Jewelry History - Post Revolution France
So far, our travels into the history of jewelry have taken us to multiple locations and times in history. A full list of previous jewelry history posts will be available at the bottom of this post. We now find ourselves in Post-Revolution France because this post publishes close to Bastille Day (yes, I am a nerd). The title of this post also indicates a Pre-Revolution France post coming in the…
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While overall I felt like the tbosas movie was well done, there's one part that really bothered me. When Sejanus gets involved with the rebels in the book, he's fully on board, stealing them ammo and weapons from the base, and planning to hold guards at gunpoint to free the prisoners. In the movie, however, he just wants to run away and then is surprised and upset by the fact that the rebels were planning an act of violence.
This doesn't seem like a major change, but from a political standpoint (as tbosas is a very political book), it's a big one and one I very much do not like.
In the text, Sejanus plays the role of the moral compass. Whereas both Coriolanus and Lucy Gray having complex and subjective motivations, Sejanus is always driven by wanting to do the right thing, even if it costs him. He acts as a baseline, keeping the readers from getting lost in endless loops of justification for atrocities just because Coriolanus's internal narration is rhetorically persuasive.
So when Sejanus (who up until this point has been relatively pacifist) joins up with the rebels in the book and agrees to participate in an act of revolutionary violence, the text is pointing out that that act of rebellion is morally permissible. That even violence against the oppressor class can be an altruistic action. Sejanus planning to fight the guards with the rebels is not a sign of his corruption, it's a sign of the fact that his society has become so corrupt that not doing it would be morally worse than doing it. After all, someone's going to die either way, so why not have it be the oppressors?
If movie!Sejanus is still occupying the role of the moral compass (which he seems to be), then his dismay at the possibility of the rebels using violence acts as a narrative condemnation of the violence, when the opposite is true in the book. The movie tries to make a distinction between the "good" dissenters (pacifist, nonviolent, morally superior) and the "bad" dissenters (violent radicals/terrorists). In the current political climate, this idea and narrative is extremely unsettling. And I'm disappointed they did this, but not surprised. Like the other Hunger Games movies, it was produced by a large media company, and they can't follow the satire of the book too closely lest people realize the fundamental irony of it. People in positions of power do not want to tell a story where violent activism is portrayed as moral--at least when it's against a society that obviously mirrors our own. (The brutalist architecture style is another complaint that I have, but that can be discussed in another post.)
Changing that seemingly small detail about Sejanus's involvement with the rebels doesn't do much to change the continuity of the storyline, but it does a lot to change the underlying message of his character and the story. This was almost certainly intentional, because the same sort of thing was done in the original trilogy movies as well. Companies are scared of subversive media because it makes them look like the 'bad guys' too, so they wrap rebellion in a lens of fantasy and moderatism.
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It's time for another adventure of Verden, the Green Gummy Bear!
When we last left our hero, Verden had successfully helped to overthrow the Great Green Merciless Emperor, only one short day after defecting from the Emperor's Royal Guard. Now, eight years later, Verden has worked tirelessly to atone for the atrocities he helped commit in the name of the Emperor.
"A new danger now threatens to overtake us." Verden tells the assembled bears. "It could destroy the peace we've worked so hard to maintain these last eight years."
"Mecha-Bot the Destroyer has taken up residence atop the Gumball Dispenser." Verden explains. "From that vantage point, he can blast anyone and anything in our kingdom with ease."
"We will gain access to the Gumball Dispenser via the Tower of Yellow to the East. From there we will ambush Mecha-Bot and neutralize this threat to our land. It's a daunting task."
"Fortunately," the former guardsman continues. "We've got some very powerful allies on our side. This is Agent Carter, and my psychiatrist, Dr. Indigo Dragonstein."
"There's no one better to help us in our struggle."
Late that night, under cover of darkness, Verden, Agent Carter, and Dr. Dragonstein approach the Tower of Yellow, and prepare to infiltrate.
Their path is blocked by Charmander, who demands to know why they have come.
Verden puts on his best diplomatic voice, first cultivated during his time with the Emperor's Royal Guard, and refined over the years during his service as an Agent of SHIELD. "We are here to fight an enemy who threatens all of us, including the residents of the Tower of Yellow."
"Oh, you mean Mecha-Bot?" Charmander says. "Yeah, that guy's a dick. By all means, have at it."
As the sun rises over their shared kingdoms, the small team of heroes ascends the Tower of Yellow and prepares for their confrontation with the enemy.
"Mecha-Bot!" Verden calls out as Dr. Dragonstein flies him close to the automaton's perch—
"—wait," Verden says to his shrink. "If you can fly, then what was even the purpose of infiltrating the tower?"
"For the drama," Dr. Dragonstein says gleefully.
"Whatever." Verden returns his focus to the robot atop the Gumball Dispenser. "Mecha-Bot, we have come here to—"
"It's no use, Gummy Bear!" Mecha-Bot taunts him. "I shall never alight from my perch! I shall blast everything within my sight and I—waugghhhh!"
And just like that, Mecha-Bot slips from his precarious perch and crashes to the ground.
"Well that was rather anticlimactic," Agent Carter says. "I didn't even get to throw a punch."
Verden looks down upon the wreckage of the once-great robot. "We could have resolved this peacefully," he says with a sigh. ".....after Agent Carter landed a few punches, of course."
Back home, Verden lays on the psychiatrist's couch. "I don't know, Doc, it kind of feels like we didn't really do anything."
"But nevertheless, our kingdom is safe," Dr. Dragonstein reminds him. "And our people know that you made the effort to help keep it that way."
"You're right," Verden agrees, standing. "I guess the only way any of us can go is forward."
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