So uh… I’m only 20 minutes into a rewatch of Black Swan. So far it has some awesome things going on in deconstructing the Virgin/Whore complex, and the way men in power perpetuate it, and the sad reality that some women seem to be content with it. It’s made visual reference to the male gaze, while…
While I agree with every word that is written, I don’t think that I have ever read something so Tumblr in my life. The only thing that would make this more Tumblr is if you somehow managed to work in vegan rights.
I’m so tumblr!
It’s for a paper for the History of Women in Film class I am taking, (which is basically a an introductory study of feminist film theory) so that shouldn’t be surprising. I had heard of the Male Gaze from tumblr before this class, and honestly my initial impression is that it isn’t really understood by the vast majority of tumblr, or that tumblr is generally really bad at teaching feminist concepts. Which shouldn’t surprise me, the internet thrives on taking interesting complex problems and stripping them down to “if these words are said, be angry!”
Honestly, I could make it even more tumblr, by fitting something in there about both race and vegan rights. Oh, and about body image issues. The only thing it’s missing is something about transphobia and sex worker rights. And some kind of unironically objectifying “shipping”. That might do it.
EDIT: On a personal note, these concepts will probably become second nature to me by the time this class ends, and will inspire me to research them so much further than I have. This stuff is insanely important for everyone to keep in mind. Especially if we want to laugh at current movies 20 years from now, due to their propensity to exist in a post-apocalypse world where something has clearly killed 50% of women, yet no one seems to have noticed.
So uh… I’m only 20 minutes into a rewatch of Black Swan. So far it has some awesome things going on in deconstructing the Virgin/Whore complex, and the way men in power perpetuate it, and the sad reality that some women seem to be content with it. It’s made visual reference to the male gaze, while undermining it through grotesque imagery.
Should this continue through the rest of it, I will probably fall in love with this movie, and Aranofsky will finally take his place among my favorite directors.
It’s sad, though, that the cast is so white. I’m guessing this is a further comment on the entertainment industry and it’s refusal to represent reality, but the film is going to have to make it’s case to me as I continue to watch it.
So many feels this past week
Weird things happened this week. I just need to vent them somewhere where it can be seen, but not particularly by anyone.
1) Today I received an email from an ex just as unexpectedly as it ended… for the way she ended it.
2) I’ve been working with a couple on a writing project we are all doing together. During the meeting today, he had a weird upset moment which the normal rules of drama would indicate jealousy and insecurity in his relationship. I’m really hoping it isn’t that, it would be ridiculous. I’m way too old for that shit, and they’ve both been extremely awesome people so far.
3) A friend I haven’t heard from in a long time suddenly included me in a group email about a game we once played together years ago. This is clearly some sort of “hey, I miss hanging out with you” communication. I replied to the email to everyone, just talking about the game. The email thread is now dead, and I’m not really sure what they wanted to hear back from me. They probably wanted some poorly disguised subtext that I never put into emails (because seriously, email is a shit form of communication, especially for anything subtextual.)
4) Checked out hot girl who was checking me out. We were both unfortunately clearly on our way somewhere important. That might have something to do with why we checked each other out.
5) Held elevator for some unknown entity, (I could hear someone running to it) and it turned out to be some poor girl who ended up being pretty flustered about a guy holding the elevator for her. Not really my type, so I made small talk and tried to just be friendly.
Normally the latter two wouldn’t be something I’d even bother expressing, but I felt the need to do that because of the first two. Number 1 is something that I have to handle with care, because I honestly don’t know what to say to someone who is telling me that what I think happened is exactly what happened, and apologizing for it almost a year and a half later. I moved on and forgave her so long ago. On her end, she has apparently had it weigh on her for the past few months. Surprisingly, I get it. I understand why she felt the need to do this, but I think it’s actually more difficult for me to respond when I get it. Especially because I don’t really want to be her friend again. The truth there is that we always had fantastic chemistry, and I know how I am- it won’t take long for me to irrationally rekindle those old feelings. Plus, I really don’t want to fall for someone who won’t date me unless I convert back to Christianity. Not happening.
