#'ultimate teenage girl coming of age movie'

[goat-boy-sounds]

baz luhrmann joan of arc movie..............

[magicalchaosnut]

My English class TED Talk script

TED Talk Title: Why We Shouldn’t Become Soup

Neon Genesis Evangelion is an anime that covers the relationships between several people with volatile personalities in a post apocalyptic world, uniquely fighting otherworldly beings while returning to the womb and experiencing intense pain, and suffering through their view of themselves and their idea of others’ perspectives.

The buildup of the series comes to a climax during the movie, leaving some philosophical questions to ponder over. For example, the Human Instrumentality Project and a look at whether individuality is a gift or a curse by showing the alternative: eternal togetherness or unity. Once this project is put into motion, all of humanity is subject to be a sea of ‘LCL’; soul fluid that melds into one eternal ocean of consciousness. The reason for this is the universal fear of loneliness, which was touched on earlier in the show with a discussion about the hedgehog's dilemma: the fear of hurting other people the closer you get to them, similar to a hedgehog trying to find warmth amongst others in its species during the winter.

Shinji shows this fear by continually running away from his caregiver, Misato, and his responsibilities as a pilot because he doesn’t want to get closer to the other pilot, Rei Ayanami, who he has started to care for. This is similar to his father, Gendo Ikari, and his fear of being a poor father. Instead of getting closer to his son after his wife’s death, he leaves his son behind which damages him more than his father’s presence would have.

Misato, the most recurring adult main character in the show, is afraid of getting close to Ryuuji Kaji because she is confident that she cannot open herself to him. Her personality is so cheerful on the outside, when in reality she has been stuck as a little girl who was sent away by her father who died in a nuclear explosion. She is afraid that Kaji will be like her father and leave her to fend for herself, and that she will be unable to reciprocate his feelings in the way that it matters. Ultimately, he dies and leaves Misato alone. Her fears are confirmed, but she is able to brave them through the closeness of Shinji as her pseudo-son in her final moments.

Asuka has a fear of others as well, taking it out more violently than Shinji by forming relationships where she thrives off of her superiority complex (which is really an inferiority complex) and can be considered the best. As she was a child prodigy who graduated college at age 14, she has all of the knowledge of an adult but little of the maturity that is expected of her, making her the extreme example of being a teenager: having all of the burden with none of the respect of experience that others want you to have already. She gets close enough to Shinji to be in sync as a fellow pilot, but never talks about her true drive to be considered good enough: her mother committing suicide while holding a doll of her, symbolizing that she wasn’t enough for her mother to stay alive for and would be more beneficial if she had been exactly as her mother wanted.

The will of God was sent to turn everyone into LCL to rid all people of the inescapable loneliness that they feel because they cannot understand each other. Like the angels before humanity, that are single entities of a species and nothing more, becoming one in the ocean of consciousness would eliminate loneliness and the social suffering that so many people in the post apocalyptic world fear. To retake the importance of being the central descendants of god, humanity feels they must ascend individuality. But in doing so, there is an infinite amount of unwavering suffering and no amount of time to alleviate the pain of one's sense of self when there are no other selves. Similar to how we can fight with our family members, but if we were to be only one self, we would be alone. You can’t be a family if you are just one person. In an effort to curb the societal loneliness felt by an entire population, the will of the few has caused an incurable loneliness that rids all of humanity of the chance to love another and try to understand by turning everyone into one thing. In summary, it is better to suffer for the sake of possible happiness and hope that you will understand people and make friends, than it is to give up and wallow in your own solitude.

The movie ends with Shinji understanding the sacrifice to live as an individual, which is the loneliness of consciousness. He lets the rest of the sea of consciousness decide whether they live for opportunity rather than be essentially comatose in an emotional stasis. The message of the series is that it's better to be lonely and try to be happy than it is to give up and be nothing at all. Even if everyone is unified in that nothingness.

[literary-illuminati]

2024 Book Review #17 – Terra Incognita by Connie Willis

Connie Willis is a name I have heard come up a lot with regard to late 20th century American Science Fiction, but in a slightly odd way. The only thing she’s actually written that I’ve ever heard of is To Say Nothing of the Dog (a delightful-sounding book that tragically has a multimonth hold list at my library). Instead, I mostly know her from other books’ acknowledgement sections, or semi-mythologized folklore and anecdotes about the culture and community of the era. So I really picked this up as a matter of curiosity, to get a sense of what Willis’ whole deal is.

The book is a collection of three novellas, each basically totally unrelated with only the faintest attempt at a unifying theme to justify bundling the three of them together. Each work is pretty different from the others in everything from length (the longest is something like 3x the length of the shortest), tone, setting and subject matter, the works really. The first is a sort of romcom farce about surveyors charting an alien world that has, well, aged. The second and longest a love letter to classic classic hollywood and movie musicals as told from the POV of a self-hating drunk who pays the bills going through and retroactively editing the studio’s back catalogue to meet the whims of the executive of the day. The third and by far shortest is a lighthearted and very fannish comedy about a teenager getting conscripted to be a space cadet against her own ferocious objections.

The stories are all perfectly modern in, like, structure and pacing, but they still absolutely feel like they were written last century. Part of that is just word choice (the only thing that ages worse than old euphemisms for sex is old attempts to create futuristic slang), but it’s also just a general sensibility. Which is most cringe-inducing in the first story, both for its portrayal of the native species of the planet being surveyed (directly compared to native americans a few different times, characterized as relentlessly opportunistic penny-wise but pound-foolish hucksters leaping at the chance to sell their land for cheap imported consumer goods), and also just for a handling of gender and sexuality it’d take more time than I’ve got to really dig into. (I have a sense of where all those tomboy versus girly girl memes ultimately descend from now, though.) The other two more just felt out of time than actually wince-inducing, with the third story especially feeling like an affectionate nod to the fan culture of a different era. That said, the second one’s whole horrified preoccupation with a Hollywood that refuses to make anything new instead of just remaking the same sure things from its back catalog forevermore either never stopped or has looped back around to feeling real topical.

Insofar as I’m already reading romances, I admit I do have a real soft spot for the whole ‘idiots compensate for total refusal to communicate feelings with grand romantic gestures and hoping the object of their desires will get the idea. It doesn’t work.’ thing that’s a bit of a recurring beat in two of the novellas though.

Prose and characterization wise, all three were pretty well done – though riffing off tropes and archetypes that I honestly can’t remember the last time I’ve seen played sincerely and unironically, which did always leave me feeling I was missing context on how to read them. Which is pretty much what I was hoping for going in, to be clear – what’s the point of reading older stories, otherwise? Which is nice, because the actual reading experience of going through it was a bit of a slog. The first one was the real trial, but just overall I’d say the book’s more interesting as a cultural artifact than an artistic work. Oh well, c’est la vie.

[maxdibert]

favorite female characters? not from HP but in general.

Well, I have many, but I’m going to mention the ones I remember because I’m terrible at making lists like this on the spot — I always forget people — so I’ll just say whoever comes to mind.

Lady Bird: from the movie Lady Bird by Greta Gerwig. If anyone wonders what I was like as a teenager, I was very much like Lady Bird (terrible story with the typical soft intellectual boy who smokes and reads Tolstoy included). I’ve never felt so identified with a coming-of-age film. That movie was literally me, including the complicated relationship with her mother — mine and I didn’t get along back then — and also the crash-and-burn experience of going to college, plus the pretentious aspiration of being part of an intellectual elite like the Beat Generation. The only thing that didn’t happen to me was trying to fit in with rich people and having a boyfriend who turned out to be gay, but the essence of the movie is very similar to my adolescence. I’m from a mid-sized city that felt too small at the time, and I went to a Catholic school. That character stirs a lot of emotions in me.

Brooke from Mistress America, also wich is por trajes by Gerwig. Basically, I’m Brooke now. Greta Gerwig and I must be soulmates or something because for some reason her female characters always have qualities I deeply relate to. Or maybe we’re just two highly dysfunctional people who don’t really know what to do with our lives. This also leads me to Frances from Frances Ha.

Julie from The Worst Person in the World, another character I strongly relate to. In this house we love young adult women with clear attachment issues, chaotic and aimless lives, low-key depressed, semi-alcoholic, and with disastrous personal lives.

Cassandra from Promising Young Woman. Crafting a perfectly planned revenge to ruin the lives of your best friend’s abusers after they drove her to suicide? Something I’d totally do. I love her.

The protagonist of My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Ottessa Moshfegh, who remains unnamed. Basically, a girl bored with life and deeply depressed who decides to take a sabbatical year popping every kind of antidepressant, anxiety med, tranquilizer, hypnotic, and psychiatric drug to spend the year sleeping and watching Whoopi Goldberg movies. An absolute queen. We stan.

Elle Woods from Legally Blonde. Always rooting for women who perform traditional femininity while proving they can be fashion-obsessed, beauty salon-loving, ambitious, brilliant, and determined to make the world a better place. Let’s protect the Elle Woodses of this dark, hostile world — we need them to keep the darkness at bay.

Emma Woodhouse from Emma. My favorite Jane Austen novel and my ultimate heroine. Emma is like a mix of Elle Woods and Blair Waldorf. Many people adore Lizzie Bennet because they think she’s super badass, but there’s no one more badass than Emma Woodhouse. In a time when all women were husband-hunting, she was perfectly content living with her father. She literally mentions that her father will leave her a huge inheritance, and she doesn’t need kids because she already has her nieces and nephews — so why rush? She’s super frivolous but has this childlike charm that makes her adorable. She can be insufferable and even a mean girl, but she never acts out of malice — she just lives in her own bubble. Also, the best Austen hero ever is Mr. Knightley. He’s the ultimate “my future wife is my best friend, and I love her so much that I’m willing to leave my mansion to live in hers with her quirky dad because she doesn’t want to be separated from him.” Such malewife vibes. We love malewives.

