Slave Girls From Beyond Infinity - Polishing Trash
Thoughts On: Slave Girls From Beyond Infinity (1987) & Trashy Movies
A questioning of the utility of cinematic trash.
Slave Girls From Beyond Infinity is a movie I watched a while ago, but is one that, on a very surface level, keeps coming back to me. I have recently been indulging a strain of curiosity within me. This curiosity often has me do things I'd deem positive; things like start a World Cinema Series, where I watch one movie from every country in the world; things like dedicate hours and hours of my life to the dissection of movies that no one (very, very few) people want to see dissected. However, this curiosity, I suppose, has me do slightly negative things; things like watch Slave Girls From Beyond Infinity.
I don't think I'm the kind of person who watches bad movies to enjoy them. Nor do I watch bad movies to laugh at them. The latter is something I very much so oppose. Maybe this is just a matter of pretence or self-aggrandising, neither of which would surprise me much. Nonetheless, having found a purpose in Pinterest (which, 1) if you haven't followed me, you can do so here, and, 2) garners far more attention than I can conceive of) I have channelled into my movie watching a selection of movies that engage what you might call my id. Movie posters that gleam lurid stupidity have a certain pull to them that I don't try resisting too much.
I've recently wanted to document these, what you could fairly call, trashy movies, and so have created a list of about 30 of them that I'm sure will grow. Among the likes of Barbarella, Killer Condom, Nude On The Moon, Repticlus and Countess Dracula, sits Slave Girls From Beyond Infinity - which, alongside Barbarella, is one of my favourites on the list. The posters all promise violence, teenage fantasy and maybe a dash of soft-core pornography. The people making these movies almost all knew that this is what they were selling. Not necessarily being one who rails against the system and its corrupt nature, I indulge it because I don't think there's anything particularly bad in engaging any feeling or emotion as long as you take it seriously.
In taking the watching of these movies seriously, I think they come to serve certain purposes. One would be the access to truth that they allow. As much as Tarkovsky, Bresson and Bergman may be heralded as the greatest cinema can offer, they are not necessarily the foundations that hold all of film up. To support the lofty few are the masses of mediocrity; supporting them is absolute trash. And then maybe there is a hellish pit inhabited by a few individual movies who writhe in a cesspool of their own being below that. If you want to know cinema, I think you should know each of its faces. You cannot profess to truly love something if you only love it some of the time and some of the ways.
This is something that bugs me, just a bit, about the idea of taste. Many people understand this idea as tantamount to elimination; to develop taste is to know what is bad and to never put it in your mouth; to develop taste is always being ready to spit. I really dislike this. A person with true taste, in my view, has a tongue of steel and a palate of cotton; they can stomach anything, but always appreciate what is deserving of appreciation. It is not a critic's, nor a consumer's, joy to be able to judge the created. It should always be the critic's joy to be able to try the created.
Such a mentality may speak to why this blog very rarely focuses on negative reviews. I hope it doesn't shy away from speaking the truth or drawing something constructive from criticism. But, ever more so, I hope it doesn't find joy in negative judgement, or make a spectacle out of deconstruction. (Maybe Godard is slightly exempt from this hope of mine).
This line of thought brings us to another purpose of taking movies such as Slave Girls From Beyond Infinity seriously. If someone who watches a movie isn't seeking to interact with what they see constructed, but rather, see what is constructed interact with them, then shouldn't the act of watching be seen as a means of accepting, investigating and finding self?
I am not a film buff who watches Bresson all day. I talk about Tarkovsky far more than I watch him. I am also not just a guy who watches a bunch of Disney films, who seeks out movies from obscure, maybe non-existent, film industries from around the world, who is ashamed at how little he knows about Indian cinema and more. I don't know what I am in total, but I see cinema as a path towards knowing the self that expands around me. And such, as slight side note, is really what figuring out who you are means. Finding yourself is not about discovering you, turning to this shadow by your side who you just can't figure out and finally having a light cast on him. Figuring out who you are is not about changing who you are now into someone you'd like to be. Figuring out who you are is a game of catch up. You are you now, just as much as you are potential. You are a universe of self who is expanding. And just like the universe expands so fast that light will never be able to reveal its furthermost point, so do you develop as a person. Your potential far exceeds your vision. This is not to say that you are great as you are. No, no. You're a mess, and you could do a lot better. However, you will always be a bit of a mess because you will always feel the shadow of your potential on your ego.
