Tuesday 28 February 2012

this is for real

this is an actual letter publishedin the waikato times today:

Give us a break

I'm a little bewildered as to why the captain of the Noble Discoverer has not simply sailed off as planned, with the porn star and her fellow Greenpeacers stranded in the "crow's nest".

These Greenpeacers certainly exploit the good will [sic] and patience of their victims. Have we seen any Greenpeace activism in Muslim areas?

How pathetic, isn't it, though, that Lawless is proud to pollute the minds and spirit of our youth with her vile pornography while pretending to be extraordinarily concerned about the remote possibility of some oil pollution of the vast seas. Give us a break!

LEO LEITCH
Hamilton

where to even begin? i think the point that struck out most was that if a woman dares to be politically active, then she must be demeaned in relation to her gender. this is the kind of misogynist attack that we see consistently in the political sphere, from helen clark, julia gillard, helen kelly, robin malcolm, hiliary clinton, sarah palin... almost any woman who has tried to be politically active gets attacked first as a woman.

and we're supposed to be in some kind of post-feminist world.

just as a post-script, i'm sure you would have noticed the little potshot at muslims. didn't you know that you can't possibly be allowed to be an activist on any issue unless you've first complained about muslims? sheesh.

25 comments:

James....other one. said...

I didn't notice a dig at Lawless for her being a Woman...can you highlight that bit?

His reference,while blunt, to her as a porn star is of course due to her explicit sexual scenes in Spartacus....and he is on solid ground to a point in the comparison.


Sure she has as much right to protest as the next person...but also no more right due to her celebrity....and no right to be treated any leniently than someone else.

stargazer said...

james, how about you stick to julie's posts. notice how none of the other protesters were targetted for what they do? notice how he couldn't keep to commenting on the issue? if you can't see it, then it's probably because you don't want to.

James....other one. said...

Ah well duh! Lawless is the celebrity of the group...and a pampered rich one at that. Her hypocrisy re this protest while being a major user of fossil fuelled travel and other oil products has not escaped notice.

stargazer said...

so because she's a celebrity, she loses the right to protest about things she thinks are important, without being personally attacked in the way that the writer has done? sorry, because someone is a celebrity doesn't mean that any and every kind of attack is acceptable.

James....other one. said...

I never said that.But it does intensify scrutiny of ones actions and contradictions in behaviour are fair game from criticism..

I bet money if it was a right-winger or someone not PC protesting something their actions would be damned by the left.And if there as an issue of hypocrisy then that would be fair enough.

Aaron Chang said...

Lucy Lawless does act like a pornstar in Spartacus, pulling her up on that is fair enough. If a woman wants to display her body all over the telly then the public have a right to comment on her actions, she has made little else private! She should be setting an example for other women and not going about carrying on in public the way she does. I'm sure her husband wont be happy, she should let him deal with the politics and stick to her on-screen stripping and cooking!

James....other one. said...

Lawless is using her celebrity to gain attention and cause debate...fair enough. But she,or you can't then turn around and claim that its irrelevant to what's happening and the level of criticism she may get for her actions

...you can't have it both ways...

A Nonny Moose said...

There's a simple test to show your butts are flapping in the wind gents:

Name a male actor who does activism and has also filmed sexually explicit scenes. Do you call him a porn star?

No, you call him a great actor and a good man for following up on his beliefs.

An example, to bastardize Aaron's quote:
"Brad Pitt does act like a pornstar in Fight Club, pulling him up on that is fair enough. If a man wants to display his body all over the telly then the public have a right to comment on his actions, he has made little else private! He should be setting an example for other men and not going about carrying on in public the way he does. I'm sure his wife wont be happy, he should let her deal with the politics and stick to his on-screen stripping and cooking!"

A Nonny Moose said...

Also, if Spartacus is "porn", the actor Lawless films her sex scenes with must be a porn star too and open to ridicule.

Oh, John Hannah? "McCallum"? "Four Weddings and a Funeral"? That well respected English actor? Nah, he's just a porn star...

Anonymous said...

1. Does this mean Arnie was a porn star in Terminator when he arrives on Earth naked? Have I been watching gay porn the whole time without knowing? Thank God the author pointed this out to me, I might have been corrupted. I'll be sure not to watch a rugby game again (they take their shirts off - must be gay porn). Wait, do you think the author watches gay porn too? I'm so confused now.

3. Isn't Greenpeace active in Sumatra? I think there might be a few people who read the Koran there, but I'm not sure.

A Nonny Moose said...

Actually Anon @11:02, if you consider any movie or film with nudity and sex in it 'porn' under Aaron and James's definition, then it makes a heck of a lot of sense about why these types of men defend female sexual objectification with a death-like grip. It's the only jollies they get, because no actualy woman in their life would put up with being treated like shit like that.

Anonymous said...

We need more pornstars speaking out in public on environmental issues.