Katniss Everdeen. Katniss is fed up with everything and just wants to die. She’s not a compliant or pleasant protagonist, and I love that. Many people dislike her because she doesn’t fit many typical narrative standards for female characters, and we love her for that.

Sansa Stark: Hating Sansa Stark is pure misogyny, period. Sansa is the most realistic female character in the entire saga, and that’s why everyone hates her. She’s not about muscles, swords, dragons, or powers. Sansa is about brains, learning, growth through hardship, cunning, and manipulation. We love our damsel-in-distress-turned-political-strategist. A true survivor. I love her; if anyone messes with her, I’ll fight.

My beloved Lila Cerullo and Elena Greco from My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante. If you haven’t read The Neapolitan Novels, you’re seriously missing out. No one has captured the complexity of female friendship over the years like Ferrante. No one has portrayed femininity in a patriarchal world better. It’s a story about violence — all kinds, from physical to structural and political — against women, class violence, and social violence. It’s a story about love, loss, generational change, and the turbulent twists of the 20th century. But above all, it’s the story of two girls, two teenagers, two women navigating a violent world that tries to shut them out from the start — a world they must carve their way through, blow by blow. Two women who are two sides of the same coin. Two women who represent passion and reason, natural talent and hard work, lack of opportunity and breaking new paths, physical violence and psychological manipulation. But most of all, two women bound together since childhood by a complex, toxic, beautiful, and tragic friendship. This saga will break your heart but also fill you with life. It’s truly magnificent.

And well, I can’t think of any more right now, but if you’re familiar with these, you’ll get a sense of the type of characters I enjoy.

[headfullof-ideas]

Introducing two other characters whose stories and arcs are a bit different than their film counterparts. Lo and behold, the Beserker siblings, Dagur and Heather!

In this world, Dagur and Heather are not separated at a young age, and instead are raised together by their father, who is still Oswald the Agreeable, and still mysteriously vanishes sometime after the events of the first movie, leaving behind his two children scrambling to protect the tribe in his absence. Rumors of foul play by either the siblings hand or some of the questionable company that Oswald found himself with, paired with the mysterious end to the dragon raids allowing the surrounding pirating raiders more chances to attack, have left the Berserker Tribe in a vulnerable and precarious position.

Heather is a proper, eager Berserker warrior, having completed the first of many tribal rites, being her own families coming-of-age ritual. But she has not yet earned all the same marks as her older brother yet, and with their father missing and presumed dead, she’s desperate and determined to catch up and prove she has what it takes to defend the tribe. Heather has much of the same mentality that she had at the beginning of Race to the Edge, determination to get vengeance for any wrong sent her way to the point of being willing to do almost anything to achieve her goals. Heather is about roughly a year older than most of the teenage cast from Berk, bar Ant and Kari who are tiny in comparison, and closer to being of the age where she is considered capable of taking on more leadership roles amongst her tribe. She’s still young however, and faces scrutiny from many of the elders of her tribe, and most of her fathers old council, on wether she has what it takes to be a potential Chieftess, in light of her brothers conflicting interests as time passes. Heather looks up to her brother, but thinks that his mind is focused elsewhere, and that their tribes survival and safety should come first, as well as the fate of their father.

Shortly after the sudden end to the dragon raids, Berk has produced its first exiles since Alvin the Treacherous however, a group of teenagers not much younger than Heather herself somehow riding dragons. Heather is enamored with the prospect of being able to control and ride a dragon, especially in her tribes trying times, and with her eyes set on the outer Archipelagon breed rider by the youngest girl, Heather is determined to learn how the riders did what they did, and get her own dragon. She’s not fond of the riders though, with them being a constant nuisance with the Berserkers dragon hunting trips, but Heather dislikes the teenagers on Berk that are chasing the Riders even less. Their tactless pursuit of the exiled Berkians brings Berk closer and closer to Berserker Island, and the still uncertainty of leadership that they are struggling with.

Dagur himself is still the Deranged. He’s earned marks of tribal rites completed and feats of truly impressive Berserker standard. But with a little sister to grow up with, Dagur had a standard to meet, and an impressionable little sister to hold an image for. Dagur prided himself on being the ultimate big brother, teaching his little sister all the cool stuff an older brother should clearly teach, like how to throw knives, and shoot a crossbow, and how to terrify your enemies with a fearsome Berserker battle cry. As the eldest of Oswalds children, the role of Chief falls to Dagur. Dagur isn’t certain his father is actually dead though, so refers to himself as the ‘acting’ Chief until Oswald returns. Most of Oswalds council and some of the elders of the tribe though are acting strange about their Chiefs disappearance, and some of the villagers are whispering about wether Dagur or Heather had a hand in their fathers disappearance. Most eyes are turning to Dagur, the next in line for the Chieftain title, as both the prime suspect, and as the answer to all the problems the tribe is facing, and Dagur is trying to keep those whispers, the tribe, and his wonderfully Berserk younger sister in line. The exiles from all the tribes that even the Outcasts won’t take are circling the Berserkers borders, and Dagur hasn’t told Heather about the strange whispers of an outer Archipelagon, underground trading route that’s becoming a potential problem.

But with the raids mysteriously ending, exiles from Berk that have been spotted on the backs of dragons have started becoming more and more involved in the happenings of the Archipelago, and Dagur is pleasantly surprised to see they’re mostly the same age as his sister. The littlest of the group, an outlander boy he recalls seeing in Berks forge on the peace treaty trips he’d attend with his father, rides a dragon that is eventually revealed to be the mysterious Night Fury. Dagur, who had always desperately wanted more little siblings, and after a chance conversation with Ant, decides to get Heather and himself a little brother. After getting to know the other riders through more chance encounters, Dagur later becomes fully committed to getting himself that gaggle of little siblings he’d begged his dad for when he was eight.

Things don’t go nearly anything like the siblings were expecting though, after a coup amongst their own tribe forces the siblings apart, Dagur exiled under accusations of being behind his fathers disappearance, and Heather using every means she can think of in order to rise up within the ranks of their own, usurped tribe, being too young to become Chieftess in both her father and brothers absence. Dagur sets out to find their missing father, his search taking him to that underground trading route, where he comes across a transported outer Archipelagon dragon from some fighting ring, apparently called a Triple Stryke.

This switch up from the films is meant to be a soft role swap, with Heather being the Berserker sibling that eventually teams up with Viggo and Ryker, and Dagur being one of the first people the riders convince to give dragons a chance, and then become a Dragon Rider. I also really wanted to play with that mindset Heather was showing when she first showed up in RTTE, someone who was willing to do anything to get the revenge she felt was owed, while Dagur is a little more stable and sane, though his general Berserker attitude and enthusiasm, and his optimism on his dads fate still make him come off as a little insane to anyone who doesn’t know him. It’s a strained relationship between him and Heather for the majority of the story, and there are rough patches between them, especially with Dagur unwillingly abandoning Heather to come to her own conclusions and opinions on certain events and topics, but they’re never really super antagonistic towards each other, and the end goal is for them to still wind up where they did in canon in regards to their relationship with each other.

Featuring a closeup of them. Also, I’ve noticed the pictures are blurry until you tap on them, which annoys me a little, but, whatever

[steveharrington]

i'm the opposite of you when it comes to booksmart vs. bottoms (i think booksmart is p much perfect and the only thing i liked about bottoms was ayo's wardrobe) and I was just wondering if you would expand upon how you felt about each movie. i was so excited for bottoms so it was disappointing when i didn't like it.

oh man i have not watched booksmart since it came out in 2019 BUT i personally just found it pretty unfunny and some of the aspects that are meant to be empowering for women and teen girls just came across very. insincere and surface level to me. best example i can give is the two main characters saying “malala” to each other as a code word in their friendship? to me that is very 2012 leslie knope #im with her writing where they think simply namedropping an outstanding feminist public figure in a throwaway joke makes their movie overall More Feminist. like look we mentioned malala! when really they’re invoking her name without any substance, yk? i don’t really know why we’re supposed to applaud beanie feldstein’s character for finally seeing the girls around her as people with their own skills and values at the ripe age of 17 years old and then giving a big speech at graduation where she’s essentially like “hey good news i finally see you all as people :)!” BUT i do think it has some funny jokes and a rlly good cast

bottoms to me is just endlessly funny. i do get that it has a very specific type of humor that probably is not for everyone, the incoherency and surrealism of the world the characters live in might be off putting or frustrating for some viewers. i love bottoms because pj and josie, to me, feel like real teenage girls instead of the personification of feminist bumper stickers with catchy slogans. i love that they are not setting out to change the world, they literally just want to lose their virginity and have lesbian experiences. i think one of the funniest jokes in bottoms is when hazel says like “if we keep this up we might be able to take on huntington you guys” and pj responds “no if we keep it up we can put our fingers inside each other, grow up” like her ONLY goal is to have lesbian sex and to me that is so real and refreshing. plus, the movie doesn’t frame pj and josie at the end as these models and paragons of feminism, but rather as real girls who are figuring out their own wants and desires

i guess i would say i simply identify more with pj and josie’s experience in high school. josie definitely understands the value of a community of girls coming together and learning self defence, buttttt that ultimately comes second to her crush on isabelle. that feels authentic to me. josie and pj do not consistently model textbook feminist practices (pj’s favorite show is entourage, she’s not a feminist!!!), they antagonize and manipulate other girls, and they really only understand the value of their community of other girls at the end of the movie. BUT that all makes them feel more like real people than the characters in booksmart to me, and the narrative doesn’t frame them as heroes that we need to be looking up to. if anything, the end of bottoms acknowledges that they are murderers <3

to me the strongest and most empowering women in fiction are those who feel realistic and true to life, and i literally feel like i’ve met pj and josie as a teenager. the characters in booksmart, as well acted as they are, didn’t feel authentic to me when i was 18 years old watching it just post-graduating high school myself

[nnnyxie]

i was wondering if you could make headcanons of the haikyuu girls’ (kiyoko, miwa kageyama, michimiya, and maybe yachi) reaction to the reader writing her first novel 🤭

OMGOMGOMG I LOVE THIS IDEA

(also my first req from you?! heheh)

shimizu kiyoko ;

omg she’s so so so supportive of you

okay so. let’s say you’re writing a crime novel— at this point in time, she doesn’t know that you’re writing one.

one day, she walks into your office to see you researching murders, murderers, and how they got away with their crimes for so long.

she knows that you’re into true crime and things of the sort, so she brushes it off!! she’s kinda like ‘eh okay, that’s normal’

but, it’s when she sees you acting out a murder with your figurines, that she gets concerned. (plsss she just wanted to bring you food)

anyways, she questioned you about it and the embarrassment you experienced was unbelievable.

you had to explain that you were figuring out some stuff for the novel you’re writing and it all just— clicked for her.