I am reminded here of the Norse myth about one of Thor's ventures into the land of the giants (my favourite Norse myth). In one particular venture, Thor, Loki and a giant who has become their servant, Thialfi, come upon Utgard - the strong-keep of the giants. Within they each engage certain competitions that the giants pose against them. These games are all tests of what each who enters thinks they are best at. Loki then engages in an eating competition, Thor, tests of strength, drinking and fighting. Everyone fails; the tale is one of hubris and becoming humbled. However, this is also a beautiful story about potential found in ones own weakness. The giant servant, who has my favourite realisation, believes he is a great runner. The giants of Utgard then have him run a race. And in this race he runs the fastest he has ever run; faster than any giant may have ever run; faster than any giant apart from the one he races. Defeated in body and soul, the king of Utgard reveals to Loki, Thor and Thialfi as they leave that they actually competed against illusions. Loki then tried to out-eat fire. Thor tried to, for one, wrestle with old age. And they both were almost victorious - which is profoundly uplifting in a true and limited way. Thialfi, who also almost won, ran not against a giant, but a manifestation of thought. No matter how fast he would run, he could never out-run his imagination.
What does this say about Slave Girls From Beyond Infinity? In my view, it says that the value of any race lies in the lessons we let it teach us. Slave Girls From Beyond Infinity, just like anything that I enjoy or am drawn to, can teach me a lot if I let it. These lessons may be tantamount to a knock on the head and a "sort yourself out", but, not only am I willing to hear this, but I have a feeling that the lesson hasn't been fully taught.
So, as I continue to peruse Pinterest for the next item of trash for me to consume, maybe you, too, can glean something from the deeper recesses of your own actions and impulses. Just try to do so honestly, earnestly, openly, seriously and, maybe above all, curiously.
Thanks for reading.
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The Sweetest Mango - A Sour Workplace Romance
Next post:
Avengers: Infinity War - You Can't Do Epic Without Symbolism
More from me:
amazon.com/author/danielslack
A questioning of the utility of cinematic trash.
Slave Girls From Beyond Infinity is a movie I watched a while ago, but is one that, on a very surface level, keeps coming back to me. I have recently been indulging a strain of curiosity within me. This curiosity often has me do things I'd deem positive; things like start a World Cinema Series, where I watch one movie from every country in the world; things like dedicate hours and hours of my life to the dissection of movies that no one (very, very few) people want to see dissected. However, this curiosity, I suppose, has me do slightly negative things; things like watch Slave Girls From Beyond Infinity.
I don't think I'm the kind of person who watches bad movies to enjoy them. Nor do I watch bad movies to laugh at them. The latter is something I very much so oppose. Maybe this is just a matter of pretence or self-aggrandising, neither of which would surprise me much. Nonetheless, having found a purpose in Pinterest (which, 1) if you haven't followed me, you can do so here, and, 2) garners far more attention than I can conceive of) I have channelled into my movie watching a selection of movies that engage what you might call my id. Movie posters that gleam lurid stupidity have a certain pull to them that I don't try resisting too much.
I've recently wanted to document these, what you could fairly call, trashy movies, and so have created a list of about 30 of them that I'm sure will grow. Among the likes of Barbarella, Killer Condom, Nude On The Moon, Repticlus and Countess Dracula, sits Slave Girls From Beyond Infinity - which, alongside Barbarella, is one of my favourites on the list. The posters all promise violence, teenage fantasy and maybe a dash of soft-core pornography. The people making these movies almost all knew that this is what they were selling. Not necessarily being one who rails against the system and its corrupt nature, I indulge it because I don't think there's anything particularly bad in engaging any feeling or emotion as long as you take it seriously.
In taking the watching of these movies seriously, I think they come to serve certain purposes. One would be the access to truth that they allow. As much as Tarkovsky, Bresson and Bergman may be heralded as the greatest cinema can offer, they are not necessarily the foundations that hold all of film up. To support the lofty few are the masses of mediocrity; supporting them is absolute trash. And then maybe there is a hellish pit inhabited by a few individual movies who writhe in a cesspool of their own being below that. If you want to know cinema, I think you should know each of its faces. You cannot profess to truly love something if you only love it some of the time and some of the ways.
