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pinkpurpleblue-writes · 5 years ago

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You’ve Got Mail (1998)

Summery:

You’ve Got Mail stars Nora Ephron and Tom Hanks as Kathleen Kelly, the owner of an independent children’s bookstore passed down from her mother, and Joe Fox, a member of the Fox family who runs “Fox Books,” a Barnes and Nobles-esque big box retailer. As Fox opens up a new store in New York's Upper West Side, it threatens Kathleen's independent "Shop Around The Corner." While they verbally spar and go head to head, their online personas (ShopGirl and NY152, respectively) are falling in love online through, of all thing, email and AOL instant messenger. About halfway through the movie, ShopGirl and NY152 agree to meet, Joe realizes her real identity, and, instead of revealing what he knows, starts to slowly build a cordial, then friendly, then romantic relationship with Kathleen in real life too. The "Shop Around The Corner" eventually closes down and, at the movie's climax, NY152 and ShopGirl agree to meet again. Joe expresses his feelings towards Kathleen in person on the day of the meeting and, at the meeting spot, they kiss, happy that the people they fell in love with online were the people they fell in love with offline too.

Review:

You've Got Mail is a delight nearly all the way through. Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan have amazing chemistry together, and both actors are extremely emotive throughout, with expressions that show the full range of feelings that each character is going through. The late nineties setting is almost perfect for those seeking escapism nowadays, with the sweet spot in between the end of the Cold War and the beginning of the "Forever Wars." The film is easily broken up into three Acts with a strong structure, divided among the seasons of Autumn, Winter, and Spring.

In between scenes of conversation and action, we see Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks emailing each other, seeing their screens and hearing the content of the emails as voice-over while the recipient reads it over. It's done exceptionally well, especially when contrasted with the problems some modern films have with showing text messaging onscreen. It's much more reminiscent of something like Victorian Era letter exchanges than anything cold and electronic.

The soundtrack is woven into the movie skillfully, with "Signed Sealed Delivered I'm Yours" and "Over the Rainbow" being particularly notable. The costume design is lovely, transporting you into the time period with Meg Ryan's clothes especially. The film touches on themes of relationships, family, and identity, but doesn't delve as far deep as it could have. It also abbreviates the "enemies to friends" part of Hanks and Ryan's relationship too much in my opinion, but the movie was already a decent length.

Politics:

The time period does come with some drawbacks, as the setting and plot allow for some peak 90s neoliberalism that is reminiscent of the first two seasons of "The West Wing," with the core politics of the film muddled at best, seemingly attempting to sidestep it at all costs. The few non-white characters (most prominently Dave Chapelle playing Joe's best friend) have little personality and less screen time, and the only non-straight characters turn out to be the fiancé of Joe Fox's father and the nanny she runs off with, both of whom get about a scene of screen time and a mention of their sexuality near the end. Fox Books brings to mind the Goliath that is Amazon, which itself helped put Borders out of business and has done the same to an immeasurable amount of independent book stores.

The relationship the film has towards capitalism itself is murky, with the most left leaning character (Meg Ryan's boyfriend-turned-ex, Frank) portrayed as a wannabe intellectual, but having Kathleen shoot barbs at Joe about status which he seems to be aware about. All in all, it reads as an attempt to not offend either side too much while still appealing to apathetic nineties twenty- and thirty-somethings who felt disenchanted with all of politics.

The film itself also has some misogynistic points, with Joe Fox's girlfriend, Patricia, being a particularly good example of a double-standard. Frank and Kathleen break up amicably after becoming more distant and are shown to be friendly after. While Frank and Patricia are show in similar lights through much of the movie, the second act has Patricia shown as emotionless and ruthless, seemingly due to her being more career-focused and driven. Some parts also haven't aged well, with a bit too much focus on appearance by the male characters and a scene where Tom Hanks refers to a woman as a "bitch."

Conclusion:

Overall, the letter is a love letter to the mid-to-late nineties, with all the good and bad that brings. I enjoyed it immensely and I still do, but it might vary depending on the level of escapism you're willing to withstand and how much you're willing to excuse due to when it was made.

Selected Quotes:

“Is it infidelity if you're involved with someone on email?”

“Keep those West Side liberal nut pseudo-intellectual bleeding heart-” “Dad...”

“Do I do it because I like it? Or because I haven't been brave?”

“Matt is my father's son, Annabel is my grandfather's daughter. We are… an American family."

“Oh the joys of rent control…”

“Do you ever feel you become the worst version of yourself? That a Pandora's box of all the secret hateful parts -- your arrogance, your spite, your condescension -- has sprung open”

"What is it with Men and the Godfather?"

"I said we were a goddamn Piazza"

"Pride and Prejudice? I bet you read that book every year, I bet you just love that.. Mr. Darcy and your sentimental heart just beats widely at the though that he and um… well, uh, whatever her name is, are truly honestly going to end up together?"