OH and if you ask— she’ll give you pointers and correct any grammar or spelling mistakes you might have (i just KNOW she’s a pro at literature).

kageyama miwa ;

she puts her ALL into supporting you!!!!!!!

you’re writing (drum roll) an adventure/sci-fi novel!!! (because i feel like she’d like those, can’t tell me otherwise bye!) maybe it’s something like journey to the center of the earth?? city of ember???

you guys have movie nights together!! and usually your pick of genre is WIDE but recently it’s been strictly adventure/sci-fi— which she’s not mad about!! just curious!

when you’re scrolling through a streaming app, she asks about why you’re choosing just adventure and sci-fi.

at first, you didn’t wanna tell her cause you wanted it to be a surprised!! but she pulls it out of you with her charm (aka you broke bc you’re bad at keeping secrets)

she’s so excited for it!! she’s excited for you!!!

she’s always asking questions about how it’s going and always asks about your characters!! (and when she finds out you based one off of her she’s just so happy)

she’ll ask to read snippets here and there but ultimately she just lets you work until you’re ready for her to read!!

michimiya yui ;

giggles, blushes, twirls hair… she’s your number one supporter!!! the first to buy your book in ALL forms. (also, i never thought of writing for her— how stupid am i for that???)

soooo you’re writing a coming of age story!! maybe something based on your own experiences??

lets sayyy… you had some diaries or journals when you were a teenager and you dug DEEP in your closet to find them— which made her very curious.

she kinda lets it go for a bit until you’re nearly tearing up your closet to find this specific journal. then she’s just like ‘wtf are you doing?’

when you tell her you’re working on a novel— she’s so happy about it!!

she loves to support you in any way she can!! she offers to be your beta reader and who are you to deny her of such things???

she’ll give you pointers and find any plot holes there may be in your story!!

yachi hitoka ;

this absolutely cutie <3 she’s your biggest supporter and motivator!!

wanna know what you’re writing? fantasy. (because she’d love that and i love her) maybe something that’s like where the wild things are?? or over the garden wall??? (pls i love otgw)

anyways— she’s starting to notice that you’re always on your computer nowadays and sometimes you accidentally ignore her.

she’s a non-confrontational person but, she works up all the courage to talk to you about this— and i’ll be so real with you, she cries before a single word comes out. (just like me fr)

god the utter fear that rushes through you— you thought she was dying or smthn!! she starts talking while she’s crying and THANKFULLY you’re able to piece together what she’s saying.

when you explain to her that you’re writing a novel, she feels so much relief (and embarrassment tbh)

now we know this girl is smart, it’s canon!! so you ask her for some help with grammar, sentence setups, etc!! and she’s very happy to help!!!

pls i hope this was good

(my writer’s block has been slowly leaving!!)

[religion-is-a-mental-illness]

By: Joseph Burgo, Ph.D.

Published: Jan 17, 2024

As my thoughts began to coalesce around the subject of this essay–adolescents in history rebelling against their parents–memories of an old movie from my childhood kept coming to mind. Even readers who haven’t seen it have probably heard the name–Gidget, a low-budget California beach movie starring Sandra Dee, James Darren and Cliff Robertson. It was released in 1959 and spawned two film sequels, two TV series, and several made-for-television movies. In early December of last year, I tracked down the original Gidget on YouTube and watched it again–some 50 years after I’d first seen it.

The title character’s obsession with surfing, and her transformation from tomboy to infatuated teenager and finally to wise young woman don’t concern me here. It’s the subplot focusing on two other characters that resonates with my subject matter. Kahuna, a man somewhere in his late 20s or early 30s, lives in a shack at the edge of a surfing beach. After serving as a pilot during the Korean War, he has decided to drop out of society and live as a bum, following the sun and traveling the world in search of waves. His only true companion is a parrot named Flyboy, although the gang of teenage surfer boys who hang around him that summer look up to Kahuna as their leader.

One of those surfers, nicknamed Moondoggie, is home for the summer after his freshman year at college; he has resolved to drop out instead of returning to campus in the fall, team up with his hero Kahuna, and pursue the life of a beach bum. Both men have rejected the rules-driven adult world. Neither wants the responsibility that comes with adulthood, viewing it as a kind of prison. In a gesture of defiance, Moondoggie tears up the allowance check he has received from his father and vows to go it alone.

[ Sandra Dee as Gidget (left), James Darren as Moondoggie (middle), and Cliff Robertson as The (Big) Kahuna (right) ]

In 1959 when this film was released, Western Civilization was on the verge of major social upheaval as youth culture began challenging long-standing social norms about sexuality, marriage, and family. But there on the cusp of this revolution, Gidget’s world seems confident that the generation of young people coming of age will eventually submit to the values of their parents. At the outset, Moondoggie and Kahuna are both adolescents rejecting the authority of the existing social order; but in the end, they embrace it. Kahuna gets a job as a pilot. Before returning to college, Moondoggie gives Gidget his pin, a promise of future marriage and a new generation of children to come.

Adolescents rebelling against the authority embodied in an existing social order and eventually becoming reconciled to it—this is a story we’ve been telling for generations.

By identifying as “trans” in today’s youth culture, adolescent rebellion has found a new way to express itself. I don’t want to be simplistic about the society-wide dynamics here. There are other obvious factors involved: a permissive social order in which it’s hard to find any behavior extreme enough to count as true rebellion, for example, and a social media landscape that makes teens feel insecure, insignificant, and desperate to prove they’re unique. But here I want to talk about the way a rebellion against authority can fuel trans-identification in our children.

My 16-year-old client Sophia, for example, had given her parents no trouble as a younger girl. For most of her childhood, she’d been a respectful daughter and a good student. Because her family had moved around quite a bit due to her father’s shifting business, she hadn’t made close friends and rarely socialized outside the family. Her mother had always taken an active interest in Sophia’s schoolwork and athletics. And then one day, Sophia announced that she was trans, told them she wanted to be called Finn, and insisted that her parents use he/him pronouns.

I’ve had other female clients with a nearly identical background, and I’ve heard similar stories from other parents who’ve consulted me about their trans-identified teens. The announcement often comes out of the blue following a mostly non-conflictual childhood, causing a lot of angst and opening a rift between child and parents. Nothing the parents say–no evidence they bring or logic they apply–makes any difference. The child rejects it all from a place of absolute certainty. “I know I’m trans,” they’ll say. “I’ve always known it.”

These children have often been a bit different from the other kids, struggling to fit in. Maybe they were highly gifted or on the autism spectrum. They might just have been “quirky” and beloved for it by their parents. But especially during the teen years, the need to belong to one’s peer group overrides almost everything else; and as American teens have done for generations, these quirky kids reject the values of their parents for new ones held by other kids their own age, especially as they pertain to sex and gender.

Back in the 1970s, Goth became the dominant form of youth rebellion. The Goth scene rejected traditional sexual mores while celebrating new and occasionally deviant forms of sexuality. There are obvious similarities between that movement and today’s transgenderism. Dr. Az Hakeem, a British psychiatrist with extensive experience treating gender distress, has actually referred to Trans as “Goth 2.0.”

The main difference between the two is obvious, however: teens and young adults immersed in Goth might have pierced or tattooed their limbs, but they didn’t have healthy body parts removed by surgeons. They no doubt consumed illicit drugs, but not off-label anti-cancer medications and cross-sex hormones that may leave them sterile. Once they grew out of Goth, young adults were probably left with a few embarrassing tattoos or piercings but no other visible scars, unlike detransitioners today who may be scarred for life.

Contempt for parents often plays a role in youth rebellion, be it mild or toxic. Back in Gidget’s day, the kids were hip while the adults holding onto their old-fashioned ways were square and not at all with it. Today, moms and dads who quaintly cling to the duality of biological sex are clueless about the multiplicity of possible genders; if they refuse to affirm their child’s new identity, insisting it’s impossible to change from one sex to another, they’re deemed transphobic and therefore unworthy of respect. Most of the trans-identified teens I see in my practice feel and express utter contempt for their mothers and fathers. Two of them will turn 18 within the next six months; they both regard their parents with scorn and intend to have no further contact after coming of legal age.

Behind the contempt, I sense a lot of terror about impending adulthood. The teens in my practice look forward to their medicalized transition as if it will be a major accomplishment, more significant than anything else they’ll ever do, but they have little understanding about how to lead a responsible adult life. I often say to my young clients that transition is not an achievement: they still have to figure out what career they’d like to pursue, and how to make enough money to support the lifestyle they want. One of these clients poo-poos the very idea of earning money and insists she’ll live in a camper van, free from responsibility. Another imagines devoting her life to collecting vintage motorcycles, believing that about $30K per year is all she’ll need. None of them ever imagines having children or building a family, much less planning ahead for retirement. They have a narrow vision of their own future that seems to go no further than attaining the freedom to start taking cross-sex hormones.

In this sense they remind me of Kahuna and Moondoggie, those two characters from Gidget in flight from the responsibilities of adulthood. While my clients apparently look forward to escaping their parents’ control and attaining the legal right to make their own choices, they don’t really want the responsibilities that go along with such freedom. On some level, they see transition as an escape from the dreaded reality of adulthood, a triumph over the tedious world of facts, financial obligations, and inevitable limits.

