Bright Horizons book

darren · Post by **darren** » Mon Aug 04, 2014 8:31 am

Now that's the kind of response we want the book to have!:)

denis · Post by **denis** » Tue Dec 16, 2014 6:36 pm

I’ve just read THE MURDER MARKET chapter.
I’d say it’s totally astonishing and I don’t share some points of view which are un-Avengerish for me. The series were written with ‘devious mind’ but not ‘disturbed mind’ as most of the series are nowadays written.
First example: ‘The sexual frisson that results from seeing Diana Rigg performing on the instrument while Steed plays with his club could hardly be more Freudin’. Maybe for some, but not for French fans who were a little confused by this sentence.
But the ‘worst’ is to come, when Lovejoy, Dinsford and Steed are tasting cakes and drinking champagne: it’s supposed to be ‘homo-eroticism’!
‘A row of carefully positioned bottled canted at waist level behind which the three actors suggestively present themselves. A daringly provocative hint at then illicit sexual practise’.
My goodness! What are these British ‘illicit sexual practise’ that ‘poor’ French fans do not know?
More seriously, I think that this fabulous season 4 was written with an evident devious mind but in no way with pornographic and lunatic spirits that don’t match the sophistication of the season.

Frankymole · Post by **Frankymole** » Tue Dec 16, 2014 7:12 pm

denis wrote: My goodness! What are these British ‘illicit sexual practise’ that ‘poor’ French fans do not know?

Just that homosexual activity was illegal in Britain until 1967.

Post by **dissolute** » Tue Dec 16, 2014 10:59 pm

That's because the author of the chapter is a Freudian psychologist, so everything is phallic.

Dan · Post by **Dan** » Wed Dec 17, 2014 1:50 am

denis wrote:I’ve just read THE MURDER MARKET chapter.
I’d say it’s totally astonishing and I don’t share some points of view which are un-Avengerish for me. The series were written with ‘devious mind’ but not ‘disturbed mind’ as most of the series are nowadays written.
First example: ‘The sexual frisson that results from seeing Diana Rigg performing on the instrument while Steed plays with his club could hardly be more Freudin’. Maybe for some, but not for French fans who were a little confused by this sentence.
But the ‘worst’ is to come, when Lovejoy, Dinsford and Steed are tasting cakes and drinking champagne: it’s supposed to be ‘homo-eroticism’!
‘A row of carefully positioned bottled canted at waist level behind which the three actors suggestively present themselves. A daringly provocative hint at then illicit sexual practise’.
My goodness! What are these British ‘illicit sexual practise’ that ‘poor’ French fans do not know?
More seriously, I think that this fabulous season 4 was written with an evident devious mind but in no way with pornographic and lunatic spirits that don’t match the sophistication of the season.

I agree Denis. After reading this chapter I went back and watched the episode to see if I had missed the sexual references and concluded that the author's interpretations of the scenes were really a stretch. It's overall a very good chapter but it seems to me that the author is projecting things that aren't really there in this episode. Of course, I'm simply a fan, not a psychologist.

Frankymole · Post by **Frankymole** » Wed Dec 17, 2014 4:25 am

Is Sam a psychologist? I knew Margo is a psychiatrist. Quite a collection of mind experts! I'll have to be careful what I reveal...

Speed Six · Post by **Speed Six** » Wed Dec 17, 2014 10:25 am

denis wrote:I’ve just read THE MURDER MARKET chapter.
I’d say it’s totally astonishing and I don’t share some points of view which are un-Avengerish for me. The series were written with ‘devious mind’ but not ‘disturbed mind’ as most of the series are nowadays written.
First example: ‘The sexual frisson that results from seeing Diana Rigg performing on the instrument while Steed plays with his club could hardly be more Freudin’. Maybe for some, but not for French fans who were a little confused by this sentence.
But the ‘worst’ is to come, when Lovejoy, Dinsford and Steed are tasting cakes and drinking champagne: it’s supposed to be ‘homo-eroticism’!
‘A row of carefully positioned bottled canted at waist level behind which the three actors suggestively present themselves. A daringly provocative hint at then illicit sexual practise’.
My goodness! What are these British ‘illicit sexual practise’ that ‘poor’ French fans do not know?
More seriously, I think that this fabulous season 4 was written with an evident devious mind but in no way with pornographic and lunatic spirits that don’t match the sophistication of the season.

