wasabi_poptart | thoughts on Shogun

There's a scene in Part 2 of Shogun where the main lady offers Blackthorne sexual access to the three servants who attend him, or, if he would prefer, a boy, and it occured to me that this scene was totally plagiarized from The Man Who Would be King. Now, I haven't read either source novel, so I can't say for certain that James Clavell was intentionally ripping off Rudyard Kipling, but the screenwriter sure as hell was. It made me kind of mad on behalf of that Harvard student who lost her book deal a few years ago for a similar transgression.

Also, considering Richard Chamberlain was all closeted back then, I wonder what it was like for him to act all offended and disgusted about it, when in reality it was that same general offense and disgust that was making his life miserable. It must have chafed to have to play that scene straight (as it were). Like Buddy Cole says, "I'm not saying Richard Chamberlain is gay; I just hope he has a good lover. Because he's going to need a lot of sex with a man to get him through this!"

Also, saints preserve us from portrayals of infantilized Japanese women shuffling around in their little sandals and giggling behind their fingers! Aren't there SAG bylaws about that sort of thing?