There’s another classic film you might know, The Graduate, directed by the brilliant Mike Nichols. Benjamin Braddock, the main character, spends most of the movie rebelling against the limitations and responsibilities imposed by the real world, the world of his stodgy parents; at the end, after he has relentlessly pursued young Elaine and disrupted her more-or-less forced marriage to another man, the two run off, she still in her wedding gown, and escape on board a city bus. The final shot shows realization slowly dawning upon them, their facial expressions collapsing from elation into dread.

Now what are we going to do?

At the close of The Graduate, Benjamin and Elaine realize that however fun and even exciting it might be to rebel against their parents, at the end of the day, they’ve achieved nothing beyond wrecking their families; in the aftermath, they’ll have to pick up the pieces and make a life for themselves in the real world. You can’t outrun reality, of course. It will always prevail in the end. In a softer way, you see Moondoggie and Kahuna coming to this realization at the end of Gidget.

For millennia, parental authority has been the primary means of transmitting a culture’s values: parents teach their children to abide by standards embodied in their culture, and the world-at-large has almost always supported the parents in exercising that role … at least until now. Honor thy father and thy mother says the Fifth Commandment; today, children learn that if Mom and Dad won’t affirm their new identity and use the designated pronouns, they should cut off those parents and embrace a new glitter family online. In California, a state court deprived Adam Vena of visitation rights because he wouldn’t affirm his four-year-old son’s new gender identity. The modern world often undermines parental authority when it takes a stand against gender ideology.

By severing ties between parent and child, a cult does the same thing; it appropriates parental authority onto itself as a way to bind members more tightly to the group. The votaries of gender ideology likewise subvert parents, replacing their guidance with cultish dogma. A great many influential forces today promote this dogma, from primary education to medical boards to professional associations–a society-wide rebellion against parental authority and, I would add, against the ultimate authority that is reality.

Every parent I’ve consulted with has felt helpless in the face of this phenomenon. Based on their love and better knowledge of their own children, they believe they know what’s best for those kids but feel unable to wield authority as parents to guide them. In my own case, when I insisted there were obvious psychological reasons why my daughter might have wanted to become a boy, I was treated with contempt by the medical establishment and colleagues in my profession. Meanwhile, all around my daughter, every influential voice in her world told her that I, her father, was wrong.

But I also believe that we, as parents, bear some responsibility for the erosion of our own authority. Many mothers and fathers today seem uncomfortable with the very idea of parental authority, preferring to be buddies with their kids rather than authority figures. Maybe we don’t want to be viewed as square or stodgy, droning on about antiquated notions like taking personal responsibility and showing respect for your elders. I remember the slight feeling of shock and discomfort I felt upon first hearing myself say the words “because I said so!” to my own kids. Why should I have felt so uneasy when exerting myself as the adult in charge and expecting my children to mind me?

Writing for The Atlantic, the psychologist Joshua Coleman says that family ties have shifted over the last century from a focus on duty and obligation to one promoting personal growth and the pursuit of fulfillment. He quotes the historian Stephanie Coontz, who says: “For most of history, family relationships were based on mutual obligations rather than on mutual understanding. Parents or children might reproach the other for failing to honor/acknowledge their duty, but the idea that a relative could be faulted for failing to honor/acknowledge one’s ‘identity’ would have been incomprehensible.” In our youth-driven culture, words like duty, obligation and authority sound almost quaint. Today there seems to be no valid authority outside of one’s personal “lived experience.”

What’s to be done? How are we as parents to regain authority and prevent our children from permanently damaging their bodies when a cultish ideology encourages them to do so? This is the question every parent of a trans-identified child would like to ask, I imagine, and I wish I had a simple answer. The longer I work in this field, the more I feel that gender ideology must be questioned in every area where it dominates; only if we loosen gender ideology’s stranglehold on our cultural institutions can we hope to return parental authority to its rightful place. Get involved in the pushback–that’s my advice to parents. Run for your school board, get to know your local politicians, challenge this new orthodoxy wherever you see it. Don’t play the pronoun game.

I’d also like to say something in particular about fathers. As a father myself, I’m concerned with specifically paternal sources of authority: What is the role of fathers in helping our families to navigate this crisis? Does paternal authority differ in any important ways from maternal authority? And where are all the fathers, anyway? I’ve had a few joint consultations with both parents of a trans-identified child but it’s invariably the wife who does the talking. More often, I have consultations with the mothers alone. I sometimes wonder whether empathic, nurturing mothers are so desperate to maintain contact with their children that they won’t or can’t draw a firmer line. Perhaps the fathers, by deferring to their wife’s lead, have failed to mount a more vigorous defense of reality.

Could that be a paternal function? I honestly don’t know. I think of Chris Elston–better known as Billboard Chris–who addressed himself to Rachel Levine on Twitter, saying that puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones would be normalized for children “over my dead body.” Is that an implicit threat of violence? As fathers, do we need to take a more aggressive stance?

I’m prepared to be told that I’m just projecting here, or possibly overgeneralizing. Questions about my exercise of paternal authority within my own family–or my failure to exercise it properly–are on my mind a lot these days. With the modern world the way it is, it sometimes seems as if there’s nothing that even an authoritative and loving father can do. I often feel helpless and without any real power, an ineffectual if well-intentioned dad.

Which brings me back to Gidget. We’re all familiar with the bumbling father motif in television and commercials today–the clueless man set right by his clever wife and children. Al Bundy, Homer Simpson, Ray Barone. I used to think this was a more recent phenomenon but there it was in a movie from 1959. Gidget’s dad seems constantly baffled by his daughter’s behavior, issuing hasty pronouncements that are promptly undermined or ignored by his wife and child. He wears an expression of near constant bewilderment. It’s up to the two women in his world to set him on the right path.

I dug a little deeper and learned that father figures from 1950s sitcoms like “Make Room for Daddy,” “My Little Margie,” and “Life with Father” typically tended to be hapless buffoons. As a culture, we’ve been ridiculing the very notion of paternal authority for decades. Even the series title for “Father Knows Best” was originally intended to have a question mark at the end, to make it ironic and thereby underscore the well-known reality that mothers were the real heads of households. My friend the historian Peter Filene tells me that this belittling of fathers goes even further back–to the 1920s when comic strips began depicting men as shorter than their wives.

Then there’s the classic teen rebellion movie Rebel Without a Cause from 1955, with James Dean playing the main character Jim Stark. Jim’s father, overshadowed by his domineering wife, is a weak man unable to wield any kind of authority. In one famous scene, Jim comes upon his dad kneeling on the upstairs landing of their home wearing a frilly apron. Dad has dropped a dinner tray he prepared for “mom” and is cleaning up after himself, obviously fearful that his wife will discover the mess he’s made. Jim clearly wants and needs his father to stand tall and stop humiliating himself.

This might sound like I’m blaming women for usurping authority from their husbands by belittling them, but that’s not what I believe. I think it’s a society-wide problem where, for more than a century now, the force of paternal authority has been undermined through ridicule and mockery. In recent years, our ongoing critique of the “patriarchy” often makes it seem as if all sources of power and authority exercised by men are inevitably bad.

In Totem and Taboo written back in 1913, Freud opined that fathers embody the symbolic order of society, law, and external reality; they set boundaries, establish rules, and help their children to navigate the external world by introducing principles of discipline and order. A lot has changed in the last hundred or so years, and even to my ears, Freud’s view sounds quaint and out of date. Besides, how can you maintain rules and boundaries when the external world will only encourage your children to violate them?

But still, I cling to the belief that there’s an important and distinctive role for fathers to play in fighting this gender madness, even if I can’t yet define it. If you’re a father who’d like to discuss this issue, I invite you to reach out, in confidence and at no charge.

==

Here's the interesting thing. You can only rebel and exist at the margins if the margins actually exist.

When everyone is special, no one is special.

Queer Theory is self-contradictory.

[shannendoherty-fans]

March 2, 1994 - The Hollywood Reporter

The Hollywood Reporter Salutes "Beverly Hills, 90210" on its 100th episode.

Coming of Age (part 1)

By treating youth concerns with an innovative mixture of candor and humor, producers created a surprise sensation.

BY RICK SHERWOOD

It once was merely a desirable zip code. But three and a half years later — as “Beverly Hills, 90210” prepares to hit the milestone 100th-episode mark tonight — those well-known numbers have become a barometer of style and the shorthand for the attitudes and concerns of a generation. In more ways than one, the show has grown to define the youth culture of the 1990s — the look, the issues, the ideals, the desires. So endemic is the show that it has spawned a parody movie (“9021-Zero, The Movie” to shoot this April from Tomorrow’s Girl Productions) and a song (Urge Overkill’s 1993 riff “Heaven 902107).

Tori Spelling: I think “Beverly Hills, 90210” became a hit because the characters are real and the audience can relate to their situations. My character (Donna Martin) is my favorite because she has kept her strong beliefs and values and will not give in to peer pressure.

And just like its characters, the show is growing up. In its short four-season life span, “Beverly Hills, 90210” has practically turned into a television institution — one that set style and literally turned TV's once-flagging youth culture on its ear. “Yeah,” concurs executive producer Aaron Spelling with a laugh, “I’m still not used to the ear- rings on the guys.”

It was the inclusion of just such detail — the accurate depiction of high-school-aged youths and the honest manner in which their stories were presented — that ultimately won over the audience. “The decision was made early on to separate ourselves from the crop of high-school shows coming on at the time,” says executive producer Charles Rosin. “In 1990 everything for kids was seen through a prism of MTV and rock videos, and a certain kind of attitude was shaped that kids had less political commitment, less social responsibility, less regard for other things.”

That was a philosophy with which the makers of the show begged to differ. “What we locked into was that kids actually take themselves very seriously and that there is a gap between being cool and acting cool — the outer calm and inner turmoil of being a teenager,” says Rosin. “We felt they did care and that they were tired of all the cynicism. It turned out we were right.”

