The View From Scranton

A Saintless Spider with his Quills

Now I’m no Saint, hell, I’m not even a Roger Moore, but I know to what it takes to be unholy, and I know what it means to be a bad actor, or at least a mannerly imitation of one. Scanning early episodes of The Saint left me at once intrigued and asleep, with visions that lead me to believe I can do it leaner, meaner, even, perhaps keener. Now, in a whole wild new world.

If I ever get back to it.

And like McGrath’s Spider, as lensed by Cronenberg and portrayed by Fiennes, I shall ghost the delusions of my past and come to some kinda truth, no matter how bitter and brutal and ugly the reveal.

And, like De Sade, and as he’s so bedevilishly played by Geoffrey Rush in Philip Kaufman’s body-ripping filmery, I shall do it with Quills. Or, if need be, the blood and the shit of my soul.

Was De Sade a monster? Depends on who you ask. He was monstrously brave and unequivocal. He didn’t bend, he never wavered, and he could not be broken. A cruel irony that the proceeds of his liberating scribbles would be used to further confine.

That mistake shall not be made thrice.

posted by John Hood. @ 1:23 PM