Enter your email address:

Delivered by FeedBurner

Sunday, May 26, 2019

Mirror Online: The intelligent tabloid. #madeuthink

Posted by at No comments:

Star Control II: Summary And Rating

            
Star Control II: The Ur-Quan Masters
United States
Toys for Bob (developer); Accolade (publisher)
Released in 1992 for DOS, 1994 for the 3DO console; later fan ports to other platforms
Date Started: 23 March 2019
Date Finished: 14 May 2019
Total Hours: 47
Difficulty: Moderate (3/5)
Final Rating: (to come later)
Ranking at time of posting: (to come later)
      
Summary:

Star Control II takes the ship-by-ship action combat of the original Star Control and places it solidly within an adventure game of epic proportions. In a galaxy of more than 500 stars and 3,000 planets, a captain must build alliances, find artifacts, mine minerals, and coerce information from alien races so that he can ultimately throw off the yoke of the Ur-Quan Hierarchy and free Earth and its allies from slavery. Gameplay comes with a lot of lore and plot-twists, but every so often it reveals its origins and requires the player to defeat enemy ships with selections from his own armada, each with their own strengths, weaknesses, and special abilities. Although the sense of an open world and a nonlinear plot both end up being somewhat illusory, the game is still fun and memorable.

****
        
In the comments for my winning entry, several readers have offered descriptions and text that occurs when you try some of the game's alternate strategies, such as surrendering to the Ur-Quan, provoking the Orz, or selling your own crewmembers to the Druuge. Most of them are either dead-ends or offer such harsh consequences that you'd best not do them in the first place.

One thing I was curious to check out is what happens if you wait out the game's time limit. The Melnorme originally told me that the Earth would be destroyed in January or February of 2159, but my actions in the game managed to delay the apocalypse by almost two years. As I sat in hyperspace and watched, nothing much happened until November 2159, when the Supox and Utwig returned to their original systems, much diminished. 
          
No one remains but the Ur-Quan.
         
Around the end of 2159, the Kohr-Ah won the civil war and started to circle the galaxy, destroying each sentient race in turn. Some of their ships reached Earth in April, but they weren't here to destroy Earth just yet. I fought a few dreadnoughts and the horde moved on. The Arilou, Umgah, and Zoq-Fot-Pik were all gone by June 2160, the Supox and Utwig a month later. By October 2160, the Ur-Quan fleet had reached the "southern" end of the galaxy and destroyed the Yehat. Finally, in November, I received a broadcast from the Ur-Quan notifying me of Earth's destruction, and the game was over. My ship was parked right next to Earth at the time, and I was hoping I'd see a bunch of dreadnoughts approaching it, but alas, it wasn't quite that detailed.
             
The "bad" ending, unless you're a big Ur-Quan fan.
          
If I hadn't cheated a bit during the game by reloading when an expedition proved a waste of time, I probably would have run into issues with the time limit. Watching the slow destruction of every race, along with the intelligence that they possessed, would have been mildly horrifying. But apparently you can still win the game at any time during this process, with nothing altered in the endgame sequence.

I confess that the last bit bothers me a little because it's indicative of the approach taken by the game as a whole. When I started playing Star Control II, it gave the impression of an open-world game with multiple narrative possibilities. But it turns out you have to follow a few paths in a relatively specific order, and most of the choices turn out to be illusory. Oh, it certainly does better than the typical RPG of the period, I hasten to add. It was just a bit disappointing to find that open exploration isn't really rewarded. If you're lucky enough to stumble upon a key location amidst all the planets in the vast galaxy, you probably won't be able to do anything because you haven't bought an important piece of information from the Melnorme first.

I have similarly mixed feelings about the game's approach to the alien races and racial characterizations. On the one hand, I enjoyed the variety. When you're making a game (as opposed to shooting a film or television show), you have the freedom to make some interesting races without worrying about the CGI budget. I appreciated that there were no "bumpy forehead" aliens except perhaps for the Syreen.
           
I could have done with less of this.
         
I also don't fault the game for broad characterizations. It's a longstanding trope of science fiction and fantasy to paint races with a broad brush: the wise elves, the logical Vulcans, the proud Klingons, the evil orcs, and so forth. You rarely have time to explore the detailed characteristics of an entire culture. It's perfectly acceptable that Star Control II decided to highlight one major attribute of each race, such as cowardice, depression, loneliness, and greed. When it did go into more detail, such as in the case of the Ur-Quan and the Syreen, the detail was generally good, and it was rewarding to unlock those stories. I also appreciated the consistency of characterization. The Spathi locking themselves under their own slave shield amused me to no end because it was perfectly in keeping with the Spathi personality--and, in hindsight, 100% foreseeable. 