This is something that bugs me, just a bit, about the idea of taste. Many people understand this idea as tantamount to elimination; to develop taste is to know what is bad and to never put it in your mouth; to develop taste is always being ready to spit. I really dislike this. A person with true taste, in my view, has a tongue of steel and a palate of cotton; they can stomach anything, but always appreciate what is deserving of appreciation. It is not a critic's, nor a consumer's, joy to be able to judge the created. It should always be the critic's joy to be able to try the created.
Such a mentality may speak to why this blog very rarely focuses on negative reviews. I hope it doesn't shy away from speaking the truth or drawing something constructive from criticism. But, ever more so, I hope it doesn't find joy in negative judgement, or make a spectacle out of deconstruction. (Maybe Godard is slightly exempt from this hope of mine).
This line of thought brings us to another purpose of taking movies such as Slave Girls From Beyond Infinity seriously. If someone who watches a movie isn't seeking to interact with what they see constructed, but rather, see what is constructed interact with them, then shouldn't the act of watching be seen as a means of accepting, investigating and finding self?
I am not a film buff who watches Bresson all day. I talk about Tarkovsky far more than I watch him. I am also not just a guy who watches a bunch of Disney films, who seeks out movies from obscure, maybe non-existent, film industries from around the world, who is ashamed at how little he knows about Indian cinema and more. I don't know what I am in total, but I see cinema as a path towards knowing the self that expands around me. And such, as slight side note, is really what figuring out who you are means. Finding yourself is not about discovering you, turning to this shadow by your side who you just can't figure out and finally having a light cast on him. Figuring out who you are is not about changing who you are now into someone you'd like to be. Figuring out who you are is a game of catch up. You are you now, just as much as you are potential. You are a universe of self who is expanding. And just like the universe expands so fast that light will never be able to reveal its furthermost point, so do you develop as a person. Your potential far exceeds your vision. This is not to say that you are great as you are. No, no. You're a mess, and you could do a lot better. However, you will always be a bit of a mess because you will always feel the shadow of your potential on your ego.
I am reminded here of the Norse myth about one of Thor's ventures into the land of the giants (my favourite Norse myth). In one particular venture, Thor, Loki and a giant who has become their servant, Thialfi, come upon Utgard - the strong-keep of the giants. Within they each engage certain competitions that the giants pose against them. These games are all tests of what each who enters thinks they are best at. Loki then engages in an eating competition, Thor, tests of strength, drinking and fighting. Everyone fails; the tale is one of hubris and becoming humbled. However, this is also a beautiful story about potential found in ones own weakness. The giant servant, who has my favourite realisation, believes he is a great runner. The giants of Utgard then have him run a race. And in this race he runs the fastest he has ever run; faster than any giant may have ever run; faster than any giant apart from the one he races. Defeated in body and soul, the king of Utgard reveals to Loki, Thor and Thialfi as they leave that they actually competed against illusions. Loki then tried to out-eat fire. Thor tried to, for one, wrestle with old age. And they both were almost victorious - which is profoundly uplifting in a true and limited way. Thialfi, who also almost won, ran not against a giant, but a manifestation of thought. No matter how fast he would run, he could never out-run his imagination.
What does this say about Slave Girls From Beyond Infinity? In my view, it says that the value of any race lies in the lessons we let it teach us. Slave Girls From Beyond Infinity, just like anything that I enjoy or am drawn to, can teach me a lot if I let it. These lessons may be tantamount to a knock on the head and a "sort yourself out", but, not only am I willing to hear this, but I have a feeling that the lesson hasn't been fully taught.
So, as I continue to peruse Pinterest for the next item of trash for me to consume, maybe you, too, can glean something from the deeper recesses of your own actions and impulses. Just try to do so honestly, earnestly, openly, seriously and, maybe above all, curiously.
Thanks for reading.
Previous post:
The Sweetest Mango - A Sour Workplace Romance
Next post:
Avengers: Infinity War - You Can't Do Epic Without Symbolism
More from me:
amazon.com/author/danielslack
