Jezebel 
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New York, 6:30 AM
Wed Dec 9
67 posts in the last 24 hours
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12/03/09
12/03/09
12/03/09
My list goes something like this:
1. To Kill a Mockingbird
2. White Teeth
Do it.
12/03/09
Thanks!
@ameliabearhart too!
12/03/09
Curl up with it over the Xmas hols. You won't regret it.
12/03/09
12/04/09
12/04/09
all of you lovelies are very convincing!
12/03/09
12/03/09
But I'm an unapologetic lover of Zadie Smith and everything she's written. I think I have a crush on her.
12/03/09
#tips
12/03/09
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12/03/09
Just this morning I had a conversation about how frustrating/insulting it is that straight men, even the ones who believe in feminist ideal of equality and freedom of choice, stubbornly resist books or films with female narratives. If the protagonist is a woman, it is considered "chick lit" or a "chick film" and therefore opaque, unknowable, and uninteresting to heterosexual men. As though identifying with a person of the opposite sex were impossible (and yet it's something women do all the time, because of the dominance of male narratives in our culture).
Smith's commentary, particularly her mention that she actually really dislikes the concept of literary identification despite its strong pull, seems to highlight the aspect of identification that is most troubling. It is a way of saying, "I'm different, I'm special... in just the way this character is different and special. And thus I understand her and she speaks to me." When we read like this, it reinforces the notion that if you don't share the gender, race, or class of the character, you cannot identify. When instead I think we should all be learning that it is possible to identify personally with any well-drawn, fully realized character, out of a sense of humanness that is more universal than we like to acknowledge.
12/03/09
The interesting thing about Smith's essay on Hurston is she thinks its possible to acknowledge this and yet also to identify especially with certain characters and/or writers -- and I tend to agree.
12/03/09
[www.youtube.com]
[www.youtube.com]
They are both bio-pics, but Amelia is clearly being marketed on the love story with Gere's character, rather than the majesty and mystique of Earhart's bold spirit.
12/03/09
But in a way, that's my point. The only reason marketers are able to use signifiers like a romantic kiss between Swank and Gere, or the silhouette of a woman's shoe to appeal specifically to women is because culturally, romance and fashion are for women (and gay men), but straight men cannot be interested in them because those are things women like.
This is notable because if you look at the demographics of people who go to action movies, or films about sports, women are very represented. Women will read or watch stories about men without feeling like their femininity is being threatened. But the reverse is often not true. And that is in part because traditionally, stories about men are considered universal and stories about women are considered "niche". You see a similar and disturbing dichotomy for stories about white people (otherwise known as just "stories") and stories about non-whites (which are considered "minority narratives"). In each case, the dominant group disregards stories about the non-dominant group as less important, less familiar, or less interesting.
12/03/09
12/03/09
Then again I was never in love with her novels either.
But she is married to a poet I much like.
These are my views on Zadie Smith, not that anyone cares.
12/03/09
But outside of White Teeth, I don't particularly care for her as a writer.
I did, however, also love The Weatherman. I will never write these words again.
12/03/09
But I want to read this, mostly because I'm the only person I know who's read Netherland and Remainder and I'm really curious what she says about them.
12/03/09
12/03/09
"This is a beautiful novel about soulfulness. That it should be so is a tribute to Hurston's skill. She makes "culture" [the quotes] — that slow and particular and artificial accretion of habit and circumstance"
Sorry, three 'ugh's and you're out.
Don't know who she's married to.
12/03/09
12/03/09
07/29/09
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07/29/09
Emma Thompson
07/29/09
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07/30/09
why thank you!!