But I also felt there were too many moments of outright goofiness and parody among the racial interactions. The Orz, the Pkunk, the VUX, the Umgah, and the Utwig mostly just exhausted my patience. I couldn't help but think how the same races with similar characteristics might be handled with less silliness. We don't have to look very far to find an example. Starflight and Starflight II had some of the same broad racial characterizations, but rarely crossed the line into outright slapstick. I felt the stories and plot twists of those games were much better, too.

Nonetheless, I understand why Star Control II is regarded as the better game: it's all about the combat. I wasn't any good at it, but I can see why people like it. Until I played it, I wouldn't have thought that a single choice--what ship to pilot--could have so many tactical implications. There are 14 ships that can join the New Alliance and 13 potential enemy ships, resulting in 182 potential battle combinations, and each has completely different tactical considerations. (With the Super Melee application, you can fight any of the ships against any of the others, for 625 possible combinations.) Slowly mastering the strengths of your ships and learning the weaknesses of the enemy ships is a huge and rewarding part of gameplay. Later in the game, when you have to fight multiple ships in a row, there are strategic implications for what ships you send into combat first and which you reserve for later in the battle.
            
The typical outcome of my combats.
          
Still, the nature of combat, plus the lack of "character development," really makes this a non-RPG, which means it might not do so well on the GIMLET as an RPG. I played it as an exception. I don't want to hear any future comments along the lines of, "Well, you played Star Control II, so to be consistent, you should also play This Game." The point of exceptions is that I don't have to be consistent with them.

As to the GIMLET:

1. Game World. Star Control II manages to check most of the boxes in this category. It has a rich, detailed backstory, an open world, a clear place for the character and his quest, and an evolving game state that responds to the player's actions. (I particularly like how the starmap continually updates to show the dispositions of the various races.) The plot and its twists are original and interesting. The only fault I can find is that there isn't much to see or do in the open universe. I wish the creators had seeded more planets with optional encounters and finds, perhaps replacing the system by which you purchase all your technology upgrades from the Melnorme. Score: 8.

2. Character Creation and Development. Alas, there is none of either except for the ability to name your own captain. Even if you regard the ship as a "character," it doesn't get innately better so much as it gains better equipment. Score: 0.

3. NPC Interaction. Another strong point. I've given my thoughts about the NPC personalities, but I should add that even goofy personalities are better than we get from the typical RPG of the period, which is no personality (or even NPCs) at all. I wish there had been more honest variety in dialogue options instead of one that's obvious, two that are stupid, and one that's evil. The Starflight games did a better job giving the player real "options" when talking to different alien races even though they came in the form of "stances" rather than specific dialogue choices. 

I should also note that most NPCs aren't individuals but rather representatives of their races who somehow know the previous conversations the player has had with other representatives. But the game otherwise hits most of the criteria for a high score here, including a plot that advances based on NPC interaction. Score: 7.
            
My thoughts exactly.
             
4. Encounters and Foes. The game has an original slate of foes (ships) that require you to learn their individual strengths and weaknesses. There are otherwise no real "encounters" in the game that aren't also NPC dialogues. Score: 6.

5. Magic and Combat. I can't give a high score here because my scale is about RPG-style combat and the various tactics and strategies that draw from attributes, skills, and the player's intelligence rather than his dexterity. Still, as I discussed above, the choice of ship and the way you plot long combats create some important tactical and strategic decisions. I just wish combat had only been about ship versus ship. The planets, which show up suddenly as you switch screens, were unwelcome guests. Score: 3.
          
The asteroids, on the other hand, I didn't mind so much.
        
6. Equipment. All of the "equipment" in the game is ship-related rather than character-related, and it all applies to the flagship, which a good player arguably does not rely on. I wish there had been opportunities to upgrade the other ships in the fleet. It would have been tough to offer meaningful options with so many of them, but even just generic attack or defense improvements would have been nice. Beyond that, it's fun to figure out how to best make use of the limited modular space on the flagship, particularly as new options come along regularly. Score: 3.

