Our Mutual Friend

[lilly]

I actually started to watch this last year and never got round to finishing it, but owing to some renewed motivation to do so--yes, that would be entirely due to yourself, Mr. Bradley Headstone--I got this DVD from the library last week, and...wow, what a heartbreaking performance. Mr. Morrissey does that whole tormented, bumbling-galoot thing awfully well, doesn't he?

Though I found it impossible to ignore the latent Whovian implications when he was kicking the holy heck out of Paul McGann, because I kept thinking, "You should really be nicer to him, as he may prove useful to you in a later incarnation!"

And can I just say...that one particular scene at the beginning of part 4? Never been so grateful for the slo-mo function on my DVD player, mes amis.

[Ravish Me Ripley]

I've not seen this...am i missing out on something major??

[lilly]

Hee--depends on your definition of, "major," m'dear. Quite the little unexpected bonus there, particularly given it's not what I was anticipating in a BBC costume drama in particular (a genre I grew up watching and will always love, mind you).

How do I put this? Well, it's the first time in my life I've seen someone on tv start to disrobe, and as I immediately thought, "Take it all off, baby!" HE COMPLIED. Unexpected nekkidness is unexpected! (And quite the delightfully cheeky view it is, too.)

Still, I solemnly promise to use my power for good, never for evil. *makes Girl Scout pledge hand sign* And as I said, it's a brilliant performance anyway--ya gotta check it out, yo. I thought Paul McGann, Kenneth Cranham and Martin Hancock were full-to-bursting with utter awesomesauce as well.

[Ravish Me Ripley]

Unexpected nekidness??!! I'm all there!! Will scrape some pennies together and hit Amazon! ;D

[lilly]

I was able to get the DVD from my local library here in the States, actually (though never have I been so grateful for the $25 I shell out on Netflix every month as I have been of late).

Definitely worth a rental if not a buy outright, though. Another great Dickens adaptation, not unlike the more recent Bleak House (in which Burn Gorman utterly, irrevocably stole my heart forever). Come to think of it, both William Guppy and Bradley Headstone are similarly flawed characters--both pursuing women they can never have (with a fair amount of scary stalker subtext thrown in at no extra charge)--and given both actors' capacity for conveying angst-ridden vulnerability, it's really no wonder I remain so impressed.

[lilly]

When I was up at my parents' house taking care of my mom last week, I showed her both this and Sense and Sensibility, and Mom agreed with my assessment that at the point when Bradley Headstone meets Lizzie Hexam for the first time, Mr. Morrissey does a wonderful job of appearing precisely as if he's just been hit by a brick.

I've been lucky enough to elicit this reaction from a few guys as well, and I've gotta say, that just never gets old.

[kitty11]

Mar 20, 2009 20:16:00 GMT @lilly said:

When I was up at my parents' house taking care of my mom last week, I showed her both this and Sense and Sensibility, and Mom agreed with my assessment that at the point when Bradley Headstone meets Lizzie Hexam for the first time, Mr. Morrissey does a wonderful job of appearing precisely as if he's just been hit by a brick.

I've been lucky enough to elicit this reaction from a few guys as well, and I've gotta say, that just never gets old.

LOL *Splutters breakfast coffee over table* In recalling that moment when he first meets Lizzie my precise thoughts were 'Bang! Right between the eyes!' Geez GMDTA ;D

Can't claim I've elicited that reaction in anyone but could imagine that it wouldn't

And as for that bathing scene...

kitty

[lilly]

Mar 20, 2009 21:07:25 GMT kitty11 said:

And as for that bathing scene...

I can best express my editorial position there via the following icons:

[kitty11]

Mar 20, 2009 23:34:33 GMT @lilly said:

Mar 20, 2009 21:07:25 GMT kitty11 said:

And as for that bathing scene...

I can best express my editorial position there via the following icons:

I'm guessing these were your thought processes in precise chronological order

I got to seeing this before I was prepared to consciously recognise the extent of my, erm, crush, so I actually had the opposite reaction

My thoughts: "This is PG rated, right, so he'll probably just go as far as his britches...right?"

Wrong:

I was pleading for him NOT to turn around. Didn't want the *ahem* side profile, so to speak.

Then only a couple of weeks later I came across some, erm, frontal nekkid pics (just Google imaged his name and turned off safesearch out of curiosity) and couldn't help but be tempted to have a wee peek

Now that's fickle for you ;D

kitty

[lilly]

Mar 21, 2009 6:05:25 GMT kitty11 said:

I'm guessing these were your thought processes in precise chronological order

As close as they can be conveyed in visual form, absafrickinlutely.

I was pleading for him NOT to turn around. Didn't want the *ahem* side profile, so to speak.