With that principle in mind, the show has gone on to examine many topical issues — drinking, drug use, AIDS, gun control — like no other television show of its time.

Perhaps most controversial, though, was when the show’s lead character participated in consensual teenage sex. “When Brenda (played by Shannen Doherty) lost her virginity at the prom and had no remorse, there was quite a perceived reaction that it would hurt the franchise. We left it open on purpose because we wanted to do a show about how parents would react when they find out their child becomes sexually active. We used it as a cliffhanger,” adds Rosin.

Interestingly, the feared backlash never occurred. “In fact, what happened was that 1.5 million more tuned into the next half of the season, and that’s when we dealt with the consequences of it.” The show’s architects had their wish: to get people talking.

And it’s not only the home viewers who have sat up and taken notice. “Beverly Hills, 90210” won a People’s Choice Award in 1991 for its appeal to young viewers and in 1992 received a Golden Globe nomination as best dramatic series. The episode “Isn’t It Romantic” was honored with the Nancy Susan Reynolds Award for its responsible depiction of teen sex, HIV prevention and family planning. The show has also been lauded by the Entertainment Industries Council Inc. and the Scott Newman Center for its antidrug messages.

Luke Perry: According to the feedback I get from viewers, older people seem to enjoy looking back on this special time period, younger people look forward to it and those who are living it enjoy being able to relate to it.

Originally titled “The Class of Beverly Hills,” the series had its start as a more conventional "90s family drama about the high-school years as seen through the eyes of two Midwestern transplants struggling to adjust to life in one of America’s wealthiest communities. “But we found there was a certain resentment to a show that deals with people of affluence,” says Rosin. “So we turned down that fire and turned up others.”

Indeed, the ability of “90210” to capture the teen years both from a young perspective and in a direct, no-nonsense way has enabled the series to grow far beyond the gates of high school itself.

“We recognize what our audience is and what they want, and we try to be responsive,” says producer Paul Waigner, who joined the show with its fifth episode. “Our goal is to keep telling the stories from and for the kids’ point of view rather than putting in adult attitudes. If we did that, we’d just be like everybody else.”

Brian Austin Green: The characters are popular because most kids can relate to at least one of them. All [of them] are so different that it's hard to like one more than another. The variety in characters is what makes the show fun to watch.

Fox executives are endlessly glad that they stuck by “Beverly Hills, 90210” despite its slow start. “I would say this is one of the most important shows that we air — I can’t imagine where we would be without it,” acknowledges Dan McDermott, senior vp of current programming and specials for the Fox Broadcasting Co. “This show helped define the second wave of programming for the company and brought in a much broader audience — and it came with a significant social conscience. We can’t minimize the importance of that.”

Everyone agrees that it was quality and attitude that helped this show overcome its growing pains and that turned into one of the most talked-about series of the decade — not to mention the network’s top performer.

“I think the show caught on because teens saw their lives portrayed on television for the first time,” says co-creator and executive producer Darren Star. “I don’t think any show had succeeded before in accurately portraying the lives of teenagers — at least not for this generation. The characters are a kind of family. That’s how it is in high school. You're always looking to create your own clique, and that’s what ‘90210 is all about.”

The look was also different. Before the airing of “90210,” most programs aimed at teens tried to lure them with the then-prevalent MTV quick-cut technique. Most considered it a crucial element in attracting young, disenfranchised viewers.

“We decided to focus on storytelling and to allow actors to hone in on their characters,” says Rosin. “We just felt that if we put together a story from a teenage point of view and really captured the right emotions, teens would plug in. Later their parents and brothers and sisters might get interested too.”

That’s just what happened.

In an odd case for television, it caught on with viewers before it did with the media. It has gone on to become the top show in its timeslot with adults 18 to 49 and the highest-rated network drama among adults 18 to 34. It anchors Fox’s most popular primetime night and has more than doubled its ratings and audience share since early episodes. Last year’s special two-hour graduation installment culminated the three-year ratings rise by giving Fox a 14.1 rating and 23 share overall and a 10.3/26 with adults 18 to 49. That’s a hit by any network’s standards, no less one with considerably less clearance than that of the original Big Three.

Such a showing also gave the creators some pause for thought. “Almost one third of the [graduation episode] was clips, and that allowed us to go back into the archives and see the shows and how they had changed. I was amazed at how much we had done,” says Rosin.

The mere fact that the show got so far so fast impresses even Spelling, a TV veteran responsible for thousands of hours of programming. "I think the most amazing thing is that we are hitting out 100th episode and that the ratings are higher now than they ever have been," he says. "We thought we would loose a lot of the ypung audience by putting the students in college this season. But we decided that they can't stay in high school forever. We had to deal with that element of the show honestly too or we would have lost viewers".

Gabrielle Carteris: I think the characters are so popular because they are realistic. Andrea Zuckerman has a strong moral back-bone, and she is willing to explore her mistakes and is responsible for her actions. She would be a great friend to have.

The show has enjoyed several distinct periods in terms of identity. It went from family drama in the first season to teen-ensemble melodrama in the second. Year three went back to school for senior year, and now it approaches each week with a more serialized style as the gang experience college and adult life. “We still keep the same creative core — we do social dramas, we do melodramas, romance and character comedy,” Rosin says. “That has helped keep us fresh. From week to week, no one knows what to expect.”

Such unpredictability — true to real teen life — has been, the network feels, a major factor in building and keeping audience loyalty. Star also gives much of the credit to the cast: “These were actors who people had never seen before, and as a result they were able to bring a sense of reality to their characters. They drove the show. As they became stars, more people started watching.” Waigner agrees that the chemistry of his cast and crew has been largely responsible for making the show what it is today. “Here, nobody is a star unto themselves. People bring their own expertise to the table, and we have a group of people who will listen to one another, take criticism and work together as a unit,” he says.

Steve Wasserman and Jessica Klein, head writers turned supervising producers of the show, think they understand the reasons behind the show’s staying power. “There is a lot of maturity built into the equation,” says Wasserman, who, with Klein, has been on the show since 1991. “We have been aware that we need to transcend current culture and present something more — to get into the kinds of stories that reflect a universal experience rather than trying to pin it down to some specific time line.”

“One of the reasons that we are successful all over the world is that we are not writing for the moment. We consciously decided not to write a high-school or a college show. We write about friendships and people. That’s what this show is all about,” adds Klein.

Wasserman and Klein, who are a real-life married couple as well as longtime writing partners, note that by the end of this season they will have completed an astounding 24 teleplays for the show.

[aerixwri]

Main Character: Kathleen Razon

I have the ultimate love-hate relationships when it comes to building characters. Because on one hand, anything is possible with them and on the other hand just because anything is possible doesn't mean that ANYTHING is possible. Their backstories have to make sense and their actions need to make sense with their personalities. Things. Need. To. Make. Sense. These kinds of things play in HEAVILY when you're molding the main character of a story. For the main star of the show, we have Kathleen Razon. My absolute baby who's going to go through absolute hell. (all photo credits go to pinterest <33)

============================================== Misbelief: The truth isn't worth sharing, but it's worth knowing for yourself ============================================== BASICS - Firstly we have all the basic information that we have for my main character. Her name, appearance, and everything that's meant to be taken at face value. Character's Name: Kathleen Ive L. Razon (yes I am a sucker for full named characters) Role in Story: Detective Stereotype: Burnt-Out Gifted Kid Age: 16 Physical Description: - Medium length layered hair that's in its awkward phase - Prominent jawline - Taller than the average teenage girl - Small tired eyes with DEEP bags - Morena (rich almond tan) Kathleen is the average disheveled teen and as an intense academic achiever she doesn't care particularly about her appearance and her morning/skin-care routine stops at basic hygiene. MBTI Personality Type: INTP-T ============================================== EXTERNAL - In the easiest of words, if you're a sucker for character customization THIS is the fun stuff. The anything is possible stuff. Typical Outfit: - white t-shirts, buttoned up blouses, or polo shirts - neckties - faux leather jacket that is way too warm for the weather - baggy jeans - thrifted boots What is her favorite book, movie, or band? Book: works by Agatha Christie, Crime and Punishment Movie: Horror, Thriller, and Slasher Films, Scream Band: Arctic Monkeys, and other indie bands What nickname/names have they been called throughout the years? - Kat-Kat - Kit - Kathleen What is her method of manipulation? - Silent Treatment - Self Abasement Their go-to cure for a bad day? - Writing (ranting on paper) - Reading ==============================================

So far this is it for Kathleen.

I'm no expert in making characters, I just happen to watch youtube videos a lot and drool over character profiles and the ideas just materialize and I end up trying to tie stuff together with red string. Most of the fairly important stuff about her character (fears, values, and beliefs) are in my physical notebooks that I am too lazy to type out right now. I might put it on here sometimes in the future because I have a habit of forgetting which notebook has what information. So look out for that stuff.

