I must admit that lately I’ve been even more in love with television than usual. Two great pleasures of digital cable are being able to watch Tom and Jerry at one’s leisure (and catching a rare episode where Tom speaks in a freaky person voice) and the lazy guide description of shows, like: “Cat Tom and mouse Jerry try to outwit each other”. Of course, my twenty year old Zenith (my very own beloved TVC-15) is a constant reminder of the real magic of television: catching something strange and new. Which reminds me of a turning point in my Geek life. Picture your humble narrator, ten years old, my head still hasn’t grown into my teeth yet, surrounded by X-men comics on warm scratchy carpet, left unsupervised in front of late-night cable. The midnight movie was Barbarella. By the time those metal-mouthed dolls had scratched flesh, I was in love. Those hovering rubber ice creatures, the liberal use of the tuba, Anita Pallenberg’s horn…. I still get goosebumps every time Jane digs that zero G and unleashes the credits. Now, my ardor is concentrated on Jean-Claude Forest’s masterpiece, the original Barbarella comic. Every few months or so I mix myself a Cosmopolitini (I got the recipe from Maureen Dowd) and devour every perfect detail…the men, the medusa, the blind angel. She is the cosmic, ancestral form of Aeon Flux: adventurous, gorgeous, gregarious, inserting herself into dangerous situations where the possibility of fatal failure is very real. I’m sure the original French dialogue is quite poetic, but the English translation is pure pleasurable pulp. When Barbarella and Captain Dildano crash on an inhospitable planet, they are confronted by a helpful native who commands her to strip and be covered in a protective goo. Dildano balks, but Barbarella, undaunted, says: “Bah! I don’t think they mean us any harm…and besides, it won’t be the first time an outer-space creature has viewed my nudity!” Ah, Barbarella, your logic is unassailable. At one time, she was the height of scandal. I only hope that the powers that be realize what made her such a potent role model to this blossoming Lady Geek. Lascivious, liberated, luscious Barbarella is entirely without artifice. Before someone steps into her space boots, let’s take another look at the source. She may just scandalize us anew.
