What REALLY irks me...

Current mood:annoyed

You know what really irks me?! When I wait for a book, a book that I've been dying to read for a while now, and wait and wait and wait, then finally get it and discover that it is ABRIDGED!!!

As many of you know (or at least could've figured it out by my profile) I am trying to become "well read", I want to read a bunch of the classics and I want to read a bunch of foreign literature. So this was a severe blow to that desire.

I placed "The Tale of Genji" by Murasaki Shikibu (also known as "Genji Monogatari") and just got it today... only to find out that the Translator cut out big portions of the book because he felt they were "superfluous". He (Kencho Suematsu) says (and I quote) "In translating I have cut out several chapters which appeared superfluous," WHO IS HE TO DECIDE WHAT IS SUPERFLUOUS IN CLASSICAL LITERATURE?!

Not only that, he says he cut down several dialogues, though he seems to reason that it is okay because he added nothing of his own. So, it is all of Lady Muraskai's words, they've just been butchered and removed.

Those of you who don't know what the importance of this novel is let me enlighten you. "The Tale of Genji" was the world's FIRST novel. Another big thing, it was written by a WOMAN in an era where most women had no traditional education. It is not only one of Japan's most famous books, but it is the FIRST book of it's kind in the entire WORLD!

I do NOT want to read the abridged version, the butchered version by a guy who seems to think that classical lit can be cut down because of it's superfluity. What if what he cut out is actually something Lady Murasaki wanted to be there to explain something about Genji or his love interests? This guy cut out ENTIRE CHAPTERS!!

God, that pisses me off...

Another thing that irks me is when Hollywood fucks up Historic details...

I don't know how many of you have seen the movie "The Other Boleyn Girl" (Natalie Portman, Scarlett Johansson, Eric Bana; 2008), but I watched it last night with my little sister. Besides the awkward questions Hannah asked through out various parts of the movie (Sexual Content is annoying...), it was quality time with my baby sister.

But am I the only one who thought that the movie was kind of fucked up? I mean, I know that the time period itself was fucked up, but seriously?!


*S P O I L E R A L E R T ; S P O I L E R A L E R T*

First off, Eric Bana is a brunette, (which so far has been my qualm with most movies involving Henry VIII) Henry VIII was a RED HEAD!! How else did he end up with Elizabeth I? Because, as EVERYONE knows, Elizabeth was a RED HEAD. She was the Red Rose of Tudor, because of her red hair. Natalie Portman is also a brunette, which bothered me because Anne Boleyn had black hair. We are talking raven black, not medium brown.

Another thing, they included the letter B that Anne was prone to wearing, but it was not on a piece of ribbon to cover the mole on her throat. There was nothing about the extra growths on her hands, which was one of the things that confirmed her as a "witch", along with the mole on her throat.

Granted, I know absolutely nothing about Mary Boleyn, other than she was Anne's sister. So the stuff they did on her may very well have been accurate, except that I don't remember Mary being married when she began her affair with Henry. *shrug* I don't know though.

I didn't like the way they portrayed Anne. They portrayed her as this ambitious bitch who was willing to do anything and everything to attain a higher position. Which was never the impression I got from reading about her. Then again, this movie was based on the book "The Other Boleyn Girl" by Philippa Gregory, not necessarily on how I view history.

Anyway, moving on, in the movie Henry rapes Anne, because he is angry with her for forcing him to divorce Catherine of Aragon. Both Hannah and Donnie asked me how I know that didn't actually happen. I don't know what kind of sexual relationship Henry and Anne had, but I didn't like the way that the portrayed Anne as being solely responsible for everything that happened to England and to Henry. It didn't take into account that Henry was an adulterer, a boorish and temperamental man. So, the fact that he bends Anne over and rapes her because SHE forced him to divorce Catherine, forced him to separate from Rome kind of outraged me. She never held a gun to his head, (granted there were no guns then, but still) the only thing she did was withhold sex from him. She said unless he did so and so, she wouldn't bed him. Wow.

She refused to have sex with him, unless he did this and that, so he rapes her for forcing him to do these things. What the holy fuck?! Seriously?! Why didn't Henry just find another woman to fuck? In history it is said that Henry really did care about Anne, he wrote her poetry while he was trying to woo her. But this movie kind of ruined that love, it turned it into all about Anne being a bitch (who literally did almost have sex with her brother in the movie) to everyone, not just Henry, but also her sister. It was ridiculous. It was a good movie on it's own, but as far as history goes, I am left incredibly confused, sickened and fed up with Hollywood fucking everything up.