[kdnss77]

A girl on the shore/Umibe no Onnanoko (2021)

basic info: directed by Atsushi Ueda and written by both him and Inio Asano. it’s considered a teenage, coming-of-age drama with psychological ersatz. one could also name it a turbulent romance movie, but it’s a rather risky take (as there's way more distress than actual, affectionate tension).

overall ratings: imdb: 5.4/10 letterboxd: 3.3/10

plot summary: the events of the production take place in a rather remote, nothing out-of-ordinary, near-coast town. within its serene ordinariness, there develops a superficial, non-commitial relationship between two students - Isobe and Koume. the boy has no friends - he voluntarily locks himself up in his comic-loaded room, spends his leisure time in front of the computer screen and possesses an obnoxious personality, which makes him hard to keep conversations with, as well as is utterly infatuated (at least at first) with a girl solely searching for nothing in precise across the abandoned and neglected, local beach. Koume, on the contrary, is an ordinary schoolgirl, drawn by Isobe's deference, whom she starts portraying as a tool for spontaneously satisfying sexual needs of hers, not caring much about whether he's mentally unwell, has been experiencing aftermath of the trauma his brother's suicide has caused him, or if he intends on killing himself in the near future. their ties tighten, as the unusual and remarkably miserable bond between them experiences its occasional ups and spectacular downs, eventually abounding with actual, emotional feelings. however, ultimately, they are made go completely separate ways: Isobe turns out to regain faith in a possibly better future, therefore seemingly lifting himself up from the shallow of his depressive tendencies, where Koume realizes her overwhelming attachment towards the boy and is absolutely distressed by both his departure from the reality, she has been misled by for too long, and inappropriate happiness, that her occasional lover has managed to obtain.

my thoughts: first of all, i feel in a responsibility to mention the significance of this story to my own person. my prior encounter with it was via manga and its authenticity has truly captivated me on several levels. i feel like there's this particular feeling regarding most Inio Asano's stories - their pinning brutality and the vague sense of familiarity, that makes them relatable in various ways. i'm glad the movie i'm now writing about was able to capture those exceptional bits and reflect their impression with a force of bringing them to life - and therefore making them even more powerful. by that, i mean the way of filming (i've already mentioned its significance in the previous blog entry regarding another movie, which has been written in collaboration with the mangaka). quick, short-lasting cuts and conveniently incorporated frames perpetuating shots of the sea or the characters casually laying in the mess of a teenager's cluttered room - this concurring to a sense of unrestricted laissez-aller, which results in an almost sickening feeling of carelessness. that's how i'd depict it, especially in addition to the age and natural ignorance of the protagonists. it seems like both of them aren't fully aware - or more appropriately, sure - of their doings, being perplexed in the face of being an almost-adolesecent and growing up in general. they come from two different and opposing worlds, too - Koume having a full and loving family caring about her well-being and education, where Isobe lacks that kind of validation, mostly being left home alone throughout his school week and his parents remaining in a state of separation-like relationship, or at least being too busy with work to maintain it, after his older brother had committed suicide. Koume has everything and thinks she can get anything, and Isobe holds onto anything so that he has something at all. that's probably why he decided to stick around Koume at some point, even after she deleted the photos he had found on the beach earlier (and therefore infringed his sacred device - the computer, it also being one of among many, but the most crucial one at the same time, remembrances his dead sibling has left behind). he lacked that sort of affection and approval and for this reason he seems to have pursued the search for them in sexual pleasure (probably also relieving his frustration this way) and in a number of revolting kinks. he's full of self-loathing and fails to find comfort in anything or anyone, subsequently deciding on taking his life on his birthday (which is also the day his brother has done it). Koume, on the other hand hand, doesn't care. she at least pretends to not do so. she calls Isobe and egoist, but she seems more worthy of this title - the girl doesn't acknowledge Isobe's feelings for her from the very start and changes her mind about his person's significance to her only after developing those towards him. their helplessness in this doomed relationship is revealed in the circumstances of their actual fondness they maintain towards each other - Koume turns out to not be able to live without Isobe in a long run, discovering that she has been dulling her love for him for this whole time, and Isobe being able to do everything it takes for the girl, even committing to crime activity (he decided on punishing Misaki, who had hurt Koume earlier, by beating him up). i feel like this was his final straw before cutting ties with Koume in terms of this peculiar situationship and the way of showing her, that despite the final outcome, she still mattered to him. that leads me to the latter form their bond adopts - or more precisely, its very downfall.

Isobe, after the typhoon that had reached their small town descended, has accidentally come across the girl from the photos on the sd card he had found some time ago. it was nothing like a lucky occurrence for him - more of an ultimate rescue and profound awakening from the despair he has been stuck in. a chance for happiness and experiencing actual teenage life, filled with friends, normal girlfriends and dreams of going to university. Koume didn't want that for him - for her, he should have stayed depressed, sitting isolated in his room and eventually commit suicide out of boredom and exhaustion resulting from dealing with the curse his brother has left behind, just as he had promised. that way he would have grown attached to Koume and never leave her out of fear of being misunderstood by anyone else. that makes her a horrible and malicious character, but she did have a right to think so. no future in a nowhere town, days spent on nothing productive and there she finds something so interesting and investing, granting her not only company but also new, uncharted territories. it's hard to let something like that go, especially for someone as selfish as Koume. she did evince the will for a change though. she wanted to become a kind person, just as Isobe had said he prefers. but it's still all about altering her personality exhaustingly and not staying true to her nature. she lacked something, constantly looking for it in the sea of countless possibilities. unspoken confusion, almost petrifying to the very core. she did find something, in the end - the sea, indeed, was all she needed. not the boy she was mourning so desperately that memorable day on the shore or all that trash she encountered during her walks on the beach. sea was all the ever needed. not much is known about the protagonist's future whereabouts (except for Koume, who gets a boyfriend - she's really cautious with love declarations that time, probably seeing her younger self in the boy she's dating, head over heels for her. also, i think it's important to mention the retrospection at the beginning of the movie in this case. while strolling along the coast line, Koume turns her attention towards two other kids on the beach, who turn out to be her and Isobe. the same thing happens at the end of the film, her witnessing some teenagers - so, perhaps, her mind wandering to hoping she and Isobe would have sticked together - enjoying themselves. it's a full circle at this point and an underlining of an another matter dividing the protagonists - Koume, even though she seems to have moved on with her life psychically, subconsciously, she can't let go off her past as Isobe did prior to cutting ties with her). i just hope they're doing well, painlessly.

my rating (from 1 to 5): 4/5

favorite scene: the one i adore the most (both in the case of the movie and manga) is when Koume and Isobe are laying together, hand crossed, on the poufs engulfed by the darkness of the boy's room. Isobe proceeds to sleepily about how much he hates himself and declares his intend to take his life in some time. subsequently, Koume seems to casually put him off by saying she doesn't mind him dying but she just can't stand talking about death in general. for me, it's a trivial exposition of their initial attitudes towards their personal matters - Koume doesn't clutter her mind with such effusive subjects and has even no recognition of suicide as some frightening extremity. Isobe, on the contrary, is revealed to be in an concerningly low point, yet his sorrow hasn't been acknowledged by his surroundings - partly to his tendency for hiding this behind a mask of a rudeness and indifference. it's like they're true to each other only in that particular moment. i'll just leave these words (coming from the manga translated into English) below. enjoy. "If you died, it wouldn't really matter to me but...definitely...don't talk about dying."

the images were found by me on the internet, credits to their original uploaders.

[world-cinema-research]

Carrie (1976)

By Cris Nyne

Stephen King’s first novel, Carrie, was published in 1974. Within two years, his story of an outcast teenage girl who uses her telekinetic powers to get revenge on those who bullied her, would sell four million copies and fetch $400,000 for the paperback rights. Director Brian DePalma brings the book to life on screen in 1976. Carrie follows the likes of The Exorcist and Texas Chainsaw Massacre as horror films shifted away from campy, B-movies, to become major box-office draws with higher budgets. Following Carrie, we would see films like The Shining (King’s second adaption, and probably most famous), Poltergeist, and Firestarter (also King) continuing to push boundaries and increase audience sizes.

Carrie White, about to punish the last of her tormentors.

“It’s a beautiful plot—a teen-age Cinderella’s revenge. “Carrie” becomes a new trash archetype, and De Palma, who has the wickedest baroque sensibility at large in American movies, points up its archetypal aspects by parodying the movies that have formed it—and outclassing them.” -Pauline Kael for The New Yorker, November 1976

As soon as the film begins, it’s evident that Carrie is like the chum in an ocean of bullies. From the popular kids in her class, to the neighborhood boy on his bicycle, to her own mother, Carrie cannot seem to find any peace or acceptance. There are no friends she confides in. Even the gym teacher, who on the surface seems to be supportive, ultimately knows why she is an easy target for ridicule. Within the first five minutes of the film, Carrie is taking a shower in the girl’s locker room. As she pulls up her hand from washing the inside of her thigh, it is covered in blood. She is in complete shock and apparently had no knowledge about menstrual cycles and that she would be having her first one today. The other girls in the locker room torment her by throwing feminine hygiene products at her. It is quite a brutal opening to a movie, but we are quick to see that Carrie does not have a connection with anyone.

“She has telekinesis, the ability to manipulate things without touching them. It's a power that came upon her gradually and was released in response to the shrill religious fanaticism of her mother. It manifests itself in small ways. She looks in a mirror, and it breaks. Then it mends itself. Her mother tries to touch her and is hurled back against a couch. But then, on prom night...” -Roger Ebert, January 1976

1976 was the celebration year for the Bicentennial in the US. Jimmy carter defeated Gerald Ford to become the 39th President, and Apple release its first computer. It is interesting to me that this horror film dealing with the powers of the mind coincided with the release of technology that has inched closer and closer to fusing with the human thought process, ever since. When watching the original Carrie, we can really see how far we have come in the age of technology and slick Hollywood production.

Carrie was both a critical and commercial success. With a budget of 1.8 million dollars, Carrie would go on to generate over 33 million dollars in sales. It would be the second-highest grossing horror film of the year, behind The Omen. Sissy Spacek would receive an Oscar nomination for Best Actress and Piper Laurie would also be nominated for Best Supporting Actress for her role as Carries overzealous, religious fanatic of a mother. Roger Ebert gave it three and a half out of four stars. Rotten Tomatoes currently has Carrie (1976) with a rating of 93%. Carrie is a franchise amongst itself, with three different film remakes or adaptations, and even Carrie: The Musical (1988).

Carrie had all the makings of a cult seventies horror flick. DePalma would purposely slow down or speed up a scene, depending on the control, or lack thereof, emanating from Carrie White. The religious dictation from the mouth of her mother in a dark room with perfectly timed lightning to punctuate dialogue. The short gym shorts with knee-high socks. The blood. Carrie became more soaked in it during the final prom scene as the shots progressed from the original dumping of the bucket of pig blood from a relatively unknown John Travolta and his girlfriend from under the stage. At times, the scenes had this dream sequence to them that you would see in soap operas as they would fade to a memory.

