(no subject)

[fpb]

The fandom can be a nasty place. I just had the unpleasant experience of getting to know a woman who is, one, a skank, and, two, proud of it. Ugly. It's like trying to make a slug understand that leaving a slimy trail behind is nothing to be proud about.

Comments

[fpb.livejournal.com]

To be honest, I never thought of her much. It so happens that I have never seen any of her movies, more by chance than by any other reason. Incidentally, a small personal beef. In almost every movie about St.Joan of Arc that I have seen, the warrior saint was played by some tall and robust young lady, from Milla to Ingrid Bergman. But the real Joan was tiny; her armour, which is preserved in an aristocratic house in England, shows that she was five foot nothing (one metre fifty), which even then was not much. And I am willing to bet that half the inspiring effect that she had was for everyone to see that tiny figure, upright on her horse and with no helmet, carrying a flag as big as her whole body. Who would not follow her to war?

[bufo-viridis.livejournal.com]

You didn't lose so much :) The Fifth Element is quite entertaining, as a light version of Blade Runner, but entertaining and that's all.

Is it really Joan's armour? How interesting. The people then were shorter, but still 5 feet is not much (Du Guesclin was also a shortie, wasn't he?). She was carrying a standard herself? It probably looked as if Standard was riding a horse by itself... But no standard bearer or was she a standard bearer?

[fpb.livejournal.com]

Well, the one sketch from life (which I reproduced here, http://www.livejournal.com/users/fpb/105272.html) shows her carrying a sword as big as her whole body and a flag that is even bigger.

[bufo-viridis.livejournal.com]

Yes, I remember the portrait, v. interesting (is it a part of a larger picture or a separate piece?). My question was coming from the fact that it was customary to show impartant figure with flags and other insignia, as a mark of a person/position/function. Since I know only basic facts about Joan, I was curious if there exist any sources telling she was appointed Royal Standard Bearer or similar position.

[fpb.livejournal.com]

I believe that it comes from the margin of a book, and that it is believed to be the writer's immediate reaction to actually seeing her in the street. Notice how carefully the monogram of Jesus on the flag is written; whoever it was who drew it was more used to handsome book lettering than to drawing.

[bufo-viridis.livejournal.com]

Indeed, the monogram is very careflly done - the author was a monk-scribe? Not unlikely. The picture is doubly interesting then - kind of a photo snapshot 700 years old... The whereabouts are unknown? She wears a curious mix of knight's (sword, very properly done, one can identify the type immediately; the drawer must have seen them a lot, too) and ladies attire. Her dress seems to be not a very plain one, but more of an elegant type - the frills below...
I wonder how significant is that she wears her long hair loose?