[Sca-cooks] Rotten meat and spices...

[Phlip]

Ene bichizh ogsen baina shuu...

> On Tuesday 12 April 2005 10:15 am, dale elliott wrote:
> > What of the pheasent scene from Sho-Gun.  Did the English hand the
pheasent
> > until the neck rotted?  or is this bunk?
> [...]
> "Rotted" is probably not the correct description, either, whether they
> actually did it or not.

(
<Much good stuff snipped>

> ElHermosoDormido

For what it's worth, "Shogun" the movie was a Hollywood version of a novel,
by a very human being, so we're talking a double layer of fiction here-
someone's interpretation of someone's interpretation- of an era and area in
history of which not much is known about. There is just the wee bit of
chance that somewhere along the way, things got exagerated for "dramatic
impact".

Also, for what it's worth, in the novel, our European hero wants it to hang,
not until the head falls off, but for a day or two, but being angry about
something else at the time (I believe relating to a household matter)
instructs the servant not to take the pheasant down until he says so- and
gets involved in other matters and forgets the whole thing. After a space of
time, the pheasant becomes so ripe, and the odor so nauseating, that one of
the servants takes it upon themself to cut it down and bury it, then
confesses the deed to our hero, fully expecting to be put to death for
disobeying our Hero's orders.

The point of the scene in the novel is not that Europeans ate rotten meat,
but a small vignette showing the cultural abrasion between Japanese and
European expectations. I have no idea what the point was in the movie,
because I never saw it, but I suspect it might have been similar, but
picking up on the old saw about Europeans, rotten meat, and spices. If a
novelist steps forward, Hollywood breaks the world broad jump record- it's
why I dislike movies made of novels- too much is changed and exagerated, to
make a point in a 5 second video bit.

Saint Phlip,
CoD

"When in doubt, heat it up and hit it with a hammer."
 Blacksmith's credo.

 If it walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, it is probably not a
cat.

Never a horse that cain't be rode,
And never a rider who cain't be throwed....



-- 
Internal Virus Database is out-of-date.
Checked by AVG Anti-Virus.
Version: 7.0.308 / Virus Database: 266.9.3 - Release Date: 4/5/05