After the release of his first novel, King quickly became a name brand for the horror genre. Audiences would file into theaters just to see how his words would translate onto screen. Sissy Spacek became a well-known actor after her breakout role in Terrence Malick’s 1973 hit, Badlands, where she would be nominated for a BAFTA for Most Promising Newcomer to Leading Film Roles. Brian DePalma was an up-and-coming director who was aiming for his first blockbuster as horror films were pulling in bigger numbers at the box office. Although just about everybody involved was still relatively green in the gills, the burgeoning star power of the writer, actor, and director made this a conventional Hollywood film. They were all just getting started.

The film was presented on a bloody platter with no strings attached. At the end, you had a feeling that maybe there could be more to come as DePalma shows an empty lot where a house used to be with a For Sale sign on a cross. I first saw Carrie when I was probably too young, but some of the images from the film would make a defined imprint in my brain. It was still an engaging film after watching it again for the first time since I was a child. At times, the dialogue and supporting actors came off as a bit dated as we have progressed as a culture in the last fifty years, but some of the images and scenes remain rooted in American cinema history, and my mind.

[montyterrible]

Miller’s Actually-She’s-Eighteen

Pithy Letterboxd-style review (read: attempted virality): They finally made a movie adaptation of the YA-obsessed adult’s idea of what adult literature is.

You might get the impression a movie about an inappropriate student-teacher relationship that opens with the line “What is an adult?” and ends with Janis Ian’s “At Seventeen” is some kind of self-aware parody or satire. While Jade Halley Bartlett’s Miller’s Girl (2024) certainly has moments of what might generously be called “clarity” (re. subjects like writing and sexual dynamics)—more tortuously: “quasi-didactic”—it feels more or less like a straightforward, even predictable telling of this kind of story. (Or, in an era of excessive self-awareness—“He’s Right Behind Me, Isn’t He?”—maybe this is the radical approach.) I found the film’s tone fascinating, however. There are fleeting notes of horror in the visuals and soundscape, and then there’s stuff that feels artlessly moving or wistful or romantic. It strikes me as, overall, not at all the “slick” sort of movie where I should be seeing pop-ups highlighting messages from people’s cellphones, but there they are.

Similarly, the dialogue is a mix of the sort of awkward, “unrealistic,” strained, “literary” style that I personally enjoy with an occasional frankness or even crassness that borders on parody again by virtue of its extreme contrast. Here are several examples, all taken from throughout the same scene:

“I’m smokin’ now. No plans for it to define me yet.”

“It becomes a conversation about achieving emancipation from your inherited beliefs about sex and age.”

“We’re like the fuckin’ American wet dream. Young girls with ambivalent sexuality.”

“I don’t wanna drop it for some rando jock-twat whose sexual standards are mandated by the shit porn he downloads. That’s deli meat.”

“No, you’re being… Shut up.”

The highest compliment I can pay Miller’s Girl is that I did pause it early on to Google and find out if it was based on a book. I also think it’s risky to write a movie about writing and then have a bunch of characters’ writing shared in it, as the danger is that the audience won’t agree that the work is actually that great. This is obviously a matter of personal taste. As I mentioned before, I… liked it, but the writing uniformly has a tendency toward being “verbose” more than anything else, coming off like the characters are constantly deep-throating a thesaurus. It’s what a lot of people could (justifiably) call pretentious.

Obviously, there’s the question of the movie’s Content: As someone who has worked in education, I always respond negatively to bad teachers in art more or less as a matter of reflex. I recently finished re-watching season one of the 2015 comedy-horror series Scream Queens, for example, and one of the characters has a father who teaches a truly abysmal film class in certain episodes, which seems to consist of him just showing the students movies and then lecturing for a few minutes afterward. In Miller’s Girl, the issue is less how Martin Freeman’s titular Miller teaches and more about the mistakes he makes in handling Jenna Ortega’s precocious Cairo Sweet. It’s a necessary conceit of such stories that the teacher behaves in a way that lets those boundaries ultimately get crossed, but it’s hard not to watch those “slips” happen and not feel like this guy is just terrible at his job, with no sense of propriety whatsoever. Although, obviously this does happen for real. I went to school with someone who ended up crossing that line as a teacher, in fact.

The resonance I feel with stories like this one and also with the way weirdos on the internet talk about girls/women, the age of consent, fertility, birth rates, and so on is just how young people this age actually look. In contrast to the famously skeevy line from Dazed and Confused (1993), teenagers don’t “stay the same age”—I keep getting older, and they keep getting younger. I didn’t know how young I actually was at eighteen when I was eighteen. This here is meant to be a Heightened reality, where predatory teenagers who rattle around alone in their Southern Gothic houses emerge from the mist of the spooky woods to seduce you, but it’s hard for me not to see this Cairo as a flimsy phantasm, this schemer who seduces and then ruins her teacher so that she can write a really bangin’ application essay for Yale about the experience. She’s a sort of mythological figure in a Culture War, MGTOW, incel-ian mode—handled here with a certain ambivalence and enthralling grace even as the film technically panders to boring, old cishet male fears of entrapment and exploitation and degradation at the hands of wily Females.

It's another area where the film threatens to fall into parody—that and how it’s not just Cairo, but also her friend Winnie (Gideon Adlon) doing this. They’re both seducing teachers, but Winnie maybe genuinely likes hers and ends up falling out with Cairo in the end over it. The whiplash of Winnie’s transformation from short-skirted bisexual seductress to frumpy, teary-eyed defeat is also pretty comedic. Meanwhile, the mirrored pairing of Mr. Miller and his friend Boris (Bashir Salahuddin), Winnie’s target, further feeds into that sense of ridiculous excess. Boris’ ultimate rationalization of his own behavior is perhaps frustratingly brief, though intriguing for its moral ambiguity. Again, though, the fact that this is happening twice in the same school, simultaneously, with people this closely connected to one another, feels almost like unintentional comedy.

I’m sure Seth Rogen is a consummate professional, but knowing that he was a producer on this movie made me really want a commentary track from him, or to be a fly on the wall when he read the script. Like, I can just imagine his reaction to the scene where Mr. Miller is whackin’ it to Cairo’s midterm short story in what amounts to a shed. I thought it was pretty funny! I partly blame the “Peterotica” episode of Family Guy for me having this impression, however: You could just not take your shirt off while driving! You could simply not jork it to your student’s writing! That these reactions seem so… involuntary is part of what makes me laugh. Miller dramatically cranking hog does strike an ok balance between eroticism and thrills, I feel, and I don’t want to only disparage it. This is probably the stylistic—erotic and thrilling—high point of the movie. One criticism that could be levied against Miller’s Girl is that there isn’t actually enough of this sort of thing. It’s a real “Yes, and what else?” sort of deal.

Miller’s more successful writer wife, Beatrice (Dagmara Domińczyk), is a frustrating element of the story because of just how off-putting she is. She’s often demeaning toward her husband and only seems more drunk and belligerent as the story goes on. She’s meant to contrast with Cairo, obviously: The younger girl is sweet, whereas Beatrice is not. She lounges around the house in sexy sleepwear, and she’s not not into the story Cairo wrote when Miller shares it with her, which is… problematic. While Cairo is clearly antagonistic after a point and isn’t meant to represent a real option for several reasons (her age, her sort-of madness), the film doesn’t make staying with Beatrice feel like much of a viable choice either. It reminded me of a similar issue that I had with Woody Allen’s Midnight in Paris (2011). The fiancée in that film is so obviously a bad match (and person) that there’s not much tension where the question of staying with her is concerned. I think if Beatrice was just a skosh less aggressively dismissive of Miller, then it would make this situation more thrilling.

The film is perhaps surprisingly slight: Not much really happens, and I think it could have afforded to go a bit bigger and darker (embrace more of the grotesque potential of the tentative gothic flourishes), though the slightness of it all might add a smidgeon of verisimilitude or else at least make it feel that bit more Literary. In that sense, Bartlett may understand something about writing that Cairo did not—the value of doing less, in more than one sense.

[themousefromfantasyland]

Journey Across the Disneyverse: Second Day

In honor of the 100th anniversary of the Walt Disney Animation Studios, I'm rewatching some of my favorite films from the studio.

This were the ones that I watched today.

1 - Peter Pan (1953)

I will say something that will revogue my status as Disney nerd and Disney adult: this film is very weak.

Mary Blair artwork is still beautiful and amazing, and the animation is very well done. Neverland is a delight to the eyes.

But I feel like it lacks heart, it lacks a genuine emotional connection. Something is missing here.

The thing that gets on my nerves is that it lacks a proper ending. On Disney+ they had a deleted ending, and it feels so much more like an actual resolution that this movie's ending.

Wendy gets to say farewell to Peter, she and her brothers get to choose to grow up, while Peter and the lost boys get to choose Neverland. Wendy also is in better terms with Tinkerbell. Peter and Wendy also had an amazing romantic tension.

All of this would make the movie so much better.

2 - Sleeping Beauty (1959)

Disney reached storytelling maturity with this one. This is the ultimate fairy tale movie.

They transformed an already iconic fairy tale in an action-packed epic love story.

Despite giving name to the film, Aurora isn't the protagonist. She is a living McGuffing that drives the plot.

The real protagonists are the three good fairies, Flora, Fauna, and Meriwether, who deserve much more recognition from Disney itself and from fans. It's amazing how they are the main responsible for the movie passing the Bechdel test, even though some still decry the movie as sexist.

3 - The Little Mermaid (1989)

Blessed be Howard Ashman.

This film modernized the Disney formula with amazing effects.

It's definitely not the somber, tragic love story from the original Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale, but it manages to create its own thing, a colorful and vibrant coming-of-age, romantic comedy.

I hate how the same people who decry past Disney heroines for being so bland and super perfect, crap on Ariel only because she acts like a genuine flawed, curious teenage girl.

4 - Beauty and the Beast (1991)

Blessed be Howard Ashman again.

What I loved most about this film is that it flips the original message of the fairy tale on its head.