I wouldn't claim to be a Freudian psychologist, but anyone with a basic knowledge of Freudian symbolism in the visual media will understand how sexually provocative the positioning of the champagne bottles in The Murder Market scene is - likewise the use of props in the golf/tuba scene. Perhaps something is lost in the translation of the dialogue to French, but the English dialogue certainly reinforces the subtext. Throughout The Avengers there are similar examples of Freudian symbolism - as there are in many Hitchcock films, which are often cited as inspiration for the Avengers' creative team. It's an element of the kind of humour that Brian Clemens is referring to when he describes the series as working on different levels.

Speed Six · Post by **Speed Six** » Wed Dec 17, 2014 10:30 am

Dan wrote:
denis wrote:I’ve just read THE MURDER MARKET chapter.
I’d say it’s totally astonishing and I don’t share some points of view which are un-Avengerish for me. The series were written with ‘devious mind’ but not ‘disturbed mind’ as most of the series are nowadays written.
First example: ‘The sexual frisson that results from seeing Diana Rigg performing on the instrument while Steed plays with his club could hardly be more Freudin’. Maybe for some, but not for French fans who were a little confused by this sentence.
But the ‘worst’ is to come, when Lovejoy, Dinsford and Steed are tasting cakes and drinking champagne: it’s supposed to be ‘homo-eroticism’!
‘A row of carefully positioned bottled canted at waist level behind which the three actors suggestively present themselves. A daringly provocative hint at then illicit sexual practise’.
My goodness! What are these British ‘illicit sexual practise’ that ‘poor’ French fans do not know?
More seriously, I think that this fabulous season 4 was written with an evident devious mind but in no way with pornographic and lunatic spirits that don’t match the sophistication of the season.
I agree Denis. After reading this chapter I went back and watched the episode to see if I had missed the sexual references and concluded that the author's interpretations of the scenes were really a stretch. It's overall a very good chapter but it seems to me that the author is projecting things that aren't really there in this episode. Of course, I'm simply a fan, not a psychologist.

Again, perhaps I have a better understanding of how the creative minds behind the series approached their work, but there's no doubt at all that these references were entirely intentional and part of the show's ethos.

Dan · Post by **Dan** » Wed Dec 17, 2014 4:34 pm

Speed Six wrote:
Dan wrote:
denis wrote:I’ve just read THE MURDER MARKET chapter.
I’d say it’s totally astonishing and I don’t share some points of view which are un-Avengerish for me. The series were written with ‘devious mind’ but not ‘disturbed mind’ as most of the series are nowadays written.
First example: ‘The sexual frisson that results from seeing Diana Rigg performing on the instrument while Steed plays with his club could hardly be more Freudin’. Maybe for some, but not for French fans who were a little confused by this sentence.
But the ‘worst’ is to come, when Lovejoy, Dinsford and Steed are tasting cakes and drinking champagne: it’s supposed to be ‘homo-eroticism’!
‘A row of carefully positioned bottled canted at waist level behind which the three actors suggestively present themselves. A daringly provocative hint at then illicit sexual practise’.
My goodness! What are these British ‘illicit sexual practise’ that ‘poor’ French fans do not know?
More seriously, I think that this fabulous season 4 was written with an evident devious mind but in no way with pornographic and lunatic spirits that don’t match the sophistication of the season.
I agree Denis. After reading this chapter I went back and watched the episode to see if I had missed the sexual references and concluded that the author's interpretations of the scenes were really a stretch. It's overall a very good chapter but it seems to me that the author is projecting things that aren't really there in this episode. Of course, I'm simply a fan, not a psychologist.
Again, perhaps I have a better understanding of how the creative minds behind the series approached their work, but there's no doubt at all that these references were entirely intentional and part of the show's ethos.

As someone who is purely a fan with no insider knowledge whatsoever, I'll defer to your better understanding here.

Lhbizness · Post by **Lhbizness** » Wed Dec 17, 2014 4:47 pm

If the writer did not prove their point based on available textual evidence, as well assumptions about the creative minds behind it, then there's probably a problem with the media scholarship.