"Oh, you poor sad multimillionaire, I feel so sorry for you" and "You are nothing but a suit"

"Remember when you though Frank might be the Unabomber?"

"I am in… Vancouver"

"He ran Spain"

"Why don't we bomb Fox books"

"…and in a week it will be something really depressing, like a Baby Gap"

“...the astrologer, whose moon turned to be in someone else's house, as I recall."

"I am so sick of that. All that means is it wasn't personal to you. […] What is so wrong with being personal anyway?"

#You've Got Mail #romcom #1990s

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c-valentino · 8 years ago

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What do you think of Riko as a character inside the books? (no HCs) / Any fave HCs you want to share? / Any pairings/ships you like with him? / fic recs? / art recs? / Kevin&Riko - do they have/had feelings for each other? / Thoughts on his finale scene? / Did you read Nora's extra content? // tag other bloggers you think have something interesting to say about him! (maybe someone we don't know yet??) #Thoughts on Riko Moriyama

What do you think of Riko as a character inside the books? (no HCs) From a writer’s point of view? He’s a fucking tragedy. (and no, I don’t mean the pieces of background story we did get on him, that’s been said and discussed before) He’s kind of the worst villain a story can have - and here is why:

Riko is ‘one’ of the book’s antagonists, and to quote my German lit. teacher: “Antagonists act while heroes react.” - meaning it is often a villain who initiates any kind of dramatic change in a story. That said, why is Riko Moriyama a bad example of a villain? A good villain needs a plausible background story. The reader needs to actually understand what happened to the character in order to make him into what he is today. A good villain started out as an ‘ordinary’ person, same as a hero. Both undergo a series of events to turn them into what they are. If not enough depth and character development is put into a story the character becomes lifeless, doesn’t spark any kind of interest within the reader and (in this case) the villain becomes a ‘plot device’ - meaning someone who does evil things to create scenes that show more light on the main character and his reactions. (Neil has to suffer through some pretty over the top and kinda unexplained abuse from Riko in order to add to the tragedy and heroic survival in his character’s development). [unexplained meaning: Riko could just have done a million other things to him - it wouldn’t make much of a difference. As long as it fits the excessive violent behavior category it would have worked plot wise. There is no explanation why he is using knives (other than that it fits the whole scar theme of the books (Kevin, Andrew, Neil, Jean… all of them have scars)) … ] Or, to be very harsh here and I know it’s not quite THAT bad, think of those silly cartoons, Road Runner and Coyote - you know the coyote will do any kinds of destructive things, you don’t know why, it’s just his role, he’s a plot device.

Of course there are ways to create a great villain without spending many pages on his background story. Take Makishima Shogo e.g. (PsychoPass season one), we know next to nothing about his background, yet he is one of my favorite antagonists. His character feels real because there are enough little aspects about him that add depth: he likes to read books (physical copies because ebooks lack character), he likes to quote from those books to drive his point home, he likes to dip his sweets into tea… - non of that makes him better/worse at changing/destroying society, but it gives us an idea of who the man behind that criminal mastermind is.

Sadly, we only get the smallest glimpses of Riko. Overall his name is being mentioned 595 times in the trilogy, but we encounter him only a few times. Most of his actions happen behind the scenes. He’s also the best kind of HC goldmine you can find. Wasted potential makes for great fan content because there is so much left to explore (no matter if the author had to cut all the information out or cba to come up with anything to begin with. The fields of imagination are endless my friends!) Or, as Nora explained: “I wanted a stronger antagonist, so I kept giving him more power–and then I tore a chunk of it away in the final draft out of necessity. He had more presence in the second-to-last draft, just as Neil’s father did, but I had to delete entire chunks to balance the story out…” Basically all the information we have on Riko comes from Nora’s extra content (his whole backstory is in there). If you read it his character starts to make sense, becomes interesting and worth exploring. But it is what it is. You can’t really blame the readers for hating Riko Moriyama when they pick up the books for the first time. He is a shadow of a character in there. And let’s be honest, the extra content “doesn’t count” in many reader’s opinion. If it’s not in the books it didn’t happen! (true to some degree, but I’m not a purist. I research and dig for those extra pieces of information. I’d rather have four books with all the information on the side characters in there, I don’t need a sequel.) So, conclusion: If you hate Riko Moriyama, consider reading Nora’s extra content and give him another shot. He is quite interesting.