7. Economy. There are really two economies in the game: the "resource unit" economy that lets you build a fleet and equip your flagship, and the Melnorme "information" economy that depends on bio data and Rainbow World identifications. I found both rewarding enough for about two-thirds of the game. Score: 7.

8. Quests. The game has one main quest with a few options (though, as I mentioned before, a lot of the options are illusory) and side-quests. There's only one ending. Score: 4.

9. Graphics, Sound, and Inputs. I don't have many complaints in this category. The graphics are perfectly fine for the scope and nature of the game; the sound effects are fun and evocative throughout; and it's hard to complain about the interface of a game that supports both joystick and keyboard inputs and lets you customize the keyboard. I had problems in combat despite these advantages, but I don't think I can blame the game.

I do have one major issue, or several related issues, that fits into this category. The dialogue is delivered one line at a time in a huge font. You can hit the SPACE bar after each bit of dialogue to see a transcription in a smaller font that you can barely read. Either way, if you don't make your own transcriptions or screen shots (which must have been tough for an era player), the dialogue is lost once you leave the screen. In most cases, you can't prompt the NPC to speak the same lines again, and there's no databank in which to retrieve it as there was in Starflight II. Thankfully, I took copious screenshots, but they're a cumbersome way to review previous dialogue and I think the game should have offered a better system. Score: 6.
            
This text is better than nothing, but it's still not very easy to read.
         
10. Gameplay. I give half-credit for non-linearity. The game is more linear than it seems when you start, but you still have a lot of choices about the order of your activities. I also give half-credit for replayability. As I mentioned earlier, many of the "options" seem illusory, and a replaying player might find himself swiftly on familiar paths, but there is at least some variety for a replay. The hourly total is just about right for this content, and while I had difficulty in combat, I still managed to win with an acceptable number of reloads, so I can't fault the difficulty. Score: 7.

That gives us a final score of 51, surprisingly close to the 53 I gave both Starflight and Starflight II, which had actual characters and character development. But reviewing those games, I'm reminded how awful combat was, and how many issues I had with the interface. I'm thus comfortable with the rating. 
             
The ad makes it seem like the game's enemies are the Umgah.
         
There are plenty of players, however, who would consider a 51 an insult. Star Control II still continues to make "best games ever" lists compiled by various publications. In a March 1993 preview in Computer Gaming World, Stanley Trevena liked the game enough to put it on his "top ten list of all time." "It is not often," he says, "that such a perfect balance is struck between role-playing, adventure, and action/arcade." In the November 1993 issue, they gave it "Game of the Year" in the adventure category (or, at least, it tied with Eric the Unready). Dragon gave it 5 out of 5 stars. It's rare to find an English review out of the 90s, though for some reason European reviews tended to put it lower, in the 70s.

The 3DO version from 1994 has some significant differences from the DOS version. It has an animated, narrated introduction and cut scenes plus voiced dialogue for the conversations. (My understanding is that the open-source Ur-Quan Masters would use some of this voiced dialogue but re-record others.) Some readers encouraged me to play this version specifically because of the voices. I'm not sure I would have liked it better. There's really just too much dialogue overall. Some of the voices are good: I appreciate the Vaderesque bass of the Ur-Quan, the lispy enthusiasm of the Pik, and the weird Scottish accent the creators gave to the Yehat. For some reason, they decided the Shofixti was a bad English translator of a 1970s Japanese kung-fu movie; the Orz, Spathi, and Utwig are just annoying; and the Umgah is the stuff of nightmares. The Talking Pet is the worst, with some ridiculous southern "Joe Sixpack" accent. I was also disappointed by the Syreen, who sounds like Doris Day rather than . . . well, honestly, I'm not sure what would have done justice to the Syreen. How do you blend a fierce Amazonian and a seductive vixen in a single voice?

Star Control II left a satisfying number of mysteries, such as the fate of the Precursors and why they seemed (to the Slylandro) to be nervously searching for something. We never learned about the Rainbow Worlds or why they (apparently) form an arrow pointing to the "northeast" of the galaxy. We never learned what the Orz did to the Androsynth, what the Orz really are, and how they relate to the Arilou. I was disappointed that we never found out why the Ur-Quan destroyed historical structures of humanity, including some places we weren't even aware of. I was disappointed to find that most of these questions are unanswered in Star Control 3 (1996), although we do apparently learn that the Precursors genetically modified themselves so they would have the intelligence of cows, thus protecting themselves from a race that periodically harvests the energies of sentient races. I think the creators missed an opportunity by not making the Precursors actual cows. There could have been a Gary Larson tie-in and everything.
          
