Feminist Deconstruction Before 10am

Jennifer's Body. Hysterical. And I mean that with all the connotations involved. There's Gaia themes, animals, choric spaces, vagina dentata and Megan Fox. (I can't help it, ok? She's a cheeseburger. Like Twilight) And all of this under the guise of a feminist story forced through a masculinist gaze. This movie has a lot in it. Even setting up parallel explorations of sexual  experience: positive, consensual, affirming and consuming, rape.

Actually, consumption is a major them, which I suppose you'd expect in a film about female sexuality.  Language describes desire in terms of edibility ("he's salty"), even the exploration of lesbian sexuality is focused on the mouth (kissing). From here it's going to get a little abstract, because I'm jotting down impressions. (Also, does Megan Fox look like Shannan Doherty lite?)

The focus on women's voices "You don't need to talk" "Just let me finish" "does one of you guys have something to shut her up with?" Crying as inarticulate, pre-speech. Ritual and poetry defying conventions of speech.

Phallic knife and requirement of a virgin. So what happens when the phallus penetrates a non virgin? Well, she becomes a man-eating, vagina monster who animals like. End fight scene with knife "you know what this is for? it's for cutting boxes". Really, really like.

The role of mothers, as protectors, as grievers and as possesors of choric space. The role of lovers as mothers (Cixous).

Forests and choric spaces, the bottemless whorlpool/labyrinth of the Devil's Kettle.

Makeup/the illusion of sexual arousal/mud/warpaint.

Also, why do school libraries in the US have such amazing collections on Occult traditions. I'd've thought that they'd be on the banned book list.

Even the little girl (fellating an iceypole and sitting, legs akimbo) is admonished by her mother for inadvertant feminine sexuality ("nobody wants to see your kiki"). 

There's totally an inverted Little Red Riding Hood story in here (of course, there always is.)
There's also a commentary on masculine sexual performance, and fidelity (whether to an idea, a friend or a partner). Sleeping beauty imagery. BFF heart necklace talisman links the two women

And omigod the discussion about teenage girl relationships.

Circular temporality in storytelling. From end to

Ending to Hole singing "go on". 

There's a paper in this... Hello Prague conference.

Researchy Goodness

I woke up fluey and sulky this morning, so I called in sick for work. As a result I am on the couch, wrapped up in blankets and drinking green tea with manuka. I decided it would be useful to work my way through a bunch of movies I want to reference for various research thingies. You know... note taking and so on. I started with Gabriel.  I thought... you know... Paradise Lost, fits in my theories about The Amory Wars that I'm working on (and DAMN is Milton getting a reworking right now). Yeah... so. I like the aesthetic (although the contact lenses look shocking. It's always more realistic if pupils can change size. and, you know.... if CGI can manage Pochahontas II: Blue Cat Boogaloo, then damnit, just CGI their irises, don't use lenses). And I know I was asking too much by thinking they might actually have ... you know... researched angelology. Like... Samael? IS ANOTHER NAME FOR AN ASPECT OF GOD, YOU UNEDUCATED DRAMATURG. Clearly someone did their research via wiki. I mean, I like that Gabriel is a little bit gay. Or at least confused. Michael?Amitiel?Michael? Amitiel? Samael?!

There also seems to be some confusion about purgatory. For those of you who didn't survive a childhood of Catholic indoctrination, purgatory is a realm between heaven and hell. A nothingness for people who weren't baptised when they died. Except apparently everyone there is mortal. Not dead. Gah. GAH. Clearly the script writers also did not sit through 13 years of Catholic indoctrination. 

And apparently angels find redemtion and minor key guitar with piano and climactic strings through one night stands. Rather than original sin. My head is desking.

Short version: I am not writing on this. Dogma was better researched (I will never doubt you Kevin Smith. In conclusion, Alan Rickman). But it was a good movie to feel sulky and fluey to.

Books that Shake It Up

I just finished reading Lolita. Reading Nabakov's afterword really gives the books some perspective because, like, I really found it a total headfuck. It was so damn pretty to read, but... ZOMG DUNTALKABOUTLITTLEGIRLSTHATWAY. And there's the whole them of imposing adult sexuality on children that really comes through. However the thing that really got me (besides y'know, the raping a child thing) was the metatext. On the front and back covers the book is lauded as a 'dark comedy' : 'Comedy, subversive yet divine' - Martin Amis, 'laugh-aloud black humour' - Daily Telegraph, 'endlessly comic' - John Updike, 'There's no funnier monster in modern literature' - Independant...

I didn't get the funny. I got the amazing poetry, the wordplay, the sheer brilliance of semiotic artistry, and given t was written in English, rather than Russian, it is phenomenal. I could never hope to evoke such feelings, such beauty, in English let alone in some tongue I was less familiar with.

But it wasn't funny. Not side splitting.  Maybe some chortle.

Maybe I've seen too many Steve Martin movies.

Twilight II: Vampire Boogaloo

Jailbait Werewolves - Shirts = Epic Win.

That is all.

Things I read when I get in from work after midnight.

New Text! New Text! Wheee Cleolinda, thank you for making my Phd fun. I can't believe I'm going to work M15M and the Secret Life of Dolls into a thesis.

Zounding Like Ze Bad German Accent.

I was just reading this article (gods, I love Jezebel) and was taken by the ze/zir gender neutral pronoun issue. One commentor makes a reference to Margaret Piercy using 'per' (short for Person) in Woman on the Edge of Time. I'm curious about how academic writing would respond to the introduction of a neutral pronoun. I think it's clearly a political choice  that is expressed in text, however I'm curious as to how it would play with and balance out other words. Would it highlight exactly where we see gender? and what about those pronouns like 'I', 'we' and 'you'? I wrote a paper a few years ago on the masculinity of I. do we need a neutered I? (a -?) thinking. thinking.

Move over Sparklepire...

The next big thing, I'm calling it now - Urban Fantasy, Faerie Romance. And pushing it are Holly Black, Cassandra Clare and Melissa Marr. This also seems to be a genre that is particularly open to feminist readings (seriously, I squee every few pages in Marr's books) and, holy shit, it's AWESOME.

The chicks are all "Sugar, this is all about my choices, I get them, welcome to the Future". Epic. Love. The texts are edgy, explicit without being gratuitous, and most importantly are written by young women for young readers (seriously, more boys need to get in on this shit, they're missing out).  So I think I'm going to read and review these books on here for the next little while. Not today, too much to do. But some review love wouldn't be all bad at all.

And I'll do it wearing these:

(found through Love Lorn Unicorn, told about by the Delightful Catie last night via Facespace, Visiting Peter Alexander before work today.)