Any fave HCs you want to share?oh geez…. endless supply of those • Young Riko wide-eyed on his first trip outside of the Nest (supervised &!! unsupervised) like… the things he wants to see/eat/try/buy, (with Kevin by his side/the whole team/on his own/some Moriyama bodyguard), him buying ice cream (wow that’s sweet), fast food (not rly his thing, too greasy), clothes (ripped jeans, t-shirts, that amazing black coat he sees on his way back, a hat - because all he has are workout clothes, Exy gear and suits)• Riko doing promo/commercial stuff for the Ravens, playing nice for the staff on set, but wishing some of them a very painful death because they are so fake… (kinda used that one before) • Riko doing drugs/alcohol for the first time (can’t hold his liquor even though Kevin seems to have no problems in that department, and oh, it pisses him off - gets a huge backlash from his uncle afterwards for being an embarrassment to the family name) (drugs are something he can’t really get to terms with. He likes the feeling they give him (at least some of them) but he absolutely hates the aftermath, remembering how they made him open up, bringing him close to losing control…(ravens are against doping btw) • Endless scenes of Riko/Kevin making out… Young Kevin getting curious at some point and the only one around for him to ask is Riko, Riko being so angry that something has to give and sadly that’s Kevin, both of them being hyped after their first official game(win) and making out on Kevin’s bed, both of them getting drunk at the victory celebration and Riko dragging Kevin off to somewhere that’s dangerously public and oh, Kevin, be quiet dammit…

•Kevin is like an octopus while being asleep and Riko can’t stand it, it’s too warm, too sweaty, too heavy, too close…. - that’s why they make out on Kevin’s bed and he leaves afterwards. But there are times he wishes he could just go over there while Kevin is asleep. He does one night, when Kevin has been drinking with the older ravens… he has covered his ass and Kevin is gonna pay for it later… gets into bed behind Kevin and prays he won’t wake up…• Riko not admitting that there is more than Exy in his head sometimes… he likes psychology, astronomy, he’s good at math too and maybe physics would be interesting if the teacher wouldn’t be such a boring moron who takes ages to come to the point… but he can’t tell anyone because all he’s meant to be is the heir of Exy, and rly, what’s the point anyway? Chances are he won’t survive the end of his Exy career… • He likes music and some company gave them these awesome noise cancelling headphones. He likes them but only uses them when he is alone because he needs to hear the people around him… • He’s an awesome dancer with remarkable body control, and so is Kevin, as they both find out on their first (and last) night at a club…

Any pairings/ships you like with him? Both Riko/Kevin & Kevin/Riko work just fine for me. I’ve written (Raven!)Neil/Riko/Kevin before, and if you put some work and thought into a well crafted AU setting even Riko/(raven!)Andrew works. - If it has to be straight… my best bet would be Allison - she has enough of an attitude to stand her ground.

fic recs?let me give you a few but it rly deserves a full list at some pointwhat if i did by MadHatterNO7 - Kevin/RikoNever More by biffes - Kevin/Riko Kevin/Riko/Jeanignominy by Saul - Kandreil but I still like Riko in this one… baptism by Saul can’t go wrong with Saul aka @unkinglythose are only the ones I can name on the spot…

art recs? Well, there is @shihoran , of course, she’s been posting daily. hers is maybe the sweetest Riko I’ve ever seen (nothing like I imagine him but gorgeous art!) I know @foxesrefuge is working on some stuff (since I’ve seen a glimpse of it! ha! no spoilers though) http://berry-muffin.tumblr.com/post/154991766150/insp-and-a-bonus-because-fuck-riko-moriyama http://llstarcasterll.tumblr.com/post/157091722582 http://schwarzbrot.tumblr.com/image/138611768689 http://ziegenkind.tumblr.com/post/147315366365/here-you-go-nonnyand…. srsly, we need more Riko art!

Kevin&Riko - do they have/had feelings for each other? According to Nora’s extra content ‘yes’ they had feelings for each other. And I’m not talking the platonic kind of feelings. We’re talking the conflicted ‘adoptive’ brother/romance kind of stuff. Inside the books? Yes, I believe they have a nice textbook example of love/hate relationship to the very end. Riko can’t get over Kevin, even keeps his room untouched (as Neil tells us) and I could write you another two pages about that first interview scene. You can’t just ‘hate’ someone for no reason. Hate is a very personal feeling and it needs some kind of obsession behind it. Kevin tells us that he knows how it is to be with Riko. He also tells us that Riko wasn’t always like the way he is now. He’s gotten worse. You hear the Foxes call Riko a bastard, crazy… yet Kevin usually doesn’t outright insult Riko. Does he love him after what Riko has done to him? Probably not! Did he get rid of all his feelings from the time they grew up and learned to love Exy together? Unlikely.

Thoughts on his finale scene? ¬_¬ you had to… I don’t like it. But that’s my personal (emotionally clouded) opinion. It works as a scene because it is fast paced and written in an almost detached way - like such an experience would be, I imagine. Hard to take in, slow to process, very overwhelming, scattered, scrambled brains and all. The scene itself makes me nearly choke on the tension and displayed/withheld emotions.

Did you read Nora’s extra content? Oh yes! Such an inspiration. I’d love to get my hands on some of the earlier drafts… *cough*moreKandreil/moreRiko*cough*

// tag other bloggers you think have something interesting to say about him! (maybe someone we don’t know yet??) #Thoughts on Riko Moriyama - Already did! :D

#Thoughts on Riko Moriyama #riko moriyama #kevin day #tfc #aftg #thoughts #c.val rambling #anon asks

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