Funny, how my reaction was the exact opposite: "C'mon, buddy, make with the 360º already!" *makes twirly hand motion*

Then only a couple of weeks later I came across some, erm, frontal nekkid pics (just Google imaged his name and turned off safesearch out of curiosity) and couldn't help but be tempted to have a wee peek

Now that's fickle for you ;D

LMFAO!! Congratulations, you just got me to simultaneously inhale and choke on a protein smoothie (uhm, that's not a metaphor, or anything)

I wouldn't say that's "fickle" so much as thoroughly fiendish of you, because I had been trying to abstain from the Google image searches. (I never have safe search on, though, cos I think it's kinda ridiculous, at least for someone like myself who is well over the age of consent for such things.)

I HATE YOU SO MUCH RIGHT NOW.

(Though I'm presuming your peek was the only wee item there?)

[kitty11]

Mar 21, 2009 19:07:14 GMT @lilly said:

LMFAO!! Congratulations, you just got me to simultaneously inhale and choke on a protein smoothie (uhm, that's not a metaphor, or anything)

I wouldn't say that's "fickle" so much as thoroughly fiendish of you, because I had been trying to abstain from the Google image searches. (I never have safe search on, though, cos I think it's kinda ridiculous, at least for someone like myself who is well over the age of consent for such things.)

I HATE YOU SO MUCH RIGHT NOW.

That's funny, I've never been one for restraint with anything, being a spoilt only child an' all, so one of the first sites I went to in my search for DM pics was Google image. Safesearch was automatically on, and I'd never really thought to change the setting until that evening when I was bored with seeing the same pics repeatedly and got to wondering what would happen if I switched it off. You know, just being idly curious ;D

Though I'm presuming your peek was the only wee item there?

Erm, yep

kitty

[lilly]

Mar 22, 2009 0:22:38 GMT kitty11 said:

That's funny, I've never been one for restraint with anything, being a spoilt only child an' all

See, I totally get that, because my closest sibling is 13 years older, so I grew up pretty much as an only child too, while nonetheless an over-indulged youngest child at the same time. Best of both worlds, I say, cos I got away with heaps of stuph my brother and sister never could have.

However, due to what wisdom I may have accumulated--mainly via repeated painful experience--I've learned the value of moderation...not that I expect that to be readily evident from my posts here, of course. *facepalm*

so one of the first sites I went to in my search for DM pics was Google image. Safesearch was automatically on, and I'd never really thought to change the setting until that evening when I was bored with seeing the same pics repeatedly and got to wondering what would happen if I switched it off. You know, just being idly curious ;D

Yes, I'm sure there was absolutely NO prurient interest involved whatsoever.

*muffled snickering*

[kitty11]

Mar 22, 2009 2:07:32 GMT @lilly said:

See, I totally get that, because my closest sibling is 13 years older, so I grew up pretty much as an only child too, while nonetheless an over-indulged youngest child at the same time. Best of both worlds, I say, cos I got away with heaps of stuph my brother and sister never could have.

However, due to what wisdom I may have accumulated--mainly via repeated painful experience--I've learned the value of moderation...not that I expect that to be readily evident from my posts here, of course. *facepalm*

I'm kinda in a similar position with a couple of stepsiblings about 20ish years older than me. And I was probably exaggerating somewhat when it comes to a total lack of restraint...except when it comes to food and crushes (or even both at the same time!)

Yes, I'm sure there was absolutely NO prurient interest involved whatsoever.

*muffled snickering*

Nah, of course not!

*Mutley-esque laugh*

kitty

[lilly]

Although I originally made this comment in the Blackpool thread, it actually belongs here...

Mar 23, 2009 19:32:26 GMT @lilly said:

Whereas with all the Wrayburn-stalking, I couldn't help thinking, "C'mon, boys, something else is going on here and you both know it..."

And although I was saddened to hear of Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick's untimely passing, as her Epistemology of the Closet is one of my favourite works of critical theory ever, I nonetheless must confess this was possibly the first time I've ever burst into laughter reading an obituary, entirely due to the following lines:

"In a 1983 essay on Dickens’s novel Our Mutual Friend, she drew attention to the homoerotic element in the obsessive relationship between Eugene Wrayburn and Bradley Headstone, rivals for the love of Lizzie Hexam but emotionally most fully engaged when facing off against each other."

Nothing quite like having your own perpetually randy and !HoYay!-obsessed mind being occasionally validated by real live literary analysis, huh? And the fact that Lady GaGa's, "Boys Boys Boys" was playing right as I read that only enhanced the moment further. ;D

[cat9]

added random pic that has nothing to add to the convo

LMAO