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New York, 9:56 AM
Sat Nov 21
67 posts in the last 24 hours
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11/20/09
11/20/09
i guess she thought it was New Moon with Blue Moon.
11/20/09
butterbeer will fuck your shit up. especially when its actually tequilia.
11/20/09
Such as: that particular kind of low-self esteem that looks like humility or lack of ego so some male character can say, all broody, "you just don't know how beautiful you are". It masquerades as an appealing/non-threatening trait. It's like nearly every story I've read by a certain type of 15 year old girl. Or romance novel. It's a trope that plays out again and again. Much like her physical weakness, dependency, etc. But all I can guess is that more girls and women maybe -feel- that way or relate to it somehow.
Of course, there's also the fact that, whatever else, it's a story from Bella's perspective, and the female perspective has been fairly rare in mainstream film for awhile.
I just...I wish it was a -better- perspective. One that wasn't so reliant on helplessness and victimization, or creepy tropes about "true love". Or was more self-aware of that. That's one of the reasons I love Buffy. The self-awareness. It knew when it was being overwrought, it knew how to self-critique, and it was far more complex.
11/20/09
Then again, I did the same thing for the last movie and still ended up sitting behind crazed pre-pubescent girls that squealed every time Robert Pattinson came on screen. I almost rolled my eyes out of my head and kept saying to the Mr. - "this movie is truly terrible, but the experience of watching it like this may have made it worse."
I mean, I get it... but ugh.
11/20/09
11/20/09
Hate Bella as a heroine. Always have. I write YA, and ever since I read Twilight I strive to make my female protagonists the opposite of Bella. That is to say articulate and active.
Won't be seeing the movie, but probably will be buying the soundtrack. So many good artists on there--Twilight franchise, why must you force me to support you?
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Vom!
11/20/09
I am Team Jacob. I was after reading the books, and I still am after viewing the clips. (I will never watch the movies though) Too bad we all know how it ends!
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Is it a good idea to reference a classic vampire movie in your crappy vampire movie?
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11/20/09
It has been a long time since I was dumped and I was feeling it all over again reading that part.
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11/20/09
Maybe no one remembers themselves as being in love in high school, but that's when I went through my "ugly" phase, involving The Who shirts, ripped jeans, flannel, and Birkenstocks (2002). My sister, on the other hand, opted for too-big men's dress pants exclusively from Goodwill, little graphic tees from Hot Topic/Alloy/Delia*s, paperclip necklaces, purple/burgundy hair, and 14 lbs of eyeliner (2001).
I'm sorry, this is the set of feelings we WANT to revisit?
11/20/09
1994 featured flannel, mom jeans, unironic wolf t-shirts, and Docs, for me. Also, Birkenstocks in summer.
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Along the same lines: did you notice much of a difference at all with the new director? I admit I watched the first movie and aside from the plot I thought that the movie was unwatchable because of the direction. I had seen Kristen Stewart before in a few other movies (Speak!!!!)and thought she was a pretty solid actress, same with RobPat, so I blamed the director. Also the poor writing. Thoughts?
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Hearted for the Dorothy Parker ref.
11/16/09
Whenever advocates like this write an op-ed or speak publicly about a project ...I admire them and understand why they want to comment, and why should would give the commentary.
I have a hard time believing anyone would find this abuse or a mother like Mary unimaginable. Is it really hidden, or is it ignored because it's too depressing to think about, especially because often enough there is no happy ending or clear solution?
Not when kids are supposedly cognitively underdeveloped by age four simply because they live in low-income families and school districts, even families that aren't necessarily abusive or blatantly neglectful. Not when social workers seem to be ill-equipped or poorly trained to distinguish between what a family needs, or what a child might need (i.e. to get the hell away from insane parents). Not when runaways are undocumented, and don't want to be found. Not when their parents don't give a shit whether they come home or not and probably won't question whether or not there's anything that might make their kids a good reason to leave.
The author says says so herself...we don't really have a model for dealing with someone shaped by intergenerational poverty, family violence or dysfunction, and the comparison she gives between poorer girls and middle-class girls from stable communities seems vague too; I get it, she points to the lack of institutional/FAMILIAL support poorer girls have compared to middle-class peers. So what are we talking about?
Behavior? Parenting styles/background?
Is funding or social service cuts the problem? Laws that treat sex workers as criminals instead of victims? Reflexive use of incarceration? Weak training among those in a position to deal with abuse (social workers, maybe law enforcement or teachers)? Lack of oversights to protect teens in juvenile (not necessarily detention) facilities? Plain old incompetence, indifference or unpreparedness of social services or law enforcement to deal with most of these cases?
(Sometimes it seems that between political correctness, DNC wishy-washiness on sexual health, and a culture where plenty of Republicans condemn welfare mothers but don't give a shit about their officials living in a religious/macho "traditional values" la-la land, any hope of a real, productive discussion of family planning or parenting is moot, at least in academia or policymaking.)
Is there any country in a the world that can deal with runaways, budding juvenile delinquency (not just drug-dealing or prostitution...violent crime), abusive and "vulnerable" families AFTER abuse or dysfunction has been established (and probably gone on for years, undetected)? Any society where government has a sure-fire method to provide institutional stand-ins for dysfunctional parents?
I'm aware that if poverty or lack of education ARE parts of the problem (today's at-risk kids, tomorrow's struggling, possibly abusive parents)--the solution goes deeper than family welfare services. Her op-ed highlights social inequality.
Was it really better before welfare-to-work? (I know...there's an entire population of people who are neither working or on welfare, and have been left behind by any symbolic "progress.") Is that the only place the blame rests--government neglect?
I read an interview with Sapphire, who based Clarice on girls she knew as a teacher. I agree that teachers, social workers, government, and "outsiders" can be a lifeline. But how much can people do to change a person's life if their peers or their families undermine what little the "outsider" who cares can offer? #precious