there are plenty of folks who think the Budweiser girls and the Snap-on Tool girls are offensive, etc...I just don't get worked up about it.
And if these items (after all--they are just THINGS, and we should not be so hung up on material items) REALLY bother you, you can always practice custody of the eyes, and place yourself in a more benign environment.
And lest Nero upset more of my uptight coworkers, he is now comfortably sitting on my desk at home...yeesh..
Back to my apricots...have canned 15 pints today..
Templar--thank you for the link, am now familiar with the subject in question... however--I still don't find it particularly offensive, but you are more than welcome to your opinion...
Pray elaborate on why you don't find it "particularly" offensive, if you will. I'm curious to know.
would I have it in my house?? Probably not--not that I find it offensive... I'm just not drawn to it. Some one else might find it humorous and amusing..
That's not an especially convincing argument. Some people find rape humorous and amusing.
it brings on the topic of what is acceptable and what is offensive...and that is a pendulum that swings widely in both directions...
Your ringing endorsements of what amounts to moral relativism have done little to convince me that you're really equipped to debate "what is acceptable and what is offensive" in a Catholic context, I'm afraid.
And if these items (after all--they are just THINGS, and we should not be so hung up on material items) REALLY bother you, you can always practice custody of the eyes, and place yourself in a more benign environment.
Again, I'll have to disagree. No man is an island, and neither are the artifacts and works of man's hand entirely divorced from his mental and moral state, nor are they without power to affect them.
Templar--it seems this thread is spinning around in circles with no real resolution. Let's refrain from the religious jabs as we cannot possible know the state of each other's souls, agree to disagree on the topic at hand, and no longer clutter up Deej's blog.
Peace..
it seems this thread is spinning around in circles with no real resolution.
That much I can agree on.
Let's refrain from the religious jabs as we cannot possible know the state of each other's souls
Let's refrain from calling sincere attempts to analyze the other's outlook on "offensiveness" in the light of Catholic teachings "religious jabs".
agree to disagree on the topic at hand, and no longer clutter up Deej's blog.
I'm afraid I can't do that just yet, seeing as how you have yet to explain to me exactly why you disagree.
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