As for number two, I’m really hoping that was just a one-off, and that they can settle it between them in a way that he won’t slowly begin to resent me. They seem pretty great for each other, so I probably should just forget about it. Thus, I deem numbers 4 and 5 as “weird” and let them boost my confidence.
And now it is time to become an ent.
“The difference between sex and death is that with death you can do it alone and no one is going to make fun of you.” ― Woody Allen
![shortformblog:
theatlantic:
Who Wants a Nice Tall Glass of Coca-Cola’s Algorithmic Orange Juice?
Coca-Cola won’t say how it makes its best-selling Simply Orange orange juice, but one thing is for sure: It’s not so simple. A new investigation by Bloomberg Businessweek shows that the Coke-owned orange juice brand that’s billed as less processed version of Tropicana is in fact a hyper-engineered and dauntingly industrial product. The factory in Florida where the bulk of Coke’s orange juice products are made sounds less like a bucolic grove where natural things grow than an oil refinery where natural things go to die. And yes, that includes the “Grove Made” variety.
Read more. [Image: Coca-Cola]
Well, color us surprised. Despite considering ourselves fairly heady consumers, this caught us unawares. It is pretty tasty orange juice, for the record.](http://24.media.tumblr.com/7a404ce165b469dfc9323d00ad9bfdb3/tumblr_mhjtvjaf8H1qcokc4o1_500.png)
Who Wants a Nice Tall Glass of Coca-Cola’s Algorithmic Orange Juice?
Coca-Cola won’t say how it makes its best-selling Simply Orange orange juice, but one thing is for sure: It’s not so simple. A new investigation by Bloomberg Businessweek shows that the Coke-owned orange juice brand that’s billed as less processed version of Tropicana is in fact a hyper-engineered and dauntingly industrial product. The factory in Florida where the bulk of Coke’s orange juice products are made sounds less like a bucolic grove where natural things grow than an oil refinery where natural things go to die. And yes, that includes the “Grove Made” variety.
Read more. [Image: Coca-Cola]
Well, color us surprised. Despite considering ourselves fairly heady consumers, this caught us unawares. It is pretty tasty orange juice, for the record.
I’m reading over an essay I wrote last semester in order to rewrite it for an assignment this semester. It’s amazing how blatantly obvious it is that I don’t ever proofread my work before turning it in. There are large mistakes in syntax, but very few professors ever seem to care. I get A’s on them anyways.
I’m not sure if this means that they like my actual work a lot, or if it means that they are just giving me A’s because it’s what they expect to give me by the time I’m turning them in.
life:
On the 65th anniversary of Gandhi’s assassination, we look back at Margaret Bourke-White’s iconic photo of the civil-disobedience pioneer in 1946, and the story for which the picture was originally made.
(Margaret Bourke-White—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images)
“Nothing is original. Steal from anywhere that resonates with inspiration or fuels your imagination. Devour old films, new films, music, books, paintings, photographs, poems, dreams, random conversations, architecture, bridges, street signs, trees, clouds, bodies of water, light and shadows. Select only things to steal from that speak directly to your soul. If you do this, your work (and theft) will be authentic. Authenticity is invaluable; originality is non-existent. And don’t bother concealing your thievery - celebrate it if you feel like it. In any case, always remember what Jean-Luc Godard said: “It’s not where you take things from - it’s where you take them to.” ― Jim Jarmusch (born January 22nd, 1953)
Horse fire. A man rides a horse through a bonfire in San Bartolome de Pinares, Spain, in honor of Saint Anthony, the patron saint of animals on January 16, 2013. On the eve of Saint Anthony’s Day, hundreds ride their horses trough the narrow cobblestone streets of the small village of San Bartolome during the “Luminarias”, a traditional festival that dates back 500 years and is meant to purify the animals with the smoke of the bonfires, and protect them for the year to come.
PHOTOGRAPHER : AP PHOTO/DANIEL OCHOA DE OLZA