Craig Ranapia said...

His reference,while blunt, to her as a porn star is of course due to her explicit sexual scenes in Spartacus....and he is on solid ground to a point in the comparison.

Other James: You keep using the word "pornography". I don't think it means what you think it does. If Ms. Lawless has ever had actual sexual intercourse on screen, I must admit I'm glad to have missed it.

I'm sure her husband wont be happy

Aaron, you dear darling nit-wit. You're aware Lucy Lawless' husband, Rob Tapert, is one of the executive producers of Spartacus? You might also want to get a clue that in 2012, we let women do all kinds of shit without permission slips from their husbands or fathers.

Thank you for playing.

Scott Chris said...

James says:- "Her hypocrisy re this protest while being a major user of fossil fuelled..."

James, very few environmental activists advocate complete abstention from the use of fossil fuels. Most simply espouse the sustainable use of them which involves moderating our consumption, not going cold turkey.

As for the guy who wrote into the Waikato times suggesting the captain should sail off to sea effectively kidnapping the protesters whilst at the same time expressing faux moral outrage about Lawless' choice to publicly expose her breasts - well, goes without saying.

The guy's an idiot.

James said...

Craig: Other James: You keep using the word "pornography". I don't think it means what you think it does. If Ms. Lawless has ever had actual sexual intercourse on screen, I must admit I'm glad to have missed it

No Craig...I used the term "porn"...just once. And I said that the letter writer was on solid ground TO A POINT with his comparison. Pornography is the depiction of sexual activity for the purpose of causing arousal...and Lawless's preformance in Spartacus most certainly did that for some viewer somewhere.

I have no issue with Lawless getting all hot and nasty on screen or protesting...which is her right same as the rest of us...its just the hypocrisy of her and her fellow environmental yobs that amuses me.That she's a Woman is irrelevant... It would be multiplied many times if it had been Al Gore or James Cameron involved...two mega hypocrites.

A Nonny Moose said...

James, the point is if it was a male actor/director/hollywood pundit you would NEVER bring their sexual activities, on screen or off, into the discussion.

Brett Dale said...

Shouldn't matter what type of movies/tv shows someone has done, if they are making a protest all they have to do is bring piles and piles of research, stats and hard data to back up their point of view.

A Nonny Moose said...

http://www.derailingfordummies.com/#opinion

James said...

Anon: James, the point is if it was a male actor/director/hollywood pundit you would NEVER bring their sexual activities, on screen or off, into the discussion.

How do you know that? If a male actor had done the same scenes as Lawless has in Spartacus I have no doubt it would be referred to.

For those who haven't seen it, Spartacus was not a standard "two people in bed with covered by a sheet" standard TV drama series...it was full on full frontal "fucking" with only the act of actual penetration not shown.

A Nonny Moose said...

"How do you know that? If a male actor had done the same scenes as Lawless has in Spartacus I have no doubt it would be referred to."

Strange that you seem to think Lawless is having sex all on her own in Spartacus...

Go on. Tell me John Hanna needs to keep his legs and his mouth shut when he campaigns for Oxfam.

A Nonny Moose said...

"If a male actor had done the same scenes as Lawless has in Spartacus"

No seriously, I have to highlight this again for it's absolutely hypocrisy HIGH LARIOUS.

What do you mean 'if'?! Typical. A woman is a slut when she engages in sex, but a man is a stud. James, quit while you're way behind. If you can't see it takes two (or more) people to have sex and that the woman only is to 'blame' you have a SERIOUS problem (and not just with what defines porn either).

Scuba Nurse said...

Im sitting on my computor with soda coming out my nose LITERALLY
"if a male actor had done the same scenes as Lawless has in Spartacus I have no doubt it would be referred to."

AHAHAHAHAHA

She she was having sex, with penetration, but there was no one else there?

I cant fuck your ghost actor bro.

Congrats, the stupid here actually made me come out of hiding, on my little internet holiday.

DPF:TLDR said...

"She she was having sex, with penetration, but there was no one else there?"

I've seen plenty of films where exactly that happened...

...but I realise that wasn't really what you were getting at.

Carol said...

Really, have some of the posters here criticising Lawless's sexualised performance in Spartacus, ever seen the show?

There's also some male-on-male sex scenes in the show, and some of the guys show off more of their bodies than Lawless does.

http://www.afterelton.com/TV/2010/01/spartacus-review

On the other hand, I can’t quite stop thinking about the loincloths on all the men. It’s impossible to watch the show and not be struck by all the impressive male bodies on display – and the attractive way those loincloths feature those bodies.

In the case of Spartacus's costume design, less is more, but sometimes a little more is more too.


Porn stars?

A Nonny Moose said...

Don't be silly Carol. Men showing off their bodies is Power Fantasy. Only women showing off their bodies is slutty. You're forgetting those handy double standards ;)