A thing must be lovable first before it's loved. Love must be earned. You can't act like a beast and still force people to look past your obvious toxic flaws.

Belle is under no obligation to love the Beast. She isn't at any moment forced to look past his toxic behavior. It's the Beast who has to improve himself in order to gain her affection. He is the one who has to change.

True love is liberating, and not trapping. Beast might be the one who trapped Belle in his castle, but it's only when he gives her freedom and autonomy that Belle reciprocates his affection.

I love how the filmmakers confirmed over the years that if the curse weren't broken, Beast would go full Queen Elinor from Pixar Brave, and become a full beast. All the castle staff would become fully inanimated and die. Yet, Beast still puts Belle's wellbeing over his, letting her go, knowing full well that this would kill him and everyone on the castle.

Because true love is selfless, not selfish.

I also love how this film dials down the creepiness of the fairy tale by adding hundred of sidekicks on Beast's Castle.

If Belle were to be completely alone with the Beast, then we would have the child-friendly version of that scifi movie with Chris Pratt and Jennifer Lawrence. But if Belle has actual people to make her company, people who often go completely against their master's orders, then things are less Stockholm-ism.

@ariel-seagull-wings @tamisdava2 @thealmightyemprex @the-gentile-folklorist @princesssarisa @angelixgutz @mask131 @thelittlehansy @natache @the-blue-fairie

[therine-watches]

a Recommendation - 19 Top Films to Watch on Valentine’s Day

Valentine’s Day isn’t always about a box of chocolate or couple photos bombarding your feed all day; sometimes, it’s about snuggling under the covers with either your loved ones or love one, watching a comfort movie that makes you feel giddy both in the inside and outside. 

Here is a (very long) list, categorized from cliche to not-really-romance-but-romance, of the best rom-com films you could watch on Valentine’s Day: 

Well-Known But Not Overrated:  from the 00s to the 20s - here are all the romcoms you may or may not have heard. 

1. Set It Up (2018) Starring Zoey Deutch and Glen Powell, alongside Lucy Liu and Taye Diggs, Set It Up is a fun New York-based romantic comedy on the spiral of two overworked assistants setting up their bosses. 

2. Definitely, Maybe (2008)  Nothing weirder than hearing about your parents having a life before you: Definitely, Maybe is a tale of three romantic stories and one mother mystery.

3. Love, Rosie (2014) Starring two rom-com sweethearts Lily Collins and Sam Claflin, Love Rosie is the original formulaic film of the ultimate childhood best friends to lovers + right person, wrong time trope.

4. Emma (2019)  With the perfect combination of wit, set, cast, and story, Emma is the perfect love letter to Jane Austen and fans of Regency Romance. 

5. The Half of It (2019)  Small town and big romance: The Half of It is a quiet yet impactful film on coming-of-age, friendships, and high school crushes. 

6. Miss Congeniality (2000)  A perfect mixture of comedy and romance, Miss Congeniality will win your heart with the classic undercover cop story. 

7. To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before (2018) Carrying the charm and chemistry of a teenage rom-com, To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before takes an overused trope of fake relationships and makes it its own, with an unforgettable classic high school love tale. 

8. The Vow (2012)  Changing the entire course of two people’s lives in one accident, The Vow, based on a true story, is a heartbreaking film on love and grief. 

A Bit More Than Boy Meets Girl  not so much of romance as connecting with friends or yourself; these movies are perfect for movie nights with friends or if simply you’re not in the mood for a classic rom-com: 

9. Laggies (2014)  Starring Kiera Knightly, Sam Rockwell, and Chloe Grace Moretz, Laggies is a tale not only of unexpected love but the reality of feeling like lagged in your 20s.

10. The Other Woman (2014)  The Other Woman is about the other woman, starring the golden comedy trio Cameron Diaz, Leslie Mann, and Kate Upton, as they set up for the perfect revenge.

11. Paper Towns (2015)  In the classic John Green tale of small-town high school and daydreaming for the manic pixie girl, Paper Towns is a tale of friendship and growing up, with a bittersweet ending that feels more real than the classic Disney happily ever after. 

12. The Way Way Back (2013)  With a ridiculously talented cast, The Way Way Back is a classic comedic and bittersweet summer beach film of love, parenthood, and friendships, all while coming of age in a world that doesn’t always go your way.

13. The Edge of Seventeen (2016)  Hilarious but uncomfortably too true to every teenager at one point, is a perfect film for both depth and comedy, dealing in the themes of betrayal, love, friendship, teenage angst, and loss.

Classics to Re-Binge - or Finally Get Around To Watching It  from the 90s to the 10s, created in the classic formula of wit, charm, iconic-ness, and of course: romance and comedy 

14. How To Lose a Guy in 10 Days (2003)  Perhaps one of the most famous rom-com of the 21st century, How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days is exactly as the title suggests; even in the two decades since its release, the film remains fresh, original, and hilariously sharp in the rom-com film department.

15. The Proposal (2009)  In the ultimate fake relationship trope, The Proposal is a classic New York-to-small-town romance, unforgettably delivered by Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds.

16. 13 Going on 30 (2004)  13 Going on 30 achieves every 13-year-old girl’s dream; the film centralizes around the youthful and comedic 13-year-old-stuck-in-30-year-old body tale with just the perfect amount of true romance.

17. Crazy Rich Asians (2018) Heartwarming and a feast to the eyes of cinematography, costumes, and score, Crazy Rich Asians is the story of Rachel Chu entering the world of crazy rich Asians, and her fight for her true love. 

18. 10 Things I Hate About You (1999)  In the perfect combination of romance and comedy, 10 Things I Hate About You is a classic in fake-relationship-turned-true-love, starring both the brilliant Julia Stiles and Heath Ledger. 

and of course: 19. Valentine’s Day (2010)  Starring the biggest names of rom-com from Julia Roberts to Anne Hatheway to Jennifer Garner, Valentine’s Day is a film of multiple love stories all interconnected, set in no other date but Valentine’s Day. 

[hislittleraincloud]

Well, I mean. The Miller's Girl community (which includes the Martin Freemaniacs) is obvs more welcoming to their pairing since it's just natural canon that everyone can see (and I'm sure more are comfortable with their ages).

Like I may have mentioned somewhere (maybe I didn't, might still be in my drafts), Cairo is the same age as Wednesday. If she was 18 in the Fall of 2023, she was born in 2005 (but if the movie takes place this year/upon its release, then she was born in 2006). I think people forget that in real time, Wednesday is turning 18 this year. 💀 Wednesday is also more advanced than Cairo, generally.

Sigh. I just looked up to the loop and it's her first intimate scene with Donovan. ("Actually, I'd like to speak to Sheriff Galpin...alone.") Ortega spoke so softly with McShane. It's so...charged. I'm so bereft that he's been demoted to a guest starring role, but I guess they're probably going with Sheriff Santiago after Donovan steps down due to his involvement with hiding the truth about Francie and Tyler (which...is pretty much where AtB was going, only slower). We need to see Sheriff Galpin's scars over that. They don't have to be physical. But alas.

Wenovan is still a true pairing for me, but Jairo is tied right next to it. Two old bastards with two unruly teenagers. THAT'S ALWAYS FUN. 💀💀💀💀💀

I hate that there aren't any Donovan .gifs that aren't defiled by subtitles/words. Wenovan deserves more.

Maybe it's that it's harder to wrap minds around the idea that a Very Weird™ and hypersexual 16yo would want someone (much) old/er. But that's the point. Wednesday is Very Fucking Weird™ in comparison to her peers. She IS that rare individual (much like Cairo), that "not like other girls" girl, she's far above average. I just took what was already there and amplified it into Afterburn Wednesday.

Still kinda weirded out that Miller's Girl was basically the ABW/Fortunato situation in less more than 1500 words. And I wanna know which one of you little trolls voted for it. 💩 Man, I do wonder what would've happened if Mrs. Murphy (wow, I JUST now realized that she has the same name as Jon's proxy in Cairo's story 💀💀💀💀💀) hadn't walked in on them. I think maybe she would've gotten as far as beard petting. Maybe some handiwork, too (by both).

But ultimately ABW would not have slept with Mr. Fortunato. Fool around, maybe, but she wouldn't have lost her V-Card on him. He may have been handsome and knowledgeable about English, but he's otherwise kind of uninteresting to ABW (! Right? You would think that an AP English prof would be...well, like Jonathan Miller). He's pretty and he knows his stuff, but there was nothing else in common. And he's closeted. 🙊 Married to a woman, has two young children, but totally 🏳️‍🌈. No one at Sacred Heart knew/knows, or even suspects. He likes musicals, and ABW despises them (once when he was going off about Hamilton — after that bitch Ryleigh brought it up — she excused herself from class claiming bathroom needs and didn't come back until the bell rang to pick up her bag). I think if they had gotten to talking about anything other than English, she'd catch on quickly. If he's 🏳️‍🌈, why the flustering over ABW? Because he's still human. Gay men can still be aroused by and have sex with women, and ABW had turned up the heat real high with the recitation of her 'favorite' passage from Lolita (which is merely a poetic description of the sex between Humbert and Dolores). Wow, so while Cairo prefers Henry Miller, ABW prefers Vladimir Nabokov...which is fitting, considering that Wednesday (15, though she was 14 when she started the class) was a bit younger than Cairo (18) was at their teacher crush points. But it is interesting to note that Nabokov's style is much more grandiloquent than Miller's brash smut; one is a glass of white wine, the other a splash of Everclear, both the alcohol of onanism...the younger's younger choice being more sophisticated in terms of language. But as usual when I'm fkn high, I digress. TLDR; ABW wouldn't have fucked Fortunato. And he escaped the inquiry with his job, though he got suspended for a week while it was happening.

As for Jairo, the clear winner...I don't have much to say unless I'm expressing it through the fiction because oh mah God, UVC Jairo are the cutest goddamn couple ever and I like imagining them both happy and having fun...well, for now. It can't all be peace and tranquility. Jon best buckle in! 👹👹👹👹👹