The creepy cover to the game's sequel.
         
The direction of Star Control 3 reveals some of the background drama between developer Toys for Bob (authors Paul Reiche III and Fred Ford) and publisher Accolade. According to Reiche and Ford, Accolade gave the developer such a limited budget that they had to essentially work for free for half a year to create a quality game. Accolade would not increase the budget for the sequel, so the original creators refused to develop it, and the job went to Legend Entertainment instead.

In 2002, authors Paul Reiche III and Fred Ford made the source code available for free, and some fans used it to create The Ur-Quan Masters for Windows, with multiple releases starting in 2005. It has since been ported to multiple additional platforms. The effort also led to the creation of the Ultronomicon, a Star Control II wiki.

The Star Control trademark passed to Infogrames when it purchased Accolade in 1999; Infogrames soon rebranded itself as Atari. When Atari filed for bankruptcy in 2013, its assets were sold. Stardock Corporation managed to acquire the Star Control license and produce Star Control: Origins (2018). Set 26 years before the original Star Control, the game would seem to retcon when Earth first encountered alien life. During development, Stardock claimed to be in contact with Reiche and Ford, and were developing the game along their vision, although they couldn't technically participate because of their Activision contract. If this relationship was ever friendly and cooperative, it soon became otherwise when Reiche and Ford announced they would be creating Ghosts of the Precursors and Stardock started selling the first three Star Control games on Steam. Both parties counter-sued each other for copyright and intellectual property violations, and Steam removed the Star Control titles (including Origins, at least temporarily) after receiving DCMA takedown notices from Reiche and Ford. As far as I can tell, the litigation is still ongoing.
           
Combat in Origins has improved graphics but seems to adhere to original principles.
       
Toys for Bob still lives as a subsidiary of Activision, and Reiche and Ford still continue to direct the development of its games. I don't think we'll see them again, however, as none of their titles are RPGs. (For more on Reiche and Ford, see Jimmy Maher's excellent coverage of Star Control II from this past December. My favorite part is when Reiche gets fired from TSR for questioning the purchase of a Porsche as an executive's company car.)

I am often dismissive of calls for remakes, usually considering them to be the products of dull, dilettante gamers who can't handle any graphics more than 5 years old. But I would like to see, if not a remake, a modern game that has the basic approach of Star Control II (and, for that matter, Starflight)--perhaps even one that realizes it better by offering truly alternate plot paths. We have plenty of games (although, in my opinion, not enough) that allow us to explore open worlds; have any so far allowed us to explore an open universe? Perhaps that's what we'll get from Bethesda's forthcoming Starfield.
Posted by at No comments:

Download Just Dance 2019 For SWITCH

Download Just Dance 2019 For SWITCH

NSP | Update v1.0.1 | HACKED


Dance to your own beat with Just Dance® 2019, the ultimate dance game featuring 40 hot tracks from chart-topping hits to family favorites, including "Havana" by Camila Cabello, "Bang Bang Bang" by BIGBANG, "No Tears Left To Cry" by Ariana Grande, and many more! With a one-month trial of Just Dance Unlimited included, dance to more than 400 songs!
Your Just Dance experience is now personalized as the game learns your dancing habits and suggests content!
Experience eight exclusive choreographies created with the help of kids' development experts to encourage healthy movement.
Featuring seasonal and special-event content for an even more dynamic experience on a new curated homepage.
Platform
 
Nintendo Switch
Release Date
 
Oct 23, 2018
No. of Players
 
up to 6 players
Category
 
Music, Party, Training, Simulation
Publisher
 
Ubisoft
Developer
 
Ubisoft Paris / Ubisoft Pune / Ubisoft Shanghai




 DOWNLOAD LINKS

 DOWNLOAD NSP JUST DANCE: 
 
Download-Part-1

 
Download-Part-2

 
Download-Part-3

 Download-Part-4
 GAME SIZE: 7.4 GB
Password: After 10$ payment is done
Posted by at No comments:

Thursday, May 23, 2019

The Celebrity And The Sybil



SPOILER ALERT

Plot details follow for Perfect Blue!


Image used for criticism under Fair Use. All rights to Manga Entertainment.



"The persona is a complicated system of relations between individual consciousness and society, fittingly enough a kind of mask, designed on the one hand to make a definite impression upon others, and, on the other, to conceal the true nature of the individual."

