Also, she has been genuinely nice on numerous occasions – For instance, her conversation and subsequent dance with Kinsey at that office party in season 1, are nothing but gentle and nice. In fact, overlooking her limitations towards race and sexuality, she strikes me as a nicer person than Avon. Both are complex beings though.

Also, Avon’s code isn’t exactly set in stone, but to get into that would require detailed analysis of what he does in the first three seasons, which would mean a great deal of spoilers for readers who haven’t seen that yet. Maybe that discussion could take place somewhere else?

I do wonder now, how come it took you 3 and a half season to get into it?

Let it also be said that I WANT to enjoy Mad Men. Erik really likes it and I wish I could sit and watch it with him without scowling for an entire hour.

To be fair, it took me about three and a half seasons to get into The Wire, which is one of my favourite shows. I’m in the midst of rewatching the whole series now. I love the Avon Barksdale/Stringer Bell relationship — how a single look, a single word can communicate the years they shared. Avon is my favourite character for one of his few scenes in Season 5. And that’s the crux of the whole matter: there’s not a single (male) character on Mad Men who engenders any sympathy from me. (Maybe they’re not supposed to. In which case, I should stop wasting my time.) On top of that, I know that I should see past Joan’s bitchiness, but I don’t want to waste affection on a character who treats others the way she does.

OK, it’s way too late and I’m rambling. Mad Men just makes me mad. It’s like some joke that I’m not in on, so I’m going back to The Wire tomorrow. (You should come visit and we can do a marathon!)

Of course, this was only one family member of a survivor, but for me it sort of negates this “holocaust denial” theory – or at least robs it of any power.

How is killing all the top nazi’s, plus the murderer of one’s family, over the top, even if it cost one’s own life? I don’t think either Shoshanna or Marcel ever planned on getting out in time… Futile? Knowing what they’ve done and would do for two more years?

Apart from that tidbid, a great piece of blogging, I have to say.

I think there’s also a temptation to want to “justify” a passion for the man’s films to people who think of them as trifles.

Luckily, I found that in the moment of the movie I was just in full on receiving mode and enjoying the hell out of it. It was only afterward when I was trying to describe it that analysis kicked in.

Still, I’m not sure I conveyed how much fun this movie is.

I wish too I’d spent more time talking about Shosanna and Zoller as you did here, but one could pick a moment or a thread and just talk all day about it.

Also, I kind of love how it was a whole family affair for you with the dad and BF involved. I’m a hermit and saw it alone, but I like the idea of the shared experience and the communal enjoyment factor.

Inglourious Basterds: It’s a bingo!

It’s a somewhat shaky analogy, but I thought there were some interesting connections. Then about 2/3 the way Mann just drops that like a hot potato and focuses on Dillinger and the whole movie changed completely. I’m not even sure if what I initially picked up on was even intended after the movie ended.