the difference between sex scenes then and now were
that
>those were deliberate (and shocking) sexual
fantasy
really? how does one KNOW this to be a fact? women possessed
definite sexualities of their own far before even gold medal
came into being. or so i hear. my personal speculation is
that there have always been at least SOME women who enjoy
sex. what has also remained constant is the ready judgments
put on women for liking sex, by female and male critics
alike.
if i may indulge in a digression here, i only like to have
the whole sex thing mentioned when it has something to do
with the plot - of course it is a major motivator in the
lives of all human beings, and it would be stupid to deny it.
but anything used gratuitously, be it sex, violence, or brand
name, insults me as a reader. it takes a skillful hand to
paint the scene and the forces moving within each character -
when it's done right, as pelecanos does it, it is touching
and jarring and beautiful all at once. the death of len bias
in king suckerman did that to me. and i am bored stiff by
sports and consumer electronics and mopar engines. and still
found myself grieving for the death of hope, once
again.
pelecanos evokes our varying zeitgeist very well, and while
such details are only part of it, they are crucial, i feel,
to flesh out his excellent characterization and dialogue. i
think to bash his use of detail is, well, dumb, and also
nitpicky. there is much more going on in what he says than
meets the eye, regardless of his necessary bowing to the
conventions of the genre, such as they are. his details are
appropriate, as is his depictions of sex in some of its
countless manifestations - sometimes loving, sometimes
brutal, sometimes mechanical - pelecanos is a subtle observer
and a student of the more realistic writers of our times,
from willeford to robert deane pharr and nathan heard. his
protagonists are often near-immobilized, or all the way
there, and their struggle to break free is everything.
thanks for reading this rant.
maura http:/www.dennismcmillan.com
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