- Carl Jung, "The Relations between the Ego and the Unconscious."


"Men look at women. Women watch themselves being looked at."

- John Berger, Ways Of Seeing


"Who are you?"

Too many people view celebrities as public property. Once you achieve a certain amount of fame, you enter into the public domain, an object to be fetishized, judged, and worshiped. This sickening obsession has not abated an inch since the 20th century, and with the onset of social media, has only exacerbated.

Although Perfect Blue is set in Japan, so many of its observations can carry over to the United States, and I imagine, much of the world. Before watching this film, I had viewed most celebrities, particularly those in pop music, with condescension. I often saw them as entitled, talentless, narcissistic, and just plain ignorant. However, in spite of my personal reservations, Perfect Blue helped me realize these celebrities are, well, people. They may not the same problems that you and I have, but they still have problems. These are problems of a different sort, that are in some cases, worse than ours. There's a constant, publicized pressure on celebrities not to gain weight, say all the right things on every position, and spill the juicy details of their sex lives. Everywhere you may go, cameras, cameras, cameras, all capturing wardrobe malfunctions, your face without makeup, and a personal date on the beach. Is it really any wonder that hackers leak celebrity nude photos in this toxic environment? The media practically encourages it. With fame comes the loss of privacy. This privacy may be returned, somewhat, should the public have an attention span too short for your antics. You find yourself reduced to the occasional butt of the joke for a late night talk show host.

Persona and Simulacra

Perfect Blue's leading star Mima Kirigue, is a pop singer for the group CHAM, which is on the wane. While Japanese pop idol groups may seem insufferable today, with their irritable high-pitched squeals, during the 1990s (when this film was released), they seemed ready to vanish altogether. The preceding decade was seen as the golden age for pop idols, who flourished on prime-time television shows. As entertainment reporter, Masaru Nashimoto, told The Japan Times, "TV is about the only medium idols were born in, and talent agencies sought to maximize their appearances as much as possible," (Matsutani). By the 90s, however, the act was getting tired and with the rise of the Internet, anyone could be an idol and bypass the traditional gatekeeper of a talent agency. What defines an idol has diffused into something more ambiguous, with so many out there, and some, like Hatsune Miku, made purely out of pixel. The idols made a comeback, however, in the mid-2000s, with the mega-group, AKB48, rising to prominence in 2007. The appeal of idols isn't just in their superficial music, but also in presenting a fantasy of adolescent love. It's a fantasy that cannot be violated without severe personal cost, as dating for these idols is banned. AKB48's Minami Minegishi, who was unfortunate enough to be caught breaking this taboo, felt so overwhelmed with shame that she shaved her head and publicly apologized. Idols exist to project a fantasy, and Mima wishes to exchange this fantasy for another, as an actress.

Mima, like many pop idols in the 90s, tries to transition to more serious work, but the trouble is that pop idols aren't taken very seriously. Try as she might to be Mima "the actress", she'll always be seen as Mima "the idol." This is particularly made evident when she's dressed up in an outfit similar to her "idol" one for the erotic rape scene. Can Mima ever completely change her identity from pop star to actress, or does she have an independent identity separate from either occupation? It all brings back to mind Tyler Durden's adage in the film, Fight Club, "You are not your job." What belies this statement is the sentiment that your occupation doesn't define who you are, and that your "true" identity exists separately from your public persona. This is a statement that is both true and false. It is true insofar that there is more to a person than what they do to pay the bills, but it is false insofar that it denies a person's occupation as a part of their identity. When I say "Michael Jackson", you think, "musician." When I say "Leonardo Da Vinci", you think, "painter." When I say "Marlon Brando", you think, "actor." This isn't to say that a person can't be versatile in multiple fields, as was evident from Da Vinci, but as far as the public is concerned, his persona is first and foremost as that of an artist who painted "Mona Lisa" and "The Last Supper." Changing your identity to suit yourself does not so easily shift your persona in the eyes of the public. Joe Scarborough's new ventures into rock music won't change his long-held persona as the host of Morning Joe. Of course, there are counter examples. Marky Mark went from an obnoxious rapper to Oscar-worthy acting talent Mark Wahlberg. It is a transformation so successful that many who know him mostly for acting are ignorant of his past life. Even so, this does little to affirm Durden's statement, "You're not your job." Wahlberg's jobs may have changed, but he is still very much, as far as the public is concerned, an actor, and little else. So the relevant question is this, does changing jobs change you as a person? Did becoming Mark Wahlberg change Marky Mark into a different person, or is he still the same person behind a different veneer?

