A light bulb joke, and LKH's rape fantasties

[brightlotusmoon.livejournal.com]

As some of you have seen, kippurbird has been flogging Danse Macabre something fierce. The flog is now on Chapter 33. While the whole thing made me laugh, there was a little joke that made me want to post it here, with Kippur's permission:


How does Anita Blake change a light bulb?

She holds it up and the world revolves around her.


This, I think, sums up everything about the Anita Blake books. As well as Hamilton's life, really. Or what she thinks of as her life. As Kippur said, the self-centeredness of both Anita and Laurell are starting to really grate.
The scene with London being forced to have sex with Anita actually scared me, especially considering London's obvious reluctance and outright fear. From what I got out of it, Anita essentially raped London, and didn't even care how it had affected him. I'd told Kippur that I'd once had a friend who had been a rape victim more than once, and one of her rapists had been an ex-boyfriend with a cocaine addiction. When my friend read that scene, she started having severe flashbacks to both the rape and watching the boyfriend's addiction, because she saw Anita's ardeur as a metaphor for a date rape drug as addictive as cocaine.
It's so frustrating -- and frightening -- to think that LKH writes this crap probably knowing full well that it could compare to such serious trauma.

Comments

[belledewinter.livejournal.com]

I remember that lighbulb joke, I think it had to do with horoscopes as well? :) (I specially remember it because I am a Leo & I think it was for us.) Than again, if LKH is a Pices, Anita most likely is as well. :/

Onto the serious topic - yes. Some of the scenes are awful, and the excuse is probably that a) it's meant to show how bad the ardeur ARDUER is and b) how powerful & speshul Anita is.

[rin-x-x.livejournal.com]

I wonder if people like your friend would email LKH with these stories and insights on how badly her characters have gone. I mean it might do nothing, but its better than doing nothing? Of course if they are comfortable with it. Many might not be, just because its a book series and they can choose not to read it. But I think LKH really needs her eyes opened.

[drho.livejournal.com]

I think there's a reason that LKH bans discussion of sexual assault on her boards. Her books are full of rape as a blatant shortcut to characterization (Character X was raped! Isn't he angsty!), but she's either too stupid or too cowardly to face the fact that she's let her beloved Mary Sue rape and be raped by people that allegedly wuv her. It's really sickening.

[graesea.livejournal.com]

A misandrist hates men. A misogynist hates women. A misanthrope hates people regardless of gender.

Which of these labels do you feel best fits Anita? Do any of them fit the character?

Personally, I don't think this character cares for men at all. She seems to be a bottomless pit (you should excuse the term) of need for manbits. And despite what Freud thought, most women do not have penis envy. After all, we can borrow one most any time we want and we don't have to worry about maintenance or upkeep.

The ardeur as I understand it removes choice from its victim(s). Anita's partner (for lack of a better term) is reduced to food. Dehumanized, his intrinsic worth as an individual is stripped away and he exists only to sustain Anita's need.

Rape is about power and control. It is not about sexual desire. It is still rape if your victim has an orgasm.

My current theory is that the more LKH feels out of control, the more rape scenes she'll write add in the Anita/Merry-verses.

[easol.livejournal.com]

On a small sidenote, rosefox -- big hugs to your poor friend...