That question is the central thesis of the film. Should Mima define herself on the basis of what she does or on the basis of how the public receives her? The popular public perception of Mima, the one which her most ardent fans wish to preserve, is manifested online through the website "Mima's Room." Her most obsessed fan, Me-Mania, believes that the digital Mima, the Mima as he loves her, is more "real" than the one who left pop to be an actress. Mima herself even starts to hallucinate seeing this version. She looks happier, freer. When a person makes a radical shift in what they do, they often start back from square one, and have to build a new reputation from scratch. They are born again. Mima is so blinded, as we all are, by the success of her past self, that she forgets the mountain of failures it took to get her there. In any case, the prospect of creating a digital celebrity persona that behaves in a manner indistinguishable from the real thing, or rather, our popular perception of it, is not too far off. Computers brought Tupac back to rap with Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre at Coachella, Audrey Hepburn back to sell Galaxy Chocolate, Bruce Lee back to sell Johnnie Walker, and Peter Cushing back to reprise his role as Grand Moff Tarkin in Rogue One. As disturbed as we may be by this technological necromancy, I can only see its abuse continue for the near future. It will go beyond, say, having Jimi Hendrix back in concert to play "Purple Haze" or George Carlin back on stage to repeat his "Seven Words" routine. We'll have whole genres of films and television featuring dead celebrities. Horror films with Bela Lugosi. Sitcoms with Lucille Ball. Comedies with the Marx Brothers. Westerns with John Wayne. Musicals with Rogers and Astaire. Pornos with Marilyn Monroe. Don't fool yourself into thinking that music and literature will be exempt from this necrophilia. Artificial intelligence has already proven to be able to compose music and write books, so who's to say we won't have A.I. that can mimic the styles of dead artists to pen a new Shakespeare play or finish Schubert's Eighth? We've already had a computer write a new Game Of Thrones novel for fans too impatient with George R.R. Martin. The celebrity is not a human being, they never were. They are but another commodity to be bought, sold, and repurposed however one wishes. Technology will only elevate this trend.




Mima is an object, and by everyone she is objectified. The most blatant objectifier is Me-Mania, who is an "otaku" in the truest sense of the word. While "otaku" has come to refer to anime fans, in the original Japanese, it was a derogatory term for obsessed enthusiasts. Someone obsessed with trains, for instance, was a "train otaku." Me-Mania is a "Mima otaku." That obsession leads to a feeling of ownership, particularly a sexual one. Society pressures celebrity women to open up sexually, because many feel entitled to their sexuality, from their relationships, to their nudity, to their orgasm. Me-Mania is, in this sense, a bit of a scapegoat, because he is only but the end result of a culture of objectification complicit in us all. The filmmakers objectify Mima as much as Me-Mania does, in fact, theirs is is far more pernicious, because it hides behind the veneer of artistic expression. The screenwriter, not impressed with Mima's acting, decides to throw her into an eroticized rape scene, and though we know it not to be real, it feels real. The lustful faces of actors as they see her strip on display, perhaps an unmasking of how the filmmakers truly see Mima. They value her flesh more than her talent. Me-Mania attempts to rape Mima in the very spot where the scene was filmed, revealing the connective tissue between desire in fiction and desire in real life. A softer violation occurs when Mima is pressured into posing nude for a magazine. The photos are tasteful and artistic, with Mima smiling all the way through, but again, this too, is a fantasy. Not long after, there's a poignant moment where we see Mima huddled in the bath, perhaps trying to reclaim her stolen nakedness. I enjoy sexual imagery as much as the next person, but Perfect Blue asks of you to scrutinize these images, how much of this was really done out of the women's consent, and how much is more a woman being contorted to fit into another's demand? I am reminded of Bernardo Bertolucci's surprise rape scene of Maria Schneider in The Last Tango In Paris, Hugh Hefner using Marilyn Monroe's nudes without permission to launch Playboy, Paul Verhoeven filming Sharon Stone's vagina without her knowledge in Basic Instinct, and Harvey Weinstein pressuring Salma Hayek into a sex scene in Frida. It isn't a coincidence, either, that when the screenwriter and the photographer are murdered, they are both stabbed in the eyes, the photographer also in the crotch. While they both went about objectifying her differently, but they objectified her all the same.

Before concluding, I may as well mention that Perfect Blue was the probable inspiration for Darren Aronofsky's Black Swan. It similarly stars a woman driven to succeed in the arts, but suffers from a psychological state that confuses fantasy and reality. Black Swan also brings to mind Dario Argento's Suspiria, which had an aspiring ballerina go to a ballet school, that is unbeknownst to her a witches' coven. Black Swan, however, is more about sexual awakening and artistic passion, than it is about celebrity personas and institutional sexism. While the sex in Black Swan is erotic, it certainly didn't seem to go anywhere, with awkward moments like Nina getting assaulted by her teacher, who seems to develop something of a relationship with her. Further, Black Swan never quite reaches the level that Perfect Blue does of leaving the viewer completely confused over what's real and what isn't. Yet for all it's flaws, Black Swan, at least, had a resolution, and a beautiful one at that, with Nina possibly dying for her art, which is more than can be said for the mess that is the ending of Perfect Blue.

Perfect Blue makes a similar mistake that Fatal Attraction did in its climax, resolving its conflicts through a violent slasher ending. The resolution starts off with a very interesting twist, that it was Mima's manager, Rumi, who was behind the murders. Like Me-Mania, she feels just as entitled to own the image of Mima, the "pop idol." She, too, was an objectifier. There's an exciting chase through the streets, but it all awkwardly ends with Rumi in a mental ward, and Mima laughing to herself that she knows who she is. It feels more like a Hollywood mandated ending than a true resolution, and to be frank, comes off as rather insulting, given the psychological trauma that Mima had just suffered prior. Just as Fatal Attraction brought up interesting questions of obsession and marital infidelity, it turns Glenn Close into a Psycho knock-off, and we're left to assume that Michael Douglas and Anne Archer go back to being a happy family. Similarly, the problems and contradictions raised by Perfect Blue are far more interesting than how they are resolved. We never know why she suffered those hallucinations, if she was able to successfully the transition from pop star to actress, if she even wants to inhabit either of these roles, and how she intends to deal with the sexism still evident in the entertainment industry. Instead, Mima is freed from this burden of difficult self-examination by laying all the blame on someone else. She may know who she is, but we certainly don't. Mima, who are you?

Mima's personal troubles aside, the broader questions that the film makes about society are left hanging in the air. Is your identity what you do, how society sees you, how you see yourself, or a combination of the three? Can a person hold separate identities without one bleeding into the other? What is the boundary between reality and fiction, in a world where fiction increasingly mimics reality? How much does what we see in the media inform the way we see the world? Is fiction always presented as fiction? Should it be? Is reality always presented as reality? Should it be? These questions are not answered in the film, but perhaps, if we're honest, they never will be.








The Art Of Anime


"When Did Mimi Get So Cute?"
http://sansuthecat.blogspot.com/2016/05/when-did-mimi-get-so-cute.html

"Evangelion, Or Something Like It."
http://sansuthecat.blogspot.com/2015/10/evangelion-or-something-like-it.html

"Yuri Vincit Omnia."
http://sansuthecat.blogspot.com/2015/03/puella-magi-madoka-magica-yuri-vincit.html

"FLCL: Insanity Defined."
http://sansuthecat.blogspot.com/2014/10/flcl-insanity-defined.html
"Barefoot In The Park."
https://sansuthecat.blogspot.com/2017/01/barefoot-in-park.html

"Sakura No Aware."
https://sansuthecat.blogspot.com/2017/06/sakura-no-aware.html




Bibliography

Kon, Satoshi, dir. Perfect Blue. Manga Entertainment, 2000. Film. DVD.

Matsutani, Minoru. "Pop 'idol' phenomenon fades into dispersion." The Japan Times, August 25, 2009. Web. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2009/08/25/news/pop-idol-phenomenon-fades-into-dispersion/#.Wka1HXlG3IU


Posted by at No comments:

The Ultimate List of The 7 Best URL Shortener Services 2019

  1. LINK.TL

    LINK.TL is one of the best and highest URL shortener website.It pays up to $16 for every 1000 views.You just have to sign up for free.You can earn by shortening your long URL into short and you can paste that URL into your website, blogs or social media networking sites, like facebook, twitter, and google plus etc.
    One of the best thing about this site is its referral system.They offer 10% referral commission.You can withdraw your amount when it reaches $5.
    • Payout for 1000 views-$16
    • Minimum payout-$5
    • Referral commission-10%
    • Payout methods-Paypal, Payza, and Skrill
    • Payment time-daily basis

  2. Short.am

    Short.am provides a big opportunity for earning money by shortening links. It is a rapidly growing URL Shortening Service. You simply need to sign up and start shrinking links. You can share the shortened links across the web, on your webpage, Twitter, Facebook, and more. Short.am provides detailed statistics and easy-to-use API.
    It even provides add-ons and plugins so that you can monetize your WordPress site. The minimum payout is $5 before you will be paid. It pays users via PayPal or Payoneer. It has the best market payout rates, offering unparalleled revenue. Short.am also run a referral program wherein you can earn 20% extra commission for life.

  3. Ouo.io

    Ouo.io is one of the fastest growing URL Shortener Service. Its pretty domain name is helpful in generating more clicks than other URL Shortener Services, and so you get a good opportunity for earning more money out of your shortened link. Ouo.io comes with several advanced features as well as customization options.
    With Ouo.io you can earn up to $8 per 1000 views. It also counts multiple views from same IP or person. With Ouo.io is becomes easy to earn money using its URL Shortener Service. The minimum payout is $5. Your earnings are automatically credited to your PayPal or Payoneer account on 1st or 15th of the month.
    • Payout for every 1000 views-$5
    • Minimum payout-$5
    • Referral commission-20%
    • Payout time-1st and 15th date of the month
    • Payout options-PayPal and Payza

  4. CPMlink

    CPMlink is one of the most legit URL shortener sites.You can sign up for free.It works like other shortener sites.You just have to shorten your link and paste that link into the internet.When someone will click on your link.
    You will get some amount of that click.It pays around $5 for every 1000 views.They offer 10% commission as the referral program.You can withdraw your amount when it reaches $5.The payment is then sent to your PayPal, Payza or Skrill account daily after requesting it.
    • The payout for 1000 views-$5
    • Minimum payout-$5
    • Referral commission-10%
    • Payment methods-Paypal, Payza, and Skrill
    • Payment time-daily

  5. Linkbucks

    Linkbucks is another best and one of the most popular sites for shortening URLs and earning money. It boasts of high Google Page Rank as well as very high Alexa rankings. Linkbucks is paying $0.5 to $7 per 1000 views, and it depends on country to country.
    The minimum payout is $10, and payment method is PayPal. It also provides the opportunity of referral earnings wherein you can earn 20% commission for a lifetime. Linkbucks runs advertising programs as well.
    • The payout for 1000 views-$3-9
    • Minimum payout-$10
    • Referral commission-20%
    • Payment options-PayPal,Payza,and Payoneer
    • Payment-on the daily basis

  6. Clk.sh

    Clk.sh is a newly launched trusted link shortener network, it is a sister site of shrinkearn.com. I like ClkSh because it accepts multiple views from same visitors. If any one searching for Top and best url shortener service then i recommend this url shortener to our users. Clk.sh accepts advertisers and publishers from all over the world. It offers an opportunity to all its publishers to earn money and advertisers will get their targeted audience for cheapest rate. While writing ClkSh was offering up to $8 per 1000 visits and its minimum cpm rate is $1.4. Like Shrinkearn, Shorte.st url shorteners Clk.sh also offers some best features to all its users, including Good customer support, multiple views counting, decent cpm rates, good referral rate, multiple tools, quick payments etc. ClkSh offers 30% referral commission to its publishers. It uses 6 payment methods to all its users.
    • Payout for 1000 Views: Upto $8
    • Minimum Withdrawal: $5
    • Referral Commission: 30%
    • Payment Methods: PayPal, Payza, Skrill etc.
    • Payment Time: Daily

  7. Adf.ly

    Adf.ly is the oldest and one of the most trusted URL Shortener Service for making money by shrinking your links. Adf.ly provides you an opportunity to earn up to $5 per 1000 views. However, the earnings depend upon the demographics of users who go on to click the shortened link by Adf.ly.
    It offers a very comprehensive reporting system for tracking the performance of your each shortened URL. The minimum payout is kept low, and it is $5. It pays on 10th of every month. You can receive your earnings via PayPal, Payza, or AlertPay. Adf.ly also runs a referral program wherein you can earn a flat 20% commission for each referral for a lifetime.
Posted by at No comments:
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)